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Ashtanga Hridaya

Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayam अष्टाङ्गहृदयम्

brihat-trayi Tier 1 sanskrit-english cosmetic-relevance 5/5
Author / compilerVagbhata (the younger)
Composedc. 600–650 CE

Significance for cosmetology

Ashtanga Hridaya is Vagbhata’s verse-form synthesis of Charaka + Sushruta — more concise, more memorisable, and traditionally the primary text taught in Kerala Ayurveda. It is the most popular classical text in actual modern Ayurvedic practice, especially the Kerala lineage from which most commercial Ayurvedic cosmetic brands (AVS Kottakkal, Vaidyaratnam, AVP, Forest Essentials sourcing partners) draw their formulations.

For cosmetology, the Sutra Sthana Ch.2 (Dinacharya) chapter is the most-cited foundational reference. It distills Charaka Sutra 5 and Sushruta Cikitsa 24 into a compact, structured protocol. Uttara Sthana Ch.39 (Rasayana) establishes anti-aging formulations including Brahma Rasayana, Chyavanaprasha, and the Amalaki Rasayanas.

The two Vagbhatas

There were two Ayurvedic Vagbhatas:

  • The elder (Vrddha Vagbhata) authored the Ashtanga Sangraha (longer prose; c. 6th c. CE)
  • The younger (Laghu Vagbhata; possibly a son) authored the Ashtanga Hridaya (concise verse; c. 7th c. CE)

Both are Sindhi by origin, both Buddhist by faith. The Ashtanga Hridaya distills the longer Sangraha into 7,120 verses across 120 chapters.

Translation availability

The K.R. Srikantha Murthy English translation (Chowkhamba Krishnadas, 1991–1995) is the gold-standard modern English version. Only Vol 1 (Sutra + Sharira) is freely available on archive.org in English. Volumes 2 and 3 (Nidana, Cikitsa, Kalpa-Siddhi, Uttara) are under copyright; for full coverage we have relied on the older R. Vidyanath English commentary (53,000 lines, archive.org AstangaHrdayam.Eng) which covers the Sutra Sthana in detail.

Extraction notes

We have extracted from Sutra Ch.2 (Dinacharya) and Sutra Ch.3 (Ritucharya) in detail. The Uttara Sthana (which has the Kshudra Roga and Mukharoga material most relevant to cosmetology) is partially extracted from cross-references in the Wisdomlib transcription; the full Srikantha Murthy English translation of Uttara Sthana is under copyright and not in our open corpus. For Uttara Sthana citations, we have cross-checked against the older public-domain summary translations and against the parallel passages in Sushruta and Charaka.

Structure

SthanaNameChaptersNotes
Sutra Sutra Sthana 30 Ch.2 Dinacharya, Ch.3 Ritucharya — the foundational daily and seasonal routines. Ch.15 Sneha-vidhi. Ch.16 Sveda-vidhi.
Sharira Sharira Sthana 6
Nidana Nidana Sthana 16
Cikitsa Cikitsita Sthana 22
Kalpa Kalpa-Siddhi Sthana 6
Uttara Uttara Sthana 40 Ch.23–25 Mukharoga (facial conditions). Ch.31–32 Kshudra Roga (minor skin conditions). Ch.39 Rasayana (rejuvenation — core anti-aging).

Beauty-relevant chapters

  • Sutra Ch.2 — Dinacharya (the canonical daily routine)
  • Sutra Ch.3 — Ritucharya (seasonal regimen)
  • Sutra Ch.15 — Sneha-vidhi (oleation procedures)
  • Uttara Ch.23-25 — Mukharoga (face/mouth)
  • Uttara Ch.31-32 — Kshudra Roga Pratishedha (minor skin)
  • Uttara Ch.39 — Rasayana (rejuvenation)

Translations & editions

TranslatorYearPublisherLicense
K.R. Srikantha Murthy 1991–1995 Chaukhamba Krishnadas Academy / Varanasi copyright
Brahmanand Tripathi (Nirmala Hindi vyakhya) 1992 Chaukhamba Surabharati Prakashan copyright
Atridev Gupta (Vidyottini Tika) 1962 Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan copyright
R. Vidyanath (modern Eng. with commentary) 2013 Chaukhamba Surbharati copyright

Recipes citing this source (7)