Ashtānga Hridayam

Vāgbhata (वाग्भट) is one of the most influential classical 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. Vāgbhata is said, in the closing verses of the Ashtānga sangraha, to have lived in Sind (today in Pakistan), and to have been the son of Simhagupta and pupil of Avalokita. He was a Buddhist, as is shown by his explicit praise for the Buddha by name at the start of the Ashtāngasangraha, and his praise of the Buddha under the title "Unprecedented Teacher" in the opening verse of the Ashtānga hridayasamhitā. His work contains syncretic elements.

As per modern scholarship he was an ethnic Kashmiri, and for instance the German Indologist Claus Vogel said "...judging by the fact that he expressly defines Andhra and Dravida as the names of two southern peoples or kingdoms and repeatedly mentions Kashmirian terms for particular plants, he is likely to have been a Northerner and a native of Kashmir..."

Vagbhata was a disciple of Charaka. Both of his books were originally written in Sanskrit with 7000 sutra. According to Vagbhata, 85% of diseases can be cured without a doctor; only 15% of diseases require a doctor.

Sushruta, one of the earliest surgeons, Charaka, a medical genius, and Vagbhata are considered to be "The Trinity" of Ayurvedic knowledge, with Vagbhata coming after the other two. According to some scholars, Vagbhata lived in Sindh around the sixth century. Not much is known about him personally, except that he was most likely to have been a Buddhist, as he makes a reference to Lord Buddha in his writings, and his sons, grandsons, and disciples were all Buddhists. It is also believed that he was taught Ayurvedic medicine by his father and a Buddhist monk, named Avalokita.

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