Ayurveda, Jyotisha and Scientific Literature in Sanskrit
Ayurveda, Jyotiṣa, and Sanskrit scientific literature questions test authorship, core doctrine, and genre. You need to distinguish medical compendia from astronomical treatises and to know why each is a Sanskrit source.
Ayurveda
- Caraka Saṃhitā: internal medicine (kāyacikitsā), diagnosis, ethics; redacted by Dṛḍhabala.
- Suśruta Saṃhitā: surgery (śalya), instruments, anatomy.
- Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya: Vāgbhaṭa's concise synthesis.
- Tridosha: vāta, pitta, kapha; health is balance.
Jyotiṣa and exact sciences
- Jyotiṣa is a Vedāṅga, with three skandhas: siddhānta (astronomy), saṃhitā (omens), horā (astrology).
- Āryabhaṭīya (Āryabhaṭa): mathematical astronomy and the sine table.
- Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta (Brahmagupta): rules for zero and negative numbers.
- Brhat Saṃhitā and Pañcasiddhāntikā (Varāhamihira).
- Siddhāntaśiromaṇi (Bhāskara II).
Worked example: 'Which is the foundational surgical text and who wrote it?' Answer: Suśruta Saṃhitā, Suśruta. Reasoning: it treats śalya, describes surgical instruments and procedures; Caraka's text is medical rather than surgical.
Traps: swapping Caraka and Suśruta; treating Jyotiṣa as only horoscopy; and attributing the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta to Āryabhaṭa.