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Authors on Indian Veterinary Science
the author has already traced the birth, growth and general development of
the medical and veterinary sciences in all their aspects in ancient and medieval
India. Again in another article on the ' History of animal husbandry
in ancient India ' the author [Krishnaswamy, 1941] has tried to show how
the early Aryans in India were a race of agriculturists depending solely
upon agriculture and livestock for their livelihood, and how on account
of the various uses to which the animals were put, and the several animal pro
ducts that were in use in those days, the early Aryans regarded animals as
their foremost care. It is no wonder then, that in common with all other
sciences, veterinary science developed to a high level, and several manuals
were written regarding the proper management of domestic animals. For
the purpose of this article, the writer is concerned only with authors on Indian
veterinary science, their works and their antiquity.
WRITERS ON INDIAN VETERINARY SCIENCE, THEIR WORKS AND AGE
Among the original and authentic authors on Indian veterinary science
are found the names of Sālihōtra, Pālakāpya, Rājaputra, Vaisampāyana,
Vyāsa, Nakula, Sahadēva, Garga, Mrigasarma, Brihaspathi, Nārada, Gana,
Jayadatta Sūri, Dinapathi, Malladēva Panditha, Simhadatta, Nala, Vātsya,
Sukra, Manu, Kāutilya, and Parāsara ; and among the authors of later date
come Jayadēva, King Indusēna, Bhōja, Sārangadhara, Sōmēswara, Vāhada,
Basavamantri, Gēērvana yuddhavikrama, Viswanāth Vajpēye, Sivamara
Bhūpathi, Dipankara, and the poet Rudradēva Each one of the above authors
is reported to have contributed a valuable book on veterinary science ; but
many of these works are now lost either in part or completely ; but some
fragments of a few of them are still available here and there, in libraries and
oriental institutions, where old palm-leaf manuscripts are preserved. Of all
the authors mentioned above, the names of Salihōtra as the authority on horses,
and Pālakāpya on elephants stand pre-eminent. The exact period when
these sages lived is difficult to determine, but evidence goes to show that they
lived in a very remote age.
Age of Sālihōtra.—Sālihōtra is said to have lived in Salutār, a country
near Gāndhāra, the modern Kāndahār. In the Linga Purāna (Ch. 7 and 24),
among the different Yogāchāryās and their disciples, flourishing in the Varāha
Kalpa of the present Vivaswata Manvantara, are given the names of both
Sālihōtra and Agnivēsa, as having been the disciples of the same Yogāchārya,
in the Neimisāranya land of the present 28th Kaliyuga. This points to
Sālihōtra's having lived in a very remote age.
In one of the manuscripts entitled Asvāyurvēda Siddhayōgasangraha
(P. P. S. No. 11251 and Burnell's Catalogue No. 12302, S. M. Library, Tanjore),
the authorship of which is ascribed to Sālihōtra, the author describes himself
as the son of the Sun God, as having learnt the science of horses from
Brahma himself and as having taught it to his disciples. Elsewhere, in an
other manuscript, Sālihōtra is described as the son of one Hayaghōsha. In the
latter, which is in the form of a dialogue between Sālihōtra and Susruta, Susruta
is described in some places as the third son of Sālihōtra, and in others as his