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A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s30: Commentaries

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s30

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English

Contents

Commentaries

v3.c42.s30.1

The only commentary on the *Siddhayoga* that has been preserved is the *Vyākhyākusumāvalī*. ¹³⁴ Stray evidence shows that this has not always been the case, for the *Kusumāvalī* contains two references to an earlier commentary, ¹³⁵ and Śivadāsasena’s commentary on the *Cakradatta* quotes Candraṭa’s *Vṛṇdaṭīkā*. ¹³⁶ Furthermore, Āḍhamalla ¹³⁷ cites the author of a *ṭippaṇa* on Vṛnda, whose opinions disagree with those found in the *Kusumāvalī*. Hemādri’s quotations from Vṛnda contain short remarks which impress as being from an unknown commentary. ¹³⁸

v3.c42.s30.2

P.K. Gode ¹³⁹ assumed that a commentary on the *Siddhayoga* had been written by Brahmadeva, an author often quoted in the *Kusumāvalī*. ¹⁴⁰ Careful study of these quotations ¹⁴¹ revealed that the majority refer to verses taken from or inspired by Suśruta, which shows that Brahmadeva’s commentary on the *Suśrutasaṃhitā* is concerned. The idea, put forward by P.V. Sharma, ¹⁴² that Naradatta, Cakrapāṇidatta’s teacher, wrote, besides a commentary on the *Carakasaṃhitā*, also one on the *Siddhayoga*, cannot be substantiated, being based on a single reference to a *Naradantavyākhyā*. ¹⁴³

v3.c42.s30.3

The *Vyākhyākusumāvalī*, as it is called in the introductory verses, or, for short, *Kusumāvalī*, is a highly valuable commentary, originally written by Śrīkaṇṭhadatta, ¹⁴⁴ and, later on, enlarged by Nārāyaṇa. D.Ch. Bhattacharyya ¹⁴⁵ was one of the first to observe that it had not generally been noticed that the *Kusumāvalī*, as it has come down, ¹⁴⁶ is actually a revision by a later author, as is evident from its concluding verses where Nārāyaṇa states to have completed Śrīkaṇṭhadatta’s commentary by adding notes from Dalhaṇa, etc. This statement led J. Jolly ¹⁴⁷ astray, who claimed that the *Kusumāvalī* could not have been written before the fourteenth century. ¹⁴⁸

v3.c42.s30.4

A study devoted to this Nārāyaṇa was written by P.K. Gode. ¹⁴⁹ At the end of the *Kusumāvalī*, Nārāyaṇa relates to be a brāhmaṇa of nāgaravaṃśa stock and a son of the

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physician Bhābhalla. ¹⁵⁰ The nāgaravaṃśa descent of Nārāyaṇa characterizes him as a resident of Gujarāt. ¹⁵¹ The evidence collected by P.K. Gode points to Nārāyaṇa as the grandfather of Ananta, who wrote a work called *Kāmasaṃuha* in A.D. 1457/1458. ¹⁵² This Ananta gives the following information on himself: he belonged to the nāgarajñāti, descended from Bhābhalla, was the son of the mantrin Maṇḍana, a grandson of Nārāyaṇa, and lived in a town founded by Ahimmada. ¹⁵³ Indications found in the *Kāmasaṃuha* point to both Ananta and Maṇḍana being physicians. ¹⁵⁴ The data available enable us to conclude that Nārāyaṇa lived towards the end of the fourteenth century. ¹⁵⁵

v3.c42.s30.6

The separation of the two layers present in the *Kusumāvalī* is a difficult task that, nevertheless, can partly be carried out by careful study of the quotations by authors who are earlier than Nārāyaṇa. Fortunately, Niścalakara’s references to the views of his guru are for a large part in agreement with opinions expressed in the *Kusumāvalī*, which means that passages of the *Kusumāvalī* that verbally or almost verbally recur in the *Ratnaprabhā* as interpretations ascribed to Niścala’s guru are old and not due to Nārāyaṇa. ¹⁵⁶ The same applies to Niścala’s quotations from Rakṣita(pādāḥ). This state of affairs appears to suggest that Śrīkaṇṭhadatta based himself on the interpretations of his teacher, Vijayarakṣita, in the composition of his commentary on the *Siddhayoga*, for Niścala’s guru, by some supposed to be Vijayarakṣita himself, belonged to the line established by Vijayarakṣita and Śrīkaṇṭhadatta. ¹⁵⁷

