Patanjali

The first commentary on Panini’s Ashtadhyayi was written by Patañjali, one of the most famous Sanskrit grammarians of ancient India. In fact, it was with Patañjali that Indian linguistic science reached its definite form. Panini’s Sutras are elaborated meaningfully in the commentary of Patanjali called Mahabhashya. The tardition says that reading Mahabhashya of Patanjali is equal to ruling a great kingdom. The whole commentary is presented in a dialogue method. A disciple raises the question and someone who seems to be an Acharya gives the answer and when the disciple is not satisfied then the true Acharya gives the authentic and final answer. The langauge is very simple and direct. It is a great joy to read the Mahabhashya of Patanjali.
Another important contribution of Patanjali is his Yogasutras. This is the most widely known work of Patanjali. This work is presented through a series of terse aphorisms. And it was somewhere between the fourth and second centuries BCE that the aphorism style not only gained widespread recognition, but reached probably its greatest stylistic peak. Patañjali's work is widely regarded as the finest example extant of the sutra method of presentation. So the probable age in which Patanjali must have lived and flourished is between the fourth and second centuries BCE.

Nothing much is known about the personal life of Patanjali. According to one legend he was the son of Angiras, one of the ten sons of Brahma, the Creator. According to another legend, Patañjali was born from Gonika (a woman who had mastered Yoga) as an incarnation of Adishesha (the serpent couch of Lord Vishnu).

As for where Patañjali was born nothing is known. Nor is it clear exactly where he lived. Tradition holds that Sage Patañjali came to these earthly times and places from some completely other sphere. He came to elucidate knowledge for the benefit of the humanity.

However and wherever he was born, there is no doubt that Patañjali eventually appeared on earth to fulfill his self-appointed destiny. It is said that he could apparently communicate fully from the moment he was born. He always had the vision of the sages, rishis and seers. His marriage is also the stuff of legend. One day he seems to have discovered an exquisitely and enchantingly beautiful maiden, Lolupa, in the hollow of a tree on the north slope of Mount Sumeru. He promptly married her and lived a happy married life.

It is also said in the tradition that when Patanjali taught his disciples he taught them from behind a curtain in the form of Adishesha. The condition was no one should see him teaching. Once, a disciple, out of curiosity, of him lifted the curtain to see what was happening behind. But to his disappointment, he saw no one behind the curtain. And it is said that after this incidence Patanjali never appeared again. That was the end of Patanjali’s appearance on the earth.

Patanjali’s contribution to humanity is immense. In the dance tradition he is remembered with reverence as the patron saint of dance. Some say that Patañjali also wrote a treatise on Ayurveda. As a grammarian all know him as the author Mahabhashya or Great Commentary on Panini's grammar. He is also famous for his Yogasutras. But the uniqueness of Patanjali lies in the fact that his main objectives are more metaphysical than mere analytic description. This uniqueness of Patanjali inspired many later grammarians to look at the metaphysical aspects of grammar as well as Yoga.