Indian Medicine (Medicin), translated by C. G. Kashikar c8.10

c8.10

existed already in the 16th century. The oldest and definitely datable work of this kind appears till now to be the commentary by Merutunga, a Jain, written in 1386 on Kankalaya Rasādhyāya* which must naturally be older than the commentary. In Sarvadarśanasaṃgraha* also written in the 14th century, the above-mentioned Rasārṇava as well as Rasarahasya and Raseśvarasiddhānta are mentioned, whereby these three works are to be placed about 1300 at the latest. Rasārṇava is also cited in the Rasaratnākara of Nityanātha which deals in five Khaṇḍas first with the manufacture of metallic preparations and then (213 ff.) with the treatment of diseases. It is besides cited in Rasendracintāmaṇi of Rāmacandra which is arranged similar to Rasaratnākara (these two works are printed in Calcutta 1878, pp. 24, 782). The Rasaratnākara must have already existed in the 15th century, as B, 4. 236 denotes a MS written in 1473 and the Persian work on Indian medicine referred to by Haas (ZDMG 30, 630 ff.) denotes Rasaratnākara as a work generally used at that time, i. e. at the beginning of the 16th century. Still older than all these above-mentioned works is the comprehensive Rasaratnasamuccaya* available in a more correct edition, if it were really a work of Vāgbhaṭa, as stated by the editor who has indeed had many MSS. Still in some MSS the author is called Nityanātha or Aśvinikumāra, or there is no author mentioned and at any rate this work which, in 30 Adhyāyas, deals exhaustively with various metallurgical and pharmaceutic processes, differs as strongly as possible from Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha (AS) and Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya (AHr)* in contents as well as in style (see §6). The MSS of Rasaratnasamuccaya are also not old, the oldest (IO. 966) being of 1699 A. D.⁷