Atreya virachita sarasamgraha and its contribution to Ayurveda – A critical analysis of an unpublished manuscript

Introduction: Enormous literature on healthcare is available in ancient texts of Indian civilization, however, much of it is still limited to the libraries in the form of unpublished manuscripts. “ Atreya virachita sarasamgraha” is an available manuscript on Ayurveda in Sanskrit language and Devanagari script, but is unpublished. Materials and Methods: A total of 27 manuscripts were collected from different libraries across the country, out of which eight manuscripts were included in the study following the inclusion criteria. Manuscripts were studied with the method of lower and higher criticism. Observations: There are differences in the number of folios and verses in these manuscripts. The predominant poetic meter used in the verses is the Anusthupa chhanda . Almost all the subjects of Ayurveda such as Nadi pariksha (~pulse diagnosis), Mutra pariksha (~urine examination), Ritucharya (~seasonal regimen), Annapana guna (~classification and attribute of food and beverages), Roga ganana (~enlisting diseases), and Vayoyojana (~information about patient examinations including age) have been described in this work. According to a verse found in the manuscript, the author has summarized the essence of other treatises of Ayurveda in this work. These concepts are distinct from the Brihattrayi , indicating unique insights and contributions within the manuscript. The critical analysis on the manuscripts deals with the preliminary information as well as description of the themes of some of the initial chapters. Conclusion: Many of the verses of Atreya virachita sarasamgraha are analogs to the Harita samhita and other Ayurveda texts, but a distinctive aspect lies in the lingering content, suggesting the unique contribution by the author.