ASHTANGA OPENING MANTRA – SANSKRIT

Om​
vande gurunam caranaravinde
sandarsita svatma sukhava bodhe
nihsreyase jangali kayamane
samsara halahala moha santyai
abahupurusakaram
sankha cakrasi dharinam
sahasra sirasam svetam
pranamami patanjalim
Om

ASHTANGA OPENING MANTRA – TRANSLATION

Om
I pray to the lotus feet of the supreme guru
Who teaches knowledge, awakening the great happiness of the self-revealed.
Who acts like the jungle physician
Able to remove the delusion from the poison of conditioned existence​.
To Patanjali, an incarnation of Adisesa, white in colour with a thousand radiant heads (in his form as the divine serpent, Ananta), human in form below the shoulders, holding the sword of discrimination, a wheel of fire representing infinite time, and the conch representing divine sound to him, I prostrate.
Om