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A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c44.s48: Rāmacandra Paṇḍita

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c44.s48

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Rāmacandra Paṇḍita

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Rāmacandra Paṇḍita²⁹¹ was the author of the Rāmavinoda²⁹² and Vaidyavinoda. He also wrote some kāvyas and a Sāmudrikabhāṣā. All these works were composed in Rā- jasthānī. 293

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The Rāmavinoda 294 consists of 1,981 verses (caupāī, dohā, soraṭha), arranged in seven chapters (samuddeśa). Some of the subjects dealt with are: 295 puruṣalakṣaṇa, śārīra, sādhyāsādhyalakṣaṇa, mūtraparīkṣā, pittakaphavāyuhetu, the nidāna and treatment of several diseases.

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Fever is classified into ten types: ajīrṇa-, āhāra-, pitta-, kheda-, vāyu-, dṛṣṭi-, kāla-, rakta-, kapha-, and ekāhikajvara (together with anyeduṣka-, tṛtīyaka-, and caturthakajvara); hāridraka- and saṃtatajvara are also mentioned.

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The Rāmavinoda ends with two additions to the text: a Nāḍīparīkṣā (45 verses) and Mānapramāṇa (13 verses).

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Sources referred to are: Ātreya, Carakasaṃhitā, Mādhavanidāna, Rājamārtaṇḍa, Rasacintāmaṇi, Rasaratnākara, Śārṅgadhara, Suśrutasaṃhitā, Vāgbhaṭa, Vṛnda, Yogacintāmaṇi, and Yogaśataka. 296

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The Vaidyavinoda 297 is an adaptation in Hindī verse (caupāī, dohā) of the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā. It consists of 2,525 verses, arranged in three sections (khaṇḍa) with respectively seven, thirteen, and thirteen chapters (adhyāya).

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The author and his date

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Rāmacandra, a Jain monk of the Kharataragaccha, was a son of Keśavadāsa 298 and a pupil of Padmaraṅgagaṇi. 299 Padmaraṅgagaṇi's guru was Padmakīrti; the latter's guru was Jinasimhasūri. 300

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The Rāmavinoda was completed in Sakkinagara in 1663/64; 301 the Vaidyavinoda dates from 1669. 302 Rāmacandra lived during the reign of Aurangzīb. 303

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Rāmamāṇikyasena

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Rāmamāṇikyasena wrote his Prayogacintāmaṇi in the seventeenth century. 304

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Śaṃkara

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Śaṃkara was the author of (1) Vaidyavinoda, 305 (2) Rasaśaṃkara, and (3) Śaṃkarākhya.

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(1) The Vaidyavinoda 306 is a saṃhitā 307 dealing chiefly with nidāna and cikitsā, along with some general subjects. Its therapy is of a mixed type; rasas have a secondary place in it.

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Contents

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The work consists of 1,750 verses, 308 arranged in sixteen chapters (ullāsa). 309 After some introductory verses (1–8), definitions of nidāna, prāgrūpa, rūpa, etc. (11–13), a short exposition on nāḍī- (13–21) and mūtraparīkṣā (22–25), and a list of ariṣṭas (26–33), the main part of the treatise begins, which describes the nidāna and cikitsā of the diseases (chapters one to fifteen), arranged in basic agreement with the Mādhavanidāna, but with a number of additions: bhasmaka (3.16–17), vardhma (6.77 and 10.79–80),

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dehadaurgandhya (10.10–13), vahnidagdha (11.106–119), munnatākhyaroga (12.79–82), sūryasaṃkrāntivisphoṭa (13.129–139), snāyuroga (13.133–139), and śītalā (13.140–158). Only a restricted number of the kṣudrarogas described by Mādhava is dealt with by Śaṃkara; the same applies to the eye diseases. The diseases called somaroga and phiraṅgaroga are absent. Much of the nidāna material seems to consist of free renderings of verses forming part of the Mādhavanidāna and borrowings from it, but other sources were evidently also utilized. Chapter sixteen is concerned with various general subjects: disorders by the drinking of polluted water (1–2), vājīkaraṇa (4–16), jalayoga (17–21), 310 vamana and virecana (22–43), technical terms (44–54), medicinal preparations (55–128), weights and measures (129–138), technical terms again (167–177), etc.

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Śaṃkara's materia medica contains for the greater part common names of āyurvedic drugs, but rare or new names are also met with. The use of mercury, 311 sulphur, etc., is not inconsiderable, whereas the number of rasas is quite limited. 312 Alchemical yantras are mentioned sporadically. 313 Religious elements are infrequently encountered: Ghaṭotkaca 314 should be worshipped by patients suffering from śītalā (13.148, 150, 157), as well as Śiva and Gaurī (13.157). Two mantras are found in this work, one with the object of acquiring a son (15.184), the other, quoted from the Viṣṇupurāṇa, against snake-bites (15.271).

