I’d like to open by sharing the story of Patanjali as told
by BKS Iyengar: “It is said that Lord Vishnu was once seated on his couch, Lord
Adisesa (the Lord of Serpents) watching the enchanting dance (tandava
nrtya) of Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu was so
absorbed in the dance movements that His body began to vibrate to the rhythm of
Lord Shiva. This vibration made him heavier and heavier causing a lot of
discomfort to Lord Adisesa who was on the point of collapsing, gasping for
breath. As soon as the dance came to end, Lord Vishnu's body became light
again.
Lord Adisesa was amazed with this sudden transformation and
asked his master about the cause of these stupendous changes. The Lord
explained that grace, beauty, majesty and grandeur of Lord Shiva had created a
corresponding graceful vibration in His own body. Amazed at this, Adisesa
professed a desire to learn dancing to inspire his Lord.
Lord Vishnu predicted that soon Lord Shiva would grace Lord
Adisesa to write a commentary on grammar and at that time he would also be able
to devote himself to perfection in the art of dance (nrtya). Lord Adisesa was
overjoyed by these words and looked forward to the grace of Lord Shiva. He then
began to meditate to find out who would be his intended mother. While
meditating, he had the vision of a female Yoga adept and an ascetic (a yogini
and tapasvini), Gonika who was praying for a worthy son to whom she could
impart her knowledge and wisdom. He realized that she would be a worthy mother
for him and waited for an auspicious moment to become her son.
Gonika, thinking that her earthly life was approaching its
end, had searched for a worthy son to whom she could transmit her knowledge.
But she had found no one. When her penance (tapas) had come to an end, she
looked to the Sun God and prayed to Him to fulfill her desire. She took a
handful of water, as a final oblation to Him, closed her eyes and meditated on
the Sun. She opened her eyes and looked at her palms as she was about to offer
the water. To her surprise, she saw a tiny snake moving in her palms who soon
took on a human form. This tiny male human prostrated to yogini Gonika and
asked her to accept him as her son. Hence, she named him Patanjali. (Pata means
fallen or falling and Anjali means palms folded in prayer).
This is how Sage Patanjali is said to have come into this
mortal world.” 1
Patanjali is thought to go on to write the yoga sutras which
is a foundational text in yoga today.
This text only contains a few verses that are about the physical practice
of yoga. It mainly concerns itself with the lifestyle and philosophy of yoga. Patanjali’s
story shares a few qualities with the story of Jesus and Isaac (in Genesis). He descended to a human form to a mother
thought to be too old for children. His
father is not mentioned here, but in descending to earth it is clear he did not
come in the traditional way. The Yoga sutras put together much of the
philosophy of yoga that is in separate texts.
I am honestly not sure which came first.
In addition to the similarities between Biblical figures and
Patanjali there is also the use of the word righteous(ness) in today’s Biblical
reading. Righteous, as defined by
Webster, is “acting in accord with divine or moral law.” In Paul’s letter to the Romans he talks of righteousness
as the thing we turn toward when we turn away from sin. In both cases we are a slave, either to sin
or righteousness. Turning to the divine
or moral law would appear to be the better choice. In Matthew’s gospel we are encouraged
to make this better choice to receive the reward of the kingdom of heaven.
In yoga sutras righteousness might be interpreted as Dharma.
“The Sanskrit word “dharma” has joined “yoga” and “karma” in common English
usage. Dharma is often taken to mean “duty.” However, it is a whole lot more
than this. The Sanskrit word Dharma comes from the root “dhri” which means to
uplift or uphold. Dharma literally refers to “that which upholds
righteousness.” A sense of righteousness, of purpose and inspiration is
extremely significant on the spiritual path.” 2
Dharma is implied throughout the yoga sutras of Patanjali.
When he talks of the ethics of yoga in the yamas and niyamas (10 commandments
of yoga) and in the gunas (energy states) Dharma is there. In Yoga Sutra IV.34
dharma is referenced within the Purusartha or the “fourfold aims of man;
discharging one’s duties and obligations to oneself, one’s family, society, and
country (dharma); pursuit of vocation or profession, following one’s means of
livelihood and acquisition of wealth (artha); cultured and artistic pursuits,
love, and gratification of desires (kama); emancipation or liberation from
worldly life (moksa).”1 Part of the idea
of the dharma wheel, a symbol in Indian religions, refers to the cyclical
nature of life. As stated in the Purusartha,
and in Paul’s letter, life is not all righteous, but the hope is that each turn
of the wheel brings us closer to righteous liberation and further from sin.
Genesis 22:1-14
God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said,
“Here I am.” He said, “Take your
son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land
of Moriah, and offer him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show
you.” So Abraham rose early in the
morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men
with him, and his son Isaac; he cut
the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the
place in the distance that God had
shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the
place far away. Then Abraham said
to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I
will go over there; we will worship,
and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering and laid it on
his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the
knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said,
“Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire
and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering?” Abraham said, “God himself
will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the
two of them walked on together.
When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham
built an altar there and laid the
wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the
altar, on top of the wood. Then
Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his
son. But the angel of the Lord called to
him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said,
“Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay
your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know
that you fear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham
looked up and saw a ram, caught in a
thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and
offered it up as a burnt offering instead
of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will
provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the
mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Romans 6:12-23
Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to
make you obey their passions. No
longer present your members to sin as instruments of
wickedness, but present yourselves to God as
those who have been brought from death to life, and present
your members to God as instruments
of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over
you, since you are not under law but under
grace.
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but
under grace? By no means! Do you
not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one
whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of
obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of
sin, have become obedient from the
heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted,
and that you, having been set free from
sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am
speaking in human terms because of your natural
limitations. For just as you once presented your members as
slaves to impurity and to greater and
greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to
righteousness for sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
So what advantage did you
then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The
end of those things is death. But
now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God,
the advantage you get is
sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of
sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever
welcomes me welcomes the one
who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a
prophet will receive a prophet's
reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in
the name of a righteous person will receive
the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a
cup of cold water to one of these little ones
in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these
will lose their reward.”
1 BKS Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
2 https://alchemyofyoga.com/what-is-dharma/
Photo: Prismatic Dharma Wheel Public Domain
https://publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Prismatic-dharma-wheel/60042.html
