Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s26: Vācaspati

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s26

Language
English

Vācaspati

v3.c42.s26.1

Vācaspati's commentary on the *Mādhavanidāna*, called *Ātaṅkadarpaṇa*, 283 is not a very original work, as it frequently follows earlier writers 284 and leans heavily on the *Madhukośa*. 285

v3.c42.s26.2

Authorities and works quoted or referred to by Vācaspati are: *Abhidhāna* (55. 38), 286 *abhidhānāntara* (2.10–11; 287 17.1–5), 288 *Ālamvāyana* (69.21cd–25ab and 28), *Aruṇadatta* (2.56–57), *Bakula* (6.15), *Bhāluki* (2.18–23; 2.24, twice; 2.74; 44.9–10), *Bhaṭṭārakahariścandra* (28.3), 289 *Bheḍa* (2.37–38; 60.14–15), *Bhoja* (3.21; 5.1; 5.1–14–15ab; 18.4–6; 37.7cd–11ab; 38.1, 8cd–9ab, 15, 16–17, 25, 26; 40.10cd–11ab; 46.6; 49.17cd–23ab and 25cd–30; 56.1, 9cd–10ab, 15, 28–29, 35cd–36ab, 36cd–37, 38, 47, 48, 54; 49.37–39; 52.22cd–24 and 25; 53.3–8ab; 55.3, 12, 22–24, 26; 55.36, twice; 55.38, 40cd, 41–43, 44–45ab, 45cd–47, 50–51; 64.2 and 6), *Bhṛgu* (introduction), *Brahmavidyārahasya* (introduction), 290 *Cakra* (5.31–32; 8.8–10; 20.5), *Cakṣuṣya* (59.88), *Candranandana* (2.56–57), *Dalhaṇa* (passim), *Dalhaṇa* (2.18–23; 43.3; 56.27; 57.16; 69.4–8ab), *Dṛḍhabala* (2.18–23; 8.2; 12.1–2; 16.8cd, twice; 17.15cd–16ab; 22. 12–13 and 44–47ab; 24.1–5; 29.6; 32.1–3a), *Gadādhara* (2.18.23 and 42–47; 3.9–10; 5.31–32; 10.19; 22.38cd–39ab and 39cd–41; 28.2; 33.23–26; 35.15d–17; 48.1 and 16; 56.10cd–11 and 15; 59.17), 291 *Gajavaidyaka* (2.1), 292 *Gautama* (5.33–34), *Gayadāsa* (2.18–23 and 40; 9.11; 12.8 and 11–14; 16.1–2; 22.59cd–60ab, 68cd–70ab, 70cd–72; 28.3; 29.2), 293 *Guṇākara* (2.31–32), *Hariścandra* (28.3), 294 *Hārīta* (2.15cd–16, 26–30ab, 37–38; 3.21; 16.5; 26.1; 40.17ab; 61.6cd–7), *Harivaṃśa* (2.1), *Hiraṇyākṣa* (61.6cd–7; 68.23), *Īśāna* (22.22–26 and 54–55ab; 23.1–3), *Jagadvaidyaka*, 295 *Jejjaṭa*

