A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s7.t2: Date

v3.c43.s7.t2.1

Kolatteri Śaṅkaramenon places Nīlamegha in the first half of the ninth century,⁵⁵⁵ the period in which Śaṅkarācārya lived,⁵⁵⁶ because Buddhist influences are still traceable in Nīlamegha’s composition. He is convinced that Nīlamegha knew only the *Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha*, which he assigns to the first quarter of the eighth century, and not yet the *Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā*, which he regards as having been composed by a grandson or great-grandson of the author of the *Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha*.⁵⁵⁷ Kolatteri Śaṅkaramenon’s views on the dates of the *Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha* and *Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā* can be discarded. He is wrong in asserting that Nīlamegha did not yet know the *Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā* because the latter work is profusely quoted in his auto-commentary, also when not identical with the *Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha*.⁵⁵⁸ Nīlamegha’s references to Indu and Jejjaṭa as pupils of Vāgbhaṭa imply that he lived later than these commentators and cannot be earlier than about A.D. 700. The Buddhist influences point to a date not much posterior to A.D. 800.