The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c6.60

c6.60

The Tradition of the Text of the *Caraka-saṃhitā*:—In the *Suśruta-saṃhitā*, the teaching of Divodāsa-Dhanvantari is said to have been transmitted by his direct pupil, Suśruta. In the *Caraka-saṃhitā*, on the contrary, the words of Bharadvāja, the substitute of Divodāsa, are not repeated; it is those of his pupil Ātreya, the opposite number of Suśruta, which are quoted by a pupil of the latter, Agniveśa. From this it appears that the work should be called the *Agniveśa-saṃhitā* rather than *Caraka-saṃhitā*; besides, as we have seen, the colophons make of it the *Agniveśatantra* “reconstructed” by Caraka. Caraka is not, therefore, of the rank of Suśruta but belongs rather to that of Nāgārjuna and there is no one corresponding to Agniveśa in the tradition of the *Suśruta-saṃhitā*. The following table summarises the entire legendary history of the origin and of the transmission of both of the texts and shows the theoretical position of Bhela.²