Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.3683

c9.3683

Not much is known about Vāgbhaṭa. He was a scholar in rhetorical science. There are certain stories about his writing the medical books. It was a period when the muslims had beaten down the Brahmins. They had taken away the medical science also from them. The Brahmins considered this to be a disgrace to them. They decided to select an intelligent boy and send him to a Muslim physician. They selected Vāgbhaṭa. The Brahmins disguised Vāgbhaṭa as a Muslim boy and sent him to the Muslim Physician on the other side of the river. The boy went to the physician and told him that he was coming from far away with the intention of learning medical science. The teacher put certain questions and understood that the boy possessed extraordinary intelligence. He began to teach the boy the science of medicine. Seeing the interest of the boy the teacher asked the boy to eat food from his house and to learn day and night. The Brahmin boy did not like to eat the food of Muslims. The boy said that he had a relative on the other side of the river and that he would go there and have his supper and return for the night study. The teacher agreed and thenceforward Vāgbhaṭa began to learn day and night. Within a short time he completed learning.