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A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c48.s14: The Pāradasaṃhitā

A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c48.s14

Language
English

Contents

The Pāradasaṃhitā

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The Pāradasaṃhitā, compiled by Bābū Nirañjanaprasāda Gupta,55 is a very extensive treatise on alchemy and iatrochemistry in sixty chapters. A very large part of the work is written in Hindī, but it also contains very numerous passages in Sanskrit, quoted from diverse sources, both ancient and modern.

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Works and authorities on which the Pāradasaṃhitā is based, according to information provided by the author himself,56 are: Abhidhānākāmadhenu, Ajīrṇamañjarī, Bhāvaprakāśa, Devīyāmala, Dharaṇīdharasaṃhitā, Dhāturatnamālā, Gandhakakalpa, Gokarṇa, Kākacaṇḍīśvara, Kalpasāra, Kṣīrasindhu, Lohapaddhati, Nāgārjuna, Nighaṇṭurāja, Purandararahasya,57 Rasacintāmaṇi, Rasadarpaṇa, Rasahṛdaya, Rasakāmadhenu, Rasālaṃkāra, Rasamañjarī, Rasamārtaṇḍa, Rasāmṛta, Rasapaddhati, Rasapārijāta, Rasaprakāśa, Rasaprakāśasudhākara, Rasarahasya, Rasarājaḥaṃsa, Rasarājalakṣmī, Rasarājapaddhati, Rasarājaśamkara, Rasaratnadīpikā, Rasaratnākara, Rasaratnapradīpa, Rasaratnasamuccaya, Rasārṇava, Rasasamketakalikā, Rasasāra, Rasasāroddhārapaddhati, Rasasindhu, Rasavāgbhaṭa, Rasāvatāra, Rasāyanasāraṃgraha, Rasendracintāmaṇi, Rasendracūḍāmaṇi, Rasendrakalpadruma, Śārṅgadhara, Ṭoḍarānanda, Vaidyabhāskarodaya, Vaidyakalpadruma, and Yogatarangiṇī.

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Sources of quotations are for the major part indicated by means of abbreviations which are not listed and elucidated; occasionally, the name of the source is quoted in full.

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Works and authorities quoted in the Pāradasaṃhitā are:58 Anupānataraṅgiṇī (109),59 Arkaprakāśa (47; 251), Auṣadhikalpalatā (147), Āyurvedavijñāna (233), Bhaiṣajyaratnāvalī (19), Bhāvaprakāśa (24), Bṛhadyogatarangiṇī (11), Dhanvantarisaṃhitā (111), Dharaṇīdharasaṃhitā (1),60 Dhāturatnamālā (360), Indrajāla (348, 349), Kākacaṇḍeśvara (143), Kākacaṇḍīśvarītantra (257), Kāmaratna (26), Nāgārjuna (301, 349), Nighaṇṭuratnākara (64), Rasadarpaṇa (155), Rasahṛdaya (74), Rasakāmadhenu (345), Rasamānasa (58), Rasamañjarī (1), Rasapaddhati (131), Rasapārijāta (108), Rasaprakāśasudhākara (75), Rasarājaḥaṃsa (167), Rasarājalakṣmī (107), Rasarājapaddhati (1), Rasarājaśamkara (60), Rasarājasundara (490–491), Rasaratnasamuccaya (1), Rasārṇava (23), Rasasāgara (28),61 Rasasāra (66), Rasasārapaddhati (244), Rasasāroddhārapaddhati (3),62 Rasāyanasāraṃgraha (5), Rasendracintāmaṇi (18), Rasendrakalpadruma (5), Rasendrasāraṃgraha (10), Raseśvaradaraśana (224), Śabdakalpadruma (163), Śārṅgadhara (110), Siddhalaakṣmīśvaratantra (129), Ṭoḍarānanda (11), Vāgbhaṭa (238), Vaidyabhāskarodaya (360), Vaidyadārśa (3),63 Vaidyakalpadruma (233), Vaidyarahasya (340), Vājīkaraṇakalpadruma (263), Yogacintāmaṇi (233), Yogaratnākara (10), Yogasāgara (362), Yogasāra64 (154), and Yogatarangiṇī (9).

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Some works in Hindī⁶⁵ and Urdū,⁶⁶ as well as a number of treatises in Persian, are quoted.⁶⁷

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Nirañjana and his Pāradasaṃhitā are quoted in Hazārīlāl Sukul’s commentary on the Rasaratnasamuccaya and in the Rasatattvavivecana; the Pāradasaṃhitā and some of the works on which it is based are cited in the Āyurvedīya Khanijavijñāna. The Pāradasaṃhitā was one of the sources of the Rasavidyāmahārṇava.

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The Pāradasaṃhitā (1.96–106) reproduces the list of Rasasiddhas, found in the Rasaratnasamuccaya, but adds the following names to it: Āgama, Bālaki,⁶⁸ Bali, Bāṇāsura, Bindunātha,⁶⁹ Borācolī,⁷⁰ Carpaṭa, Indradhūma, Kāmārī, Kaṇṭhaḍī, Kapila, Kāverī, Koraṇḍaka, Nirañjana,⁷¹ Nityanātha, Prabhudeva,⁷² Pūjyapāda, Ratnaghoṣa, Ratnākara, Siddhabuddha, Siddhapāda,⁷³ Subuddhi, Susenaka, Ṭiṇṭinī,⁷⁴ Vallabha, Vyālācārya,⁷⁵ and Yajanāman.

The author

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The author, youngest son of Rāyabadrīprasāda, an Agravāla vaiśya, a lawyer (vakīl) by profession, was born in 1865/66. Like his father, he became a lawyer in Ālīgaṛh. His interest in alchemy induced him to study the literature on this science assiduously and to conduct experiments himself.⁷⁶

Date

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The Pāradasaṃhitā probably dates from the beginning of the twentieth century.⁷⁷

Cites (32)