A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c26.s17.52

v1.c26.s17.52

Aruṇadatta, the commentator on the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya, must have lived earlier than about A.D. 1200, since Dalhaṇa refers to him.96 The terminus post quem can be deduced from his sources. Aruṇa’s main source, Candranandana’s Padārthacandrikā, was written between the middle of the eighth century and about A.D. 1000. The quotations from Rudraṭa, who lived in the ninth century,97 and from the Dhanvantarīy Nighaṇṭu, dating from A.D. 1000–1100, are valuable landmarks, indicating that Aruṇa belongs to the twelfth century. The absence of quotations from Aruṇadatta’s commentary in the Madhukośa and Niścalakara’s Ratnaprabhā98 may be seen as pointing to about the middle or the latter half of the twelfth century as the period in which the Sarvāṅgasundarā came into being.99