v3.c42.s26.3

(2.34–36ab, 37–38, 42–47; 8.8–10; 9.6–7ab; 10.21–29ab; 12.8, 11–14, 18–20, 27–34, 35–36; 16.10; 17.6; 18.22cd; 19.7; 20.4, 5, 29; 22.6–8 and 70cd–72; 24.1–5; 28.2, 3, 15–16; 29.2), *jyotiḥśāstra* (18.10–11), *Kāmasūtra* (47.1), *Kāṇāda* (introduction), *Kapila* (introduction), *Karāla* (59.17), *Karavīrācārya* (3.14–19), *Kārttika* (22.64cd, 68cd–70ab, 72; 55.28–29; 56.22; 58.1; 59.14 and 59; 69.30–31), *kāśmīrāḥ* (10.5), *Kāśmīrapāṭha* (2.18–23), *Kharanāda* (2.34–36ab), *Kṣirapāṇi* (28.3; 36.17–20), *Mādhava(kara)* (5.31–32; 6.23; 17.20; 23.14–18; 59.96; 69.39–41ab), *Mādhavasaṃgraha* (introduction), *Madhukośa* (introduction; 2.61cd–65), *Nimi* (57.8; 59.29, 41ab, 70ab, 80, 85, 87), *Parāśara* (3.21), *Saṃgrahakāra* (56.20 and 28–29), *Sātyaki* (59.47), *Suśruta* (passim), *Tārkikavara* (introduction), *Vāgbhaṭa* (often), *Vāpyacandra* (2.39; 28.2 and 3; 33.7cd–12), *Varāhamihira* (22.80), *Vārttika* (2.32cd–33), 296 *Vātsyāyana* (48.1), *Videha* (2.1, 26–30ab, 42–47; 8.11; 14.2; 18.10–11; 20.18, 24, 25; 55.28–29 and 30; 56.55; 57.1, 2–3, 4, 6–7; 58.2, 7, 9cd, 10, 15, 20cd–21ab; 59.15, 18, 22, 26, 28, 29, 33cd–35ab, 60cd–61ab, 66, 69cd, 70cd, 73cd, 74, 75, 76, 88, 92, 297 93; 60.6 and 11–13; 61.6cd–7), *Vṛddhabhoja* (14.4), *Vṛddhakāśyapa* (69.33–34), and *Vṛddhasuśruta* (2.34–36ab and 42–47; 26.1). 298

v3.c42.s26.4

A *Vācaspati* is quoted in *Ṭoḍara's Āyurvedasaukhya* 299 and in the *Vīrasiṃhāvaloka*. 300

v3.c42.s26.5

In the introduction to his commentary the author informs us that his father, Pramoda, was chief physician at the court of Hammīra, and that his elder brother, Raiśarman, was one of the *paṇḍits* at the court of Muhammad. 301

v3.c42.s26.6

*Vācaspati*'s father's patron, Hammīra, was identified by Hoernle 302 as Amīr Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad, i.e., Muhammad Ghorī, who reigned in Delhi from A.D. 1193 to 1206. 303 As pointed out by P.V. Sharma 304 and J. Filliozat, 305 this identification cannot be maintained. P.V. Sharma holds that Hammīra was the famous king of Raṇthambhor (Raṇastambhapura) (A.D. 1283–1301), 306 the last of the Cāhamānas, to whom the *Hammīramahākavya* by the Jaina author Nayacandrasūri 307 is devoted, and who was attacked, defeated and killed by 'Alā-ud-Dīn Khaljī. Raiśarman is supposed to have resorted to the court of Muḥammad b. Tughluq (1325–1351), 308 i.e., the Muhammad mentioned by Vācaspati, after Hammīra's defeat and death. P.V. Sharma dates Vācaspati therefore to about A.D. 1340. 309 J. Filliozat, rightly observing that several persons called Hammīra are known in Indian history, is inclined to see Pramoda's patron Hammīra as the Mahārāṇā of Mewār, who recovered Chitor, several years after 'Alā-ud-Dīn had reduced it to submission in 1303. 310 J. Filliozat identified Raiśarman's patron as Muḥammad Shāh I Bahmanī, who reigned from A.D. 1358 to 1377. 311 He concluded that Vācaspati must have written his commentary around the middle of the fourteenth century. The quotations in this commentary are not of much avail in establishing his date, since the latest author quoted by him is Dalhaṇa.

v3.c42.s26.7

²⁷⁷ P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 105.

v3.c42.s26.8

²⁷⁸ *Ibid.*, p. 106.

v3.c42.s26.9

²⁷⁹ *Niścalakara* on *Cakrapāṇidatta's Cakradatta*, p. 10.

v3.c42.s26.10

²⁸⁰ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 106.

v3.c42.s26.11

²⁸¹ *Niścalakara*, *op. cit.*, p. 10.

v3.c42.s26.12

²⁸² *Ibid.*, p. 10.

v3.c42.s26.13

²⁸³ *Ātaṅkadarpaṇa* is the title of the commentary on the *Mādhavanidāna* by Vācaspati.

v3.c42.s26.14

²⁸⁴ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 107.

v3.c42.s26.15

²⁸⁵ *Ibid.*, p. 107.

v3.c42.s26.16

²⁸⁶ *Abhidhāna* is a work on synonyms.

