It is a controversial subject. Some people place the period of Mahabharata in around 3100 BCE, while some others placing in around 700 bce, though Nilesh Oak dates the Mahabharata War to 5561 BCE (approx. 7,500 years ago).
So, it depends on which parameter one adopts in fixing the period of Mahabharata.
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a) I will quote saying of Varahamihira in Verse 13.3 of his composition Brihat Samhita.
आसन्मघासु मुनयः शासति पृथ्वीं युधिष्ठिरे नृपतौ ।
षड्द्विकपञ्चद्वियुतः शककालस्तस्य राज्ञश्च ॥ ३ ॥
āsanmaghāsu munayaḥ śāsati pṛthvīṃ yudhiṣṭhire nṛpatau |
ṣaḍdvikapañcadviyutaḥ śakakālastasya rājñaśca || 3 ||
During the reign of Yudhisthira, 2526 years before the commencement of Vikrama Śaka, the Seven Ṛṣis (Saptarṣi) were at the constellation of Maghā (Regulus).
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Vikrama Śaka calendar is traditionally recognized to have started in 57 BCE.
Hence, Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, might be ruling the country in 2583 BCE.
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b) Pāṇini (The Grammarian) existed around the 6th to 5th century BCE (or roughly c. 520–460 BCE).
In Sutra 4.3.98 of the Ashtadhyayi, Panini provides the rules for applying suffixes to names to denote a worshiper or devotee (Bhakti). In that sutra, he mentions "Vāsudevārjunābhyāṃ vun".
"Vāsudevārjunābhyāṃ vun" dictates how to form the words Vāsudevaka (a devotee of Vasudeva) and Arjunaka (a devotee of Arjuna).
Pāṇini had to explicitly account for these words in his foundational Sanskrit grammar framework, it confirms that the worship of Vāsudeva (Krishna) - as a Divinity, and the heroic veneration of Arjuna, the main characters of Mahabharata, were already fully developed cultural phenomena prior to his lifespan.
The high moral values of adherence to the TRUTH and DHARMA that Vāsudeva (Krishna) followed in his entire life, as narrated in the Mahabharata, might have elevated him to the level of a DIVINITY, though born as a mortal, by the time Pāṇini came into the existence. That was why Vāsudeva’s (Krishna) veneration can be found in his treatise.
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c) Kautilya or Chanakya, who assisted Chandragupta, existed around the same period (~400 BCE).
Duryodhana and Ravana were mentioned in the Kautilya’s Arthashastra.
In Book 1, Chapter 6 (Indriya-Jaya or The Overthrow of the Aggregate of the Six Enemies), Kautilya warns rulers against lust, anger, and pride.
He specifically names Ravana as an example of a king who perished due to his inability to control lust (unwilling to restore another's wife), and Duryodhana as one who perished due to pride (refusing to give a portion of his kingdom).
This demonstrates that the epics were treated not just as isolated poetry, but as a structural manual of political realism and historical precedents by the Mauryan statecraft advisors.
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d) I have found a reference about the Pandava Hill, from the episode of King Bimbisara’s meeting Gautama, the Buddha - Pabbaja Sutta: The Going Forth.
In this text, I found that King Bimbisara met Buddha near the Pandava Hill.
For a hill to be named after the Pandavas during the lifetime of the Buddha, the stories, legends, or historical memory of the Pandava brothers must have already been widely circulated. It would be impossible for a prominent mountain to carry their name, if their narrative was not already common public knowledge.
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e) The timeline fixed by Western Indologists for Buddha is around 563–483 BCE, which is being followed by many present-day historians also.
And, the timeline fixed for Adi Shankara is around 780 AD, keeping in view of the general consensus about time gap between Adi Shankara and Buddha.
However, noted scholar (Late) Shri Venkatachalem’s writings and records of majority of Shankara Mutts fixed the timeline of Shri Adi Shankara to be around 500 BCE.
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f) In the 20th Century, Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati got the soil test conducted through a geologist and found that the timeline of Adi Shankara around 500 BCE.
