A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c8.3

v1.c8.3

A large group of sages,⁶ assembled on the slopes of the foothills of the Himālayas, sends Bharadvāja as their delegate to the abode of Indra,⁷ in order to ask this god for help, because diseases had cropped up among the living beings, creating thus obstacles to a religious life.⁸ Bharadvāja receives the āyurveda and passes his knowledge on to the other sages, among whom is Ātreya Punarvasu, who teaches the science in his turn to his six disciples. These six pupils, Agniveśa, Bhela, Jatūkarṇa, Parāśara, Hārīta and Kṣārapāṇi, put Ātreya’s teaching down in writing. Agniveśa is mentioned as the one who was the first to compose a medical treatise based on Ātreya’s exposition.⁹