No one knows much about Patanjali except that he wrote his sutras in the form of musical chants in Sanskrit roughly 2000 years ago. Otherwise, he is a mystery.

Some argue he lived as early as 400 BCE (or even earlier); others, as late as 400 or 500 CE. Some argue that he was the legendary Patanjali the Grammarian, who lived in the mid-100s BCE and wrote a treatise on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics called the Mahābhāṣya, which formulated the rules of Sanskrit usage for many hundreds of years after his time. Others insist that Patanjali may have been one and the same as the first person to write a lengthy commentary on the Yoga Sutras, a writer we know only by the name Vyasa, which means “compiler” or “editor,” around 400-500 CE. Some scholars argue that the Yoga Sutras had two or three authors, with the earliest parts written by Patanjali and other sutras added later.

Some call Patanjali the father of yoga meditation. However, he really was more of an inventive and creative aggregator–a collector and organizer–of methods that existed in Hinduism from 3000 BCE or earlier. Many of his methods also can be found in the Bhagavad Gita, probably written before the Yoga Sutras. In the form of the Bhagavad Gita, Hindu meditation arrived to special notice in the West in the 1800s. In Europe, well-known philosopher Friedrich Hegel wrote about it. In America, transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau (of Walden fame) described it, and Thoreau said that what he practiced at times was yoga meditation.

What is now, in our twenty-first century, called “yoga” was developed in the early 1900s as a series of breathing, posture, and movement exercises also known more formally as hatha yoga or “physical yoga.” Though hatha yoga can involve meditation as part of its physical activities, it is not the full meditation yoga taught for thousands of years in India. Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita represent the full tradition that uses different, often mental pursuits and concentrations. Such mind techniques now also sometimes are called raja yoga or “mental concentration yoga.”  

About Patanjali himself, we may not have precise historical records. However, we can use "close reading," a literary method of using his writing style, content, and his times in India to determine several likely facts about him. This method of examination is similar to exegesis or redaction criticism that scholars of biblical literature have applied to Jewish and Christian scripture for several decades.

A first assumption is that he was bright and literate for his times. In India, as in most countries then, perhaps only 1-3% of the populace could read, and the percentage who could easily write Sanskrit–a scholarly, written language–was even smaller. Patanjali’s excellent writing shows a broad and deep knowledge of the important scriptures of Hinduism in early times and even, perhaps, Buddhism. He likely was an accomplished scholar.

A second deduction is that Patanjali experienced everything he talked about. People sometimes describe him as a philosopher, and indeed, it is possible to make philosophies from his comments. However, he clearly was writing about Hindu spiritual states that he, himself, had experienced. In short, he was a Hindu mystic.

A third observation is that he was what might be called a “spiritual journalist.” The well-respected, nonprofit American Press Institute defines journalism as “the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information.” Patanjali was a reporter of the basics of Hindu yoga meditation. He summarized the most important meditation practices mentioned in different parts of the lengthy Hindu scriptures. He organized and wrote these summaries as simple chants that large numbers of people could understand.

Fourth, Patanjali liked using metaphors from nature and agriculture. Though he uses few obvious literary metaphors, he often chooses words that have root meanings involving nature, planting, and even using wheeled carts. His sutras also speak of forms of light, water, and geographical features. This suggests that he lived in or near a rural area of India, possibly a location where he enjoyed greenery, rivers, hills, and the comings and goings of agriculture-based commerce.

A fifth likelihood is that he used many such metaphors and other words directly from the earliest Hindu scriptures, the Vedas, perhaps especially the oldest, the Rig Veda. In addition, he used a particular methodology or teaching pattern popular in ancient Vedic times: problem and solution. It is how ancient Vedic physicians and medicine in general diagnosed an illness and a prescription for it. Patanjali (like Buddha before him) diagnoses the problems that humans encounter; then he describes the solutions.

These two inclinations–ancient Vedic root words and medical-like diagnoses–suggest he may have lived in the earlier times of the estimated range of dates for his Yoga Sutras: that is, before the turn of the millennium–before 0 CE. At the least, even if he lived later, he appears to have been a traditionalist, looking to early Hindu times to develop his sutras.

Why is his personal inclination toward earlier, ancient times important? A disagreement exists among scholars about Patanjali’s resources–the sources of his ideas. On one side are translators and historians who believe he was eclectic in collecting his materials: his ideas, they say, apparently came from the ancient Vedas, Buddhism, Hindu Pali scriptures (a tongue “of the people” different from the scholarly Sanskrit language), Jainism (a somewhat slightly different early religion), and his own fertile mind.

Scholars on the other side insist Patanjali was a follower of the Samkhya school of Hinduism, which didn’t fully develop until the early classical era of Hinduism in 0-300 CE. For this reason, they say, Patanjali not only lived well after 0 CE, but what he wrote should be interpreted by the later precepts of the Samkhya system of beliefs.

Was Patanjali an eclectic ancient Hindu writer, or was he a follower of the later classical school of Samkhya? His writing style and content–his likely adherence to more traditional root-word meanings for his experiences–would suggest the former. And this, in turn, might tell us something important: that Patanjali’s central organizing principle in his Yoga Sutras was not the precepts of a school of philosophy, but rather a set of inner meditation events that he, himself, experienced.

If this scholarly disagreement about Patanjali’s resources interests you, there is more. See “Appendix C: Interpreting Patanjali.”)

A final two points about Patanjali is that he not only had an excellent command of Sanskrit, but he also possessed a sense of humor, largesse, and good will. In other words, as a person he probably was bright, warm, and giving. In fact, these three attributes were said to be true of a mid-100s BCE linguistic master named Patanjali. History clearly records that that Patanjali wrote the Sanskrit grammar masterpiece Mahābhāṣya (the Great Commentary). It is interesting that Hindu tradition says these two Patanjali’s were one and the same. Did the Patanjali who founded classical Sanskrit then retire–as was traditional among Vedic gurus–to become a yogi and meditation expert? If so, it would make perfect sense that he would use his mastery of writing to produce the Sanskrit Yoga Sutras.  

In short, Patanjali was a well-educated scholar, a mystic, and a practical journalist. He likely either lived in the ancient, pre-Common Era times (before 0 CE), or he was a traditionalist in his sources and writing. He also was a musician of skill who produced chants that many Hindus even today describe as haunting. That he also had a keen eye for beauty in nature, excellent Sanskrit writing skills, and a sense of humor and warmth make his life and teachings all the more special.

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Most recent revision: 31 Dec. 2021