A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c20.s2.12

v1.c20.s2.12

P.C. Rāy is recorded as having asserted in his ‘History of Hindu Chemistry’²²⁰ that the Agniveśatantra was obsolete at the time of composition of Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā.²²¹ G. Mukhopadhyaya challenged this assertion,²²² being convinced of the existence of Agniveśa’s original treatise in Vāgbhaṭa’s time, because this author mentions the works of Agniveśa and other pupils of Ātreya as the sources of his Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (A.h.Sū.1.3–5ab). Vāgbhaṭa’s reference may, however, be meant to stress that his treatise was in keeping with the tradition and did not introduce new material deviating from the views of the ancient authorities. Agniveśa appears again on the stage at the end of the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā, where he, as the foremost among Ātreya’s students, asks the latter about the ultimate causes of disease and suffering, whereupon Ātreya proceeds to give a lecture on the subject (A.h.U.40.59–77).²²³