The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c6.104

c6.104

⁴ Ordinarily it is admitted that Patañjali belongs to the middle of the IInd century B.C., partly as he talks, in the present tense, of a sacrifice which is being held on the orders of the king Puṣyamitra. But since this is only an ordinary example of grammar, it is naive to believe that he was composing his work during the sacrifice itself. On the other hand, he mentions the Śakas who were, in that period, still far from India but who invaded the country in the beginning of the Ist century B.C. (cf., La Vallée de la Poussin, L'Inde au temps des Maurya, Paris, 1930, p. 201) However, his place in the line of grammarians puts him at least in the Ist century B. C.