A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c47.33

v3.c47.33

The chapter on elephants deals, after a series of introductory verses, with the following subjects:¹⁴⁶ deities associated with various parts of an elephant's body (17–19);¹⁴⁷ a eulogy of elephants (20–31); the mythical origin of the four classes (jāti) of elephants, called bhadra, manda, mrga and miśra, in the four ages of the world called Krta-, Tretā-, Dvāpara-, and Kaliyuga (32–44);¹⁴⁸ the eight forest regions where elephants come from, the location of these forests, and the class of elephants to be found in each of these regions (45–61);¹⁴⁹ the characteristics of the classes of elephants, divided into sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa types, according to the views of Brhaspati and Pālakāpya (62–164); the classification of the mixed types of elephants according to the views of Yājñavalkya, Rājaputra,¹⁵⁰ Agniveśa, Gautama and Kāśyapa (165–199); division of the mixed types into superior and inferior categories (200–210); the five ways of communicating with elephants (vedita; 211–220); the classification of elephants with respect to their habitat (221–236); the classification of elephants according to the four varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra; 237–250); the size of bhadra, manda and mrga elephants (251–258); terms designating the parts of an elephant's body (pradeśa; 258–317); auspicious and inauspicious characteristics of the main parts, together with their meaning (śubhāśubhalakṣaṇa; 318–539); the relative importance of defects, compared to each other (540–557); types of irritability (krodha; 558–562); the gait of elephants (gati; 562–566), their velocity (vega; 567–573), perspiration (sveda; 574–576), trumpeting and other sounds (svara; 577–589), and exhalation (niśvāsa; 590–594); the colours of elephants (varṇa; 594–602), their sheen (chāyā; 603–611),¹⁵¹ strength (bala; 612–624), and sattva (625–642); thrusts with the tusks (dantaghāta; 643–655);¹⁵² mada and its physiology (656–669); the seven stages (avasthā) of mada, and the views of Brhaspati, Pālakāpya and Vyāsa on the subject (670–697); elephants in heat (698–711); elephants suitable for use in battle (sāṃgrāmika; 712–738);¹⁵³ elephants suitable for use in the consecration ritual of a king (abhiṣeka; 739–742);¹⁵⁴ elephants unsuitable for use in battle (743–795);¹⁵⁵ signs indicating the life span of elephants (795–813).¹⁵⁶