A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s3: Māhuka or Mādhuka

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s3

Language: English

Māhuka or Mādhuka

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Māhuka or Mādhuka was the author of the Haramekhala, 309 a treatise written in Prakrit verse. 310

The work, written in āryā metre, has a total of about 1,500 verses. 311 It is arranged in seven chapters (pariccheda), in conformity with the seven hoods of the serpent Vāsuki, which form the girdle (mekhalā) of Śiva (Hara). 312 The number of verses of some chapters differs in the editions: chapter one 191 (11+19+6+155 in ed. b); chapter two 103 (edition a) or 101 (edition b); 313 chapter three 71 (both editions); chapter four 389 (edition a) or 415 (edition b); 314 chapter five 281 (edition a).

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The Haramekhala deals with a diversity of subjects. The first chapter, called koūhalāhīara (kautūhalādhikāra), 315 opens with a maṅgala addressed to Paśupati, nine verses on the author, and a verse explaining the purpose of the book. 316 A series of nineteen verses follows, introducing the subject of chapter one by giving examples. This subject consists of unusual phenomena giving rise to curiosity and wonder (kautūhala or āścarya), which are brought about by the power of gems, drugs, and mantras. A series of six verses extols the adroit person who makes a living by producing these phenomena. The remainder of chapter one describes a long series 317 of methods (prayoga) of bringing about these exciting events, which, amongst many other things, consist of recipes to make the mouth beautifully red when chewing betel (21–25), recipes for an ink by means of which one can write a book that may be read in utter darkness (34–35) or which makes letters written on the back of the hand visible on the palm (36), procedures to make madirā smell like water (45), to write letters which remain floating on water (47), to make fruits fall from trees (58–59), and produce objects invisible to the eye (60), procedures that enable a person to swim under water like a fish (100) or to walk on the surface of water (102), etc. The second chapter, called riujaṇadamana (ripujanadamana; 2.101), is, as its title

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indicates, concerned with procedures to be used against enemies. 318 Chapter three is about subjugation (vaśīkaraṇa). 319

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The fourth and longest (vipula; 4.1) chapter is the most interesting one with regard to medicine and deals with the treatment of diseases, or, to use the term employed by the author, śarīrapariamma (śarīraparikarman), i.e., body care. The order in which the diseases are mentioned is chiefly, though not consistently, based on the division of medicine into eight limbs: śālākya (2–87), kāya and śalya (88–259), bhūtavidyā (260–265), agada (267–301), kaumārabhṛtya (309–380), rasāyana (385–392), and vājīkaraṇa (393–396). A second and most unusual ordering principle in the sections on śālākya, kāya and śalya is the arrangement of the diseases from top to bottom.

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The section on śālākya begins with prescriptions which provide even a bald person with a beautifully curly crop of hair (2–10), and proceeds with formulae against diseases of the head (11–30), amongst which those turning grey hair black again have a prominent place (20–28). Thereafter the following subjects are covered: diseases of the ears (31–41), procedures which increase the size of the earlobes and also that of the penis (42–49), eye diseases (50–66), kāmālā (67–69), diseases of the nose (70–71), and diseases of the mouth (72–87). Then vyaṅga is dealt with (88–92), and prescriptions are given which make the face beautiful like the moon (93–105).

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The section on kāya and śalya is concerned with a long series of subjects: gaṇḍamālā (105–109), apabāhuka and diseases of neck and shoulders (110–111), prescriptions which make the female breasts large and firm, increase the size of the earlobes and also that of the male member again (112–119), plīhodara and udara (120–123), abscesses (124), udara (125), kṛmi (126), kuṣṭha and related disorders (127–142), prescriptions which give beauty to the female and male body and remove a bad body odour (143–149), raktapitta, kāmālā and pāṇḍuroga (150–151), pīnasa (152–153), svarabheda (154), cough (155–156), hiccup, shortness of breath and some other disorders (157–159), kṣaya (160–165), śūla (166–168), atisāra, grahaṇī and viṣūcikā (169–174), prameha (175–176), mūtraṛcchra (177), aśmarī and śarkarā (178–181), gaṇḍamālā and kuraṇḍa (182), diseases of the male organ (183–185), recipes which activate the digestive fire (199–200), vomiting (201), morbid thirst (202–203), fever (204–220), recipes which cause insomnia or cure it (221–225), ūrustambha (226–229), fractures (230), diseases of the feet (231–234), maśa (235–237), burns (238–239), śvayathu (provoked by the fruits of bhallātaka, i.e., Semecarpus anacardium Linn.f.; 240), vraṇa (241–249), naṣṭaśalya (250–251), fístulas (252–254), raktamaṇḍala (255), arbuda, granthi and gaṇḍamālā (256–259).

