A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c16.s1: Contributions of Agniveśa

v1.c16.s1.1

Elements belonging to the oldest layer of the Carakasaṃhitā, i.e., the Agniveśatantra, are, according to P.V. Sharma:53 the names of chapters based on their first words;54 the expression ‘iti ha smāha bhagavān ātreyaḥ’ at the beginning of a chapter; the use of saumya with reference to Agniveśa as a pupil;55 the use of the term skandha;56 passages calling to mind the style of some Upaniṣads;57 the mixture of prose and verse;58 the discussions among groups of sages;59 the summary in verse at the end of a chapter; the use of the word upaniṣad;60 the references to Kāmpilya and Pāñcāla; the importance of the term catuṣpāda;61 the term ṣoḍaśakala;62 the version of Sāṅkhya acknowledging twenty-four tattvas;63 the doctrine of bhūtānupraveśa;64 the traces of an early type of Yoga, different from the system represented by the Yogasūtras; the doctrine of the three doṣas; the foremost place of vāyu among the three doṣas;65 the description of five kinds of vāyu;66 the descriptions of the buddhīndriyas, karmendriyas and manas; the description of the heart;67 the ten prāṇāyatanas;68 some elements relating to bhūtavidyā;69 the comparison of ojas and madhu (honey);70 the importance of rasa;71 the concept of the three eṣaṇās;72 the concepts of sat and asat;73 the concept of paraloka, defended against heretical views;74 the transmission of a science from the gods to human sages;75 one hundred years as the maximum span of human life;76 the concept of a tṛtīyā jātiḥ.77