Hindu Medicine c7.126

c7.126

Dhanvantari plays no remarkable rôle in that unending strife between gods and titans, which, in its succession of dramatic events, triumphs and downfalls, forms the mythical history of the universe. Yet there is a significant tale in popular tradition (purāṇa), which tells how Dhanvantari fought the destructive power of venomous snakes and finally propitiated it by bowing to its might. This episode⁶ shows the religious and magic background against which Hindu medicine should be viewed; for it shares in the common beliefs, in spite of the growing rational tendencies of its classic texts.