Vanaspati: Plants and Plant-Life as in Indian Treatises and Traditions c6.t1.4

c6.t1.4

The physical maladies against which cure is provided are leprosy, fever, obstruction of urine, head-disease, evil of the eye, abortion and injury and diseases in general. Some of the several medicinal plants that are mentioned in the text have been identified with their modern representatives. These are *Reeds*, *Haridrā*, *Kushṭha*, *Chitraparṇī*, etc. The genesis of the diseases in some cases are given and the method of the application of the drugs is nicely described. From the hymns containing cure against natural diseases, it is clear beyond all doubt, that the Science of medicine as revealed in the Atharva Vedic texts is far from being in a state of infancy. It presupposes a good deal of experiments and observation, and seems to be based on a wide generalisation.