v3.c42.s26.17

²⁸⁷ *abhidhānāntara* means 'another synonym'.

v3.c42.s26.18

²⁸⁸ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 107.

v3.c42.s26.19

²⁸⁹ *Bhaṭṭārakahariścandra* is the same as Hariścandra.

v3.c42.s26.20

²⁹⁰ *Brahmavidyārahasya* is a work on the *tantras*.

v3.c42.s26.21

²⁹¹ *Gadādhara* is the author of the *Suśrutārthasandīpana*.

v3.c42.s26.22

²⁹² *Gajavaidyaka* is a work on elephant medicine.

v3.c42.s26.23

²⁹³ *Gayadāsa* is the author of the *Nyāyacandrikā*.

v3.c42.s26.24

²⁹⁴ *Hariścandra* is the author of the *Carakanyāsam*.

v3.c42.s26.25

²⁹⁵ *Jagadvaidyaka* is a work on medicine.

v3.c42.s26.26

²⁹⁶ *Vārttika* is a work on the *Suśrutasaṃhitā*.

v3.c42.s26.27

²⁹⁷ *Videha* is the author of the *Tantras*.

v3.c42.s26.28

²⁹⁸ *Vṛddhasuśruta* is the author of the *Suśrutasaṃhitā*.

v3.c42.s26.29

²⁹⁹ *Āyurvedasaukhya* is a work by Ṭoḍaramalla.

v3.c42.s26.30

³⁰⁰ *Vīrasiṃhāvaloka* is a work by Vīrasiṃha.

v3.c42.s26.31

³⁰¹ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 108.

v3.c42.s26.32

³⁰² A.F.R. Hoernle, *op. cit.*, p. 115.

v3.c42.s26.33

³⁰³ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 108.

v3.c42.s26.34

³⁰⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 108.

v3.c42.s26.35

³⁰⁵ J. Filliozat, *op. cit.*, p. 115.

v3.c42.s26.36

³⁰⁶ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 108.

v3.c42.s26.37

³⁰⁷ *Hammīramahākavya* is a work by Nayacandrasūri.

v3.c42.s26.38

³⁰⁸ *Cf.* P.V. Sharma, *op. cit.*, p. 108.

v3.c42.s26.39

³⁰⁹ *Ibid.*, p. 108.

v3.c42.s26.40

³¹⁰ J. Filliozat, *op. cit.*, p. 115.

v3.c42.s26.41

³¹¹ *Ibid.*, p. 115.

v3.c42.s26.42

Vṛnda is the author of the *Siddhayoga*.¹

v3.c42.s26.43

Contents

v3.c42.s26.44

The *Siddhayoga* is a work on therapeutics in 3,728 verses and some prose,² arranged in eighty-two chapters.

v3.c42.s26.45

The first verse is in praise of Śiva and Caṇḍī, Dhanvantari, Suśruta and other sages, and Ātreya. The author declares in the second verse that the order of the diseases in his work will agree with the scheme of (Mādhava's) *Gadavinīścaya* (i.e., the *Mādhavanidāna*), and that he is going to set forth therapeutic procedures from various sources,³ accompanied by remarks suited to the occasion.⁴ After twenty-seven more chapters, arranged for the greater part, in fact, along the lines of the *Mādhavanidāna*. The treatise ends with chapters on rasāyana (69) and vājīkaraṇa (70), a series of nine chapters on sneha, sveda, vamana, virecana, bastividhi, nīrūha, dhūmavidhi, nasya, and kavala, and three chapters on ariṣṭa, svastha, and various topics (miśraka).⁵ Usually, the chapters are almost exclusively on therapy, but some stray verses on symptomatology, etc., appear occasionally.⁶ Diseases not dealt with in earlier works are, however, fully described as to their pathogenesis, symptoms, etc.