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Sources referred to by Śaṃkara are Hārīta, Pārāśara and Suśruta. 315

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A commentary on the Vaidyavinoda was written by Rāmanātha. 316

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A Vaidyavinoda is quoted in Ananta's Pratāpakalpadruma, Vācaka Dīpacandra's Laṅghanapathyaniṛṇaya, and Nidhi's Yogasamuccaya.

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A Vaidyavinoda was one of the sources of Kalyāṇa's Bālatantra according to Dīpacandra. 317

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Special features

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Noteworthy in the field of nosology are the following features. The swelling at the root of the ear, usually said to arise at the end of a saṃnipāta fever, 318 may be found in the initial, middle, and last phase of a fever according to the Vaidyavinoda (1.67). The verses on śotha mention swelling (śotha) arising from śigru (10.56) and bhallātaka (10.58). A new disorder, not mentioned in other sources, is munnatākhyaroga (12.79–82); it is described as a venereal disease characterized by induration and swelling of the prepuce (liṅgacarman), which is caused by sexual intercourse with an affected female. Another infectious disease is kuṣṭha (13.15); the lepromatous type, in which the tip of the nose may become deformed (nāsikāgrimavibhāgavibhaṅga) or parts of the fingers lost (aṅgulivigalana), is called galatkuṣṭha (13.56). Udarda and śītapitta are regarded as synonyms (13.67). 319 A special form of visphoṭa is sūryasaṃkrāntivisphoṭa (13.129–132), 320 in which the recitation of the śītalāmantra is recommended, along with other remedial measures. Śītalā, also called oṣa, is said to be of four types: takrā, orikā, ākasmikā, and śītalā (13.140–158). The term masūrikā seems to be employed as a synonym of oṣa (13.154). 321 Diseases of the nail bed are viṣa (14.33) and pūtinakha (14.37) or nakhakoṭipūtibhāva (14.35). In the section on diseases of the ears, an instrument is described that can be used in extracting foreign matter from the ear (the pannaṅgī- yantra, shaped like the hood of a serpent: 15.19–20).

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Remarkable names of medicinal plants are bhuṇḍikā (3.27), candraśūrā (15.114), godhāvini (9.18), kārika (7.30), ketu (7.30), photā (11.99), trika (8.19), 322 and uṣṭrakaṇṭha 323 (6.109).

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Other interesting terms are dhundha 324 (15.109 and 118), dhundhukāra 325 (15.116), kabābā (15.114), and sīpikā 326 (11.113; 12.81; 15.115).

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(2) Rasaśamkara. 327

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(3) Śamkarākhya. 328

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The author and his date Śamkara was the son of (Bhaṭṭa) Ananta of Gauḍavaṃśa. 329 He wrote the Vaidyavinoda at the request of his royal patron, king Rāmasiṃha, son of Jayasiṃha. 330 This king was identified by S.L. Katre 331 as Rāmasiṃha of Amber (1668–1699), son of the Jayasiṃha (1621–1667) who led in 1665 Aurangzīb's successful expedition against Śivājī. 332 A MS of the Vaidyavinoda dating from 1705/06 333 confirms that the work belongs to the last part of the seventeenth century. 334

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Śivadattamiśra

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Śivadattamiśra was the author of (1) the Śivakoṣa and its commentary, the Śivaprakāśa, 335 and (2) the Saṃjñāsamuccaya. 336

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(1) The Śivakoṣa 337 is a homonymic dictionary, 338 restricted to the āyurvedic materia medica, in 540 verses, arranged alphabetically according to final consonants; it is accompanied by an auto-commentary, called Śivaprakāśa. 339

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The method followed and the technical terms used are explained by the author in the introductory verses, which also refer to a series of lexica as sources: Śabdārṇava, 340 Ajaya, 341 Amara, 342 Vopālita, 343 Siṃha, 344 Medinī, 345 Viśva, 346 Hārāvalī, 347 Halāyudha, 348 Śāśvata, 349 Haima, 350 and Trikāṇḍaśeṣa. 351 No sources are mentioned in the body of the text. 352

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The Śivakoṣa was one of the sources of Raghunāthajī's Nighaṇṭusaṃgraha.

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The auto-commentary on the Śivakoṣa, called Śivaprakāśa, 353 is a very valuable work which explains each word of the koṣa and quotes profusely from a large number of authorities. Repeatedly added are the local names of plants 354 and the countries where they are found. 355

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Sources mentioned in the Śivaprakāśa are: 356 Abhidhānacūḍāmaṇi, 357 Ajaya, 358 Amara, 359 Amaracandra, 360 Amaramālā, 361 Anekārthāḥ, 362 Anekārthadhvanimañjarī, 363 Āścaryamañjarī, 364 Aśokamalla, 365 Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha, Ātreya, Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Bhāravi, Bhavabhūti, Bhāvaguṇanāmamālā, 366 Bhāvaguṇaratnamālā, 367 Bhāvamiśra, Bopadeva, 368 Cakra, 369 Candra, 370 Candranandana, 371 Daḷḷaṇa, Damayantīkāvya, 372 Daṇḍin, Devala, 373 Dhanvantari, 374 dhānvantarīyaḥ, 375 Dharaṇi, 376 Dharmadāsa, 377

