But there are a few
considerations which may help us in coming to the conclusion that
Patanjali must have lived about the year 500 B.C.; Max Muller fixed the
Sutra period between 500 B.C. and 600 B.C. We agree with him in
supposing that the period probably ended with B.C. 500, though it is
uncertain how far it extended into the depths of Indian antiquity.
Patanjali was the author of the Yoga Sutras, and this fact has not been
doubted by any Hindu writer up to this time. Mr. Weber thinks, however,
that the author of the Yoga Sutras might be a different man from the
author of the Mahabhashya, though he does not venture to assign any
reason for his supposition. We very much doubt if any European
Orientalist can ever find out the connection between the first Anhika of
the Mahabhashya and the real secrets of Hatha Yoga contained in the Yoga
Sutras. No one but an initiate can understand the full significance of
the said Anhika; and the "eternity of the Logos" or Sabda is one of the
principal doctrines of the Gymnosophists of India, who were generally
Hatha Yogis.
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