Patanjali

Patanjali is a collective name attributed to one or more influential authors, mystics, and philosophers active in ancient India. Across the Sanskrit literary and intellectual traditions, several significant works on grammar, yoga, and medicine bear this name, leading to long-standing scholarly debates regarding the identity or identities behind these treatises. While later cultural memory often celebrates Patanjali as a single polymathic sage, modern Indological research largely regards these texts as the work of distinct individuals who happened to share the same name.
The authors known as Patanjali contributed profoundly to Indian thought, particularly in the areas of classical Sanskrit linguistics, Yoga philosophy, and health sciences. Their works became foundational texts across multiple intellectual lineages, shaping knowledge systems from antiquity through the medieval era.

Historical Background and Identity Debates

The name Patanjali appears in numerous textual traditions across centuries, making the historical reconstruction of his identity complex. Western and Indian scholarship of the twentieth century identified at least ten historical authors bearing the name. Variations include appellations such as Gonardiya and Gonikaputra, both frequently associated with early figures attributed with key Sanskrit treatises.
Differences in style, vocabulary, subject matter, and historical references within the works linked to Patanjali have led most modern scholars to conclude that the Patanjali of Sanskrit grammar, the Patanjali of Yoga philosophy, and the Patanjali associated with medical writings were distinct individuals. The tradition conflating these figures emerges only from approximately the eleventh century onwards, particularly in courtly and religious contexts where a single sage was glorified as the master of grammar, medicine, and yoga.
Yet, despite the academic consensus, some traditional Indian schools and commentarial lineages continue to revere a unified Patanjali, often viewed as an incarnation of Adi Sesha, the cosmic serpent associated with divine wisdom.

Patanjali the Grammarian

The grammarian Patanjali is widely regarded as the author of the Mahābhāṣya, an extensive commentary on Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī and Kātyāyana’s vārttikas. This monumental text is dated firmly to the mid-second century BCE, based on internal references to political events of the Mauryan period and cross-analysis with other classical Sanskrit literature.
The Mahābhāṣya is one of the most authoritative works on Sanskrit grammar and linguistic theory. Its distinguishing features include:

• a systematic and rigorous dialectical method,
• detailed etymological analyses,
• extensive philosophical discussions on language structure, meaning, and usage.

The text established the foundation for subsequent grammatical scholarship in India. For over two millennia, Patanjali’s authority in this field remained paramount, influencing linguistic inquiry across Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. The work’s prestige extended beyond India; travellers such as the Chinese monk Yijing recorded its prominence in Indian monastic education, where advanced students reportedly studied it for years.

Patanjali and the Yoga Sutras

Another influential figure named Patanjali is credited with composing the Yoga Sūtras, the cornerstone text of classical Yoga philosophy and practice. The dating of this Patanjali has been widely debated, with scholarly estimates ranging from the second century BCE to the fifth century CE. Most contemporary researchers narrow this period to between the second and fourth centuries CE.
The Yoga Sūtras constitute a concise and systematic exposition of Yoga through aphorisms, organised primarily around:

• moral discipline and ethical foundations (yama and niyama),
• physical and mental practices,
• concentration and meditative absorption,
• the nature of consciousness and liberation.

In many manuscripts and medieval traditions, a commentary known as the Bhāṣya accompanies the sūtras. Some scholars attribute both works to the same author, while others assert that the commentary—the Yoga Bhāṣya—was the work of an earlier editor or redactor, possibly named Vyāsa. By the medieval period, the Yoga Sūtras had been translated widely across India into numerous regional languages, underscoring their significance within Hindu intellectual history.

Patanjali in the Medical Tradition

A third Patanjali appears in medieval Ayurveda, credited with a medical treatise commonly known as the Patanjalatantra. References to this author occur in major health-science compilations such as the Yogaratnākara, Yogaratnasamuccaya, and Padārthavijñāna, where Patanjali is cited as a medical authority.
Additionally, an eighth-century scholar of the same name authored the Carakavarttika, a commentary on the Charaka Saṃhitā. Some modern Indian researchers propose that these medical Patanjalis may be the same person, but unrelated to either the grammarian or the Yoga philosopher. This perspective remains tentative and is not widely accepted within mainstream Indological research.

Cultural and Religious Significance

Within Tamil Siddha Shaivism, Patanjali is revered as one of the eighteen siddhars, mystical adepts celebrated for their esoteric knowledge and yogic powers. This tradition presents Patanjali not only as a scholar but also as a realised yogi.
In Tamil Nadu, the Brahmapureeswarar Temple at Thiruppattur (Tiruchirappalli district) is traditionally associated with Patanjali’s attainment of samadhi. An enclosed meditation hall marks the site believed to be his Jeeva Samadhi, offering a sacred space for devotees and practitioners of Yoga.

Etymology of the Name Patanjali

The name Patanjali is a Sanskrit compound analysed in classical lexicons. It derives from pat—meaning “falling” or “flying”—and añjali—referring to reverence or the gesture of palms joined in worship. The traditional interpretation renders the name as “one who fell (from above) with hands joined in reverence” or, more interpretively, “flowing from reverence”. This etymology underpins mythic narratives in which the sage descends as a divine gift to humanity.

Interpretations in Scholarship

The question of whether a single author could have produced masterpieces in grammar, yoga, and medicine has intrigued scholars for centuries. Early twentieth-century researchers, such as James Wood and Surendranath Dasgupta, entertained the possibility of unified authorship. However, linguistic analysis, historical dating, and subject-specific divergences have supported the modern view that these works were composed independently.
Later Indian traditions, especially from the eleventh century onward, began to offer devotional verses praising a single Patanjali as the master of the “three jewels”: grammar, medicine, and yoga. This portrayal appears in Bhoja’s Rājamārttanda commentary and in later texts, although no pre-tenth-century source explicitly claims such unity.

Legacy and Continuing Influence

Despite uncertainties regarding authorship, each Patanjali contributed decisively to Indian thought. The grammarian shaped the development of Sanskrit linguistics; the Yoga philosopher provided the most influential synthesis of yogic practice and metaphysics; the medical authors enhanced classical Indian health sciences. Together, these contributions ensure that the name Patanjali remains one of the most enduring and multifaceted in the intellectual history of South Asia.