Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1: Volume 1

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1

Language
English

Contents

Volume 1

Front matter

v1.c1.1

This image is a solid black, textured surface with no text or content to transcribe.

v1.c1.3

*Ex Libris* No. 66

v1.c1.4

SIR WILLIAM CROOKES, D.Sc., F.R.S.

v1.c1.5

PUBLICATION FOR REVIEW

v1.c1.6

MESSIEURS WILLIAMS AND NORGATE would feel much obliged if a copy of the paper containing notice of the accompanying publication could be sent to them.

v1.c1.7

The price is 10/6nr

v1.c1.8

14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, W.C.

v1.c1.9

*A History of Hindu Chemistry*. By PRAPHULLA CHANDRA RAY, D.Sc. Second Edition. London: Williams and Norgate. 1907. *C N. 20.12.07*

v1.c1.10

THE second edition of this work, which had a very favourable reception at the hands of orientalists and others, contains some important additional matter which shows clearly that the sciences of chemistry and medicine were developed earlier among the Hindus than among the Greeks. The book contains copious quotations from Sanskrit texts, and the author has collected valuable information from rare manuscripts relating to the origin of Hindu chemistry. The book is one which hardly appeals to the general student of chemical history, but at the same time the author's acquaintance with scientific knowledge among the Hindus is probably unique, and his book will command the attention of all who are making a special study of the early history of the science.

v1.c1.11

HISTORY OF HINDU CHEMISTRY

v1.c1.12

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY A.D.

v1.c1.13

WITH SANSKRIT TEXTS, VARIANTS, TRANSLATION AND ILLUSTRATIONS

v1.c1.14

BY PRAPHULLA CHANDRA RÁY, D.Sc. Professor of Chemistry, Presidency College, Calcutta

v1.c1.15

VOL. I Second Edition : Revised and Enlarged

v1.c1.16

London WILLIAMS AND NORGATE 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN

Preface to the First Edition

v1.c2.1

Since the days of Sir W. Jones, Sanskrit literature, in almost every department, has been zealously ransacked by scholars, both European and Indian. As the results of their labours we are now in possession of ample facts and data, which enable us to from some idea of the knowledge of the Hindus of old in the fields of Philosophy and Mathematics including Astronomy, Arithmetic, Algebra, Trigonometry and Geometry. Even Medicine has received some share of attention. Wilson in a series of essays published in the *Oriental Magazine* (1823), Royle in his *Antiquity of Hindu Medicne* (1837), and Wise in his commentary on the *Hindu System of Medicine* (1845), were amongst the first to bring to the notice of the European world the contents of the ancient medical works of the Hindus, and recently the Thakur Sahib of Gondal has added his quota. These contributions are, however, of a fragmentary nature. A comprehensive history of Hindu medicine has yet to be written.

v1.c2.2

Materia Medica has also found, in Udoy Chand Dutt, an able exponent. One branch has, however, up till this time, remained entirely neglected—namely, Chemistry. Indeed, it may be assumed that on accont of its complex and technical nature it has hitherto repelled investigators.

v1.c2.3

The progress of chemical knowledge among the ancient nations has always had a fascination for me. The classical works of Thomson, Hoefer and Kopp have been my favourite companions for the last twelve years and more. In the course of my studies in this field I was naturally led to an inquiry into the exact position which India occupies therein, and with this view I undertook a systematic examination, from the chemical standpoint, of the Charaka, the Susruta and the various standard works of the Ayurvedic and Iatro-chemical Periods, which have escaped the ravages of time. It was at this stage that I was brought into communication with M. Berthelot some five years ago—a circumstance which has proved to be a turning-point, if I may so say, in my career as a student of the history of chemistry. The illustrious French savant, the *Doyen* of the chemical world, who has done more than any other person to clear up the sources and trace the progress of chemical science in the West, expressed a strong desire to know all about the contributions of the Hindus,* and even went the length of making a personal appeal to me to help him with information on the subject. In response to his sacred call I submitted to him, in 1898, a short monograph on Indian alchemy; it was based chiefly on *Rasendrasara Samgraha*, a work which I have since then found to be of minor importance and not calculated to throw much light on the vexed question as to the origin of the Hindu Chemistry. M. Berthelot not only did me the honour of reviewing it at length† but very kindly presented me with a complete set of his monumental work, in three volumes, on the chemistry of the Middle Ages, dealing chiefly with the Arabic and Syrian contributions on the subject, the very existence of which I was not till then aware of. On perusing the contents of these works I was filled with the ambition of supplementing them with one on Hindu Chemistry. Although I have written all along under the inspiration of a mastermind, it is not for a moment pretended that my humble production will at all make an approach to the exemplar set before my eyes.

v1.c2.4

∗ “Cependant il serait nécessaire d’examiner certains documents qui m’ont été récemment signalés par une lettre de Rây, professeur à Presidency College (Calcutta). D’après ce savant, il existe des traités d’alchimie, écrits en sanscrit, remontant au XIIIe siècle, et qui renferment des préceptes pour préparer les sulfures de mercure noir et rouge et le calomel employés comme médicaments. Ces indications s’accordent avec celles des alchimistes arabes signalées plus haut. Il est à désirer que ces traités soient soumis à une étude approfondie, pour en déterminer l’origine, probablement attribuable à une tradition persane ou nestorienne.”—JOURNAL DES SAVANTS, Oct., 1897.

