Patañjali is best understood as a spiritual-philosophical teacher and systematizer of yoga rather than as a religious figure in the conventional sense. Tradition regards him as the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, a foundational text of classical yoga within the broader Hindu darśana framework. In that role he stands as a ṛṣi or ācārya, a sage who distilled and organized existing yogic knowledge into a concise, coherent path. There is no reliable indication that he founded a sect, led a religious community, or functioned as a priest, prophet, or founder of a religion. His surviving work is a terse philosophical and practical manual, not a narrative centered on his person or a text that demands allegiance to him as an object of devotion.

The Yoga Sūtras themselves present an eight-limbed path (aṣṭāṅga-yoga) oriented toward liberation (kaivalya), articulated in philosophical and psychological terms. The emphasis falls on self-discipline, ethical conduct, meditative absorption, and direct experiential knowledge, rather than on ritual observance or institutionalized worship. Within this framework, concepts such as Īśvara appear in a functional way: devotion to a supreme being or using Īśvara as an object of meditation is acknowledged as a possible aid, but not as a compulsory dogma. The text thus allows space for theistic devotion while not making it the core of the system. What emerges is a guide for spiritual realization that operates more as a rigorous sādhanā-manual than as a religious creed.

Within the wider Hindu tradition, Patañjali is revered as a sage and teacher whose work represents one of the six orthodox schools of philosophy, rather than a distinct religious tradition. Later invocatory verses and lineages may honor him, yet this reverence does not transform him into a founder of a faith in the way that term is usually understood. His legacy is that of a scholar and codifier who clarified and organized practices already present among various teachers and streams of yoga. Seen in this light, Patañjali stands as a luminous philosophical guide whose authority rests on the depth and precision of his insight, not on institutional power or religious office.