Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c42.s2.2

v2.c42.s2.2

Lad (1983: 66-68) pointed out several reasons to believe in the antiquity of the epic. Some of the heroes of the epic such as Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, etc. have been mentioned in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (3.17.6) and Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini (4.3.98) which correspond to the eighth century and sixth-fifth century BC period respectively. Āsvalāyana Gṛhya Sūtra (3.4.4) eulogized the epic and Sāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra (15.16) referred to the Kurukṣetra war. These Sūtras may be dated around sixth century BC. Kautilya and Patañjali have also referred to the epic. It is quite possible therefore that a small core of the epic was in circulation before the eighth century BC.