v3.c42.s30.7

Another source of information is the *Cikitsāmṛta* of Gopāladāsa. This author, who lived between A.D. 1350 and 1400, often refers to the *Kusumāvalī* and many (twenty-three) times to Śrīkaṇṭha. He preferred Niścalakara’s interpretations (on verses common to *Siddhayoga* and *Cakradatta*) to those put forward by Śrīkaṇṭha in the many cases where the views of these scholars clashed. ¹⁵⁸ Śivadāsasena’s references may also prove to be helpful, since he repeatedly quotes Śrīkaṇṭha(datta) in his commentary on the *Cakradatta*. The numerous citations from Aruṇadatta, Dalhaṇa and Hemādri in the *Kusumāvalī* can be put to the credit of Nārāyaṇa on the basis of chronological considerations.

v3.c42.s30.8

Many notes on the names and the identity of medicinal plants from the *Kusumāvalī* were collected by Bāpālāl Vaidya. ¹⁵⁹

v3.c42.s30.9.1

Authors and works quoted or referred to in the *Kusumāvalī* are: Agastya (10.43–51; 80.3), Agniveśa (1.132; 21.5–6; 76.3ab), Ālambāyana (68.5), Aruṇadatta (1.9; 6.19cd; 69.6–7; 82.25), Ātreya (80.1 and 3), Bakula (1.119; 20.24–27), Bāṣpacandra (1.34–35 and 36–37; 6.20; 9.31; 51.24–28; 72.8ef; 81.41, 42, 46, 48, 51, 52, 56ab), Bhadraśaunaka (62.15–16; 75.2), ¹⁶⁰ Bhagadatta (81.47), Bhāluki (1.151–152; 73.4; 74.33), Bhārata (1.244), ¹⁶¹ Bhāskara (6.33–42), Bhaṭṭāraka(hariścandra) (6.120cd–121; 80.1 and 3; 81.4?, 52, 59), ¹⁶² Bhīmadatta (81.41), ¹⁶³ Bhoja (1.140 and 254; 3.7–8; 41.49, three quotations; 71.10; 76^1.12; 76^6.14; 77.8–9; 78.3 and 5), Bindusāra (1.206ab), Brahmadeva (1.25, 32, 54, 91, 102; 3.23; 30.56; 37.26–27; 47.6cd; 65.1–4; 69.1ab; 70.1; intr. to 76; 76^1.24–27; 76^2.1–2; 78^2.12–19), Cakra(pāṇi) (1.36–37, 52, 55, 76, 95, 114, 128, 157, 252, 254; 3.49–51 and 60–61; 4.17–18; 5.19–21, 50, 112ab, 113cd, 114, 120–121; 6.48–53; 8.23–27; 10.23–28 and 29–42; 12.31–35; 15.3cd; 21.10–14; 22.7–9, 13, 72, 74–78; 30.50–52; 47.19–20; 57.28 and 29; 58.29–31 and 65–66; 62.51–53; 70.22–30; ¹⁶⁴ 71.13; 80.3), ¹⁶⁵ Candranandana (6.19cd; 9.31; 73.2), Candraṭa (74.16–17),¹⁶⁶ Caraka (passim), Cyavana (10.29–42), Daḷhaṇa (more than ninety quotations), Dravyāvali (4.27cd–29; 15–17; 21.10–14), Dṛḍhabala (1.140 and 266; 73.16; 76¹.4 and 15; prose between 78.1 and 2; 81.46 and 47), Gadādhara (1.53, 67, 75; 5.112; 6.20 and 24; 16.2; 30.38–39; intr. to 31; 41.51; 46.4cd; 47.21; 57.29;

