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A Concise History of Science in India c8.s8.t3: Works on Rasacikitsā and Iatrochemistry

A Concise History of Science in India c8.s8.t3

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English

Works on Rasacikitsā and Iatrochemistry

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The works of the *Rasacikitsā* school of this period compare favourably, in material and presentation, with earlier works of this branch of medical and chemical knowledge. *Rasaratnākara*, the monumental work by Siddha Nityanātha in five volumes, was the earliest work of this period, though it might have been composed in the last years of the ancient period. It is a compendium of medical knowledge pertaining to this non-Āyurvedic school and deals with non-mercurial metallic compounds, mercurial preparations, therapeutic actions and rejuvenating effects of such preparations and the religious faith of the *Rasacikitsā* school. *Rasasāra* and *Rasahṛdayatantra*, two important works on alchemy and mercurial preparations, are widely believed to have been written by Govinda Bhāgavata Padācārya, the preceptor of Śaṅkarācārya (ninth century), but they are very possibly the works of another later Govinda Bhāgavata (*c.* thirteenth century) of Gujarat. The *Rasendrasārasaṃgraha* by Gopālakṛṣṇa (fourteenth century) has been a favourite book for inorganic remedies in North India and Eastern India for many centuries. The *Dhāturatnamālā* by Devadatta (fourteenth century)—a complete manuscript is available in the Palace Library, Bikaneer—describes the winning of metals from native ores and their conversion into oxides, carbonates and salts by oxidative methods and action of mineral acids. *Rasāvatāra*, a voluminous treatise by an unknown author of unknown date, and *Pārada Saṃhitā* by Niranjan Prasad Gupta (eighteenth century or earlier) are informative treatises on the mercurial faith, mercurial remedies and the Rasa school of medicine.

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During the latter part of the period under review, a combination of adverse political, social and economic factors gradually undermined the reputation and usefulness of Sanskrit-based learning, and the old cultural achievements fell into disrepute. Physicians, who also had to be erudite scholars in many branches of philosophy and sciences as required by classical *Āyurveda*, seldom found satisfactory successors, for the new generations were gradually losing their mastery over the archaic phraseology of the Ayurvedic texts; apart from a working knowledge of diagnosis and drugs suitable for treatment, many of them did not have any acquaintance with the concepts and theories which formed the basis of *Āyurveda*. Replacement of existing texts by new copies which had to be laboriously done by hand had long ceased to be an economic proposition, no new works were being written and the old copies were getting scarce due to natural decay in a damp and humid climate. The very basis, on which knowledge could be standardized and passed on, was tottering. There were also no hospitals, no medical colleges, no forums of discussions and, needless to say, no research in *Āyurveda*. The noble profession gradually passed from erudite scientists into the hands of semi-ignorant people with only hearsay knowledge or knowledge gathered from an imperfect comprehension of incomplete and incorrect texts. The members of families of long lines of Āyurvedic practitioners, often foremost in education and aptitude in their society due to centuries of family tradition in a scientific profession, quickly found other and more lucrative professions. Not knowing Sanskrit they considered the manuscripts of their forefathers as useless lumber.

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The long and rigorous training in theory, medicine and surgery, compulsory in classical times,a gave place to a few years of apprenticeship as compounder-*cum*-assistant. The new entrants to the professions were very little interested except in methods of easy cure and were psychologically inclined to follow the path of least resistance. Actual dissections on cadavers, so necessary for surgical and anatomical knowledge,b had been discontinued for many centuries due to changed ideas of caste purity, and surgery was avoided or relegated to barbers when absolutely unavoidable. Obstetric practice was shunned by the male physicians due to changed ideas of social intercourse and was relegated to untrained and illiterate midwives with horribly insanitary and often highly harmful methods. The teachings of the classical works regarding detailed examination of bodily eliminations and applications of douches, enemas, etc., were conveniently forgotten; for social and caste considerations, as well as prudery, dictated against such methods. The painstaking methods of diagnosis found in *Āyurveda* were replaced by diagnosis on the basis of case history and feeling the patient’s pulse; the equally painstaking methods of treatment often became limited to oral medication. In the latter sphere, the metallic preparations alone were reliable, as the original pharmacognosy of plant drugs had long been forgotten and rubbish offered by traders was often passed on as genuine; for genuine prescriptions were costly to collect, prepare and store. When results were disappointing, the science had to take the blame and people turned more and more to the newly imported Western science of medicine in hope of cure.

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a *CS. Vi.*, **8** and **9**; *SS. Sū.*, **2** and **4**.

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b *SS. Sū.*, **9**.

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That *Āyurveda* did not completely die out in these circumstances is a great tribute to its intrinsic merit and vitality.

Cites (6)