India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c13.36

c13.36

*SUMMARY*—We may now summarise these considerations. The various dates assigned by scholars to Pāṇini range from the seventh to the fourth century B.C. The majority of scholars are inclined towards the fifth and the fourth century B.C. The view taken in this work is that a date nearer the fifth century B.C. appears more probable on the basis of the available data. It takes Pāṇini to be a contemporary of the Nanda king named Mahānanda and thus assigns him to the middle of the fifth century B.C.