A History of Indian Medical Literature v2.c30.168

v2.c30.168

248 Cakra refers to the sāmudrakas, i.e., the specialists in sāmudrikaśāstra, who know about the relationships of all kinds of bodily signs with fortune, whether good or bad; palmistry belongs to this branch of knowledge. Many texts on sāmudrika are known (see CC); see, for example, the edition of the Sāmudrikaśāstra ascribed to Samudra; see also Y.G. Krishnamurti and C. Sharma (n.d.). The subject is, for example, dealt with in the Bṛhatsamhitā (see A.M. Shastri, 1996: II, 367–371). Compare the bodily signs characteristic of the Buddha and great men in general (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa) (see on this subject, for example: M.E. Burnouf, 1973: 553–621; I.B. Horner, 1963: 252; Liacre-de Saint-Firmin, 1916: 70–71; E. Senart, 1882: 88–160). See also Cakra's comments ad Ca.I.1.7.