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59.13–14; 61.7 and 193; 74.18 and 33), Gaḍaviniścaya (1.2), gandhaśāstra (58.65–66), Gayaḍāsa (23.62; 44.27; 74.33; 75.28; 76¹.11 and 12), Gayin (34.11–17; 41.49; 57.1; 61.13–14; 70.4; 71.2 and 9; 76.9–10; prose between 78.1–2; 78.3; 81.72), Gomin (5.113ab),¹⁶⁷ Gūḍhapadabhaṅga(tippaṇaka) (41.49), Haramekhala (35.21), Haramekhalā (57.84), Hariścandra (1.68; 6.9–10; 35.40–42; 77.1),¹⁶⁸ Hārīta (1.53ab and 62; 6.20; 8.1; 11.14–17), Hemādri (1.51–52; 6.19cd; 13.7–8; 82.25 and 27), Īśāna(deva) (1.21 and 233; 10.23–28; 19.1; 22.5cd; 36.17cd; 81.17 and 18; 82.27), Īśvarasena or Jejjata (1.254; 4.25–26 and 30–35; 6.19ab and 33–42; 10.11–13; 15.17; 20.24–27; 22.72; 34.11–17; 41.49; 44.5, 27 and 32; 47.21; 49.1; 58.29–31; 61.60, 68,118; 62.42; 71.10; 73.21; 74.33; 76².1–2; 80.1), Jātukarṇa (1.63 and 121; 4.27cd–29; 10.23–28; 11.14–17; 37.26–27; 39.29–33; 58.65–66; 59.16–22; 61.6; 77.1), Jinadāsa (10.23–28; 44.32 and 55), kāmaśāstra (70.42), Kāṅkāyana (5.41–44), Kapibala (81.46; 59.13–14; 60.12–13), Kārttika(kuṇḍa) (14.10, 44ab, 67, 68, 238, 254; 12.22–24; 14.1 and 2; 16.4 and 8; 17.9; 22.20; 30.16; 33.2 and 3ab; 37.42; 47.13; 48.5; 54.4; 57.29; 58.27 and 29–31; 59.30; 61.193; 70.8–9; 74.32; 75.33; 76¹.16), kāśmīrāḥ (74.16–17), Kāśyapa (3.16–17; 70.3; 75.27), Kātantra (20.28–29), Khāraṇādi (1.134; 6.19), Kṛṣṇātreya (4.15; 10.23–28; 20.28–29; 77.1; 79.1, 3, 12), Kṣarāpāṇi or Kṣirāpāṇi (6.20; 30.60; 37.8), Kusumāvalikāra (76⁶.13), Lakṣmaṇatippaṇa (70.48–49), Mādhava (1.25: Śrīmādhava;

v3.c42.s30.9.3

2.1: Mādhavakāra’s Nidānasamgraha; 10.4–51: Mādhavakāra’s Yogyavyākhya; 27.1: Mādhavakāra’s Rugviniścaya; 61.9: Mādhava; 81.3: Mādhava), mahārāṣṭrakāḥ (61.175), maharṣivacana (4.23; 6.120–121), Mahāvideha (77.8–9), Medhāvin (5.120–121),¹⁶⁹ Munidāsa (10.23–28), Nāgārjuna (6.14; 15.15: Nāgārjunavārttāmālā; 61.148–152),¹⁷⁰ Naradanta (44.32; 57.71: naradantavyākhyāsampradāya), Nidānasamgraha (58.29–31 and 52cd),¹⁷¹ Nighaṇṭu (39.5–6), Nighaṇṭukāra (1.201), Nimi (61.13–14; 72.12; 75.27; 77.1 and 8–9), pākhaṇḍikāḥ (81.59),¹⁷² Pañjikākāra (59.26), paramācārya (5.120cd–121), Parāśara (1.40; 3.49–51 and 69), Prājāpatya (81.46), Punarvasu (4.15), rasarasāyanavāda (3.69), ratnaparīkṣaśāstra (22.13), Punarvasu (4.15), Rakṣita (69.23–27),¹⁷³ Ravigupta (10.29–42), Rugviniścaya (1.2; 27.1; intr. to 54), śālākināḥ (79.3), śālākyavidāḥ (79.10), śālākyavidāḥ (78.3), Samgraha (82.25 and 27, several times),¹⁷⁴ Samgrahakāra(ka) (1.224–225; 30.32; 41.33; 44.46), Sātyaki (61.9), Śaunaka (82.27),¹⁷⁵ śauśruto granthaḥ (31.9–10), Soma (82.1–2 and 8–9), tantrāntara (many times), tantrāntarīyāḥ (1.214ab; 5.117–119; 10.84–85; 79.1 and 3; 35.40–42; 81.43–44), ṭīkākāraḥ (1.99cd; 10.29–42), ṭīkākṛt (51.24–28), ṭīkākṛtaḥ (9.21ab and 25), ṭippaṇī (23.34–42; 37.31–34), Udbhaṭa (1.49), Upaskāra (47.13), Vāgbhaṭa (1.25; 5.117–119; 6.19cd; 31.54; 57.84; 58.65–66; 65.6cd; 70.1; 76⁶.4 and 9–10; 77.8–9; 81.79; 82.20–24, 25, 27), vaidyāḥ (3.9 and 60–61; 23.28; 76².1–2;

