A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s17.t2.7

v3.c43.s17.t2.7

Various arguments have been put forward in support of this thesis. One of these is that, at the end of the Gaṇadravyāvali, the author states that, the Gaṇadravyāvali being completed now, he is going to enumerate the synonyms in due order. Instead of doing so, a renewed salutation to Dhanvantari follows, accompanied by an introductory verse mentioning the author’s intention to describe the qualities and actions of the medicinal substances. It is remarkable indeed that the author, in his introductory verses, refers to his work as the Dravyāvali, which is said to consist of a Gaṇadravyāvali and a series of synonyms, while allusions to the medicinal properties also occur in the introduction; their description is even an essential element of the Gaṇadravyāvali. The argument is therefore not convincing, but it remains to be explained why the series of synonyms from the Dhanvantariyanighaṇṭu are quoted by later authors, whereas the verses about the properties of the drugs seem to have been less appreciated or less well known.335 The problem whether an earlier Dravyāvali, of a structure similar to that of the Aṣṭāṅganighaṇṭu, has existed or not, depends in my opinion on a thorough study of all the manuscripts available.