A History of Indian Medical Literature v4.c59.73

v4.c59.73

185 CC I, 155 and 408; II, 31. NCC VI, 52. CESS A 5, 254. STMI 139–140 and 630. 186 Cat. IO Nr. 2751, a complete MS (complete F.R. Dietz, 1833: 136: Miśrabhāva’s Guṇaratnamālākoṣa). A.B. Keith (1935): 751 (Nr. 6248). See also M.A. Stein (1894): 182 (Nr. 3121): complete. 187 See V.N. Dwivedi, C.N. Dube and Y.N. Sharma (1974). 188 This proves that it is anterior to the Bhāvaprakāśa. It may also be quoted as Ratnamālā in the Bhāvaprakāśa. 189 Śivadatta quotes from works called Bhāvaguṇanāmamālā, Bhāvaguṇaratnamālā and Guṇaratnamālā. 190 See: Ṭoḍara’s Āyurvedasaukhya. 191 The author mentions his name at the beginning of chapter two of the Bhāvaprakāśa. He is also called Miśrabhāva (see the colophons of ed. m and Cat. Mysore XIII, Nr. 42144). G. Hāldār (Vṛddhatrayī 334) calls him Bhavanāthamiśra. The name of the author is Bhavadevamīśra in the Kavīndrācāryasūcipatram (Nr. 1078). P. Hymavathi (1993: 98) is of the opinion that Bhāvamiśra belonged to a family of Miśraśaivas (see his information on this form of Śaivism). 192 See the colophons of ed. m; CC I, 408; Cat. IO MS Nr. 2751. Variants are Laṭaka Miśra (VŚS, Preface 9; S.K. Ramachandra Rao, 1985: I, 38), Laṭakana Miśra (V. Śukla I, 227), Laṭhakana (Cat. IO MS Nr. 2657). Bhāvamiśra is quoted as Laṭakanasūnu by Sukhānanda in his commentary on Lolimbarāja’s Vaidyajīvana. P. Hymavathi (1993: 98–99) says that the name Laṭaka(na) may point to a physician familiar with venereal diseases and having prostitutes among his patients. 193 As indicated by his name ending in -miśra (AVI 188; P.V. Sharma 1972a: 163). 194 The author does not refer to his place of birth or residence. It is usually assumed that he lived in Northern India: Uttar Pradeś (P. Rāy, 1956: 162–163; V. Śukla I, 212), Benares (J. Jolly, 1901: 2, C.G. Kashikar 3; Bhagvat Sinh Jee 38), Kānyakubja (Gapanatha Sena, 1924: 57), or Magadha (AVI 188 and 392; DGV IV, 291; P. Śukla I, 126–127). One of the very few authors to adduce arguments for assigning him to a particular region is P.V. Sharma: Bhāvamiśra mentions the famous temple of Viṣṇupada (2.2: śrīpatipada) at Gayā; he uses regional names prevalent in Magadha and describes, e.g., types of banana which are commonly grown in Bihār. Bāpālāl Vaidya states (1982: 616) that some scholars believe that he belonged to Kāśī or Gorakhpur because even today people with names such as Laṭakana, Guṭakana, Maṭakana, etc., are met with there. Bhagvat Sinh Jee (38) records the tradition that Bhāvamiśra was an inhabitant of Benares where he had no less than four hundred pupils (see also P. Hymavathi, 1993: 100). Dattarāma says in his Bṛhannighaṇṭuratnākara (I, 36) that Bhāvamiśra was born in the country of the Madras and settled later in Vārāṇasī, where he became a renowned physician with four hundred pupils. P. Hymavathi (1993: 99–102) is convinced that Bhāvamiśra was belonged to the South. He argues that arrangements of the seasons which distinguish a prāvṛṣ, and do not mention a śiśira, are characteristic of Southern India (see on the seasons: Bhāvaprakāśa I.5.323–326). Other arguments adduced by Hymavathi are: the prescription of rasakarpūra against syphilis (it is said to be mentioned for the first time with this indication in the Rasapradīpikā); the recommendation to patients suffering from viṣamajvara to visit the holy places Śrīśaila (gloss ad cikitsā 1.800) and Puruṣottamākṣetra (gloss ad cikitsā 1.800; N.N. Bhaṭṭacharyya, 1991, and N. Dey, 1979: Puruṣottama and Puruṣottamākṣetra designate Purī in Orissa); the use made of works in the South, such as the Madanapālanighaṇṭu and the treatises of Lolimbarāja; the reference to a place called Mudgal (Nighaṇṭu, āmrādi 127;