Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, Part I: Osteology, or the Bones of the Human Body c5.s1.44

c5.s1.44

On the Compendium of Vāgbhaṭa II we have a commentary by Aruṇadatta, called *Sarvāṅga Sundarī* (i. e. Excellent in all Branches of Medicine).¹ On the Pathology (*Nidāna*) of Mādhava there exists a commentary, called *Madhukoṣa* (i. e. Receptacle of Honey), the joint work of Vijaya Rakshita and his pupil Śrīkaṇṭhadatta, and another by Vāchaspati, called *Ātaṅka Darpaṇa* (i. e. Mirror of Diseases). The latter, as he himself states (in verse 4 of his Introduction), consulted the *Madhukoṣa* for the purpose of writing his own commentary, and Vijaya Rakshita controverts a certain doctrine of Aruṇadatta regarding the structure of the eye.² Vāchaspati further states (in verse 5 of his Introduction) that his father Pramoda was chief physician at the court of ‘Mahamada Hammīra’, that is, of the Amīr Muizzuddīn Muhammad (the celebrated Muhamed Ghori) who reigned in Delhi from 1193 to 1205 A. D. Moreover, Vijaya Rakshita quotes Guṇākara who wrote the *Yogaratnamālā* in 1239 A. D.³ Accordingly we obtain the following approximate dates: