Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c5.13

c5.13

4. *Versions of Ātreya’s System.* Of Ātreya’s theory of the skeleton, then, we possess two versions: one by Agniveśa, contained in Charaka’s Compendium, the other by Bheḍa (or Bheḷa), contained in Bheḍa’s Compendium. In the present dissertations these two versions will be spoken of as the ‘Medical Version’ of Ātreya’s theory. There exists, however, also another version of that theory, which has been handed down in the ancient Law-book of Yājñavalkya (Yājñavalkya Dharmaśāstra), and three other non-medical works (§ 14). This version, in the following pages, will be referred to as the ‘Non-medical Version’. By this term, unless otherwise specified, Yājñavalkya’s Law-book must always be understood, as being the most reliable source of that version. It will be shown subsequently (§ 24) that there is some good reason for believing that this Non-medical Version really represents a third medical version of Ātreya’s theory, going back to another pupil of Ātreya, different from Agniveśa and Bheḍa, but whose name is no longer known.