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The section on bhūtavidyā is about apasmāra (269), bhūtas and grahas (261–265). A prescription against cāturthaka (266) is loosely inserted. The section on agada is concerned with the poisons of many animals and some poisons of a different origin (e.g., kodrava and dhattūraka, 276; pūgaphala, 277–278). It is followed by prescriptions against pitaka (302–303), jvālāgarbha (304) and śītalikā (305–308).

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The section on kaumārabhṛtya deals with pradara (309–314), raktagulma and amenorrhoea (315–316), recipes which assure the birth of a son (317–318), promote pregnancy (319–321) or prevent it (322–324), prevent miscarriage (325–328) and bleeding during pregnancy (329); it contains a prescription against pain after an abortion (330), prescriptions assuring an easy delivery and separation of the afterbirth (331–340); it deals with yoniśūla (341–344), the promotion of milk secretion (345–346), diseases of the breasts (346–347), kikkisika, i.e., striae (349), yonivibhramśa (350–351), prescriptions which make the female organs attractive (352–353, 355–358) and devoid of hair (359–361), and the restoration of virginity after intercourse (354). It ends with verses on the protection of children against grahas (362–367), with recipes against children's diseases (368–374), and recipes which assure that children grow up happily and in good shape (375–380).

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The section on rasāyana and vājīkaraṇa covers the usual subjects. The chapter ends with the treatment of some disorders occurring in cows, buffaloes and mules (398–413), and, finally, a verse on a procedure which controls the colour of the feathers of newly hatched doves (414).

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Verses 183–206 of this chapter are absent from edition a and replaced there by a text in verse and prose called Puttalikāpañcaviṃśatikā, concerned with harming enemies by means of magical procedures against their effigy (puttalikā).

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Chapter five³²⁰ is concerned with the making of fragrant compounds and consists, according to the author himself (5.1), of an extract from various extensive works on the subject (gandhaśāstra).³²¹ It deals with³²² ambuvāsanavidhi (the preparation of perfumed water; 3–8), dantakāṣṭhavidhi (toothbrushes; 9–11), kavala (water for rinsing the mouth; 12), madhūcchiṣṭavidhi (beeswax applied to the lips; 13–14), netraparikarmāñjana (collyria; 15), mukhavāsa (perfumed water to scent the breath; 16–32), (sugandha)taila (fragrant oils; 33–58), udvartanasamvidhi (fragrant unguents used in rubbing the body; 59–61), snānakriyā (62–69) and snānapkaraṇa (70–85) (fragrant substances used during and after bathing), patavāsa (fragrant powders used for perfuming clothes, etc.; 86–87), dhūpa (88–109) and dīpavarti (110–120) (various forms of incense), sugandhasamvidhi (perfumes used as ointments; 121–158), various fragrant substances (159–192), substitutes (pratinidhi) for rare and expensive natural perfumes (kastūrikākṛti; 193–195), āsavavidhi (fragrant substances made by means of fermentation; 196–210), substitutes for rare and expensive natural perfumes: karpūrakṛti (211–213), kuṅkumakṛti (249–256), karpūratailakṛti (257–263), lavaṅgakṛti (264), elākṛti (265), and kuṣṭhakṛti (266), sahakāra preparations (267–269), and, finally, puṣpadrāṇayayukti (the extraction of essential oils from flowers, such as mallikā, campaka and ketaki; 270–272).³²³

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³²⁰ [^320]: ...

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³²¹ [^321]: ...

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Then follows, after an introductory verse (274), a nighaṇṭu, which gives, not in verse but in simple enumerations, synonyms of Prakrit terms, together with their Sanskrit counterparts.