v1.c2.5

† “Matériaux pour un chapitre négligé de l’histoire de la Chimie ou contributions à l’Alchimie indienne (Mémorie manuscrit de 43 pages), par Prafulla Chandra Rây, professeur à Presidency College, Calcutta,”—Vide JOURNAL DES SAVANTS, April 1898

v1.c2.6

When I first drew up the scheme of the present work, I had deluded myself with the hope of finishing the study of all the available literature on the subject before I took to writing. But I soon found that the task was one of vast magnitude. Some of my friends, whose judgment is entitled to weight, advised me under the circumstances, to curtail the scope of the work as originally planned out, and present a first instalment of it in its necessarily defective and imperfect shape (see Introduction, p. lxxxiv), reserving for a subsequent volume the working-up of the materials which are accumulating from time to time. In the present volume only one or two representative works of the Tanric and Iatro-chemical Periods have been noticed at length.

v1.c2.7

As regards the transliteration, I have not rigidly adhered to any particular system, but, in the main, I have followed that of the *Sacred Books of the East*.

v1.c2.8

Before concluding, I must acknowledge the valuable assistance I have received rom Pandit Navakānta Kavibhusana with whom I have toiled through many an obscure passage of the Mss. of the *Tantras*. His sound knowledge of the *Ayurvedas* has also been of much help to me.

v1.c2.9

And now it only remains for me to discharge the grateful duty of expressing my thanks to the Government of Bengal, which at the instance of Mr. Alexander Pedler, F. R. S., Director of Public Instruction, placed a liberal grant at my disposal to enable me to meet various incidental expences, chiefly in the matter of collecting rare Mss.

v1.c2.10

PRESIDENCY COLLEGE : *Calcutta, May 1st, 1902.* } P. C. RAY.

Preface to the Second Edition

v1.c3.1

A comparatively limited number of copies was printed in the first edition as it was feared that owing to its technical nature the work would appeal only to a select circle of readers. The exceedingly favourable reception accorded to it not only by the scientists and orientalists but also by the public in general both in Europe and in India has necessitated the bringing-out of a second edition. Some material additions have been made to the historical portion of the Introduction, throwing further light on the independent origin of the Hindu system of medicine and its priority to that of the Greeks.

v1.c3.2

M. Berthelot, in the course of a lengthy and appreciative review in the "Journal des Savants," Jan. 1903, expresses his regret at the absence of "any thing which would remind us of the systematic treatises of Zosimus and of the Greco-Egyptians"—a regret which will be shared in by every student of Hindu chemistry. But even the sable cloud is not without its silver lining. I hope, however, to deal with the theories underlying Hindu chemistry in the second volume. For the present, I have to content myself with the pronouncement of my respected and learned friend, Mr. Brajendranātha Seal Principal, Mahārājā’s College, Kuch Behar, whose vast acquaintance with and comprehensive grasp of, the literature of the East and the West, entitles him to speak with authority on the subject. Says Mr. Seal in his plea for our University “ striking out a line of communication with the organisations of oriental learning.”—

v1.c3.3

“ Let us not superciliously dismiss these studies as ‘learned lumber.’ The Astronomy and Mathematics were not less advanced than those of Tycho Brahe, Cardan and Fermat; the anatomy was equal to that of Vesalius, the Hindu logic and methodology more advanced than that of Ramus, and equal on the whole to Bacon’s; the physico-chemical theories as to combustion, heat, chemical affinity, clearer, more rational, and more original than those of Van Helmont or Stahl; and the Grammar, whether of Sanskrit or Prākrit, the most scientific and comprehensive in the world before Bopp, Rask and Grimm.”

v1.c3.4

PRESIDENCY COLLEGE : January 1, 1904.

v1.c3.5

P. C. RAY.

Table of Contents

v1.c4.1

INTRODUCTION

v1.c4.2

CHAPTER I

v1.c4.3

Alchemical Ideas in the Vedas . . . . . . i

Chapter II

v1.c5.1

The Ayurvedic Period . . . . . . x

v1.c5.2

CHAPTER III

v1.c5.3

The Transitional Period . . . . . . liv

Chapter IV

v1.c6.1

The Tantric Period . . . . . . lxiii

v1.c6.2

CHAPTER V

v1.c6.3

The Iatro-Chemical Period . . . . . . xc

Chapter VI

v1.c7.1

Indebtedness of the Arabians to India . . . . . . cvii

v1.c7.2

*THE AYURVEDIC PERIOD* *(From the pre-Buddhistic Era to circa 800 A. D.)*

v1.c7.3

CHAPTER I

v1.c7.4

The Constitution and Properties of Matter : The Atomic Theory

v1.c7.5

PAGE Tanmátra or Particles—Five Elements—Animated Atom Grosser Body—Earth—Water—Light—Conception of the

v1.c7.6

CONTENTS

Chapter III

v1.c8.1

CHEMISTRY IN THE BOWER MS.

