The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c18.12

v2.c18.12

When this last transition took place is not known, but from two verses quoted in the *Kāvya Prakāśa* of Mammaṭha Bhaṭṭa, which dates from the 9th century, it would seem that the idea of the sun being the divinity over diseases must be considerably older. Mayūra Bhaṭṭa lived long before the date of the *Kāvya Prakāśa*, and he, having composed a century of verses in praise of Sūrya, is said to have cured himself of leprosy. Goyicandra, in his commentary on the *Saṃkṣiptasāra*, says that cures from diseases result from the grace of Sūrya ; and other authorities may be easily multiplied. According to the Purāṇas, the sun had, by Saṃjñā, the twin Aśvinikumāras, who were the physicians of the gods.