Previous Year Question

Patanjali is clearly associated with the Sunga period. He composed the famous grammatical work Mahabhashya, a commentary on Panini's Ashtadhyayi. IGNOU's material on the Post-Mauryan Dynasties identifies Patanjali as the royal priest of Pushyamitra Sunga, and the Mahabhashya also contains a reference connected with a sacrifice performed for Pushyamitra. Therefore, associating Patanjali with the Sunga period is correct.

However, an important historical precision is necessary here. Panini and Patanjali were not contemporaries. Panini's Ashtadhyayi predates Patanjali's Mahabhashya. The University of Michigan Press dates Panini's grammar to approximately the 5th century BCE, whereas Patanjali is generally placed in the 2nd century BCE. Therefore, describing both scholars as having “flourished” under the same dynasty is not chronologically precise.