A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c26.s17.2

v1.c26.s17.2

Vāgbhaṭa is held in high esteem particularly in Kerala, where he is the legendary master who taught the medical science to the ancestors of the Aṣṭavaidya lineages. The medical training of an Aṣṭavaidya physician ends with the daily recitation of ten chapters of the Hṛdaya in the family shrine, to be continued during a full year, the ekādaśī days of each half of the lunar month excepted; this exception honours the day of Vāgbhaṭa’s supposed decease.¹¹⁸⁷ An Aṣṭavaidya medical graduate is also obliged to make a palm leaf copy of the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā.¹¹⁸⁸