Krishnamacharya provided each of his students with their own personal mantra to be used at the start of each practice. BKS Iyengar honours Patanjali with these words and passes this mantra on to his students.

Mantra
oṁ
oṁparticle
Om

OM

jīvakarmadhāraya-compound funkelnd
jīvaadjective
lebendig
maṇikarmadhāraya-compound
maṇisubstantive masculine
Juwel
bhrājatkarmadhāraya-compound
bhrājatadjective
schimmernd, funkelnd, strahlend
phaṇakarmadhāraya-compound
phaṇasubstantive masculine
Schlangenhaube
sahasrakarmadhāraya-compound
sahasranumeral
tausend; hier: tausendfach
vidhr̥tapast participle passive bahuvrīhi-compund
vidhr̥verb
auseinandergebreitet, aufgefächert
viśvamtatpuru.sa~~-compound genitive
viśvasubstantive neuter
All, Kosmos
bharavok singular
bharasubstantive masculine
Träger

Oh Träger des Kosmos, der tausende Hauben ausgebreitet hat, die mit funkelnden Juwelen strahlen.

Nils Jakob Liersch

Dr. Ronald Steiner

maṇḍalāyādative sgewigen
maṇḍalasubstantive neuter
dem Kreis
anantāyadative singular
anantasubstantive masculine
Unendlicher, Beiname von Viṣṇu, Rudra, Śiva und Śeṣa
nāgarājāyadative sgŚeṣa
nāgasubstantive masculinerājasubstantive masculine
dem König der Schlangen
namaḥnominative singular
namsubstantive masculine
Verehrung, Ehrerbietung

Verehrung [sei] dem unendlichen Ananta, dem König der Schlangen.

Nils Jakob Liersch

Dr. Ronald Steiner

ā
āprevix
bis zu
bhāhubahuvrīhi-compund
bāhusubstantive masculine
den Armen habend
puruṣatatpuru.sa~~-compound genitive
puruṣasubstantive masculine
Mensch
ākāramaccusative singular
ākārasubstantive masculine
Form, Figur, Gestalt
śaṅkhadvandva-compound
śaṅkhasubstantive masculine
Muschelhorn
cakradvandva-compound
cakrasubstantive neuter
Diskus
asibahuvrīhi-compund
asisubstantive masculine
Schwert
dhāriṇamaccusative singular
dhārinadjective neuter
tragend

Vor ihm, der am Oberkörper von menschlicher Gestalt ist, Muschelhorn, Diskus und Schwert trägt,

Dr. Ronald Steiner

sahasrabahuvrīhi-compund
sahasranumeral
tausend
śirasamaccusative singular
śirasasubstantive masculine
Kopf
śvetammasculine accusative singular
śvetaadjective
strahlend
pra
praprevix
vor
namāmi3rd person singular indicative present
namverb
ich verbeuge mich
patañjalimaccusative singular
patañjalisubstantive masculine
Patanjali

vor dem, der mit tausend strahlenden Köpfen versehen ist, vor Patañjali, verbeuge ich mich.

Dr. Ronald Steiner

oṁ
oṁparticle
Om

OM

This Sanskrit Mantra (मंत्र, Maṁtra) is of relatively new. In the ancient literature of the Hatha-Yoga (हठयोग, Haṭha-Yoga) text, it is almost exclusively Shiva who is worshiped as the god of Yoga. Additionally, in the comments to the Yoga-Sutra (योगसूत्र, Yoga-Sūtra) compiled by Patanjali (पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), the personal deity Ishvara (ईश्वार, Īśvāra) is often put on equal footing with Shiva.With this Mantra (मंत्र, Maṁtra), Patanjali (पतञ्जलि, Patañjali) is worshiped as Shesha (शेष, Śeṣa) or Ananta (अनन्त, Ananta) which clearly indicates a Vaishnava origin. It appears only in the tradition of Krishnamacharya, where each student received and passed on their own variation of this Mantra (मंत्र, Maṁtra).BKS Iyengar, like Krishnamacharya, can be assigned to Vaishnava Hinduism. The mantra BKS Iyengar teaches us, therefore, stems undoubtedly from this tradition.