Patanjali (Sanskrit: पतञ्जलि, IAST: Patañjali, Sanskrit pronunciation: [pɐtɐɲdʑɐli]; also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the name of one or more author(s), mystic(s) and philosopher(s) in ancient India. His name is recorded as an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these are the Yoga Sutras, a classical yoga text. Estimates based on analysis of this work suggests that its author(s) may have lived between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE.
An author of the same name is credited with the authorship of the classic text on Sanskrit grammar named Mahābhāṣya, that is firmly datable to the 2nd century BCE, and authorship of medical texts possibly dating from 8th-10th centuries CE. The two works, Mahābhāṣya and Yoga Sutras, are completely different in subject matter, and Indologist Louis Renou has shown that there are significant differences in language, grammar and vocabulary. Before the time of Bhoja (11th century), no known text conflates the identity of the two authors.