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Most of these words are names of plants which occur in the verses of the Haramekhala, but they are preceded by names of gods, anatomical terms and names of animals, and followed by technical terms. The chapter ends with some verses on the utility of the Haramekhala and its nighaṇṭu (275–277), its author (280), and the date of its composition (281). One of these concluding verses (278) indicates that the end of the treatise has been reached. Nevertheless a sixth and seventh chapter are known to exist. Chapter six is about arboriculture (pādapaparikarman) and food (āhāravidhi).³²⁴ Chapter seven deals with inorganic substances (minerals, salts, gems,

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³²⁴ [^324]: ...

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and metals).³²⁵

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³²⁵ [^325]: ...

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The Haramekhala is quoted by Basava in his Śivatattvaratnākara, by Kṣīrasvāmin,³²⁶ Niścalakara,³²⁷ in the Paraśurāmapratāpa, by Nityanātha in the Rasaratnākara,³²⁸ Śivadāsasena,³²⁹ Śrīkaṇṭhadatta in the Kusumāvalī,³³⁰ Śrīvallabhagaṇi in his commentary on Hemacandra's Nighaṇṭuśeṣa,³³¹ and Toḍara. It is referred to by Kokkoka in his Ratirahasya,³³² by Nityanātha³³³ and Śrīdāsapaṇḍita. Cakrapāṇidatta may have derived some formulae from it.³³⁴ The Kakṣapuṭa mentions the Haramekhala as one of its main sources.³³⁵ The Kāmaratna contains a recipe said to derive from the author of the Haramekhala.

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³²⁶ [^326]: ...

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³²⁷ [^327]: ...

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³²⁸ [^328]: ...

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³²⁹ [^329]: ...

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³³⁰ [^330]: ...

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³³¹ [^331]: ...

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³³² [^332]: ...

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³³³ [^333]: ...

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³³⁴ [^334]: ...

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³³⁵ [^335]: ...

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A Śivamekhala,³³⁶ quoted by Toḍara,³³⁷ is probably the same as the Haramekhala.

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³³⁶ [^336]: ...

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³³⁷ [^337]: ...

Special features

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Noteworthy terms and features of the Haramekhala and its commentary in the field of nosology are: jhiṇijhiṇiṭā (jhiṇijhiṇikā; 12.15),³³⁸ a disorder explained as suptapādatā (numb feet); the use of the term lūā (lūā; 2.19–20), probably in the sense of inflamed sore; uppiāsa (4.11), explained as a synonym of the disease called dāruṇa, characterized by tvakcaṭana, i.e., cracking of the skin; dāruṇa (dāruṇaka; 4.13) is said to be a disease of the skin of the head and to be the same as uppiāsa; arūsiā (arūṃśikā; 4.16) is said to consist of small pustules; the description of head lice (4.18); pūiroa (pūtiroga; 4.35), the same as karṇasrāva; añjanaguḷi (añjanaguḷikā; 4.66) as a synonym of an eye disease called añjanapiṭakā; khuṃkhuṇaasoṇia (4.70) as designating a nosebleed (nāsikāsirāśoṇita); avvaradigubbhavaghunadantā (aparadigubhavaghaṇadantaka; 4.86); gaṇḍāpaci as a synonym of gaṇḍamālā (4.105); caraṇadadru (caraṇadadru; 4.129), a disease of the skin of the feet; khasarāi (khasarāṇi; 4.130) as a skin disease; dubbhita (durbhita; 4.140) as a synonym of sidhma; rāāmanda (rājamanda; 4.161) as a synonym of rājayakṣman, also called nrpavyādhi; the presence of pariṇāmaśūla (4.166); a variety of śarkarā, called aṭṭaṇḍasakkara (atyaṇḍaśarkarā; 4.180–181); galagaṇḍa as a synonym of gaṇḍamālāpaci (4.182); the term kuraṇḍa (4.186–188), used to designate a swelling of one or both testicles (aṇḍa- or vṛṣaṇavṛddhi); ramhaṇīvāa (raṃhaṇīvāta; 4.228–229) as a synonym of ūrustambha;³³⁹ a disease of the skin of the legs called rattamaṇḍala (raktamaṇḍala; 4.255); the description of keloid, vaṇakiṇagaṇṭhī (vraṇakiṇagranthi; 4.259); a disease of the skin called kīḍapiḍā (kīṭapiḍakā; 4.302); the mention of jvālāgardabha and jālagardabha as synonyms (4.304); the presence of śialia (śītalikā; 4.305–306), put on a par with visphoṭa; the mention of an epidemic form (upasargaja) of this disease (4.306); mahāruhira (mahārudhira; 4.310–311) and atirajas (4.310 and 312) as synonyms of pradara; a disease of the female breasts called thaṇakīkaḍa (stanakīkaṭa; 4.346); the description of varaṅgavibbhamṣa (varāṅgavibhramśa; 4.350), probably to be equated with prolapsus uteri; a children's disease called vacchāruka (vatsārūṃśi; 4.373), characterized by the presence of parasites on the lesions; the head; khuṃkhuṇiā (khuṃkhuṇikā; 4.374) as a synonym of kukkuṇaka; a children's disease called mutthai (mustaki; 4.374), in which small pustules arise on the interior of the eyelids; a disease of horses and mules called variphoḍa (vārisphoṭa; 4.411), characterized by blisters.