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“One day a very reputed Geologist happened to visit Kanchipuram to have darshan of Mahaswamigal. After enquiring about his family Swamigal asked him if he would do Him a favour. The geologist was overcome as he wondered what it was that he, a mere mortal could help the Saakshaat Deivam with. He immediately agreed. Mahaperiya asked him if he knew about Kaladi. The geologist replied that even a young child knew that it was the birth place of Adi Shankaracharyar. Periyava then told him that the river Purna ran through that place and that Shankarar's mother used to bathe in it every day. He then requested him to arrange for a diver to dive and take out sand from two different locations of the River Purna (presently called River Periyar).
One location, He said, should be where the River Purna enters Kerala before it diverts into entering Kaladi and the other location should be at Kaladi, where the river makes a small U-turn and reaches Shankarar's home itself. Swamigal asked him to use the technique of carbon dating to ascertain the age of the sand at these two locations. The geologist promised to return with the results at the earliest overjoyed that he could actually carry out the wishes of Mahaperiya himself.
The geologist performed the exercise as instructed by Swamigal and returned to the mattum. Periyava was waiting for him with a beatific smile on his face. He asked him about the results. The geologist presented the reports and said that the sand taken from the first location (where Purna enters Kerala) yielded an age of being more than 100,000 years whereas the sand from the second location in Kaladi (near Adi Shankarar's home) was close to about 2500 years!
Periyava explained the results - He said that Adi Shankara’s mother would bathe in the river every day. However, once, due to her infirmities, she fainted on the way home. Shankarar asked her to bathe henceforth in the water from their well, but she declined. Shankarar, unable to convince His mother, entreated Goddess Ganga through a song and requested her to follow His footsteps (Kal Adi) and flow near His ancestral house. No sooner did He do this than the Purna changed her course and started flowing just by His dwelling!! His mother was overjoyed and continued her ablutions by the river for the rest of her life on earth.
Periyava explained that this was the reason behind the differences in the carbon dating results. The river entering Kerala is about 100,000 years old, but the change in course at Kaladi happened only after Adi Shankarar's intervention.
Thus this confirmed that Adi Shankara was indeed born in the year 509 BC, which is 2500 years back!”
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g) Hence, the above findings pushes the timeline of Buddha to ~1700 BCE (Adi Shankara’s timeline 500 BCE +1200 years time gap between him and Buddha).
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Thus, it can be inferred that the story of Mahabharata is in circulation even at the time of Buddha (~1700 BCE)
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Some say that the Pandava hill at which King Bimbisara met Buddha may not be related to Pandavas of Mahabharata. Here is an article description about how Buddhist caves were called Pandava caves.
According to them
- In Pali and Sanskrit, the root word Pandu means pale, white or yellowish. The hill near Rajgir (ancient Rajagriha) was likely named Pāṇḍava-pabbata to describe the physical appearance, colour of the rocks, or soil of that specific geographic feature rather than the heroes of the Mahabharata.
- The Buddhist monks used wear Yellow orbes and hence, people used to call the caves the Buddhist monks used live in as Pandu caves.
- Mainstream historical and archaeological consensus dates Gautama Buddha to the 5th to 6th century BCE, not 1700 BCE.
The above arguments may not be valid:
a) In the text it was stated that King Bimbisara saw the young Buddha all alone. And, his clothing colour was not mentioned as yellow.
Most probably, that was the time, when Siddhartha was still roaming all alone, in search of SELF REALISATION/Nirvana. Formal commencement of Sangha of Buddhism might not have started and he might not have disciples at that point of time.
So, Buddhist monks with yellow robes living in caves was not mentioned in the text. Hence, I do not think the word Pandava applies to yellow in this case.
b) Bimbisara was the king of Magada, which was the capital Jarasandha, as per Mahabharata.
In India, we can come across many areas/lakes being named after some legendary personalities.
Hence, I am inclined to the idea that the Hill was named after Pandavas.
c) The timeline of Buddha was fixed by Western Indologists as ~500 BCE, based on their own prejudices. Hence, this timeline cannot be accepted.
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