Patanjali is believed to be one of the greatest sages of India who systematized three important areas of knowledge into definite and enriched form. He is believed to be the incarnation on Adishesha (Serpent God/ snake God). There are many folklores popular about him since ancient times. His mother is believed to a great devotee of Sun Lord, she had no children, she is great ascetic too. It's is tradition in India that we offer water with our hands, we offer this to the Sun lord, because, Sun is the cause of rain , Sun is the source of life , Sun is God in ur culture, so Sun is worshiped since time immemorial in India. It's believed that, Patanjali's mother was offering water to the Sun Lord, suddenly something from heaven fell in her hands, to her surprise she found out as a peculiar form, the upper half of the body is like a human form and lower half is like a snake. So the Sanskrit word "pat" literally means to fall and "Anjali" means Palms, so he is named as Patanjali, it's believed. Yet another story goes like this that, he was not good at studies and his mother from Gurukul ask him to go Himalayas and do austerity to propitiate Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva satisfied with his austerity and appeared in front of him playing his damru ( drum), the play of His drum symbolizes the basis of Sanskrit language and blessed him and direct him to write Mahabhashya and other two works of yoga and Ayurvedua.
Great sage Patanjali' contribution in enriching Indian culture is unparalleled, the great sage in his wisdom codified all the scattered streams into one string called yoga Sutras. This work of Patanjali is considered across the globe as one of the most authentic works yoga. Sutra in Sanskrit literally means a thread, the one who systematically and beautifully arranged the flowers into one thread to make a beautiful garland, Patanjali systematically arranged all those yoga practices into one single thread named as Yoga Sutras. Yoga Sutras is a complete and marvelous effort of the great saint. His wisdom of self realization and self perfection manifest in this works. Each Sutras he carefully crafted and makes it adorable to any sadhakas, though the knowledge of yoga was very much there in the Vedas well before Patanjali. He absorb the essence of the Vedas and simplified it and presented it in jest one hundred and ninety five Sutras. One single Veda has more than one hundred thousand mantras ( hymns), all four Vedas together is very huge body of knowledge, more over Veda has six upavedas ( branches) each branch is so huge, to study and establish in one branch needed considerable years of hard work and dedication, an ordinary person may take many birth to study and understand the whole Vedas. Patanjali in his Supreme wisdom understood and assimilated the essence of the Vedas as a whole in a very short span of time due to the grace of Lord Shiva. A beginner with no prior knowledge of yoga can see the complete yoga philosophy in jest less than two hundred small Sutras. Patanjali made yoga practices into very systematic, simple, accurate, profound, beautiful to any earnest seeker.
Patanjali is believed to be the one among those who codified the greatest Ayurvedic manual Charak Samhita, rooted in the Atherveda, in the benedictory worse propitiating Patanjali the tradition says " yogenachittasy padenavaachaam malam shariirasy cha Vaidyakena! Yoapaakarottam pravaram muniinaam patanjalim Pranjlirenatosmi!! , my prostration unto the feet of Patanjali who brought in yoga Sutras for the purification of the mind, grammatical perfection ( Mahabhashya=great commentary) and the purification of body Ayurveda. In Sanskrit literature Patanjali' s Bhashya ( commentary) is regarded as Mahabhashya ( great commentary), even aadi Shankars ( first Shivas incarnation) commentaries are all called only Bhashya (commentary) the adjective "maha" means great is a very big thing in Sanskrit literature. Patanjali is commanding such great gesture in the whole tradition, in places he has also regarded as the Aadi Shesha( the serpent god ). He is attributed to the three great works yoga Sutras for inner purification, Ayurveda Manuel Charak Samhita for the physical purification and Mahabhashya for the speech purification. All his works are marvelous and non contradictory, his yoga Sutras has one of the highest numbers of commentaries among the rest. It's believed in the tradition that due to Lord Shivas blessings only Patanjali capable to do all, grace of God makes a big difference in Hindu culture. Charaka in Sanskrit literally means a wandering Sanyasi (ascetic), So sage Patanjali might have been a great ascetic and wandering Sanyasi. In ancient Indian tradition there two kinds of Sanyasis, one kind of ascetics is wandering place to place for study, teaching or pen down his knowledge, the other types of Sanyasis stay at one location do what ever they are suppose to do as said in the Shastras.
