A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c50.s6: Contents
A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c50.s6
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Contents
v3.c50.s6.1
The work consists of about 3,870 verses, arranged in thirty chapters (adhyāya); it can be divided into two parts: chapters one to eleven, dealing with alchemy, and chapters twelve to thirty, the treatment of diseases (iatrochemistry).
v3.c50.s6.2
Chapter one (rasotpatti; 88 verses) begins with a maṅgala addressed to Śiva as the foremost physician of the world (jagatpradhānabhiṣaj) (1). It proceeds with an enumeration of the twenty-seven Rasasiddhas and a series of authors on rasaśāstra, whose works were studied by the compiler of the *Rasaratnasamuccaya* (2–8). These verses are followed by a description of the Himālaya and the abode of Śiva (10–21). The remaining subjects of the chapter are: the praise of mercury (22–41),³ its ability to bestow jīvanmukti (42–59),⁴ its origin (60–66),⁵ its names and varieties (67–79), the five gatis of mercury and their removal (80–87), and the origin of cinnabar (88).⁶
v3.c50.s6.3
The subjects of chapters two to ten are: the mahārasas (2; 163 verses),⁷ uparasas (3; 158 verses),⁸ ratnas (4; 84 verses),⁹ lohas (5; 243 verses),¹⁰ the initiation of a pupil (6: śiṣyopanayana; 64 verses),¹¹ the laboratory (7: rasaśālā; 37 verses),¹² technical terms (8: paribhāṣā; 101 verses),¹³ yantras (9; 87 verses),¹⁴ mūṣās, koṣṭhīs, puṭas and groups of substances (10; 97 verses).¹⁵
v3.c50.s6.4
Chapters two to five, seven, eight and ten are for the greater part borrowed from the *Rasendracūḍāmaṇi*.
v3.c50.s6.5
Chapter eleven (135 verses)¹⁶ describes two systems of weights (mānaparibhāṣā; 1–13), lists the eighteen saṃskāras (14–16), deals with the doṣas of mercury (20–25), and gives an account of a number of saṃskāras and related subjects (29–135). These saṃskāras and related subjects are: svedana (29), mardana (30–33), mūrchana (34–35), utthāpana (36), pātana (37–46), rodhana (48), niyāmana (49), dīpana (50–52), the rasamūlikā plants (53–59), bandha (60–107), strīdrāvaṇa (108–112), killing (māraṇa) of mercury (113–121), the uses of the ashes (bhasman) of mercury (122–127), two series of kakāras (128–130),¹⁷ and the treatment of disorders caused by mercurial preparations (132–135).
v3.c50.s6.6
Chapters twelve to twenty-five deal with the aetiology, symptomatology and treatment, in particular by means of rasayogas, of a long series of diseases, arranged in a partly unprecedented way.¹⁸ Chapter twenty-six (59 verses) is devoted to rasāyana, chapter twenty-seven (144 verses) to vājīkaraṇa.
v3.c50.s6.7
Chapter twenty-eight (lohakalpa; 104 verses) describes thirty-six different lohakalpas, preceded by verses on the purification and killing of the metals (loha) used in these kalpas. Chapter twenty-nine (viṣakalpa; 160 verses), in the form of a dialogue between Śiva and Pārvatī, deals with the mythical origin of poison (1–9), thirteen poisonous substances of vegetable origin (10–19), the uses of poisonous substances (20–50), and one hundred and eighteen viṣakalpas (51–159). Chapter thirty (rasakalpa; 138 verses) is concerned with the jāraṇa (1–11) and killing (12–21) of mercury, the uses of its ashes (bhasman) in eighty-six rasakalpas (22–114), and the praise of the expert physician (115–137).
v3.c50.s6.8
Sources are rarely referred to by the author.¹⁹ The *Rasārṇava* is mentioned at the end of the verses on weights of chapter eleven (11.13). The two series of kakāras of chapter eleven were taken from the *Devīśāstra* (11.128–129) and from a work by Śrīkṛṣṇadeva (11.130). Some of the verses borrowed from the *Rasendracūḍāmaṇi* contain the name of its author, Somadeva;²⁰ verses with the names of authorities, referred to by Somadeva, are often left out.²¹ One method of killing diamonds is attributed to Somasenānī (4.38–40). Rāmarāja’s *Rasaratnapradīpa*²² and the *Rasaratnākara*²³ are quoted according to some of the editors of the *Rasaratnasamuccaya*.
