Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Compilation and Dating

Compilation and Dating

Various authorities attribute the compilation of the sutras to Patañjali, who is also referenced as the author of a major treatise on Sanskrit grammar, the Mahabhasya. It is considered that Patañjali was not the first to write about Yoga - other authors had written before him, and he used their writings in his work. However, as it often happens, his text became the authority on the subject.

Radhakrishnan and Moore attribute the text to Patañjali, dating it as 2nd century BCE, during the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE). Scholars such as S.N. Dasgupta, claim this is the same Patañjali who authored the Mahabhasya, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. However, Indologist Axel Michaels disagrees that the work was written by Patañjali, characterizing it instead as a collection of fragments and traditions of texts stemming from the second or third century. Gavin Flood cites an even wider period of composition, between 100 BCE and 500 CE.