A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s5.t4: Date

v3.c43.s5.t4.1

The period of composition is hard to determine, but a quotation from the *Rasavaiśeṣika* in Candraṭa’s commentary on Tiṣaṭa’s *Cikitsākalikā* provides a terminus ante quem, namely the period A.D. 900–1050.⁴³⁴ Sankara Menon⁴³⁵ was of the opinion that, if Bhadanta Nāgārjuna was the preceptor of Narasimha, he may be considered to belong to the seventh century;⁴³⁶ in that case he lived, together with Narasimha, a life of seclusion in a vihāra of the Taluk⁴³⁷ of Shertalla, most probably at Tiruvilai. P.V. Sharma⁴³⁸ expressed as his view that the work may have been composed in the fifth century,⁴³⁹ by the Nāgārjuna who revised and completed the Suśrutasaṃhitā. J. Filliozat dates it in the age of the Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, i.e., the forst or second century.⁴⁴⁰ It is impossible to reach precision about the chronological position of the text, but more data may become available after it has been carefully studied.