hava Vritti" (on Grammar), "Madhava Nidana" (on Medicine), "Kala Madhava" (on Astronomy), "Vyavahara Madhava" (on Hindoo Law), "Achara Madhava" (on the usages of the Brahmanas), and "Shankara Digvijaya" (Life of Shankaracharya) are some of his numerous works. In his medical work our author dwells exclusively on the diagnosis of diseases. He has treated the subject so well that his authority on this branch of Medical Science is held to be indisputable. The native doctors are often heard to repeat this Sanskrit stanza : —
Nidane Madhavas shreshthas,
Sutrasthane tu Vagbhatas :
Sharire Sushrutas proctas,
Charakas tu chikitsake.
It means : Madhava is unrivalled in Diagnosis, Vagbhata in Principles and Practice of Medicine, Sushruta in Surgery, and Charaka in Therapeutics. In his old age Madhava became an ascetic, and assumed the name of Vidyaranya ('forest of learning').
The next celebrated writer on Hindoo medicine is Bhava Mishra, author of the "Bhava Prakasha." This physician lived in 1550 A.C, and was considered to be the best scholar of his time
