Radhakrishnan and Moore attribute the text to Patanjali, dating it as 2nd century BCE. Scholars such as S.N. Dasgupta, claim this is the same Patanjali who authored the Mahabhasya, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar.

Indologist Axel Michaels disagrees that the work was written by Patanjali, characterizing it instead as a collection of fragments and traditions of texts stemming from the second or third century. Gavin Flood cites a wider period of uncertainty for the composition, between 100 BCE and 500 CE.

Philosophical roots and influences
పతంజలి యోగశాస్త్రం
Compilation and dating
Usage