Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
The text-historical problems surrounding the medical works attributed to Vāgbhaṭa are well known and have been excellently outlined by Vogel (1965: introduction) and again briefly by Meulenbeld (1974: 423–5). From the published colophons of both the Aṣṭāṅgasaṅgraha (As.) and the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (Ah.) we learn that Vāgbhaṭa was the son of Siṃhagupta. This is stated again in the text of the As. (VI.50, end) where it is further stated that the author's grandfather was also called Vāgbhaṭa, and was also a doctor. We are in addition told that the author was born in the Sindhu region and that his teachers were Avalokita and, to a greater extent, his father Siṃhagupta. Thus we have the following family tree.