A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c44.s29: Hastiruci

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c44.s29

Language: English

v3.c44.s29.t1 Special features — 6 parts

Hastiruci

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Hastiruci was the author of a short collection of formulae, the *Vaidyavallabha*.⁵⁶

The treatise consists of about 250 verses⁵⁷ in eight chapters (vilāsa), each of which deals with a group of disorders. Chapter one contains recipes against fevers, chapter two against women's diseases, chapter three against various disorders, chapter four mainly against diseases of the urinary tract, chapter five mainly against diseases of the intestinal tract, chapter six against abdominal diseases, anaemia and jaundice, chapter seven mainly against diseases of eyes, ears, mouth and head, and chapter eight against bhūtas, pretas, poisons, and diverse disorders.⁵⁸

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Hastiruci frequently mentions his name at the end of the formulae as the one who devised them.⁵⁹ A small number of recipes is provided with a name.⁶⁰

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Sources are not referred to.⁶¹

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(Hastiruci's *Vaidyavallabha* was one of the sources of Pratāpasiṃha's *Amṛtasāgara*.)

Special features

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Interesting names⁶² of disorders are: dhāturoga⁶³ in women (2.17); kapālakīṭaka, i.e., head lice (7.11); a kind of ulcer called nāsūra⁶⁴ (7.19); granthivāta (7.36); mallaviṣa (8.5); mṛgī as a term for apasmāra (8.22–23); vīryasrāva, i.e., involuntary loss of semen (8.25);⁶⁵ pādavraṇa (8.26); jānukampa (8.29).⁶⁶ Although snāyuka was known to Hastiruci (7.24–27), he did not include recipes against other diseases added by Vṛnda and later authors, such as vardhma, phiraṅgaroga, somaroga, masūrī and śītalā. Chapter two contains not only a number of formulae which promote fertility in women and counteract abortion, but also some abortifacients (2.18–23) and contraceptives (2.26–31). Medicines against the poisonous effects of opium (nāgaphenaviṣa; 8.6) and mercury (rasaviṣa; 8.9ab) form part of Hastiruci's collection.

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The pharmaceutical preparations are mostly of the classical types, with a rather small proportion of rasas; some pākas are also found in the work (5.16; 7.1–5 and 30–34; 8.18–20). Noteworthy is the frequent prescription of ākallaka (4.23; 5.18; 6.3; 7.3 and 35; 8.18, 34 and 39) and opium (ahiphena or nāgaphena; 4.19 and 24; 5.3 and 4; 6.12 and 17; 7.17; 8.6, 27, 30 and 39).

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Interesting items from the materia medica are: brahmadarbha (8.30);⁶⁷ guṇdī (7.24);⁶⁸ guṇdīvṛkṣa (8.25); jasada (8.30); jāśūsa (2.12 and 31); kāṅgaḍī (8.30); kārelī (1.26; 2.31; 8.24);⁶⁹ khairasāra (6.15); mājūphala (7.20); mastakī (8.30 and 39); meṇa (8.26); sābun (8.26); sūryakṣāra (4.16);⁷⁰ tila (8.26).⁷¹ Honey, not allowed to Jains as an article of food, is freely prescribed in medicines by Hastiruci. The last recipe of the collection (8.38–40) is said to have been devised by Murādisāha.

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A Sanskrit commentary on the *Vaidyavallabha* was written by the brāhmaṇa Meghabhaṭṭa of Gautamagotra in 1672/73. This Meghabhaṭṭa was a son of Nīlakaṇṭhabhaṭṭa, a grandson of Kṛṣṇabhaṭṭa, and a great-grandson of Nāgarabhaṭṭa.⁷²

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The author Hastiruci is described as a member of the Tapāgaccha and a disciple of upādhyāya or mahopādhyāya Hitarucigaṇi⁷³ in the colophon at the end of two BORI MSS (Nrs. 281 and 282). He lived in Gujarāt.⁷⁴

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Date Since one of the formulae of the *Vaidyavallabha* is ascribed to Murādisāha, we can infer that Hastiruci lived in the same period or later than Murād, the younger brother of Aurangzīb, who was beheaded in 1661.⁷⁵ This dating is confirmed by the colophon of one of the BORI MSS (Nr. 281), which states that the work was completed in 1670/71.⁷⁶