Ashtanga Yoga Knowledge Base

The state of the āsana, which is held for five breaths, is indicated by underlining the Sanskrit count, e.g., Dve.

This is the "half vinyasa" count referring to the shortened sequence where you move through the poses with a reduced vinyasa (breath-movement coordination). This means you do not perform a full vinyasa, i.e., Sun Saluation A, between every pose, as it has been done in the old days.

The verses come from two different sources. The first verse comes from the Yoga Tārāvalī and the second one comes from a traditional prayer to Patañjali.

ōṃ

vande gurūṇām caraṇāravinde
sandarśita svātmasukhāvabodhe
niḥśreyase jāṅgalikāyamāne
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai

ābāhu puruṣākāraṃ
śaṅkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam
sahasra śirasaṃ śvetaṃ
praṇamāmi patañjalim

ōṃ

These verses are translated as follows:

I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus
The awakening happiness of one's own self revealed,
Beyond better, acting like the jungle physician,
Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.

Taking the form of a man ot the shoulders,
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
One thousand heads white,
To Patanjali I salute.

ōṃ

svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ
nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṁ mahīśāḥ
gobrāmaṇebhyaḥ śubhamastu nityaṁ
lokāḥ samastāḥ sukhino bhavantu

ōṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

The verse can be translated as follows (taken from P. Räisänen (2017). Nāḍi Śodhana.):

Fortune (svasti) to the people (prajābhyaḥ),
and the rulers of the earth (mahīśāḥ),
who protect (paripālayantāṁ) the countries (mahīṁ)
by following the path (mārgeṇa) of righteousness (nyāyena).

May there (astu) always (nityaṁ) be prosperity/goodness (śubha)
for the cows and the brahmins (gobrāmaṇebhyaḥ).
May all (samastāḥ) the worlds (lokāḥ) be (bhavantu) happy (sukhino).

ōṃ

śuklāmbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ śaśivarṇaṃ caturbhujam |
prasannavadanaṃ dhyāyet sarvavighnopaśāntaye ||

agajānana padmārkaṃ gajānanaṃ aharniśam |
anekadaṃtaṃ bhaktānāṃ ekadantaṃ upāsmahe ||

ōṃ

Meditate upon (dhyāyet) Lord Gaṇeśa, wearing (dhara) a white (āmbara) garment (ambara), all-pervading (viṣṇuṃ), lustrous as the moon (śaśi varṇaṃ),
four-armed (chatur-bhujam), with a pure (prasanna) smiling face (vadana), for the pacifying (upaśāntaye) of all (sarva) obstacles (vighna).

I worship day and night (ahar niśam) that elephant (Gaja) faced (ānana) Lord Gaṇeśa, who is like sun (arkam) to the lotus (padma) face (ānana) of Mother Pārvatī (Agaja).
Giver (daṃ) of many (aneka) boons to the (taṃ = you/your) devotees (bhaktānāṃ), the single (eka) tusked (dantam) Ganesa, I salute Thee (upāsmahe).

gurur brahmā gurur viṣnuḥ gururdevo maheśvaraḥ
guruḥ sākṣāt parabrahma tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

ajñāna timirāndhasya jñānānjana śalākayā
cakṣur unmilitam yena tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

akhaṇḍa-maṇḍalākāram vyāptam yena carācaram
tat padam darśitam yena, tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

aneka janma samprāpta karma bandha vidāhine
ātma jñāna pradā nena tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

dhyānamūlaṃ gururmūrtiḥ pūjāmūlaṃ guruḥ padam
mantramūlaṃ gururvākyaṃ mokṣamūlaṃ gururkṛpā

These verses can be translated as follows:

Guru is Brahmā. Guru is Visṇụ. Guru is the Supreme Lord Śiva.
Guru is both manifest Reality and the Absolute. Salutations to that glorious Guru.

Salutations to that glorious Guru, who, when I was blinded by ignorance, applied medicine and opened my eyes.

Salutations to that glorious Guru who has shown me the Reality of the pervasive, unbroken infinite form of the circle (of creation) of moveable and immovable beings.

Salutations to that glorious Guru who gives Self-knowledge and burns up the accumulated karma of many births.

The root of meditation is the Guru's form. The root of puja is the Guru's feet.
The root of mantra is the Guru's speech. The root of liberation is the Guru's grace.