The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c8.14

c8.14

On the other hand the same tradition will have us believe that the grandson of Parīkṣit, Śatānīka had studied the Veda at the feet of Yājñavalkya¹, a sage who is unanimously considered to be the first master of the White Yajurveda. Now it is perfectly plausible that the various recensions of the Yajurveda should belong to a period neighbouring the epoch of the composing of the Atharvaveda.² On the contrary, the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas and the Upaniṣads belong to more recent times as is proved both by the state of the language in which they are edited as also by the fact that they suppose as existing the same Vedic texts. Now the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-up., which belongs to the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa of the school of the White Yajurveda, accords a lot of importance to Yājñavalkya and asks him through an interlocutor as to what happened to the descendants of Parīkṣit, (III, 3, 1). This is quite a natural query if Yājñavalkya has been the preceptor of the grandson of Parīkṣit. It shows that the school of the White Yajurveda had a souvenir of the relations of its founder with the descendants of Parīkṣit.