The Perfect Language

अथ योगानुशासनम्

atha yogānuśasanam

Here begins the authoritative instruction on Yoga.

Since I have been learning Sanskrit I have been thinking about Patanjali’s first yoga sutra as written above in Devanagārī text, then transliterated into Roman text and finally translated into English. This first sutra brings our attention to the present moment. To be ‘here’ is to be present. It reminds me of roll call at the beginning of the school day when I was a child. I remember some would answer ‘here’ when their name was called and others would answer ‘present’.

Simply starting to practice presence of mind in the present moment we are beginning to practice yoga. A key word here is ‘practice’. The above translation comes from The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar, who studied the yoga sutras with his father Krishnamacharya.

I like the translation because it uses the word ‘here’ instead of ‘now’, which is often the preferred interpretation. For me, the word ‘here’ represents both a moment in time and a point in space. I can only actually be ‘here’ in the present moment. It represents presence both mindfully and physically. This is encompassed by both puruṣa and prakṛti (consciousness and matter), terms in yogic philosophy.

This is where it gets interesting for me. I have been learning Sanskrit and the language IS the philosophy as far as I can interpret. For instance, the word for ‘vowel’ means ‘that which exists by itself’. The word for consonant means ‘shining’. The vowels are the universal pillars and the consonants are the decorations on the pillars. No consonant can exist without an aspirated vowel for it to decorate, again representing puruṣa and prakṛti.

Yogic philosophy describes the universe beginning with the guttaral vibration of ‘a’ (as in the word tall). It is the first letter of the alphabet. The last letter of the Sanskrit alphabet is the consonant ‘m’. To bridge from ‘a’ to ‘m’ goes through the vibration of the vowel ‘u’ (as in the word ‘too’). The word ‘aum’ is created, or in devanagārī text ॐ and in English often written as ‘om’. Śrī Śāntānanda Sarasvatī (past guru and mentor to the School of Practical Philosophy through which I am learning Sanskrit) described the significance of the word ॐ in the following way.

“The word ॐ is the most special of all, because this is the causal word for our creation. This is the Absolute Word out of which all words, all forms and all objects have come into existence, so there is none second to it”.

Conversations 1965

ॐ represents the background vibration of the universe, exploding with ‘a’ at the beginning, merging into ‘u’ as the universe expands and fading with the hum of ‘m’ at the end. The Sanskrit word for ‘alphabet’ means ‘imperishable’. The word ‘Sanskrit’ means ‘refined’ or ‘made perfect’. It is the perfect language and imperishable. Each Sanskrit lesson amazes me as it takes me deeper into yogic philosophy.

The beginning, end and everything inbetween.