In the tradition of Ashtanga Yoga, each class begins and ends with a short mantra.
The mantra, chanted at the beginning of the class, is an invocation of the sage Patanjali (the author of the Yoga Sutras) and also gives thanks to the continuous line of teachers who have come before us (from Patanjali in the 2nd century B.C. to the present day)
vande gurūṇaṁ caraṇāravinde sandarśita svātma sukhāva bodhe
niḥ śreyase jaṅgalikāyamāne saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāntyai
ābāhu puruṣakāraṁ śaṇkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam
sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ praṇamāmi patañjalim
I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus
The awakening happiness of one’s own Self, revealed
Beyond, better, acting like the jungle physician
Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara (conditioned existence)
Taking the form of a man to the shoulders
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword
One thousand heads white
To Patanjali, I salute
At the end of the class the closing mantra is chanted
svastiprajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṁ nyāyena mārgeṇa mahīṃ mahīśāḥ
gobrāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubhamastu nityaṃ lokāsamastā sukhinobhavantu
May all be well with humanity
May the leaders of the world protect in every way by keeping to the right path
May there be goodness for those who know the earth to be sacred
May all the people of all the worlds be happy
You could think of these two mantras almost like bookends, between which the formal practice of asana takes place. By regular chanting of the mantras we come to associate them with the demarcation of our formal practice from the rest of our day. The sound of each mantra becomes the point at which we know that now is the time for the practice, or as Patanjali writes in the very first of the yoga sutras;
Atha yoganusasanam
Now Begins Yoga
(Sūtra I:1)
Listen to Guruji chanting the opening mantra and the closing mantra
Watch this clip of Lakshmish (chanting, Sanskrit and yoga sūtra teacher from the KPJAYI in Mysore) chanting both mantras
Sharath chanting the closing mantra
