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the epitomiser of the Charaka and the Susruta, mentions the works of Hárita and Bhela, which were probably extant in his days.
On reading the Charaka, one often feels as if it embodies the deliberations of an international Congress of medical experts, held in the Himálayan regions to which even distant Balkh (Bactriana) sent a repersentative in the person of Kámkháyana (see p. 25). The work professes to be more or less of the nature of a record of the Proceedings of such a Congress.[1]
Bodas in discussing the philosophical disquisitions of the Bráhmanas observes:
"It was a special function of the Brahmá priest to give decisions on any disputed points that may
- ↑ Cf. "La lecture de cet ouvrage nous initie aux compterendus de véritables congrès philisophiques et médicaux, dans lesquels des maîtres accourus des points les plus éloignés de l'Inde et même de l'etranger, prennent successivement la parole."—Quelques Données Nouvelles a propos des Traités médicaux Sanscrits antérieurs au XIIIe siècle, par P. Cordier, p. 3.
remarks; "the most superficial comparison shows how much Vágbhata was indebted to this ancient work."
An "Hárita Samhitá has recently been published; but its authenticity is questionable.
