vi
plicity which is the characteristic beauty of the Rigveda, one Rishi says pathetically of himself:
"Behold I am a composer of hymns, my father is a physician, my mother grinds corn on stone. We are all engaged in different occupations[1]" (IX. 112, 3),
"Princes like Divodása, and bards and leaders of the tribe of the Angiras, administered medicines and gloried in effecting cures. A skilled physician is distinctly defined as one who lives in a place abounding with medicinal plants, and who assiduously devotes his time to the acquisition of knowledge[2]."
The earliest literary record of Indian Medicine.Thus not only in the Atharvan but even in the Rik, we can trace the earliest literary record of Indian Medicine.
The "Atharva-veda" deals chiefly with sorcery, witch-craft and demonology. There are deadly imprecations against evil-doers;- ↑ R. C. Dutt: "Civilisation in ancient India," p. 65 (Calc. ed.)
- ↑ Introduction to "Astáñgahridaya" of Vagbhata, by Anna Morsvar Kunte, B. A., M. D., p. 2.