v3.c42.s26.46

Although Vṛnda adopted Mādhava's scheme, the arrangement of the chapters of the *Siddhayoga* differs slightly from that of the *Rogavinīścaya* in having a separate chapter on jvarātīsāra (2), separate chapters on śūla (26) and pariṇāmaśūla (27), udāvarta (28) and ānāha (29), udara (37) and śothodara (38),⁷ bālaroga (66) and bālagraha (67). On the other hand, there are only two chapters on vraṇa, namely vraṇasotha (44) and āgantuvraṇa (45),⁸ and three on women's diseases, namely pradara (63), yoniroga (64),⁹ and strīroga (65).¹⁰ The disease called yonikanda, introduced by Mādhava in a separate short chapter, is mentioned once under the name of bhagaphala.¹¹ ¹² Vṛnda failed to deal with the treatment of a number of kṣudrarogas, namely yavaprakhyā, kakṣā, niruddhaprakaśa, agnirohiṇī, and saṃniruddhaguda.¹³

v3.c42.s26.47

The contents of Vṛnda's work appear to be taken largely from earlier works, in conformity with his own statement on this matter, but he does not specify his sources, except for a few isolated occurrences, where Caraka,¹⁴ Jejjata,¹⁵ Vāgbhaṭa,¹⁶ and the vṛdhavaidyāḥ¹⁷ are mentioned.

v3.c42.s26.48

Vṛnda's sources have not yet been studied in detail,¹⁸ but it is clear from a comparison with the *Cakradatta* and Niścala's commentary on that work that he borrowed extensively from Caraka,¹⁹ Suśruta,²⁰ Vāgbhaṭa,²¹ and Ravigupta's *Siddhasāra*.²²

v3.c42.s26.49

Some other sources are: Acyuta's *Āyurvedasāra*,²³ Amitaprabha,²⁴ Amṛtamālā,²⁵ an Āśvavaidyaka,²⁶ Bhadravarman,²⁷ Bhāluki,²⁸ Bhela,²⁹ Bindusāra,³⁰ Cakṣuṣyeṇa,³¹ Carakottaratantra,³² Cikitsātīśaya,³³ Hārīta,³⁴ Kṛṣṇātreya,³⁵ Madhyavāgbhaṭa,³⁶ Nāvanītaka,³⁷ Puṣkalāvata,³⁸ Ugrasena,³⁹ Videha,⁴⁰ and Yogaśata(ka).⁴¹

v3.c42.s26.50

One verse may derive from the *Mahābhārata*.⁴² One stanza may be based on an explanation in prose by Udbhaṭa.⁴³

v3.c42.s26.51

The *Mādhavacikitsā*, however, was probably unknown to Vṛnda.⁴⁴

v3.c42.s26.52

Vṛnda's activity was not restricted to the collection and selection of appropriate verses from predecessors. As he mentions himself at the beginning of his treatise, he intended to add suitable remarks to the prescriptions taken from various sources. A series of remarks in the commentary on the *Siddhayoga* amply proves that this intention was carried into effect. A number of verses or parts of verses are explicitly attributed to Vṛnda,⁴⁵ and as one of these is called a *ṭippaṇikā* of Vṛnda,⁴⁶ it may be be justified to assume that other verses, similarly called *ṭippaṇa* or *ṭippaṇī*,⁴⁷ also derive from the author.⁴⁸ Niścalakara twice quotes a *Vṛndaṭippaṇī* in his *Ratnaprabhā*.⁴⁹

v3.c42.s26.53

Some verses composed by Vṛnda can be identified by help of the commentaries of Niścalakara and Śivadāsasena on the *Cakradatta*.⁵⁰ Some more contributions of Vṛnda are easily recognized as such.⁵¹

v3.c42.s26.54

Remarks of Vṛnda, expressing his own opinion on particular subjects, conflicted occasionally with the views or explanations of other authorities, and were not always to the liking of the commentator on the *Siddhayoga*.⁵² Niścala and Śivadāsasena indicate, in their commentaries on the *Cakradatta*, that Cakrapāṇi incidentally modified Vṛnda's verses.⁵³ Both commentators repeatedly criticize Vṛnda's views.⁵⁴

v3.c42.s26.55

Śivadāsasena repeatedly employs the term *vṛndaṭippaṇī* or *-ṭippaṇikā* when he refers to the *Vyākhyākusumāvalī*.⁵⁵ This illustrates that the terms *ṭippaṇa*, etc., were used both to denote short remarks by a compiler like Vṛnda, and comments by a later author on the work of a predecessor, like, for example, the *Lakṣmaṇaṭippaṇaka* on the *Suśrutasaṃhitā*, quoted by Ḍalhaṇa.⁵⁶

