Jīvaka (; ) was the personal physician () of the Buddha and the Indian King Bimbisāra. He lived in Rājagṛha, present-day Rajgir, in the 5th century BCE. Sometimes described as the "Medicine King" () and "Thrice Crowned physician" he figures prominently in legendary accounts in Asia as a model healer, and is honoured as such by traditional healers in several Asian countries.
Accounts about Jīvaka can be found in Early Buddhist Texts in many textual traditions such as the Pāli and Mūlasarvāstivāda traditions, as well as later Buddhist discourses and devotional Avadāna texts. Textual traditions agree that Jīvaka was born as a foundling of a courtesan (gaṇikā), but not who his parents were exactly. Regardless, Jīvaka was found and raised by people from the royal court of King Bimbisāra. As he grew up, Jīvaka decided to travel to Takṣaśilā, to learn traditional medicine from a well-respected teacher. He turned out to be a promising student, and after seven years, started his healing profession in Rājagṛha. His medical feats gained him a reputation and he was quickly appointed as the personal physician of King Bimbisāra and the Buddha. As Jīvaka came more into contact with the Buddha, he became an important supporter of the religion and eventually founded the Jīvakarāma monastery. Later, Bimbisāra was killed by his son Ajatashatru, who usurped the throne. Eventually, Jīvaka was instrumental in bringing him to see the Buddha, to whom the new king repented the deeds he had done.
In the texts, Jīvaka is depicted performing complicated medical procedures, including those that could be interpreted as brain surgery. Scholars are in debate to which extent these depictions have historical value. Regardless, Jīvaka is honoured throughout Asian history by Buddhists, and to some extent by healers outside of Buddhism, as a model physician and Buddhist saint. Several medieval medical texts and procedures in India and China are attributed to him. Up until the present day, Jīvaka is honoured by Indians and Thai as a patron of traditional medicine, and he has a central role in all ceremonies involving Thai traditional medicine. Furthermore, Jīvaka's legendary persona has had an important role in helping to proselytise and legitimise Buddhism. Some of the details of Jīvaka's accounts were adjusted to fit the local milieus in which they were passed on. The Jīvakarāma monastery was identified by the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang in the 7th century, and it was excavated in the 19th century. Presently, it is one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries with archaeological remains still in existence.
Sources
The life of Jīvaka is described in several early Buddhist textual traditions, that is, in the Pāli language, Chinese (from the Dharmaguptaka, Mahīśāsaka and Sarvāstivāda traditions, all translated from Indic texts in the 5th century CE), Tibetan (Mūlasarvāstivāda) and Sanskrit texts. Jīvaka's story can be found in the texts of monastic discipline (Pāli and ) of which the oldest stratum can be dated back to the first half of the 4th century BCE. This stratum includes rules and regulations about medicine, also relating the life and work of Jīvaka, and can be found in various textual traditions.
Furthermore, in the Chinese canon of Buddhist scriptures, two separate discourses () can be found that are not part of the Vinaya, titled the Āmrapālī and Jīvaka Sūtra (known as T. 554) and the similarly titled Āmrapālī and Jīvaka Avadāna Sūtra (T. 553). The latter two discourses originate from before the 5th century CE and between 7th and 10th century respectively, both translated from a Sanskrit or Central Asian source. Traditionally, the two translations were attributed to An Shigao (148180 CE), but this was probably an attempt to make them look more ancient and legitimate. Historian C. Pierce Salguero argues that they were probably based on a translation made by Zhu Fahu (233±308 CE), as well as early Vinaya and 5th-century apocryphal material. Whereas the Vinaya accounts are intended for a monastic audience, the two Jīvaka Sūtras appear to be more popular versions of the account, meant for a wider lay audience. The T. 554 sūtra most likely incorporated and sometimes replaced the early Vinaya accounts in the Mahīśāsaka and Sarvāstivāda canons, some of which have hardly been passed down as part of the Vinaya, and can therefore only be found within that sūtra. The other T. 553 sūtra is most likely based on the T. 554, but has been expanded using material from the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya.
Besides these sources, several Avadāna texts also contain accounts about Jīvaka. There are also numerous references to him in Indian literature that is not Buddhist, such as the Māṭharavṛtti, a commentary to the Sāṃkhyasūtra, and the satirical poems of Kṣemendra, the 11th-century Kashmiri poet.
Salguero and fellow historian Kenneth Zysk have compared the different recensions of the story and have argued that none of them are the original text, and thus the original narrative cannot be known. Instead, they argue that the different narratives were adjusted to fit with local traditions. For example, Salguero argues that the medieval Jīvaka Sūtras that are not part of the Vinaya were written based on much indigenous knowledge of Chinese medicine: some of the healing methods Jīvaka uses, both in the Jīvaka Sūtras and the Vinaya texts, are more Chinese than Indian, and many motifs in his biography are drawn from legends of other famous Chinese physicians. Zysk notes that the Pāli recension is more practical, whereas the traditions influenced by Mahāyāna teachings deploy more magical and miraculous motifs. He also observes that the Tibetan and Sanskrit accounts depict more treatments that appear traditional Indian (Āyurveda) in nature. Each recension has its own regional character in understanding the diseases and having Jīvaka heal them, although there are also many similarities.
