Vagbhata

Vagbhata (Skt. Vāgbhaṭa; Tib. ཕ་ཁོལ་, Wyl. pha khol) (ca. 550-600 AD) is considered one of the three main authors of Ayurveda, the other two being Charaka and Sushruta.

His main works are:

• the Astanga Samgraha (Skt. Ashtāṅgasaṅgraha)
• the Astanga Hridaya (Skt. Ashtāngahridayasaṃhitā), A Compilation of the Essence of the Eight Branches. This text has been translated into Tibetan (Wyl. yan lag brgyad pa'i snying po bsdus pa) and can be found in the Tengyur, Toh 4310. One commentary on the Astanga Hridaya written by Chandranandana is also found in the Tengyur. To this day the Astanga Hridaya is considered the most important Ayurvedic work in the region of Kerala, India.

Vagbhata was most likely born a Brahmin and familiar with Vedic literature and culture, and later embraced Buddhism. He starts both the Samgraha and the Hridaya with homages to the Buddha.

Further Reading

• Vagbhata's Astanga Hrdayam (Text, English Translation, Notes, Appendix and Indices), 3 Vols, translated by Prof. K.R. Srikantha Murthy (Chowkhamba Krishnadas Academy: 2000)
• Claus Vogel, Vāgbhaṭa's Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā: the First Five Chapters of its Tibetan Version Edited and Rendered into English along with the Original Sanskrit; Accompanied by Literary Introduction and a Running Commentary on the Tibetan Translating-technique (Wiesbaden: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft—Franz Steiner Gmbh, 1965).