A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s17.1

v3.c42.s17.1

The work called Rogaviniścaya³ by the author himself (1.2),⁴ but generally known as the Mādhavanidāna, is the earliest compendium on the group of five subjects collectively called nidāna, which consist of nidāna in its restricted sense (aetiology), pūrvarūpa (prodromes), rūpa (symptomatology), upaśaya (therapeutic diagnosis), and saṃprāpti (pathogenesis). The first chapter of the treatise is devoted to the characterization of these five concepts and a number of related issues, while the remaining sixty-eight chapters contain descriptions of the nidāna, pūrvarūpa, rūpa and saṃprāpti, and also in many cases the upadravas (complications) and signs indicating incurability (asādhyalakṣaṇa), of all the diseases recognized by Mādhava. The work ends with an enumeration of the diseases dealt with⁵ and two concluding verses.