Page:The materia medica of the Hindus (1877).djvu/10

 however a few works which owing to their comprehensive character, ancient date, or real merit, are well known throughout India. I will here notice them briefly.

The two works called Charaka Sanhitá and Susruta A'yurveda are the oldest and most celebrated treatises on Hindu medicine now extant. An older work called A'yurveda is mentioned in both these works as having formed a part of the Atharva Veda. It is said to have been originally composed by Brahma, the creator, and to have consisted of a thousand chapters and a hundred-thousand slokas. Afterwards, in consideration of the short lives and small intellects of human beings, it was abridged into eight chapters as follows:

1. Salya or surgical treatment.

2. Sálakya or diseases of the head, eyes, ears and face.

3. Káyachikitsá or treatment of general diseases.

4. Bhutavidyá or diseases caused by evil spirits.

5. Kaumára-bhritya or the treatment of infants and of the puerperal state.

6. Agada or antidotes to poisons.

7. Rasáyana or medicines which promote health and longevity.

8. Vájikarana, or aphrodisiacs.

The A'yurveda with a hundred thousand slokas is probably a myth, but the abridged A'yurveda with its eight divisions seem to have had a real existence, although it is not available in the present day. It probably became obsolete after the works of Charaka and Susruta were composed.

Charaka is generally believed to be older than Susruta and consequently to be the oldest work on Sanskrit Medicine now extant. In the introduction to this work it is said that A'treya, a learned devotee, taught the holy A'yurveda to six pupils; namely, Agnivesa, Bhela, Játukarna, Parsára, Hárita and Kharapáni. Agnivesa first wrote a treatise on medicine, and afterwards Bhela and others followed, each producing a separate work and thereby acquiring great renown. The work of Agnivesa was regarded as the best. It was edited or corrected by Charaka in whose name it is now current. At the end of each book