ot been
doubted by any Hindu writer up to this time. Mr. Weber thinks, however,
that the author of the Yoga Sutras might be a different man from the
author of the Mahabhashya, though he does not venture to assign any
reason for his supposition. We very much doubt if any European
Orientalist can ever find out the connection between the first Anhika of
the Mahabhashya and the real secrets of Hatha Yoga contained in the Yoga
Sutras. No one but an initiate can understand the full significance of
the said Anhika; and the "eternity of the Logos" or Sabda is one of the
principal doctrines of the Gymnosophists of India, who were generally
Hatha Yogis. In the opinion of Hindu writers and pundits Patanjali was
the author of three works, viz., Mahabhashya, Yoga Sutras, and a book on
Medicine and Anatomy; and there is not the slightest reason for
questioning the correctness of this opinion. We must, therefore, place
Patanjali in the Sutra period, and this conclusion is confirmed by the
traditions of the Indian initiates. As Sankaracharya was a contemporary
of Patanjali (being his Chela) he must have lived about the same time.
We have thus shown that there are no reasons for placing Sankara in the
eighth or ninth century after Christ, as some of the European
Orientalists have done. We have further shown that Sankara was
Patanjali's Chela, and that his date should be ascertained with
reference to Patanjali's date. We have also shown that neither the year
B.C. 140 nor the date of Alexander's invasion can be accepted as the
maximum limit of antiquity that can be assigned to him, and we have
lastly pointed out a few circumstances which will justify us in
expressing an opinion that Patanjali and his Chela Sankara belonged to
the Sutra period. We may, perhaps, now venture to place before the
public the exact date assigned to Sankaracharya by Tibetan and Indian
initiates. According to the historical information in their possession
he was born in the year B.C. 510 (fifty-one years and two months after
the date of Buddha's Nirvana), and we believe that satisfactory evidence
in support of this date can be obtained in India if the inscriptions at
Conjeveram, Sringeri, Jaggurnath, Benares, Cashmere, and various other
places visited by Sankara, are properly deciphered. Sankara built
Conjeveram, which is considered as one of the most ancient towns in
Southern India; and it may be possible to ascertain the time of its
construction if p