Three Important Ayurvedic Texts.

The Caraka Samhita, the Susruta Samhita, and the Astanga Hrdayam Samhita are probably the most important Ayurvedic texts. The Caraka Samhita, which is believed to have been written between 200 BC to 400 BC is the oldest and most important ancient writing on Ayurveda. This work is based on an even older oral tradition. It presents most of the theoretical edifice of Ayurveda and concentrates on the branch of Ayurveda called kayacikitsa, or internal medicine. The English translation by P. V. Sharma (Chaukhambha Orientalia: Varanasi, India, 1981) is available in four volumes; two volumes are original text and two are commentary about the original work. Sharma's translation includes numerous appendices and an index. The translation by Bhagwan Dash and Ram Karan Sharma (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office: Varanasi, India, 1992) has commentary incorporated in the original text. Both translations contain the original Sanskrit prose and poetry.

The Susruta Samhita presents the field of Ayurvedic surgery called salakya, meaning foreign body. This work is also believed to be based on oral material passed down from generation to generation. It is thought to have been written soon after the Caraka Samhita. Although the Susruta Samhita deals with the practice and theory of surgery, it is also an important source of Ayurvedic aphorisms. For example, the most commonly quoted definition of health is from Susruta. Translated from the Sanskrit, it reads: The person whose doshas (physiology) and digestion are balanced, whose tissue formation, elimination, and bodily processes are proper, and who experiences bliss in spirit, sense, and mind is a healthy person. The three-volume translation by K. L. Bhishagratna is the only English version available (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office: Varanasi, India, 1991).

The Astanga Hrdayam Samhita is the work of a person named Vagbhata and also dates back to 200 BC to 400 BC. Vagbhata's use of the Sanskrit language is poetic and melodious, making it easy for students to commit to memory. This exposition deals primarily with kayacikitsa (internal medicine). Emphasis is placed on treating the physiology of the body and on suggestions for therapeutic use of metals and minerals. K. R. Srikantha Murthy has provided an English translation (Krishnadas Academy: Varanasi, India, 1991)

Other Important Texts.
The Sarngadhara Samhita is a concise exposition of Ayurvedic principles. This treatise is thought to have originated in the fourteenth century. Its subject matter is kayacikitsa. The Sarngadhara Samhita is prized for its enumeration and description of numerous pharmacologic formulations and contains perhaps the first textual reference to diagnosis by means of the pulse. The work is available in English translation by K. R. Srikantha Murthy (Chaukhambha Orientalia: Varanasi, India, 1995).

Madhava Nidanam, available in English translation by K. R. Srikantha Murthy (Chaukhambha Orientalia: Varanasi, India), deals with the Ayurvedic classification of diseases. This work is dated around 700 AD and covers a wide range of diseases. Although this treatise provides detailed descriptions of disease prodroma and cardinal signs and symptoms, it does not provide etiologies or suggestions for treatment. Madhava Nidanam is a book of practical, clinical medicine.