Vāgbhaṭṭa (Āyurveda scholar)

Vāgbhaṭṭa—In Indian literature, many Vāgbhaṭṭas are referred to as experts on many subjects. In Āyurveda, there are four names of Vāgbhaṭṭa, namely, old Vāgbhaṭṭa, Madhya Vāgbhaṭṭa, Laghu Vāgbhaṭṭa, Rasa Vāgbhaṭṭa. The period of the first Vāgbhaṭṭa is between the fifth and sixth centuries. Ācārya Priyabrata Sharma admits that the period of first Vāgbhaṭṭa is 550 AD. Vāgbhaṭṭa II, Vāgbhaṭṭa I was the grandson and he composed the Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayaṃ. Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayaṃ is composed in verse, therefore the book is more tasteful and elegant for this reason. Probably this is the reason why this book has become more popular than Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha. The period of the second Vāgbhaṭṭa is the sixth century. Ācārya Priyabrata Sharma narrates the fictional genealogies of Vāgbhaṭṭa.

Vāgbhaṭṭa —> Siṃhagupta —> Vāgbhaṭṭa I —> Siṃhagupta —> Vāgbhaṭṭa II.^[1]

It is clear from this opinion that the author of the Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha is the Vṛddha Vāgbhaṭṭa or Vāgbhaṭṭa I, and the author of the Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayaṃ is the Laghu Vāgbhaṭṭa or second Vāgbhaṭṭa. In the thirteenth century, Vāgbhaṭṭa, the son of the Siṃhagupta, wrote a book called 'Rasaratnasamūcaya'. This book is divided into two parts and has thirty chapters. Chapters one to eleven of the first volume cover all the sciences of chemistry in detail, and chapters twelve to thirty of the second volume describe medical matters in detail.