A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c21.65

v1.c21.65

BHIKṢU ĀTREYA240 is a person who appears in the Carakasaṃhitā on two occasions. He is a member of the group of sages in the first chapter of the treatise and he takes part in the discussion on the origin of the individual (Sū.25). In the latter chapter he rejects Kārikāyana’s view and is an advocate of the thesis that the individual and his diseases are, as well as the whole universe, governed by time (Sū.25.24). Opinions differ as to the identity of this bhikṣu Ātreya, especially with regard to the question whether or not he is the same as the Ātreya of Buddhist literature who taught medicine to the famous physician Jīvaka in Takṣaśilā.241 The Carakasaṃhitā only points to a religious mendicant (bhikṣu), whose views do not impress as inspired by Buddhism. The Bhāvaprakāśa (I.1) fails to mention bhikṣu Ātreya as one of the sages assembled on the slopes of the Himālayas.