v3.c50.s6.9
Names of divinities and other authorities associated with particular formulae occur repeatedly in the chapters on treatment; noteworthy are the names of Ātreya,²⁴ Bhāluki,²⁵ Nāgārjuna,²⁶ Nityanātha,²⁷ and Suśruta.²⁸
v3.c50.s6.10
In spite of the author’s silence on the works he consulted and from which he borrowed, some of the sources can be identified.²⁹ The *Rasahṛdaya* was used in the composition of chapter one.³⁰ Chapters two to five are mostly from chapters ten to twelve and fourteen of the *Rasendracūḍāmaṇi*.³¹ Chapter six has been taken from the *Vādikhaṇḍa* of the *Rasaratnākara*.³² Chapters seven and eight correspond to chapters three and four of the *Rasendracūḍāmaṇi*.³³ Chapter nine has a composite structure; it consists of borrowings from the *Rasārṇava*, *Rasendracūḍāmaṇi*, and some other, unidentified, texts.³⁴ Large parts of chapter ten are from chapters five and nine of the *Rasendracūḍāmaṇi*.³⁵ Some portions of chapter eleven derive from the *Rasārṇava* and *Rasaratnākara*.³⁶
v3.c50.s6.11
A remarkable feature of the nidāna verses of chapters twelve to twenty-five is that they are not borrowed from the *Mādhavanidāna*, but from some so far unidentified source.
v3.c50.s6.12
Works quoting from or referring to the *Rasaratnasamuccaya* by name are: Ambikādattaśāstrin’s commentary on the *Rasendrasārasaṃgraha*, the pariśiṣṭas of the *Ānandakanda*, the commentary on the *Aṣṭamahāmātrā*, the *Āyurvedīya Khanijavijñāna*, the *Bhāvaprakāśa*,³⁷ the *Bheṣajasamhitā*, the *Bṛhadrasarājasundara*, Devendranātha and Upendranātha Senagupta’s *Āyurvedasaṃgraha*, Gulrājśarmamiśra’s commentary on the *Āyurvedaprakāśa* and the same author’s *Viśikhānupraveśavijñāna*, Haridattaśāstrin’s commentary on the *Rasataraṅgiṇī*, Lakṣmīrāma’s commentary on the *Siddhabheṣajamaṇimālā*, Mādhava’s *Āyurvedaprakāśa*, Mahādeva’s commentary on the *Rasapaddhati*, Narendranāthamitra’s *Capalanirṇaya* (in the *Rasataraṅgiṇī*), the *Pāradasamhitā*, *Rasadhātuprakāśa*, *Rasakāmadhenu*, *Rasamitra*, *Rasatattvavivecana*, *Rasavidyāmahārṇava*, *Rasayogasāgara*, *Rasendrakalpadruma*, *Rasoddhāratantra*, Ratnākarauṣadhayogagrantha, Śivadatta's auto-commentary on the Śivakoṣa, Somadevaśarman's commentary on the Āyurvedaprakāśa, the Vaidyakasamgraha, Yādavajī Trikamajī's Rasāmṛta and Siddhayogasamgraha, the Yogaratnākara, and Cat. Madras Nr. 13198.38
v3.c50.s6.13
The Rasaratnasamuccaya was one of the sources of Āyurvedaprakāśa, Kūpīpakvarasanirmāṇavijñāna, Rasavidyāmahārṇava, and Rasendrasambhava.
v3.c50.s6.14
The author of the Rasaratnasamuccaya is quoted as Rasavāgbhaṭa in the Āyurvedadhīsāra, Gulrājśarmamiśra's commentary on the Āyurvedaprakāśa, Haridattaśāstrin's commentary on the Rasataraṅgiṇī, Mādhava's Āyurvedaprakāśa, Mahādeva's commentary on the Rasapaddhati, and the Rasakāmadhenu.39 He is cited as Vāgbhaṭa in Mādhava's Āyurvedaprakāśa.
v3.c50.s6.15
The Rasaratnasamuccaya is quoted anonymously in the Rasajalanidhi and Rasendrapurāṇa.