The Heart of the Eight Limbs
Ask Vāgbhaṭa
A conversational guide to Vāgbhaṭa's Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya. Every answer comes from Renay Oshop's English translation of the root text and of its two classical commentaries — and quotes them, verse by verse.
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Ask anything about the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya. You'll hear the root text first, then what Aruṇadatta and Hemādri say about it — quoted word for word, each quotation carrying its sthāna, chapter and verse.
Vāgbhaṭa also waits in the lower-right corner of the page — tap him any time to open or close the chat.
Begin with a limb
kāyabālagrahordhvāṅgaśalyadaṃṣṭrājarāvṛṣān||5|| aṣṭāvaṅgāni tasyāhuścikitsā yeṣu saṃśritā||6||
Kāya (general medicine), bāla (pediatrics), graha (demonology/psychiatry), ūrdhvāṅga (diseases of parts above the clavicle), śalya (surgery), daṃṣṭrā (toxicology), jarā (geriatrics), vṛṣa (aphrodisiacs) ||5|| —these are said to be its eight limbs, in which treatment is established. ||6||
Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya, Sūtrasthāna 1.5–6 · tr. Renay Oshop
Tap a limb and the chat opens with a question from it already typed in — just press Send.
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Three voices, one conversation
Ask Vāgbhaṭa reads the root text together with its two great medieval commentaries, and keeps them apart in every answer: each quotation is marked with its author's name and colour.
How it works
When you ask, Ask Vāgbhaṭa searches the whole translation — about ten thousand passages of root text and commentary — both by keyword and by meaning. It gathers the best matches verse by verse, each root passage travelling with the commentary on it, and writes its answer from those passages alone.
It quotes generously, and every quotation is checked against the translation before you see it: a quotation that drifts from the printed words is corrected or removed. Tap any locus, like Sū. 1.28, to open that verse and its commentary beneath the answer. If the text doesn't cover your question, it says so rather than guess.
The translation
Vāgbhaṭa's Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayam: A Full English Translation, by Renay Oshop — all 120 chapters of the Hṛdaya in plain contemporary English. The Kindle edition carries Aruṇadatta's and Hemādri's commentaries in full beside the root text; the paperback gives the root text. Page numbers shown with each verse in the chat refer to the paperback.
Not medical advice
Ask Vāgbhaṭa is an educational reference. It reports what a seventh-century medical classic and its commentators teach; it does not diagnose, prescribe, or replace care from a qualified healthcare professional. Questions about specific dosages, drug interactions, diagnoses, or care during pregnancy or for children are politely redirected to a practitioner.
Also on AyurAstro: Ask Charak — the Charak Samhita, answered and cited from carakasamhitaonline.com.