पृष्ठम्:आयुर्वेदसूत्रम् (योगानन्दनाथभाष्यसमेतम्).pdf/७

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पुटमेतत् सुपुष्टितम्
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 Little is known regarding the author and date of the work. As a number of works in Sutra style are found written even in the 20th century, the aphoristic style cannot be taken as a criterion of antiquity. Judging by the lucidity of the sutras and the lack of inseparable connection between the sutras in respect of words and technical terms as in the Sutras of Panini, one may be led to the conclusion that the Sutras are very old: Unlike the Vyakarana Sutras of Panini and Sariraka Sutras of Badarayana which cannot be explained without the aid of traditional commentaries, the Ayurveda Sutras are very lucid and susceptible of interpretation. Nor are the Sutras so inseparably linked together as to render the interpretation of a succeeding Sutra dependent upon the borrowing of some suitable words from the preceding sutras. Except a few technical terms such as 'Vata, Pitta, Sleshma, and Dosha' which are peculiar to Hindu Medical Science, there are no medical technical terms with which Charaka, Susruta, and other medical works are bristling. Nowhere are such technical terms as Triphala, Trikatuka, Panchalavana and the like are met in this work. If the author of this work had been acquainted with such technical terms, brevity would have compelled him to use those words in the list of drugs enumerated in the last three Prasnas. Another evidence likely to give the appearance of antiquity to this treatise is the absence of later astronomical facts, especially those of the times of Aryabhatta and Varahamihira. Unlike Aryabhatta and Varahamihira, the author speaks of a year of 360 days instead of 3653/4 days. In naming the months, he uses the words Madhu, Madhava, Sukra, Suchi, and other Vedic names, but not Chaitra, Vaisakha, and other later words which were current as early as the period of the Kautilya Arthasastra. In the list of Nakshatras enumerated in the 14th and 15th Prasnas in connection with their worship of getting rid of diseases caused by