This book is still studied all over India, more so in the south.

It is composed in a combination of verse and prose form.

It was written by Vagbhata around the 7th century AD. It is predominantly based on the teachings of Caraka and
Susruta Samhitas though it also gives its own views on different topics. Commentaries on Ashtanga Samgraha were
written by Arunadatta about 1220 A.D. and by Hemadri a few decades later.
Ashtanga Hridya Samhita is divided into sutra , nidana, sharira, chikitsa, kalpa, and uttara sthana, and was also
written by Vagbhata. It contains 120 chapters and the author quotes Charaka, Susruta Bhela, Nimi, Kasyapa,
Dhanvantari and other earlier authors and their works; the chief source, however, is Ashtanga Samgraha. It s a
complete but concise description of Ayurvedic medicine.

Particular stress is laid upon surgery. It does not mention the user of opium in the treatment of diseases and feeling of
the pulse for diagnosis. Use of 'killed' (oxidized) metals is also not given in it. Sutra-sthana of Ashtanga Hridya is
especially famous and popular. A popular later couplet says : "The best authorities in medicine are Madhava for
nidana (diagnosis) , Vagbhata for sutra sthana (theoretical basis or general principles), Susruta for shrira (structure of
the body) and Charaka for chikitsa (treatment)."
Ashtanga Hridya has all along been a very popular treatise. Commentaries on it have been written from time to time
by as many as 35 important Ayurvedic physicians, each one interpreting it to the best of his knowledge and
experience.
Ashtanga Hridya was translated from Sanskrit into Persian in A.D. 1473 by Hakim Ali Mohammed Bin Ali Ismaili
Asavali Aseeli, and dedicated to Mahmood Shah I, the ruler of Gujarat.

Ashtanga Samgraha and Ashtanga Hridya, particularly the latter, indicate advancement in knowledge over the two
samhitas of Charaka and Susruta. This is particularly noticeable in the new drugs and some of the new surgical
procedures that have been introduced. These treatises of Vagbhata were extensively used and, in fact, they
overshadowed the earlier samhitas to the extent that some portions of them were lost never to be recovered. Later
writers like Sharangadhara, Chakrapanidatta and Bhavamisra quoted these treatises repeatedly in their works.
Rug Vinishchaya
Rug Vinishchaya, Madhavakara's famous treatise, is written in simple language and style. It is easily understandable
by ordinary physicians and became very popular and came to be known as Madhava nidana or simply Nidana. It
specializes in the diagnosis of the diseases. The order in which it describes the causes, symptoms and complications
of the important diseases sets an example for the future authors such as Vrinda, Vangasena and Chakrapanidatta. Its
description of diseases shows a significant advancement compared with that of Charaka and Susruta Samhita.