The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c6.10

c6.10

The sources of the legend concerning the origin of the Āyurveda are more complex. It is evident that the Aśvins, because of their reputation as divine doctors, had already been, in good time, designated, as we will see, to play a role in the transmission of the medical science. Because of other legends and because of his relations with the Aśvins, Indra, for his part, was already a suitable character for their transmission. In the *Chāndogya-upaniṣad* (VIII, 15) it is said that the supreme science was given by Brahman to Prajāpati, by Prajāpati to Manu and by Manu to human beings, but a little earlier, the same text (VIII, 7-12) has given all the details of the teaching by Prajāpati to Indra On the other hand, according to the *Rg-veda*, Indra has been aided by the Aśvins “as a son by fathers” (X, 131, 4-5). In his commentary on a repetition of the same passage in the *Vājasaneyas* (X, 33-34), Mahīdhara tells us how the asura Namuci having drunk all the vigour of Indra, the Aśvins and Sarasvatī have, even then, furnished him with the means of killing this asura. This was not the teaching of medicine but this did put him under obligation to the Aśvins. It is, therefore, understandable that Indra easily came to be regarded as having received instruction in medical science from the Aśvins and propagated it in his turn, although there are different traditions some calling Indra the master and some the pupil of the Aśvins. Moreover the *Sautrāmaṇi* ritual associates Indra with the Aśvins; this ritual is even thought to represent the curing of Indra by the Aśvins when the former had fallen ill by drinking too much of soma; here again Indra is indebted to the Aśvins. Clearly, this sum-total of mythological facts contains all the elements which have served to constitute the legend of the origin of the Āyurveda upto its teaching by Indra.