Patañjali
Patañjali · pata-añjali, “the one who fell into folded hands”
Patañjali, the Yogācārya, is a great scholar and upādhyāya who lived on the lovely Citrakūṭa mountain. Sūta tells in the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa that he knew the true meaning of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, was devoted to the Gītā-śāstra, and was a bhakta of Bhagavān Vishṇu and a speaker of truth. The same account names him as the author of the Vyākaraṇa-Mahābhāshya. Defeated by Kātyāyana in a śāstrārtha (a learned debate) at Kāśī, he took refuge in Sarasvatī, and by her grace he won the second. By the grace of Bhagavatī Vishṇumāyā he became extremely long-lived.
Citrakūṭa and the first śāstrārtha
On the Citrakūṭa mountain, coloured by many minerals, lived Patañjali Muni. Once this śuddhātmā (one pure in ātmā) went to other tīrthas, and in Kāśī he held a śāstrārtha with Kātyāyana, the devotee of the Devī. It went on for one full year, and in the end Patañjali was defeated.
His stuti to Sarasvatī
Ashamed at this, he performed the ārādhanā of Sarasvatī in these words:
नमो देव्यै महामूर्त्यै सर्वमूर्त्यै नमो नमः।
शिवायै सर्वमाङ्गल्यै विष्णुमाये च ते नमः।।
त्वमेव श्रद्धा बुद्धिस्त्वं मेधा विद्या शिवंकरी।
शान्तिवाणी त्वमेवासि नारायणि नमो नमः।।namo devyai mahāmūrtyai sarvamūrtyai namo namaḥ | śivāyai sarvamāṅgalyai vishṇumāye ca te namaḥ || tvameva śraddhā buddhistvaṃ medhā vidyā śivaṃkarī | śāntivāṇī tvamevāsi nārāyaṇi namo namaḥ ||
Namaskāra to the Devī who is Mahāmūrti, the great form, and Sarvamūrti, she whose form is all forms. Namaskāra to Śivā Devī, whose form is every auspiciousness. O Vishṇumāyā, namaskāra to you. O Nārāyaṇī, you alone are Śraddhā (faith), Buddhi (intellect), Medhā (retentive understanding), Vidyā (knowledge) and Śivaṃkarī, she who brings welfare. You alone are Śānti (peace), you alone are Vāṇī (speech). Namaskāra to you again and again.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 35
The grace of Sarasvatī
Pleased with this stuti, Bhagavatī Sarasvatī spoke by a voice from the sky: “O best of vipras, with a one-pointed mind do japa of my Uttara Carita. By its power you will certainly attain jñāna. O Patañjali, Kātyāyana will be defeated by you.”
Hearing these words of the Devī, Patañjali went to the temple of Vindhyavāsinī Devī and performed the ārādhanā of Sarasvatī there, and she was pleased. Thereby Patañjali defeated Kātyāyana in a second śāstrārtha.
The tulasī-mālā and his long life
Afterwards, in spreading the Kṛshṇa-mantra and bhakti, Patañjali raised the importance of the tulasī-mālā and other such things. By the grace of Bhagavatī Vishṇumāyā that Yogācārya became extremely long-lived.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 35
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapter 35