Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s3.177

v2.c4.s3.177

Bhiṣaj, ‘physician,’ is a word of common occurrence in the Rigveda¹ and later.² There is no trace whatever in the former text of the profession being held in disrepute: the Aśvins,³ Varuna,⁴ and Rudra⁵ are all called physicians. On the other hand, in the Dharma literature⁶ this profession is utterly despised. This dislike is found as early as the Yajurveda Samhitās,⁷ where the Aśvins are condemned because of their having to do with the practice of medicine (bheṣaja), on the ground that it brings them too much among men, an allusion to the caste dislike of promiscuous contact.