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Dharmiṣṭha, 378 Dvirūpakoṣa, 379 Gālava, 380 gāndhikāḥ, 381 gosvāmigopeśvaraḥ, 382 Guṇaratnamālā, 383 gurjarāḥ, Haima, 384 Hāla(bhūbhuj), Halāyudha, Hārāvalī, Haṭṭacandra, 385 Hemacandra, 386 Hemādri, Hṛdayadīpaka, 387 Indu, 388 Jejjhaṭa, Kālidāsa, Kesaramālā, 389 Keśava 390, Keyadeva, 391 Kumāra, 392 Locana, 393 Lolimbarāja, Madanapāla, Madanavinoda, Madguruvallabhā, 394 Mādhava, 395 Mādhavī, 396 Māgha, Mālā, 397 Medinī, Meghadūta, Mitākṣarā, Mukuṭa, 398 Nāmaguṇamālā, 399 Nāmamālā, 400 Nānyadeva, 401 Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa, 402 Nighaṇṭu, Paṅkajabhaṭṭa, 403 pāścātyāḥ, Prabhāvatīharaṇacampū, 404 prācyaḥ, Prāñca, 405 Puruṣottama, 406 Rabhasa, 407 Raghu, 408 Rājanighaṇṭu, 409 Rāma, 410 Rāmāśrama, 411 Rantideva, 412 Rasaratnasamuccaya, Rasāyanaprayoga, 413 Ratnakoṣa, 414 Rudra, 415 Rūpanārāyaṇa, 416 Śabdārṇava, 417 Samgraha, 418 sāmyātrikāḥ, 419 Śāśvata, 420 Siddhamantra, 421 Siddhamantraprakāśa, 422 Siṃha, 423 Somanandin, 424 Śṛṅgārahāra, 425 Śubhāṅka, 426 Subhūti, 427 Suśruta, Sūtra, 428 Svāmin, 429 Tārapāla, 430 Trikāṇḍaśeṣa, 431 Ujjvaladatta, 432 Utpalinī, 433 Vācaspati, 434 Vāgbhaṭa, Vaijayantī, 435 Vāpyacandra, Vidagdhamukhamandana, 436 Vidvadyaidyavallabhā, 437 Viśva, 438 Viśvalocana, 439 Viṭṭhalakṛṣṇabhaṭṭa, 440 Vopālita, 441 vṛddhāḥ, and Vyāḍi. 442

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The author Śivadatta 443 was the son of Caturbhuja, 444 who belonged to the Karpūra family. 445 He got his training in āyurveda from his father. 446 Śivadatta's son, Kṛṣṇadatta, wrote a commentary on Trimalla's Śataślokī. 447 Śivadattamiśra may have joined other paṇḍits of Benares in congratulating Kavīndrācārya Sarasvatī for his successful efforts in getting the pilgrim tax at Benares, reimposed by the emperor Shāh Jahān, remitted. 448

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Date As indicated at the end of the work, the Śivakoṣa was completed in A.D. 1677/78.

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Śivamiśra

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Śivamiśra was the author of the Vaidyaśāstrasīvānubhava, a work of a compilatory character in five sections. 449

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The first section, dealing with the aetiology and symptomatology of diseases, closely agrees with the Mādhavanidāna. The second section discusses some general subjects first, but is mainly devoted to therapy and consists of prescriptions which include rasas; it has also a chapter, called vīryastambhanādhyādhikāra, which contains formulae to increase the size of the penis in men and that of the breasts in women, to promote potency in men and fertility in women, etc., as usual in medical treatises of later periods; it describes sneha, vamana, virecana and related subjects as well. The third section is concerned with the purification of mercury, some metals, etc., and with the preparation of medicines containing chiefly inorganic substances. The fourth section deals with the medicinal qualities of foods, and the fifth section with the substitutes for a number of drugs. The work ends with verses on karmavipāka.

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Sources referred to are: Bhāvaprakāśa, Cakradatta, Caraka, Gorakṣa, Kunda(?), Mādhavakara, Rājamārtaṇḍa, Rasabhāskara, Rasadarpaṇa, Śārṅgadhara, Śivadāsa, Śrīsailanātha, Vacasimha(?), Vāgbhaṭa, and Vṛnda.

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The Śivānubhava is one of the sources of the Bṛahadararājasundara.

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The introductory verses give the following genealogy of the author: Gaṅgādhara (well versed in āyurveda, of Śāṇḍilyagotra, belonging to a Śākadvipa family living in Bhalunīpura of the Dānavāri region)—Śaśidhara—Divākara—Narahari—Haricandra—Hari—Śivamiśra.

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Śivamiśra states that he wrote his work at the request of some famous physicians connected with the court of Shāh Salem (i.e., Akbar’s son Salīm, who assumed the title of Jahāngīr after his accession to the throne).

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The date of the work is indicated in the text as the year 1661 of the Vikrama era, i.e., A.D. 1604/05.

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