Indian Medicine (Medicin), translated by C. G. Kashikar c8.2

c8.2

In spite of the advance made by European medicine through English Colleges and Hospitals, the Indian people still like to consult the modern Vaidyas and Kavirājas—although they grumble about their high fees and the costliness of their medicines. Like the modern Indian physicians who still continue to prescribe¹ their time-honoured recipes like the *Cyavanaprāśa* and red sandal powder, their assiduous literary production goes on along the same old paths. Text-books like Binod Lal Sen's *Āyurveda-vijñāna*² in two parts could have been written in the same style 1000 years ago. The medical Sanskrit dictionary *Vaidyakaśabdasindhu* by Umeshchandra Gupta, which is of value also for the Sanskritists, contains a collection of medical technical terms with explanations and numerous citations from the medical glossaries³. Special collections for Materia Medica exist in greater number; e. g. *Āyurvedyadravyābhidhāna*⁴ of K. B. Lal Sengupta printed in Calcutta and the work of K. K. Prasanna Vitasarkar and Bholanath Śarma used in Hoernle's Bower MS., the *Nighaṇṭuratnākara* of Godbole⁵ printed in Bombay and the *Bṛhannighaṇṭuratnākara* of Dattaram Chaube⁶, in both of which works also *Anannasa*, *Tamākhu*, *Daktarimatānusāramūtraparīkṣā* and other modern elements have found admission. Of monographic works mention may be made of the *Cobaciniprakāśa* on *Cobacini* (*Sarsaparilla*) as a remedy against syphilis and other diseases compiled under the auspices of the famous Ranjit Singh. To most of these publications are added translations in Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Singhalese and other modern Indian languages; others are written only in modern Indian languages. The old Sanskrit texts like *Caraka*, *Suśruta*, *Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya*, *Mādhavanidāna*, *Śārṅgadhara Saṃhitā* and others are often printed with or without the old commentaries and with or without the translations in modern Indian languages. The critical editions of Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series of Poona deserve special mention. The more rare English publications, *e. g.* Umeshchandra Dutt's beautiful *Materia Medica of the Hindus*, Sir Bhagavat Sinhjee's *A short History of Aryan Medical Science*—the work of an Indian Prince, Avinash Chandra Kaviratna's translation of the Caraka Saṃhitā (see § 9 ) serve the object of rousing the interest of English readers for the Indian Medicine.