Hindu Medicine c7.169

c7.169

With Suśruta the literary tradition of classic Hindu medicine reaches a new style which sets the model for the next classic author, Vāgbhaṭa (8th century A. D.), and the later textbooks. Caraka’s compilation is the storehouse for the rich harvest gathered from the preceding creative centuries in form of monographs, treatises, and lessons. In content these are independent to a large extent and tend to repetition, increasing the bulk of the available information and offering, in incomparable detail, a valuable source of insight into the speculative implications of medical thought. Suśruta, on the other hand, aims at some clarification of the vast matter through condensation and systematization.