As per Hindu scriptures Sage Patanjali was an avatar of
thousand-headed Adishesha, the king of serpents and on whose majestic coils
Lord Vishnu rests in the milky ocean. On one occasion Vishnu witnessed the
cosmic dance of Shiva while reclining on Adi Sesha. Vishnu was so enraptured by
the dance movements of Shiva that his own body moved in rhythm. This cause huge
vibrations and Adishesha was not able to control the weight of vibrations.
Garuda came to his rescue. Soon Vishnu woke up from the yogic trance and there
was an expression of joy in his face.
When Adishesha heard from Vishnu about the great cosmic
dance, he too wished to witness it. Vishnu told Adishesha that in near future
Shiva will perform this dance on earth. He requested Adishesha to take birth in
human form to witness the dance and record it for the future generations.
Adishesha then scanned the earth to find a suitable find of
his birth on earth. He came across the woman destined to be his mother on the
banks of Mahaweli River. She was a great yogini named Gonika. She was
performing intense penance on the banks. She was asking Shiva to grant him a son
who was capable of passing her wisdom to the coming generations. Through
intense contemplation and yogic practice Gonika had acquired unparalleled
wisdom.
While performing the prayers, Gonika scooped up water from
the river, closed her eyes and uplifted her water-filled palms offering
obeisance to Surya, the sun god.
At the precise moment, Adishesha dropped into her palms in the
form a snake and then jumped to the ground and took the form of a human baby.
Gonika opened her eyes when she heard the cry of a human
baby. She was happy and astonished to find a self-manifested baby. She took up
the child and called him Patanjali – Pat (who fell) Anjali (who fell into palms
that were folded in prayer.