A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s9.3

v3.c42.s9.3

This story indicates that the text of the Kāśyapasaṃhitā is actually the revision by Vātsya of an earlier treatise. The attribution of the Kāśyapasaṃhitā to Kaśyapa does not explain its name, since Kāśyapasaṃhitā would have been in conformity with usage.¹⁰ The Kaśyapa of the Kāśyapasaṃhitā is sometimes designated as Mārica (183 and 202)¹¹ and Prajāpati (39; 79; 93; 123; 174; 185; 286);¹² he is once referred to as Kāśirāja (363). Vṛddhajīvaka is referred to as Bhārgava (74; 75; 117; 214; 227; 240; 331) and, rather often, as Vṛddha, Sthavira or Sthavirajīvaka. The name Vṛddhajīvaka and the story about him refer to kaumārabhṛtya as the special subject of the treatise, because the first one to grasp this branch of āyurveda is depicted as a wise child. The name recalls that of the paediatrician Jīvaka, quoted in the Bower MS, and the Jīvaka of Buddhist literature.