Asthanga Opening Mantra

Chant: Om vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde sandarśita svātma sukhāva bodhe | niḥ-śreyase jaṅgali–kāyamāne saṁsāra hālāhala moha-śāntyai || ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ śankha – cakr – āsi dhāriṇam | sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ praṇamāmi patañjalim || Om

Translation:
I bow to the lotus feet of the Supreme Teacher/Guru who reveals the happiness of Self-Realisation/Pure being which is beyond any joy we have experienced (beyond better):
who like the jungle physician removes the delusion caused by the great poison (Hala Hala) of conditioned existence (Samsara)

I prostrate before the sage Patanjali, who has thousands of radiant, white heads (as the divine serpent, Ananta) and who has, as far as his arms, assumed the form of a man holding a conch shell (divine sound), a wheel (discus of light or infinite time) and a sword (discrimination).