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³³⁸ [^338]: ...

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³³⁹ [^339]: ...

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These peculiarities show that Māhuka has not been influenced by the Mādhavanidāna; the order of the diseases of that work has not been adopted, and the new disorders, described for the first time by Mādhava, are absent, with the exception of pariṇāmaśūla (4.166).

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Māhuka's therapeutical prescriptions are partly of a magical nature. Enlargement of the spleen, for example, is treated by throwing away, as far as possible, the root of indravāruṇī, divided into two halves, while pronouncing the name of the patient (4.121).³⁴⁰ Products of animal origin are repeatedly used,³⁴¹ as well as mercury.³⁴² Opium is absent.

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Yavanas are referred to as experts in the art of perfumery (5.58).³⁴³ The Tantric Buddhist deity Kurukullā is mentioned in the introductory verses.³⁴⁴

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The *Haramekhalā* contains many interesting or rare names of plants and animals, both in its prayogas and its nighaṇṭu. Some noteworthy names of plants are: āpallī (4.252);³⁴⁵ cakrāṅkā (= sudarśanā; 1.69; 4.124);³⁴⁶ caṇḍālīkā (= rakṭakañcukā; 3.39);³⁴⁷ gomaya (5.234);³⁴⁸ gorambhā (3.9; 4.400);³⁴⁹ gṛhakumārī (4.233);³⁵⁰ jhiṇṭuka (= gopālaka; 1.105);³⁵¹ jhiṇṭuka (= gopālapīthaka; 1.65 and 68);³⁵² kacchodbhava (= guggulu; 4.189); kanakatvac (4.96);³⁵³ kandalī (3.27);³⁵⁴ kaṇṭakakarañja (5.159);³⁵⁵ karabhavāruṇī (3.63);³⁵⁶ kāravallī (4.54);³⁵⁷ kirimāla (= āragvadha; 4.148);³⁵⁸ kuḍuhuñcī (4.71);³⁵⁹ kukkuramardaka (= rāmaśitalika; 4.346);³⁶⁰ kulīśataru (= sudhā-vṛkṣa; 2.68);³⁶¹ mayālī (= potikā; 1.99);³⁶² māyāphala (4.352);³⁶³ mohanī (3.9);³⁶⁴ nihuduñcī (= sudhāvṛkṣa, 2.64);³⁶⁵ paraśucchinna(ka) (1.5; 5.271);³⁶⁶ suvarṇatvac (4.93);³⁶⁷ tāmraśithikā (= rāṅgiṭṭikā; 1.23);³⁶⁸ uṣṭravāruṇī (3.53);³⁶⁹ uttaṇṭakī (4.257);³⁷⁰ uttaraṇī (= uṣṭravāruṇī; 4.338); valla (= niṣpāva; 4.109);³⁷¹ vāluṅka (1.26 and 33);³⁷² vanadrākṣā (= goṣṭhamālikā; 4.373);³⁷³ vanakumārī (4.248);³⁷⁴ varāhakarṇī (4.84);³⁷⁵ vatsakarkaṭikā (= gopālakarkaṭikā; 4.179).³⁷⁶

