A History of Indian Medical Literature v4.c57.255

v4.c57.255

321 See: Jīvaka. An interesting tale, that may throw some light on the confusion of Jīvaka and Vṛddhajīvaka, is found in the *Avadānaśataka* (see L. Feer, 1979: 374–383). Avadāna Nr. 92 (X.2) relates that Jīvaka performed an operation on the deceased wife of a wealthy śreṣṭhin in Rājagṛha; he opened her right side with a sharp instrument and extracted a child, which, although being the first one conceived, remained in the womb for many years, even after the births of several other children, a condition that had led to the death of the mother; the child that saw the light proved to look like an old man, full of wrinkles and gray-haired; this newborn one addressed all those present with a speech exhorting them to revere their parents, teachers and gurus, in order to avoid a similar fate, namely a sojourn of sixty years between small and large intestines; the being was called Sthavira, became a Buddhist monk, and reached the state of an Arhat later in life. A parallel of this story is found in the *Kalpadrumāvadānamālā* (NCC III, 234).