Accounts
Jīvaka is described in Buddhist texts as a contemporary of the Buddha, who most scholars date to the 5th century BCE. There are significant differences in how Jīvaka's early life is rendered according to the different textual traditions. In what appears to be the earliest version of the narrative, Jīvaka is described as a foundling discarded by a courtesan with no royal blood, and was later found and raised in the court by Prince Abhaya. In later versions, the story has been embellished to appeal to a wider audience, as Jīvaka's mother is identified with the courtesan of divine origin and Buddhist disciple Āmrapālī, and the previously unnamed father becomes none other than King Bimbisāra. Furthermore, some versions of the story attempt to show that Jīvaka is the real "Medicine King", a title used for other legendary healers such as the Chinese healers Bian Que and Hua Tuo. Many motifs in these accounts point in this direction: for example, the Jīvaka Sūtras state that Jīvaka was born with acupuncture needles and herbs in his hand, which is used as proof that Jīvaka is superior to other Chinese healers. In the Sanskrit and Tibetan version, Jīvaka is recognised and named the "Medicine King" by the court on three occasion, each time after a medical miracle. He is therefore also described as the "Thrice-crowned Physician".
The foundling Texts from the earliest, Pāli tradition, as well as the Chinese Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the T. 553 sūtra, describe that Jīvaka was born in Rājagṛha (present-day Rajgir) as a child of a gaṇikā (; in the Pāli and Dharmaguptaka canons this was not Āmrapālī, but Salāvatī), who had him discarded on a trash heap by a slave. He was later seen by a prince called Abhaya, son of King Bimbisāra, who asked whether the child was still alive. When the people responded that it was, he decided to raise him and named him "he who is alive" (), for having survived the ordeal. The Pāli, Tibetan and Sanskrit traditions explain that his second name became Komārabhacca, because he is raised by a prince (), but scholars have suggested the name is more likely related to the Kaumārabhṛtya: ancient Indian obstetrics and pediatrics, one of the eight branches of the Āyurveda. As he grew up, Jīvaka learnt about his humble origins, and determined to find himself good education to compensate for his background. Without Prince Abhaya's awareness, he went to learn medicine at an ancient place of learning called Takṣaśilā (what the Greeks called Taxila), presently identified with a city near Islamabad, Pakistan.
The prince
Sanskrit texts and early Tibetan translations in the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition state that Jīvaka was born as an illegitimate child of King Bimbisāra and a merchant's wife, who in the Chinese Jīvaka Sūtras is identified with the courtesan Āmrapālī. In the Sanskrit and Tibetan recension, however, the wife of the merchant remains unnamed, whereas Āmrapālī is considered to be the mother of Prince Abhaya instead of Jīvaka. The Sanskrit and Tibetan texts, as well the T. 554 sūtra, explain that the king had an illicit affair with the wife and later she informed him that she was pregnant. The king told the mother that if the child should turn out male, she should bring it to him to be raised in court. When it was born, she had the child placed in front of the palace in a chest. The king had the chest brought in and asked whether the child was still alive. When his servants responded that it was, he called it "he who is alive" (Sanskrit and ). The king had the child raised in the court by a person called Zho-nu Jigmed in the Tibetan version of the story, and in the court the child's interest in medicine was sparked when he saw some vaidyas (physicians) visit. He therefore decided to train as a physician in Takṣaśilā. In the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya and the Chinese Jīvaka Sūtras, Jīvaka considered his medical teachers in the court inferior and demonstrated his superior medical knowledge, after which he decided to further his studies in Takṣaśilā. During that time, Takṣaśilā was under Achaemenid rule, following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley circa 515 BCE.
The heart-exposing disciple Texts in the Chinese tradition relate that Jīvaka was a crown prince in a kingdom in Central India. When the king died, his younger brother prepared an army to battle Jīvaka. But Jīvaka said to his brother that he had not much interest in the throne, because his mind was focused on the Buddha instead. He exposed his chest, showing a Buddha image engraved on his heart. The younger brother was impressed and called off his army. Because of this story, Jīvaka is called the 'Heart-exposing Arhat' ().
In all versions of the story, Jīvaka gave up his claim to the throne to study in Takṣaśilā. He was probably sixteen when he went there.
Life in Takṣaśilā
He was trained for seven years in Takṣaśilā by a ṛṣi (seer) called Ātreya Punarvasu, which Tibetan texts say used to be the physician of Bimbisāra's father.