Patanjali

Patanjali is the author of the Yoga Sutras. Almost nothing is known of his life, and his dates are disputed, somewhere between the second century BC and the fourth century AD. Indian tradition also knows a grammarian of the same name who wrote the great commentary on Panini's grammar of Sanskrit, and whether the two are one person is still debated. Legend makes him an incarnation of the serpent king, and statues of Patanjali as half man and half serpent are often seen in Indian yoga schools. He gathered into a system the knowledge of meditation and discipline built up over centuries before him, and is honoured as the father of yoga.