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| '''Patañjali''' (devanāgarī: पतञ्जलि) is regarded as the compiler of the [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga Sūtras]], an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice.
| | #redirect [[Patanjali]] |
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| There have been, however, other prominent men named Patañjali in the history of [[Hinduism|Hindu]] thought. One of them a famous grammarian from the 2nd century B.C., who wrote a commentary on Pāṇini's Ashta-Adhyayi (Eight-Lessons in Grammar). Another Patañjali was an author of the Nidana-Sūtra (Aphorisms on Origin), which is also an important work of Vedic ritual literature.
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| The dates proposed for the birth of the author of the [[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga-Sūtra]] vary by a millennium. Some authorities suggest that he lived in the 4th century BCE, while others insist that he must have lived in the 6th century CE. According to [[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky|Mme. Blavatsky]] he was a contemporary of Pânini, and lived nearer 700 than 600 B.C.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 251.</ref>
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| Virtually nothing is known about him. According to [[Hinduism|Hindu]] tradition he was an incarnation of [[Nāga#Sesha Nāga|Sesha Nāga]] (also known as Ananta) the thousand-headed ruler of the serpent race. Ananta, desiring to teach [[Yoga]] on Earth is said to have fallen from heaven onto the palm of a virtuous woman named Gonika.
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| Patañjali's most important contributions is that he organized the practice and experiences of Yoga into a philosophy that can compete with other contemporary schools of thought.
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| == See also ==
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| *[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali]]
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| *[[Rāja Yoga]]
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| *[[Yoga]]
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| == Notes ==
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| <references/>
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| [[Category:Hinduism]]
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| [[Category:Writers]]
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