legacy of vagbhata

8/18/2019 Legacy of Vagbhata

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Legacy of Vagbhata‘Legacy of Vagbhata’ by M. S. Valiathan

K. Rajagopalan, G. Geetha Krishnan1

Sushrutha Bhavan, Hospital Road, Kollam,

Kerala, 1Department of Integrative Mediine!"#urveda$,

Medanta % &he Mediit#, Gurgaon '(&,Hara#ana, India.

)rie* Rs.1,1+.--

ISB'* +/%/1%01%/%0)ages* +2

3ear* 4--+

Binding* Hard5a6

)u5lisher* 7niversities )ress


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B O O K R E V I E W

A text book for students and practitioners of Ayurveda, to

understand “ "stangahrda#a”, is how MS Valiathan describes

his venture, 8&he 9ega# of :ag5hata;, the latest in the trilogyof Brihat tra#ees

!ritten in the structure and for" of the for"er two books

of this series, 8&he 9ega# of (hara6a; and 8&he 9ega# of

Sushruta,” in “&he 9ega# of :ag5hata”, Valiathan dissects

and reasse"bles "stangahrda#a, with the precision and skill

of the great surgeon that he is #he rese"blance to the

structure of a "odern "edical text book is un"istakable

$t follows the logical build%up fro" the basics of the

science to the intricacies of super specialties and &nallyregenerative "edicine


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$n writing his “9ega# series”, Valiathan adopted fro" the

start, a for"at that would "ake the" readily accessible

to students who opt for Ayurveda and "edicine after '(years of school, while "aintaining the ut"ost &delity to

the original texts #hus 89ega# of :ag5hata; refrains fro"

lengthy and inconclusive discussions on non%"edical topics

such as the identity of Vagbhata, his date and place of birth

and so on $t is appropriate, and in line with the thoughts of

great sages of $ndia, that Vagbhata)s legacy is not sought

through dissecting his speculative personal details, but the

sub*ect itself Vagbhata, like his predecessors, cared to say

little about hi"self or the ti"es in which he lived, but left itto his work to speak, ti"elessly


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+oncise), +in a nut shell), +easy to "e"ori-e), +poetic),

+"ore conte"porary with regard to "edicines), +essence

of Samhitas by haraka, Sushrutha, and the Sangraha by Vagbhata). these are a few of the co""ents "ade

about Vagbhata/s great literary and scienti&c work, the

“ "stangahrda#a” $n this respect Valiathan)s endeavor

sticks closely to the heart of Vagbhata and concisely

su""ari-es the deep knowledge of "stangahrda#a into

easily understandable tables and &gures, thus paving the way

for it to be used as a 0uick reference guide to the original

1xplaining his decision to work with "stangahrda#a !"H$

instead of "stangasangraha 2AS3, as the text book of choice,to look into the life, philosophies, thoughts, and poetic

"arvel of Vagbhata, Valiathan says that Vagbhata hi"self

considered A4 to have grown out of the i""aculate

knowledge of ancient sages and their studies


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4e explains

that he had su5ciently looked into "stangasangraha of

Vagbhata, and, “soon realised that neither ti"e nor "y

training would per"it "e to write on Vagbhata)s legacybased on a critical and exhaustive study of Sangraha and

Hrda#a” together

"stangahrda#a owed its great appeal over earlier texts, to

the beauty of its verses, its "asterly style of condensation,

logical arrange"ent of topics, clarity of description, and

other "erits 6o doubt it was translated into foreign

languages, such as, Arabic, 7ersian, and #ibetan "any

centuries ago, and "ore recently into 1uropean languages

"stangahrda#a is a "edically oriented work, with principale"phasis on internal "edicine 2Ka#ahi6itsa3 South of the

Vindhyas, its popularity has rivaled that of the Samhitas of

haraka and Sushruta, whose na"es are revered, but not

widely read


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Valiathan, after his atte"pts to travel through the Brihat

tra#ees 2as the three "a*or treatises of Ayurveda are known3

states that. “the core of Ayurvedic doctrines, and pro&leof diseases and procedures, re"ain unchanged over

centuries, whereas, changes which did occur, were "ore or

less con&ned to the do"ain of "edicinal for"ulations”

#o so"e one well versed with A4, the ingenuity of

Valiathan)s work rests in the part where he atte"pts to

co"pare certain aspects of A4, AS, and the haraka

Sa"hita 2S3, by looking at the concepts of)anhamaha5huta,

7hthisis 2pul"onary tuberculosis3, and the )anha6arma process of Basti


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$n the process, Valiathan clearly builds his

case, bringing to light very de&nite trends in the evolution

of doctrines, treat"ent approaches, "edical procedures,

and phar"aceutical preparations, as traced through ti"eand "irrored through the scienti&c literature of S, AS,

and A4

“8the re"arkable absence of signi&cant changes 2"ay3 be

due to the fact that AS and A4 both drew their inspiration

fro" 9rdhabala)s co""entary, a redaction of haraka,

which was probably written in the sixth century not

long before 2Vagbhata3 lived”


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“As "edicine evolved after haraka, it beca"e "ore of a

practical art, with decreasing e"phasis on its philosophical

basis :ne should look less for the abstract and the

profound, and "ore for the concrete and practical in ASand A4, which were written for busy practitioners and

young trainees of Ayurveda, who then, as at present, had

little ti"e or inclination for philosophical re;ection”,

opines Valiathan

Vagbhata was obviously keen, as indeed he hasacknowledged,

to restate the essence of past knowledge in Ayurveda to suit

his ti"es, and he was also conscious of the success of his

e


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"stangahrda#a is celebrated not only for si"pli&cation and

extraction, but also for its brilliant use of si"iles 2upama3,

rhy"e 2 prasa3, and a variety of "etrical structures 2vrtta3

Al"ost every verse in A4 is so "elodious and pleasingto the ear, that the reader will probably be carried away as

"uch by the "agic of Vagbhata)s poetry, as by the serious

"edical concepts that it intends to convey@ Valiathan/s

0uotes fro" A4 bear elo0uent testi"ony to Vagbhata)s

dual clai" to greatness as both a physician and a poet $t

is a tribute to Vagbhata/s genius that he could e


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#he reverence with which Valiathan treats Vagbhata, the

depth and reach of his i""ense understanding along the

length and breadth of the Brihat tra#ees, and his perception

of the purpose of "edical science, can be read withclarity in the words with which Valiathan concludes his

introduction= “Vagbhata was the king of the do"ain

of Ayurveda, as well as the king of poetic rhyth" and

style. along with his sparkling distillate of ancient lore,

he succeeded in giving us an ad"irable text, which has

never been exceeded in authority by anything written by

his successors ut Vagbhata derives his "a*esty, above

all, fro" his application of "oral ideas to the practice of

"edicine under conditions &xed by the ancient preceptsof Ayurveda Vagbhata)s "oral universe was not bound up

with any rigid syste" of thought or belief 4e knew that

the practice of a "edicine indi


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Alone a"ong

the "har#as, he had the heart to proclai" that “a "ind,

pure and soaked in co"passion, is the best febrifuge” 6o

wonder, he re"ains one of the chief glories of Ayurveda,who is truly worthy of our ho"age

$t is a "ust for the student and every Ayurvedic scientist,

to read and understand Vagbhata, who with his profound

knowledge of life and health, stands alone and boldly states,

“A physician should never feel asha"ed of being unable to

na"e a disease. the fact is that not all diseases have been

na"ed” Valiathan)s book provides a uni0uely excellent

window into this vast and profound wisdo"

legacy of vagbhata

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