A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.s2.26

v1.c23.s2.26

P.V. Sharma¹⁵⁵ argues that the revision of the Suśrutasaṃhitā and the addition of the Uttaratantra are due to a Nāgārjuna who lived in the Gupta period, in the fifth century. His arguments are: the tantrayuktis (U.66) are borrowed from the Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra; 156 the author of the Uttaratantra made use of Dṛḍhabala’s contributions to the Carakasaṃhitā; Vāgbhaṭa was acquainted with the Uttaratantra. P.V. Sharma regards this fifth-century Nāgārjuna as the author of a Lohaśāstra and the Rasavaiśeṣikasūtra. An alternative solution is, according to the same scholar, that the name of Nāgārjuna became associated with the Suśrutasaṃhitā because the Nāgārjuna, known as a friend and counsellor of the Śātavāhana king Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi, was a contemporary of Suśruta II.