A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c44.s41: Mevārāmamiśra
A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c44.s41
- Language
- English
Contents
- v3.c44.s41.t1 Contents — 9 parts
- v3.c44.s41.t2 Special features — 4 parts
- v3.c44.s41.t3 The author — 2 parts
- v3.c44.s41.t4 Date — 2 parts
Mevārāmamiśra
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Mevārāmamiśra was the author of the *Vaidyakaustubha*, ¹³¹ a medical citrakāvya, ¹³² written in ingenious verses ¹³³ in various, usually long metres, which are addressed to a beloved woman who is celebrated in high-flown language. ¹³⁴
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Contents
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The *Vaidyakaustubha* ¹³⁵ consists of about 1,200 verses arranged in sixteen chapters (sarga), which chiefly deal with therapy and to a lesser extent with nidāna. General subjects are absent, apart from vamana and virecana. Three chapters are devoted to alchemical procedures and formulae of rasas.
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The order of the diseases is largely in agreement with the *Mādhavanidāna*. Their order diverges with respect to the position of udara, pariṇāmaśūla, amlapitta and vātarakta; a number of diseases has been omitted altogether, e.g., svarabheda, arocaka, pāṇātyaya, udāvarta, gulma, ślīpada, upadaṃśa, and śūkaroga. ¹³⁶ In a considerable number of cases the etiology of a disease, its symptoms, or both, are not described and prescriptions are given only. In some rare cases the nidāna verses are borrowed
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from the *Mādhavanidāna*. ¹³⁷ A conspicuous feature is the enumeration of the number of complications (upadrava). ¹³⁸
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Chapters one to eleven are devoted to the diseases and their treatment along āyurvedic lines. Chapter twelve deals with vamana and virecana, chapter thirteen with the purification, etc., of the dhātus and upadhātus, chapter fourteen with the same type of procedures applied to mercury. Chapter fifteen, by far the longest, contains formulae of rasas against many diseases which are arranged along the lines of the *Mādhavanidāna*. Chapter sixteen deals with vājīkaraṇa and rasāyana.
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Sources referred to by Mevārāma are Caraka (1.1), the *Vṛddhatrayī* (16.88), and a work on karmavipāka (14.72).
Special features
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Noteworthy among the diseases mentioned are mūtrarakta (7.4), phiraṅga (7.95–102), somaroga (9.10), mūtrātisāra (9.12), and seven types of śītalā (bṛhatī, koḍravā, pāṇisahā, sarṣapikā, rājikā, lohitamaṇḍalā, carmajā; 10.43–48). ¹³⁹ Interesting substances from Mevārāma's materia medica are ākārakarabha (7.95 and 99), dvīpāntaravacā (7.102), rasakarpūra (14.35; 16.9), and a list of divyauṣadhis (14.13–22).
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The divyauṣadhis enumerated are: abhayā, ahidamanī, ahivilocanikā, ajagandha, ākhukarṇī, akṣī, ambaravallarī, aṅkola, aparākhyā, ārdra, aruṇikā, asitahema, aśmanta, badarikā, bāhlīka, bahupuṭa, bākucī, balā, balī, bhekā, bhekaparṇī, bhujaṅamalatā, bimbī, bṛhāmī, bṛhatī, cakramarda, caṇḍālīnī, cāṅgerikā, chilihiṇḍa, daṇḍī, devadālī, dhenusurasā (v.l. dhenurasanā), dhūmasāra, gajakarṇikā, gavākṣī, ghana, ghanarava, girikarṇikā, guñjā, halinī, haṃsāṅghri, haranakhī, hastiśuṇḍī, hemavallī, hutabhugdamanī, hutāśa, jātī, jatu, jhaṣā, jīvantikā, jvalanagarbha, kākajaṅghā, kākavadanā, kālī, kamalacāriṇīkā, kaṇā, kāñcanikā, kaṅgunikā, kañcuki, kapī, karavīra, kāravellī, karkoṭikā, karpāsa, kāśmarī, khaṭī, kokilākṣa, kośātaki, kṛṣṇatulasī, kṣapāpatilatā, kṣāra, kṣava, kṣīrakanda, kṣīrāṅghripa, kukkurī, kumārī, kuntī, lajjāvatī, lavalī, madhu, mayūrakaśikhā, mṛgatṛṣṇa, muṇḍī, murā, mūrvā, musalī, nāgārjunī, navasādara, nīlāhvayā, nimbarājī, nimbuka, palāśa, parṇīdvaya, paṭu (mentioned twice), pīluka, pīyūṣavajra(?), puṅkhā, puṣkaramūla, rajanī, rambhā, rasonaka, rāṣṭrī, ravi, ravivartikā, rudantī, ruvūka, śākāṅghrapuṣī, śaṅkhapuṣī, sarṣapa, śatapadī, sehuṇḍa, śigru, śikhi(n), sinduka, sitavibhākara, sṛkka, śṛṅga, śṛṅgī, suvarṇakusuma, taurī, tejovatī, tilaparṇī, toyakalāśī, trikaṇṭaka, tumbī, ūrṇā, vajrakaṇḍa, vaṭāṅghri, vidārī, vijayā, vipina, viṣa, viṣamuṣṭika, viṣṇukrāntā, viśvā, vṛṣa, yakṣanayanā, and yāvanamūlaka. ¹⁴⁰
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The author
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Mevārāmamiśra mentions his name at the end of the *Vaidyakaustubha* (16.87), adding that he lived in Śūkarakṣetra. ¹⁴¹
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Date
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Since it is very probable that Mevārāma was acquainted with the medical citrakāvyas of Lolimbarāja, ¹⁴² he can be assigned to the second half of the seventeenth century.
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