CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.

Today’s History Feature:

Maharishi Patanjali

(2nd century BC)

💠Founder & Father of Yoga Sutras

His contributions…

🔹Sage Patanjali lived in 2nd century BC.

🔹Patanjali is one of the 18 siddhars in the Tamil Saiva siddha tradition.

🔹According to one of the 18 Siddhars, Thirumular’s Thirumurai, a key text of the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta, holds that Patanjali learned Yoga from the Great Yogic Guru Nandhi Deva.

🔹He authored the treatise entitled Pathanjali’s Yoga sutras. It is a foundation text of classical yoga philosophy which has four sections with 196 sutras. The intention of his yoga-sutras is to set human free from the cage of matter.

🔹He further expressed the yoga in a scientific manner as how to control thought waves. Also, he defines Asana as a steady and comfortable posture for meditation practices.

🔹Subsequently, he described Pranayama, a practice of various breathing techniques and various yoga postures to harmonize the body and mind.

🔹In fact, his writings are the most translated ancient Indian text of the medieval era, having been translated into about forty Indian languages and two non-Indian languages, old Javanese and Arabic.

🔹However, the text remained insignificant for many centuries and eventually became well recognized in late 19th century due to the great efforts of Swami Vivekananda. Then it again came to prominence as a comeback classic in the 20th century.

🔹Also, Patanjali is the reputed author of a medical text called Patanjalah, also called Patanjalatantra. His text is quoted in many yoga and health-related Indian texts. He is also called as a Medical authority in Ayurveda.

A Renaissance Man of Ancient India

Maharishi Patanjali 🙏🏼


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