The author

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Māhuka, who mentions his name at the beginning³⁷⁷ of his treatise and again at the end of chapter five,³⁷⁸ states that he is a descendent of the great poet Māgha,³⁷⁹ a grandson of Kavimaṇḍana,³⁸⁰ a son of Mādhava,³⁸¹ and a pupil of Durjayabhaṭṭa³⁸² of the lineage of Śrīmūladeva.³⁸³ The latter performed miracles in Virajānagara³⁸⁴ during the reign of Unmattakeśarin,³⁸⁵ during the reign of Vallabhanarendra,³⁸⁶ and at Citrakūṭa during the reign of Jayavarāha.³⁸⁷ Māhuka himself was a resident of Bhillamālapura³⁸⁸ and wrote his *Haramekhalā* at Citrakūṭa³⁸⁹ during the reign of Dharaṇīvarāha.³⁹⁰

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The author was a Śaiva, as appears from the maṅgalācaraṇa, dedicated to Paśupati, and other references.³⁹¹

Date

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The *Haramekhalā* was completed on the seventh day of Māgha of the year 887 of an unspecified era,³⁹² said to be the Vikrama era by the commentator, i.e., A.D. 829/830. This date was accepted by the editors of the two editions of the text, but rejected by D.Ch. Bhattacharyya.³⁹³ According to the latter, no king, called Dharaṇīvarāha, reigned in the region of Citrakūṭa (i.e., Chitor) about 830. Two kings of this name are known; one of these, a Dharaṇīvarāha of the Cāpa family, ruled in Vardhamāna (modern Wadhwān in Kāthiāwār), and the other, a Paramāra prince, in Candrāvatī and

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Arbuda (near Chitor) in 1002. Since Wadhwan is a long distance from Chitor, D.Ch. Bhattacharyya assumes that the Paramāra king was Māhuka's patron and that the *Haramekhalā* was composed in 887 of the Śaka era, i.e., 965/966. In his view, this date is corroborated by Māhuka's reference to Māgha as a distant forefather. A.N. Upadhye³⁹⁴ also argued that the Śaka era may be preferable, but he prefers to identify the patron as Dharaṇīvarāha, the Cāpamahāsāmantādhipati, who was a feudatory of Rājādhirāja Mahīpāla I of the Gurjara-Pratīhāra dynasty of Kanauj.³⁹⁵ It is not yet possible to decide which view should be preferred.

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The terminus ad quem of the *Haramekhalā* can be established as the eleventh century, because the work was put to use by Cakrapāṇidatta in the eleventh century and was quoted by Kṣīrasvāmin in the first half of the twelfth century.

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Another medical treatise by an unknown author and of unknown date, called *Haramekhalātantra*, has summarily been described by P.V. Sharma.³⁹⁶ It is completely different from Māhuka's work and referred to by the author as a mahauṣadhisamuccaya.

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The commentary on the *Haramekhalā*, written by an anonymous author, gives a Sanskrit chāyā of the Prakrit verses and explanations in Sanskrit. It is not only valuable with regard to information on plants, animals,³⁹⁷ etc., but also in providing detailed instructions on the preparation of medicines and perfumes, and in specifying the diseases mentioned in the text. Quotations are rare; the definitions of pāmā (4.136),³⁹⁸ jvālāgardabha (4.304)³⁹⁹ and kukkūṇaka (4.374)⁴⁰⁰ are quoted from an unnamed source, as well as the definition of the maximum length of life (paramāyus) in man and various animals (4.389),⁴⁰¹ the rules for cleansing the teeth (dantadhāvanavidhi; 5.11), and the definition of a gaṇḍūṣa and a kavala (5.12). In one case only the author names his source, namely Vāgbhaṭa (4.204).⁴⁰² He also summarizes in some verses at the end the topics dealt with in chapter four,⁴⁰³ and gives, in a series of about thirty verses at the end of chapter five, technical rules (paribhāṣā) for preparing the substances prescribed by Māhuka.

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The maṅgala of the commentary indicates that its author was a Śaiva. That he was not the first commentator on the *Haramekhalā* is evident from a remark referring to predecessors.⁴⁰⁴ The date of the commentary cannot be established.

Linked texts (3)

Mādhavanidāna (Rugviniścaya) — Mādhavakara, Sanskrit
Paryāyaratnamālā — Mādhavakara, Sanskrit
Haramekhalā — Māhuka or Mādhuka, Sanskrit