e-Ashtanga Hridayam
Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya – A Concise Technical Profile for Advanced Ayurvedic Study
1 | Textual Provenance
| Textual Layer | Contributor / Role | Approx. Period | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Compilation | Vāgbhaṭa (alias Vṛddha Vāgbhaṭa) | c. 6-7 CE (early Gupta–post-Gupta interface) | Synthesised doctrines of the Kāśī surgical school (Suśruta line) and the Ātreya–Punarvasu school (Charaka line) into a mnemonic kārikā metre. |
| Pratisaṁskartā (later recensions) | Kerala & Sinhala scribes | 10-12 CE | Regional interpolations (Kerala-pāṭha vs. Sinhala-pāṭha); minor lexical shifts, drug synonyms. |
Nota bene: Unlike the Charaka and Suśruta traditions, Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya presents itself as a single-author redaction; no post-classical supplement (e.g., Dṛḍhabala) is attested.
2 | Canonical Architecture
| Sthāna / Khaṇḍa | Adhyāya (Ch.) | Subject Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Sūtra-sthāna | 30 | Foundational principles; preventive regimen, daily & seasonal codes (dina- & ṛtu-caryā). |
| Śārīra-sthāna | 6 | Embryology, anatomical outlines, garbha-upacāra, doṣa-kāla correlation. |
| Nidāna-sthāna | 16 | Nosology & aetiopathogenesis of major systemic disorders. |
| Cikitsā-sthāna | 22 | Core therapeutics including pañcakarma, rasāyana, vājīkaraṇa, psychiatric care (bhūta-vidyā). |
| Kalpa-sthāna | 6 | Emetic–purgative formulations, oleation-snehapāna schedules, detox adjuncts. |
| Uttara-sthana | 40 | ENT (śālākya), gynaecology, paediatrics, toxicology, geriatrics, ophthalmology, and minor surgery (śalya-tantra). |
Taken together, the text offers 120 chapters, deliberately mirroring the chapter count of Charaka-samhitā while condensing prose into metrical verses for easier memorisation.
3 | Canonical Commentaries
| Commentary | Author | Century | Critical Importance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarvāṅga-sundarā | Ācārya Aruṇadatta | 12th CE | Most cited gloss; clarifies terse kārikās with cross-references to Suśruta and Charaka. |
| Āyurveda-Rasāyana | Hemādri (minister to Yādava kings) | 13th CE | Supplements Aruṇadatta; extensive dravyaguṇa corollaries, southern drug synonyms. |
| Niścalakara-Ṭīkā (rare) | Niścalakara | 16th CE | Kerala recension; emphasises practical pañcakarma protocols; valuable for variant readings. |
4 | Doctrinal & Pedagogical Significance
- Unified Eight-Branch Curriculum: Integrates śalya, śālākya, kāyacikitsā, bhūta-vidyā, kaumāra-bhṛtya, agada-tantra, rasāyana and vājīkaraṇa in a single didactic arc.
- Mnemonic Kārikā Format: Facilitated oral transmission in Gurukula systems; verse economy makes it a preferred study text in South-Indian curricula.
- Clinical Algorithms: Presents concise management flowcharts (e.g., rajayakṣmā tri-fold therapy) making it practitioner-friendly.
- Pharmacotherapeutic Syncretism: Harmonises northern (Himālaya-mukhya) and southern (Drāviḍa-mukhya) materia medica, useful for comparative ethnopharmacology.
5 | Research Interfaces
- Textual criticism: Parallel collation of Kerala Grantha palm-leaf manuscripts vs. Sinhala Pāli-influenced pāṭhas.
- Clinical validation: Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya’s brief yet precise formulations (e.g., Sundī varti for ophthalmic use) are increasingly subjected to randomised clinical evaluation.
- Digital humanities: Ongoing TEI-XML encoding (University of Vienna AyurYog project) enhances concordance studies across Bṛhattrayī.
Conclusion
For postgraduate scholars, historians of medicine, and pharmacognosy researchers, the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya offers a uniquely concise yet comprehensive synthesis of classical Ayurvedic doctrine. Mastery of its six-khaṇḍa architecture, nuanced kārikā language, and medieval exegesis (Aruṇadatta & Hemādri) is indispensable for advanced textual analysis, clinical protocol derivation, and cross-cultural medical studies.