v3.c42.s30.9.4

76⁴.1–3), Vaidyaka (81.17), Vaidyakasiddhāntāraka (1.128; 4.17–

v3.c42.s30.10

18; 9.49–56; 11.28–29; 30.27–28; 37.59–61; 40.24–26; 51.22 and 107–110; 58.65–66; 61.170–171; 62.51–53), Vaikāraṇa (58.45cd),¹⁷⁶ Vaṅgasena (9.19), Videha (1.244 and 263; 4.17–18; 59.13–14 and 30; 61.5, 7, 26, 188; 76.11; 77.8–9; 78, 3, 4, prose between 10 and 11, 12, 19; 79.7), Viśvāmitra (5.111 and 112; 30.40–43; 33.2; 66.1), vṛddha (13.4), vṛddhāḥ (1.205; 81.46), Vṛddhakāśyapa (12.22–24), Vṛddhasuśruta (1.55; 5.64–67), Vṛddhavāgbhaṭa (71.3; 76⁶.14; prose between 78.1 and 2; 78.4 and 11), and vṛddhavaidyāḥ (1.49, 89, 90, 91, 158, 205; 3.9 and 22; 10.4–51; 22.74–78; 25.30–33; 51.107–110; 71.19–20; 75.9).

v3.c42.s30.11

The author of the Kusumāvalī consulted many manuscripts¹⁷⁷ and mentions repeatedly variant readings.¹⁷⁸

v3.c42.s30.12

Important are the references to Vṛnda in the text of the commentary. Vṛnda is mentioned ad Siddhayoga 1.49, 54, 205, 232; intr. to chapter 2; 2.20; 3.22, 49–51, 60–61; 4.16; 5.19–21 and 113ab; 10.2–3; 11.14–17; 12.22–24 and 25–30; 4.16; 20.30; 22.7–10 and 67–71; 25.30–33; 27.1; 34.10 and 11–17; 39.5–6 and 29–33; 41.53; 51.24–28; 57.8cd–9; 58.29–31; 64.11–17; 65.18; 69.34. The majority of these remarks identify verses or parts of verses composed by Vṛnda and often called ṭippaṇa, ṭippaṇī or ṭippaṇikā. Minor changes in the wording of verses borrowed from an earlier work are also indicated. The explanations of the commentator show that Vṛnda often chose to follow old medical traditions (vṛddhavaidyavyavahāra), not hesitated in deviating from Caraka,¹⁷⁹ accepted teachings from works not mentioned by name,¹⁸⁰ or agreed with the views of Kārttika(kuṇḍa).¹⁸¹ Vṛnda’s views are sometimes criticized in the Kusumāvalī as based on confusion¹⁸² or as being not attractive.¹⁸³ A few references to Vṛnda¹⁸⁴ may imply that he added explanations to the text of his treatise,¹⁸⁵ unless they allude to an earlier, but lost, commentary. An unidentified Vṛndatippaṇakāra, quoted by Aḍhamalla,¹⁸⁶ may also be a commentator on the Siddhayoga.

v3.c42.s30.13

The Kusumāvalī is quoted in Gopāladāsa’s Cikitsāmṛta.¹⁸⁷ Nārāyaṇa refers in his revised version to the Kusumāvalikāra.¹⁸⁸ Śivadāsasena repeatedly employs the term vṛṇdatippaṇī or -ṭippaṇikā when the Vyākhyākusumāvalī is meant.¹⁸⁹ Jīvānandavidyāsāgara’s commentary on the Rasendrasārasamgraha contains a quotation from Śrīkaṇṭha¹⁹⁰ that cannot be but from the Kusumāvalī. The Vyākhyākusumāvalīkāra and Śrīkaṇṭha are quoted in Āśubodha and Nityabodha Senagupta’s commentary on the Rasaratnasamuccaya.

v3.c42.s30.14

Nārāyaṇadāsa and Nārāyaṇāntaraṅga are quoted in the comments on Govindadāsa’s Paribhāṣāpradīpa.

v3.c42.s30.15

Cakrapāṇi(datta)¹ was the author of the (1) Cikitsāsaṃgraha, (2) Dravyaguṇasaṃgraha, (3) Vyagradaridraśubhaṃkara, (4) a commentary on the Carakasaṃhitā, called Āyurvedadīpikā,² and (5) a commentary on the Suśrutasaṃhitā, called Bhānumatī.³ Other works, sometimes attributed to him, are the Gūḍhavākyabodhaka,⁴ Muktāvalī,⁵ Sarvasārasaṃgraha,⁶ and Vyākaraṇatattvacandrikā.⁷

Cites (15)