Who among the following is the author of the Hastyayurveda?
- (a)Palakapya
- (b)Vagbhata
- (c)Sushruta
- (d)Charaka
Correct — A, Palakapya. The Hastyayurveda is the Sanskrit treatise on the medicine and care of elephants, and tradition ascribes it to the sage Palakapya. The name itself is the clue — hastin means elephant, so hasti-ayurveda is the ayurveda of elephants, a veterinary science rather than a human one. Palakapya is the figure round whom the whole elephant literature is built; the Matanga-lila describes him as the son of the hermit Samagayana, and the Gajashastra, the companion treatise on the capture, training and management of elephants, is also traditionally ascribed to him, opening with the people of Anga complaining to King Romapada about elephants destroying their crops. The other three names in the list all belong to human medicine.
- (b)Vagbhata — Vagbhata is one of the three great classical authorities of Ayurveda, remembered for the Ashtanga Hridayam and the Ashtanga Sangraha, which condense the earlier tradition into a working handbook of human medicine. He has no connection with elephant science.
- (c)Sushruta — Sushruta is the name attached to the Sushruta Samhita, the classical text famous for its surgical sections — instruments, incisions and reconstructive procedures on human patients.
- (d)Charaka — Charaka is associated with the Charaka Samhita, the foundational treatise of internal human medicine, dealing with diagnosis, therapeutics and the conduct of the physician. Because he is the best known name in Indian medicine, he is the most attractive wrong answer here.
Alongside the classical medicine of human beings, ancient India developed a substantial veterinary literature, and the elephant received the most attention of any animal because of its military, ceremonial and forest-clearing value. The elephant literature has two strands. The Hastyayurveda deals with the anatomy, diseases and treatment of elephants, while the Gajashastra, in nineteen chapters, deals with their capture, training, characteristics and day-to-day management. Both are traditionally credited to Palakapya, whom scholars place in roughly the fifth to sixth century BCE. A later and much better known work in the same field is the Matanga-lila of Nilakantha.
The option set is designed so that a student who recognises only the ayurveda part of the compound will reach for the biggest name in Ayurveda and pick Charaka. The discriminator is the first half of the word. Hastin, gaja and matanga are all Sanskrit words for elephant, so any title built on them points to the elephant literature and to Palakapya rather than to the human-medicine triad of Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhata. It is worth carrying the elephant's place in early Indian statecraft alongside this: the Arthashastra treats elephant forests as a protected state asset with its own superintendent, which is precisely why a technical literature on keeping elephants healthy was worth writing down.
- Hastyayurveda, the Sanskrit treatise on elephant medicine, is traditionally ascribed to the sage Palakapya.
- Hastin, gaja and matanga are all Sanskrit terms for the elephant, and each names a branch of the elephant literature.
- The Gajashastra, also ascribed to Palakapya, covers the capture, training and management of elephants in nineteen chapters, and opens in the country of Anga under King Romapada.
- The Matanga-lila, attributed to Nilakantha, is another classical work on elephants.
- Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhata are the three classical authorities of human Ayurveda, associated with the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita and the Ashtanga Hridayam respectively.
- Seeing the word ayurveda and reaching for Charaka or Sushruta without reading the first half of the compound.
- Confusing the Hastyayurveda with the Gajashastra and the Matanga-lila, which are separate works on elephants.
- Assuming every Sanskrit medical text must be about human beings.
As a straight author-to-work recall, or embedded in a match-the-list item pairing classical authors with their subjects.
Match List I with List II and select the correct answer by using the codes given below the lists: List I — I. Visakhadatta II. Varahamihira III. Charaka IV. Brahmagupta; List II — A) Medicine B) Drama C) Astronomy D) Mathematics
- (a) I – A, II – C, III – D, IV – B
- (b) I – B, II – A, III – C, IV – D
- (c) I – B, II – C, III – A, IV – D
- (d) I – C, II – B, III – A, IV – B
Answer(c) I – B, II – C, III – A, IV – D
The same author-to-discipline skill, and it fixes Charaka to human medicine — the association that makes him the tempting wrong answer in the NDA item.
When did Charaka Samhita originate?
- (a) 6th Century BCE
- (b) 3rd to 2nd Century BCE
- (c) 4th Century BCE
- (d) 5th Century BCE
Answer(b) 3rd to 2nd Century BCE
The earlier 2022 sitting asked about the dating of the Charaka Samhita, so between the two papers the whole classical medical corpus — human and veterinary — has been covered.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Sanskrit words hastin, gaja and matanga all refer to which animal?
- (a)The horse
- (b)The elephant
- (c)The bull
- (d)The lion
Answer(b) The elephant — which is why Hastyayurveda, Gajashastra and Matanga-lila all belong to the same branch of literature.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Sushruta Samhita is best known in the history of Indian medicine for its treatment of
- (a)surgery
- (b)astronomy
- (c)metallurgy
- (d)grammar
Answer(a) surgery — the text is celebrated for its account of surgical instruments, procedures and reconstructive operations.