The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c6.45

c6.45

One can, therefore, believe that one or more Ātreyas, traditionally known as eminent doctors, have existed, but one cannot admit with Hoernle that the Ātreya Punarvasu who is said to have received the medical science from the mythical Bharadvāja was the Ātreya, who in the Buddhist sources is made a contemporary of the Buddha. The legends of the origins of the Āyurveda, as found in the two medical saṃhitās, do not seem to be based on any historical souvenir. They appear to have been built out of conjectures, based on the data of the Vedic tradition relating to doctor-gods, to their wards and to Brahmanical masters.