v3.c42.s26.56

Authors and works quoting from or referring to Vṛnda are: Āḍhamalla,⁵⁷ Ananta in the *Pratāpakalpadruma*, Āśubodha and Nityabodha Senagupta in their commentary on the *Rasaratnasamuccaya*, Bhāvamīśra,⁵⁸ Devasimha Viṭṭhal in his *Bṛhadasāvarīṣṭasaṃgraha*,⁵⁹ Gopāladāsa in the *Cikitsāmṛta*, Gopāladāsa Vādīndra in the *Cikitsāsāra*,⁶⁰ Harṣakīrti in the *Yogacintāmaṇi*, Hemādri,⁶¹ Jagannātha in the *Yogasaṃgraha*, Jayaratna in the *Jvaraparājaya*, Jñārasarāmaśarman's version of the *Amṛtasāgara*,⁶² Karaṇdīkar's *Nidānadīpikā*,⁶³ Kāśīrāma,⁶⁴ Lakṣmīrāma,⁶⁵ Meghamuni in the *Meghavinoda*, Niścalakara,⁶⁶ the *Pākāmartaṇḍa*,⁶⁷ Rāmacandra's *Rāmavinoda*, the *Ratnasāgara*, Śivadāsasena in his commentary on the *Cakradatta*,⁶⁸ Śivamiśra in the *Vaidyaśāstrānuvabhava*, Ṭodara,⁶⁹ Trimalla,⁷⁰ Kṣemāditya Paṇḍita Vāsudeva in the *Vāsudevānubhava*, Viṣṇudeva in the *Rasarājalakṣmī*, the *Yogaratnākara*,⁷¹ and Yogindranāthasena in his commentary on the *Carakasaṃhitā*.⁷²

v3.c42.s26.57

A *Vṛddhavṛnda* is quoted in Vācaka Dīpacandra's *Laṅghanapathyaniṛṇaya*. The author of the *Siddhayoga* is referred to as Vṛndakuṇṭha by Śrīkaṇṭhadatta in the introduction to his commentary on the work. Niścalakara and Śivadāsasena 73 call him sometimes Vṛndakuṇṭha.

v3.c42.s26.58

Authors and works quoting from or referring to the *Siddhayoga* are: Anantakumāra, 74 Āśubodha and Nityabodha Senagupta in their commentary on the *Rasaratnasamuccaya*, the *Bhesajjamañjūsāsannaya*, Hemādri, 75 Niścalakara, 76 Śivadāsasena, 77 and Yogīndranāthasena in his commentary on the *Carakasaṃhitā*. 78 The Vṛndamādhava (i.e., the *Siddhayoga*) is quoted in Rājeśvaradatta Miśra's *Svasthavṛttasamuccaya*; it was one of the sources of the *Bheṣajasamhitā*, *Rasayogasāgara*, and *Rasoddhāratantra*.

v3.c42.s26.59

Vṛnda's work is called *Vṛndasaṃgraha* in Niścalakara's *Ratnaprabhā*, 79 Raṅgajyotirvid's *Vicārasudhākara*, Śivadāsasena's commentary on the *Cakradatta*, 80 and the *Virasimhāvaloka*. It is also recorded in manuscript catalogues as *Vṛndagrantha*, 81 *Vṛndavaidyaka*, 82 *Vṛndavaidyakaśāstra*, 83 and Viravṛndabhaṭṭa's Vṛnda. 84 *Vṛndamādhava* is a second title of the *Siddhayoga*. 85 Manuscript catalogues mention a *Vaidyavṛnda*, 86 *Vṛndasaṃhitā*, 87 and *Vṛndasindhu*, 88 works which may or may not be identical with the *Siddhayoga*. A *Pāṭhyāpathyavidhi* by Vṛnda is also known, 89 as well as a *Siddhayogasaṃgraha*, said to be an abridgment of the *Siddhayoga* by the author himself. 90

v3.c42.s26.60

The quotations prove that Vṛnda's work became well known and remained popular, at least until the times of Cakrapāṇidatta. 91 Later, Hemādri still quoted from it extensively.

Cites (38)