Vagbhata’s contribution to Ayurveda

Ayurveda has become one of the buzzwords among tourists visiting Kerala. The mushrooming ayurveda resorts kerala assert this fact. Ayurveda had been derived from the knowledge and experiments of the sages of ancient times and the major proponents of Ayurveda during ancient times were Charaka, Sushrutha and Vagbhata. While Charaka contributed to Ayurveda through his Charaka Samhita, and Sushrutha through his treatise, Sushrutha Samhita, Vagbhata wrote another masterpiece on Ayurveda called Ashtangahridaya.

All these three major contributors to Ayurveda had not mentioned anything about themselves in the books and let the works speak for them. Hence it is difficult to trace the time period that they lived, but through suggestions and references we understand that Charaka and Sushrutha lived in India about 2000 years back and Vagbhata is believed to have lived after them in 7th century AD.

According to some Ayurvedic practitioners, Vagbhata’s Ashtangahridaya is the essence of the treatises by Charaka and Sushrutha and it also contains his own perceptions on Ayurveda. Vagbhata narrates Ashtangahridaya in a poetic way and the beauty of the verses is sure to stun the reader. The book is also reverred for its way of condensation, clarity in descriptions and logical arrangement of topics. Ashtangahridaya‘s primary focus is on internal medicine or Kayachikitsa. Details on various surgical treatments too can be seen in it.