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Aştāngahṛdaya contains six sthānas (sections) each sthāna consisting of varying number of adhyāyās (chapters); the total number of chapters being 120. The text is com- posed entirely in poetry. The total number of verses is 7120 in the extant edition. In addition there are about 33 verses which have not been commented upon (by Aruņadatta) hence considered as later interpolations. There are 240 short prose lines also, two at the commencement of each chapter. The sthānās (sections) and their important con- tents are:
1. Sūtrasthāna: The first section has 30 chapters dealing with basic doctrines of Ayurveda, principles of health, pre- vention of diseases, properties of articles of diet and drugs, humoral physiology and pathology, different kinds of dis- eases and methods of treatment.
1. Edited by Harisastry Paradkar, published by Nirnayasagar press, Bombay, 1939.