🐍 श्री पतञ्जलि प्रार्थना — Prayer to Maharṣi Patañjali

 On Nāga Chaturthī, a prayer to Maharṣi Patañjali in the tradition that reveres him as an incarnation of Ādiśeṣa can beautifully connect Nāga worship with Yoga, purity of mind, speech, and body.

The traditional invocation is:

योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां
मलं शरीरस्य च वैद्यकेन ।
योऽपाकरोत्तं प्रवरं मुनीनां
पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोऽस्मि ॥

Yogena cittasya padena vācāṃ
malaṃ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena |
yo'pākarottaṃ pravaraṃ munīnāṃ
Patañjaliṃ prāñjalir ānato'smi ||

Meaning

With Yoga, he purified the mind;
with grammar, he purified speech;
with the science of healing, he purified the body.
To that eminent sage Patañjali,
I bow with folded hands.

The well-known accompanying dhyāna verse continues:

आबाहुपुरुषाकारं
शङ्खचक्रासिधारिणम् ।
सहस्रशिरसं श्वेतं
प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥

Ābāhu-puruṣākāraṃ
śaṅkha-cakrāsi-dhāriṇam |
sahasra-śirasaṃ śvetaṃ
praṇamāmi Patañjalim ||

Meaning:
I bow to Patañjali, whose upper form is human, who bears the conch, discus and sword, and who is traditionally envisioned with the thousand-headed form of Ādiśeṣa.

🕉️ Why remember Patañjali on Nāga Chaturthī?

In traditional accounts, Patañjali is associated with Ādiśeṣa, the divine serpent upon whom Lord Nārāyaṇa reclines.

The symbolism is profound:

Śeṣa → stability and support
Nāga → latent spiritual power and awareness
Patañjali → mastery of Citta through Yoga
Yoga → stilling the fluctuations of mind
Samādhi → realization of the Seer

This leads directly to Patañjali's celebrated teaching:

योगश्चित्तवृत्तिनिरोधः ॥
Yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ.
— Yoga Sūtra 1.2

Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.

And then:

तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम् ॥
Tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe'vasthānam.
— Yoga Sūtra 1.3

Then the Seer abides in its own true nature.

🌺 A Nāga Chaturthī prayer

ॐ श्री आदिशेषावताराय पतञ्जलये नमः ।
योगविद्याप्रदायिने महर्षये नमो नमः ॥

Oṃ Śrī Ādiśeṣāvatārāya Patañjalaye Namaḥ |
Yogavidyā-pradāyine Maharṣaye Namo Namaḥ ||

Prayerful meaning:
Salutations to Maharṣi Patañjali, traditionally revered as an incarnation of Ādiśeṣa. Salutations again and again to the great sage who bestowed the wisdom of Yoga.

On this sacred occasion, the most fitting offering to Patañjali is therefore not ritual alone, but practice:

Śauca in the body → discipline of Prāṇa → restraint of the senses → tranquillity of Citta → Dhyāna → realization of the inner Self.

🙏 श्री पतञ्जलि महर्षये नमः ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