A History of Indian Medical Literature v4.c57.288

v4.c57.288

versions quoted as Bṛhadātreya, Madhyamātreya, etc. An Ātreyasaṃhitā (probably some version of the Hāritasaṃhitā), described by R. Mitra (Notices VIII, Nr. 2633) has a different version of the same story: Atri obtained from Brahmā a voluminous treatise in 400,000 verses; Ātreya made an abridgment in 200,000 verses; subsequently, other sages compiled shorter digests; these digests are called: Agniveśyī, Āṅgirā, Āśvinī, Ātreyī, Bhāradvājī, Bhārgavī, Gārgī, Gautamī, Jābāli, Kāśyapī, Khāranādī, Khārapādī, Mārkaṇḍī, Mātaṅgī, Parāśarī, Pauṣkali, Sauryā, Tvāṅgī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vaiśvāmitrī, and Vāsakī. These stories are examples of the Indian idea that the texts now available are abridgments of more extensive works once revealed by the gods.