A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c48.s9: The author

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c48.s9

Language: English

The author

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The author mentions his name, Gorakṣanātha, at the end of the treatise, adding that he wrote it⁵⁶ for the benefit of a king called Siṃha (9.135–136).⁵⁷

Works, attributed to Gorakṣa(nātha), are, apart from the Gorakṣasaṃhitā, the Bandhasarvasva,⁵⁸ a Kāmaśāstra,⁵⁹ and the Raseśvarasiddhānta.⁶⁰ Gorakṣa(nātha) is moreover credited with a large number of non-medical works.⁶¹

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The Gorakṣasaṃhitā is not quoted as such in medical treatises,⁶² but citations from the Svacchandaśatyavatāra⁶³ and with related titles may be from some version of the Bhūtiprakaraṇa.⁶⁴

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The Svacchandāgama is quoted in Ṭoḍara’s Āyurvedasaukhya.⁶⁵ The Svacchandaśaktyāgama is quoted in Viṣṇudeva’s Rasarājalakṣmī,⁶⁶ the Rasaratnapradīpa, the

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Rasasindhu, and Ṭoḍara’s Āyurvedasaukhya.⁶⁷ The Svacchandaśaktyāgama is quoted in Acyuta’s Rasasamgrahasiddhānta and the Rasarājalakṣmī. The Śaktyavatāra is quoted in one of the pariśiṣṭas of the Ānandakanda,⁶⁸ Gulrājśarmamiśra’s commentary on the Āyurvedaprakāśa,⁶⁹ and the Rasatattvavivecana.

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Gorakṣa is quoted or referred to on subjects connected with āyurveda or rasaśāstra in the Bṛhadrasarājasundara,⁷⁰ Cidghanānandanātha’s Satkarmasaṃgraha,⁷¹ the Rasakāmadhenu,⁷² Rasaratnadīpikā,⁷³ Rasaratnākara,⁷⁴ Hazārīlāl Sukul’s commentary on the Rasaratnasamuccaya,⁷⁵ Śivamīśra’s Vaidyaśāstrasīvānubhava, Ṭoḍara’s Āyurvedasaukhya,⁷⁶ Trimalla’s Bṛhadyogatarangiṇī⁷⁷ and Yogatarangiṇī,⁷⁸ and the Vaidyacintāmaṇi.⁷⁹

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Some formulae attributed to Gorakṣanātha are candreśvarī guṭikā⁸⁰ and gorakṣavaṭī.⁸¹

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Gorakṣa(nātha) is the most famous of the nine Nāthasiddhas.⁸² Gorakṣa is mentioned as a Rasasiddha in the Rasataraṅgiṇī and Rasendrasambhava, as a Mahāsiddha in the Haṭhayogapradīpikā,⁸³ and as a Nātha in the Ānandakanda.