- He was one of the six disciples of Punarvashu Atreya, contemporary of Agnivesha.
- He is said to have composed a treatise called Bhela Samhita.
- At present among the treatises written by disciples of Atreya only Agnivesha Tantra and Bhel Samhita are available.
Time Period:-
- As the concept of Buddha is present it can’t be prior to Lord Buddha.
- Present day Bhela Samhita is contemporary to Gupta period hence it is of 7th century AD.
- Original Bhela Samhita was contemporary to Agnivesha, so the time period is 1000 century BC.
Manuscripts (Pandulipis) of Bhela Samhita:-
There are 3 pandulipies present in the context of Bhel Samhita.
- The one published by the Kolkata university was taken from Tanjora book Store and is about 1650 AD .
- The second one was by Girija Dayalu Shukla and was published by Chaukhamba.
- Third is in 1977 by Tanjore Publishing House.
Present Day Bhela Samhita is a big doubtful due to following reasons :-
- The context of Bhela Samhita which is present in different referrences of Samhita are not from present day Bhela Samhita.
- Vastikarma should be done in children after 6 years is found in Kashyap Samhita was taken from Bhela Samhita but it is not present in the modern day Bhela Samhita.
- The Guru-Shishya question answering pattern is not present in Bhela Samhita as in Charak and Sushruta Samhita.
Controversies among Charak Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Bhel Samhita :-
–In Charak Samhita it was said that we should consume :-
- Bibhitaki – Before Food
- Amlaki – After Food
- Haritaki – At end of digestion
But according to Bhela :-
- Amlaki – Before Food
- Haritaki – After Food
- Bibhitaki – At end of digestion
–Like Sushruta he has also consider 5 types of Agni but along with it he has said that Alochaka pitta is again of 2 types ie.
- Chakshu Vaishesika
- Buddhi Vaishesika
Contribution of Bhela Samhita :-
- The word Janmara was used in the context of Janpadadhwamsa ( Epidemics), while Sushruta has used the term Marak.
- Different names were given to the fever cause in animals. A disease named vatalika was given by him which is considered as plague by some.
- The definition of kayachikitsa is present here.
- 8 types of Swedan karma are given.
- Separate chapter for Vishama Jwar.
- Raktapitta is of 2 types butthe asadhya one was named as Sarvsrotspravrittah.
- Special importance was given for Panchkarma.
- In classification of Vatajaprakriti, he has included the concept of philosphical prakriti which is not found any where else.