A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s10.t2: Special features
A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s10.t2
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Special features
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Tiṣaṭa gives a list of diseases to be ascribed to bad acts committed in previous lives (10–12).721 The three chief vulnerable parts (marman) are said to be the cardiac, ano-rectal and umbilical regions (25).722 The number of eighteen groups of drugs (48–65) is peculiar to Tiṣaṭa’s work. The first six of them are said to subdue vāta, pitta, kapha, vātapitta, vātakapha, and pittakapha, the eleventh group (elādi) consists of drugs against poison (viṣa), kapha, and vāta. The remaining gaṇas, apart from the fifteenth (varuṇakādi), to be prescribed against a variety of diseases, are well-known smaller groups: triphalā, trikaṭuka, pañcakola, pañcavalkala, aṣṭavarga, trisugandhin, caturjātaka, mahat- and laghupañcamūla, and finally daśamūla. The elādi- and varuṇakādigaṇas may have been borrowed from the Suśrutasaṃhitā (Sū.38.24–25 and 10–11), as well as the two pañcamūla groups and the daśamūla group (Sū.38.66–71).⁷²³ Some other gaṇas, namely triphalā, trikaṭuka, pañcakola, trijātaka and caturjātaka, may have been inspired by Vāgbhaṭa (A.h.Sū.6.159–166) according to P.V. Sharma,⁷²⁴ although this author is not referred to as a source by Tiṣaṭa⁷²⁵ and clear resemblances cannot be detected.⁷²⁶ Some recipes differ from those in earlier works⁷²⁷ or are based on a compromise after the consultation of various sources.⁷²⁸ Verses 309–325, on prakīrṇauṣadhāni, contain a list of remedies which are particularly helpful in certain disorders.⁷²⁹ ⁷³⁰
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Nothing is known with certainty about Tiṣaṭa, except that he was the father of Candraṭa, who wrote a commentary on the Cikitsākalikā, and, as is evident from the first verse of the Kalikā and Candraṭa’s comment on it, that he was the son of a physician whose name is not disclosed. The colophons of a number of MSS call Tiṣaṭa the son of Vāgbhaṭa.⁷³¹ Tiṣaṭa’s name may indicate that he was born in Kaśmīr.⁷³²
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Candraṭa explains in his commentary that Sūrya, who is praised in the first verse of the Cikitsākalikā, was Tiṣaṭa’s family deity, which makes clear that Tiṣaṭa, just like Dalhaṇa, was a brāhmaṇa of the Saura tradition.⁷³³
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G. Hāldār supposes that Tiṣaṭa was also the author of a work called Vaidyatriṃśat.⁷³⁴
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Date Tiṣaṭa’s sources are of no avail in establishing his date, in spite of the statement by Jolly that the occurrence of Bhoja’s name in the list of verse two may point to the eleventh century as the terminus post quem for the composition of his work.⁷³⁵ It is quite uncertain who this Bhoja was and when he lived. The colophons of the MSS that call Tiṣaṭa the son of Vāgbhaṭa are not helpful either, firstly, because these colophons may date from a later age, secondly, because the absence of the name of Tiṣaṭa’s father in the text of the Cikitsākalikā and its commentary,⁷³⁶ and, thirdly, since no information is available on the identity of this Vāgbhaṭa. P.V. Sharma’s claim that Tiṣaṭa made use of the works of Vāgbhaṭa⁷³⁷ is in need of corroboration; his view that Tiṣaṭa probably borrowed from Vṛnda’s Siddhayoga⁷³⁸ has no firm basis, since the formulae referred to are not closely similar in wording.⁷³⁹ The fact that the arrangement of the diseases in the Cikitsākalikā is free from influences from the side of Mādhava’s Rugviniścaya cannot be used as evidence for a very early date, since many works composed after the eighth century disregard Mādhava’s scheme. Nevertheless it is worthy of notice that the new diseases introduced by Mādhava and Vṛnda are absent from Tiṣaṭa’s work.⁷⁴⁰
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The chronological position of the Cikitsākalikā can be deduced only from
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Candraṭa’s commentary. The earliest author, apart from Candraṭa, who is known to have utilized Tiṣaṭa’s work is Cakrapāṇidatta.⁷⁴¹
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The evidence available points to the tenth century as the age in which Tiṣaṭa must have lived.⁷⁴²
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Cites (1)
- Suśrutasaṃhitā — Suśruta & Nāgārjuna (siddha/alchemist), Sanskrit