The effort and wisdom he put in these three manuals have no comparison anywhere, a complete human analysis from all perspective he made it those three, Ayurveda is considered as a complete medicine, unlike other systems the end purpose of human life is clarified, charaka says " dharmarthkamamokshaanaam aarogyam moolam uttamam" , health of the body is to be preserved for the sake of Dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), Kama (desires fulfillment) and for moksha ( emancipation), there is no other medical systems have an end purpose envisaged other the curing the illness, more over the way Ayurveda emphasis on four pillars of human life for a complete and definite purpose in human life. A grassroot analysis is methodically done by the grate sage, from existence to essence so that a human can cure his all illnesses, whether it's physical, mental or spiritual. One has to live a well balanced life, means moderation and equilibrium in body, mind and senses, more over food is to be well balanced with body constituents. Mind and body is in perfect balance and co relation with threes gunas sattvic, Raja and Tampa) and three doshas ( Vata, Pitta, and kappa). Patanjali is more remembered for his wisdom in codifying all the scatter knowledge of yoga and Further elaborating Charak Samhita and Sanskrit grammar commentary so that it's application can be more precisely understood.
In Hindu Shastras "shabda" (sound ) is a Parma ( a proof of knowledge) , the knowledge of Shastras is handed down from teacher to student through oral communication, all the Shastras are memorized in ancient time. In the beginning of kaliyuga, Maharshi Vyasa codified all the scattered knowledge of the Vedas and given it a definite written form namely Rig Veda , yajurveda , Samaveda and Atherva Veda.All the knowledge of the Hindu Shastras we can derive from the Veda. Vedic hymns are in Vedic Sanskrit, one has to understand the implied meaning and intended meanings of each hymns, systematic, deeper, analytical and logical Sanskrit grammar is most essential in understanding the meanings of Vedic hymns. Maharshi Patanjali did an elaborated commentary on Paninis Sanskrit grammar named Mahabhasya ( great commentary) which makes it easy for understanding the Veda. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is in a capsule form, each word is compressed with many meanings, an interpretation of highest quality and understanding only can understand the intended meanings of it. If an ordinary intelligent person go through the verbal meanings of the, total charm in it may looses. All the Hindu shasters are in such capsule forms, there is great chance of mis interpretation. One has to have the cultural integrity, grammatical proficiency, cognitive understanding and spiritually rooted in austerity then only can interpret Indian Shastras in the appropriate way. There is huge possibilities of dual meanings and to avoid misinterpretation one has to look definitely deeper into the interpretations of Patanjalis great commentary on Sanskrit grammar. Through the intended meanings of the shasters only one can gain the knowledge of the self, one has to open the jnanachashu ( eyes of knowledge) through shrevana ( hearing) the teaching from the Guru, one has to do mamana ( think about the teaching ) and do nidhi dhyasana ( dwell ) upon the knowledge. Patanjali simplified and summarized the Vedic knowledge of the self existing self knowledge in yoga Sutras, and make the realization possible in a very practical and systematic manner. Vedic knowledge of Ayurveda (life science of longevity) in keeping the human body in better health he summarized and codified in the elaborated edition of Charak Samhita. The very understanding of the Vedic knowledge,Patanjali well elaborated the grammatical applications in the interpretation of the Vedas. Patanjali is always remembered as one among the greatest sages who contributed in the enrichment of the Vedic culture and philosophy. Patanjali yoga Sutras is considered as one among the six systems of Indian philosophy. It librate a human being from the bondage of samasra ( worldly limitations). The ultimate goal he set in his philosophy is samadhi and self knowledge, which is inseparable from the Vedic vision. His philosophy is also know by the name Rajayoga( king of yoga), because it stand on the top of all contemporary yoga philosophies of his time. He remain the king of his wisdom at the time to come also. My prostration to thy feet O the lord Maharshi Patanjali.