Kashyap Samhita - (English)

by K.R. Srikrishnamurthy

KASYAPA-SAMHITA or VRDDHAJIVAKIYA TANTRA (Preached by Maharsi Marica Kasyapa; Summarized then written by his disciple Acarya Vrddhajivaka; Reacted by latter's descendant Vatsya) (Text with English translation and Commentary) edited by Prof. (Km.) P.VT. Tewari.

Kashyap Samhita,also known as Braddha Jeevakiya Tantra, is an Ayurvedic medical treatise written in ancient India by Sage Kashyapa.

The origin of the teachings, which have collected in samhita, are given by the Bramha. The originator of this samhita is said to be Bramha himself, who transferred the knowledge to Daksha Prajapati. Daksha have transferred knowledge to Ashwani kumars, then transferred to Indra, then transferred to Kashyap, Vashishtha, Atri and Bhragu. The son of Kashyap and the pupil of the kashyap transferred the knowledge to the subsequent personals. The Kashyap Samhita was later translated into Chinese during the Middle Ages.

In Kashyap samhita, which is also called Bradha Jeevakeeya tantra, the Ayurveda science descriptions are given in the question and answer styles. The question raised by the pupils, answered by the Sage Kashyap himself, is recorded in very lucide way. The four cardinal point's related questions related to the [a] commencement of diseases, [b] their diagnosis, [c] their treatment and [d] managements are raised by the pupils are answered by the sage Kashyap. Kashyap samhita is said to be one of the oldest classical book on Ayurveda.