Вагбхата: Жизнь и труды выдающегося аюрведического врача.

Ayurvedic physician

Vāgbhaṭa (वाग्भट) was one of the most influential writers of Ayurveda. Several works are associated with his name as author, principally the Ashtāṅgasaṅgraha (अष्टाङ्गसंग्रह) and the Ashtāngahridayasaṃhitā (अष्टाङ्गहृदयसंहिता). The best current research, however, argues in detail that these two works cannot be the product of a single author. Indeed, the whole question of the relationship of these two works, and their authorship, is very difficult and still far from solution. Both works make frequent reference to the earlier classical works, the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita. based on a mistaken reading of the following note by the German Indologist Claus Vogel: Judging by the fact that he expressly defines Andhra and Dravida as the names of two southern kingdoms and repeatedly mentions Kashmirian terms for particular plants, he is likely to have been a Northern Indian Subcontinental man and a native of Kashmira. Vogel is speaking here not of Vāgbhaṭa, but of the commentator Indu. Vāgbhaṭa was a disciple of Charaka. Both of his books were originally written in Sanskrit with 7000 sutras. Sushruta, "Father of Surgery" and "Father of Plastic Surgery", Charaka, a medical genius, and Vāgbhaṭa are considered to be "The Trinity" of Ayurvedic knowledge, with Vāgbhaṭa coming after the other two. According to some scholars, Vāgbhaṭa lived in Sindhu around the sixth century CE. Not much is known about him personally, except that he was most likely to have been a Vedic doctor, as he mentions Hindu deities in his writings, and his children, grandchildren, and disciples were all Vedic Hindus. It is also believed that he was taught Ayurvedic medicine by his father and a Veda monk named Avalokita.

The Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (Ah, "Heart of Medicine") is written in poetic language. The Aṣṭāṅgasaṅgraha (As, "Compendium of Medicine") is a longer and less concise work, containing many parallel passages and extensive passages in prose. The Ah is written in 7120 easily understood Sanskrit verses that present a coherent account of Ayurvedic knowledge. Ashtanga in Sanskrit means ‘eight components’ and refers to the eight sections of Ayurveda: internal medicine, surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics, rejuvenation therapy, aphrodisiac therapy, toxicology, and psychiatry or spiritual healing, and ENT (ear, nose and throat). There are sections on longevity, personal hygiene, the causes of illness, the influence of season and time on the human organism, types and classifications of medicine, the significance of the sense of taste, pregnancy and possible complications during birth, Prakriti, individual constitutions and various aids for establishing a prognosis. There is also detailed information on Five actions therapies (Skt. pañcakarma) including therapeutically induced vomiting, the use of laxatives, enemas, complications that might occur during such therapies and the necessary medications. The Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā is perhaps Ayurveda’s greatest classic, and copies of the work in manuscript libraries across India and the world outnumber any other medical work. The Ah is the central work of authority for ayurvedic practitioners in Kerala. The Aṣṭāṅgasaṅgraha, by contrast, is poorly represented in the manuscript record, with only a few, fragmentary manuscripts having survived to the twenty first century. Evidently it was not widely read in pre modern times. However, the As has come to new prominence since the twentieth century through being made part of the curriculum for ayurvedic college education in India.

The Ah has been translated into many languages, including Tibetan, Arabic, Persian and several modern Indian and European languages.