Patañjali is revered in the yogic tradition as the ancient sage who gathered and systematized earlier teachings into the concise work known as the Yoga Sūtras, a foundational text of classical yoga philosophy. Within this tradition, he is seen less as an innovator of an entirely new path and more as the one who distilled and ordered existing yogic wisdom into a coherent framework. His role is thus that of a compiler and systematizer, presenting yoga as a disciplined path aimed at the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind and the attainment of spiritual liberation, or kaivalya.

The Yoga Sūtras attributed to Patañjali consist of 196 aphorisms arranged in four chapters, or pādas: Concentration (Samādhi), Practice (Sādhana), Supernatural Powers (Vibhūti), and Liberation (Kaivalya). Within this structure, he articulates the eight-limbed path, or aṣṭāṅga yoga, which encompasses ethical foundations, disciplined practice, and meditative absorption. This framework has come to define what is often called classical or Rāja Yoga, providing both a psychological map of the mind and a soteriological roadmap toward freedom from suffering.

Historically, very little can be stated with certainty about Patañjali as a person. Traditional accounts and modern scholarship alike acknowledge that his exact dates are unknown, though he is generally placed in an ancient period and treated as a semi-legendary figure. In some strands of Hindu tradition, he is associated with a grammarian of the same name and even with an author on medicine, though many scholars regard these as likely distinct individuals sharing a common name rather than a single polymathic author.

Within the living yoga tradition, Patañjali is honored as a ṛṣi, a seer whose insight continues to shape contemplative practice. Many lineages invoke him in a short verse of praise that recognizes his role as a spiritual authority and, in some tellings, as an embodiment of the cosmic serpent. Through this devotional lens, his Yoga Sūtras are not merely a philosophical treatise but a practical manual for ethical living, meditative discipline, and the realization of the deepest stillness of consciousness.