A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c26.s3.18

v1.c26.s3.18

Remarkable about the order of presentation of the eight divisions is their conformity with the arrangement found in the Suśrutasaṃhitā (Sū.1.8), with only this dissimilarity that agadatantra precedes kaumārabhṛtya instead of being the next item. The order found in Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha (Sū.1.8cd) and Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya (Sū.1.5cd) diverges considerably. Very strikingly, I-ching’s list begins in the travel report with an unusual equivalent of śalya (surgery); he defines this branch as the one dealing with sores, adding farther on that these are of two kinds, inward and outward.283 The Suvarṇaprabhāsa translation deals with śalya differently and uses a Chinese character meaning thorn, which better approximates Sanskrit śalya (all sorts of foreign bodies).284 The eighth item of the series, vājīkaraṇa, the branch dealing with aphrodisiacs, is incorrectly described in the travel report and said to consist of methods of invigorating the legs and the body.