v1.c8.2

PAGE

v1.c8.3

The Alkalies—Fumes of Horn—Kshárataila—Formula for Hair-Dye—Rasáyana Defined—The Doctrine of Bitumen—A Linctus—Formulæ for Eye-ointment . . . 52

v1.c8.4

CHEPTER IV

v1.c8.5

CHEMISTRY IN THE VAGBHATA

v1.c8.6

Preparations of Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron and Lead—Preparation of Alkali and Caustic Alkali—Use of Mercury . . 55

v1.c8.7

THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

v1.c8.8

(From 800 A. D. to circa 1100 A. D.)

v1.c8.9

CHEMISTRY IN THE SIDDHA YOGA OF VRINDA AND CHAKRAPANI

v1.c8.10

CHAPTER I

v1.c8.11

Vrinda (circa 900 A. D.)

v1.c8.12

Preparations in which Sulphide of Copper and Æthiops Mineral Figure—A collyruim—A process of Killing Iron . . 58

v1.c8.13

CHAPTER II

v1.c8.14

Chakrapāni (Circa 1060 A. D.)

v1.c8.15

BLACK SULPHIDE OF MERCURY (KAJJALI) OR ÆTHIOPS MINERAL

v1.c8.16

Támrayoga (lit. Powder of Copper Compound)—Process of Killing Iron—Mandura or Rust of Iron—Recipe for a Soap to be used as a Depilatory—Preparation of Caustic Alkali . . . . . . . . 61

v1.c8.17

THE TANTRIC PERIOD

v1.c8.18

CHEMISTRY IN RASARNAVA

v1.c8.19

Extracts from Book IV—On Apparatus and the Colour of Flames—Dola Yantram—An Apparatus for Killing Metals—Garbha Yantram—Efficacy of the Apparatus—Hamsapáka Yantram—Crucibles—Colour of Flames—Tests of a Pure Metal—Koshtí Apparatus—Colophon to Chapter IV—The Alkalies—The Maharasas—Copper from the Pyrites—Brass from Calmine and Copper Mistaken for Gold—Extraction of Zinc from Calmine—Saurashtri—The Metals—The Killing of Metals—Purification of Quicksilver—Killing of Mercury—Killing of Gold—Tests for Killed Mercury—Colouring of Metals . . . . . . 64

v1.c8.20

THE IATRO-CHEMICAL PERIOD

v1.c8.21

(From 1300 A. D. to circa 1550 A. D.)

Chapter I

v1.c9.1

CHEMISTRY IN RASARNATNASAMUCHCHAYA

v1.c9.2

Colophon—The Rasas—Abhra—Vaikránta—Copper Pyrites—Vimala—Silájatu—Sasyaka—Extraction of Copper—Chapala—Rasaka—Extraction of Zinc—The Uparasas or Inferior Rasas—Sulphur—Gairika—Kásisa—Tuvarí—Tálaka—Manassila—The Añjanas—The Common Rasas—Navasára and other Rasas—The Gems—Vajram—General Process of Reducing Gems to Ashes—On Metals—Gold—Silver—Copper—Iron—Tin—Lead—Brass—Bell-Metal, &c.—Initiation into Discipleship—On the Laboratory—On Technical Terms—Tests for Killed Iron—Antimony from Stibnite—Certain Other Technical Terms—On Apparatus (the Yantras)—Dola Yantram—Svedani Yantram—Pátaná Yantram—Adhaspátana Yantram—Dheki Yantram—Váluka Yantram (Sand-bath)—Lavana Yantram—Náliká Yantram—Tiryakpátana Yantram—Vidyádhara Yantram—Dhúpa Yantram—On the Ingredients for Crucibles, &c.—Vrintaka Crucible—Calcination, Roasting, &c.—The Metals—The Salts—The Alkalies—The Oils—The Fats—The Urines—The Acids—The Earth—The Poisons—The Solvents—On the Purification of Mercury—Fixation of Mercury—Incineration of Mercury . . . . . . 76

v1.c9.3

NOTES ON THE MINERALS . . . . . 133

v1.c9.4

Alum and Green Vitirol . . . . . 146

v1.c9.5

ON METALS AND METALLURGY . . . 152

v1.c9.6

Zinc . . . . . . . . . 156

v1.c9.7

*De la formation des métaux* . . . . 162

v1.c9.8

ON THE ESSENCE OF MINERALS . . . 169

v1.c9.9

Calamine—The Vitriols—Blue Vitriol . . . 169-171

v1.c9.10

ON GUNPOWDER, SALTPETRE AND THE MINERAL ACIDS

v1.c9.11

Gunpowder—Saltpetre—Mineral Acids . . . 174

v1.c9.12

KNOWLEDGE OF TECHNICAL ARTS AND DECLINE OF SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT . . . 190

v1.c9.13

THE WASTAGE OF GOLD IN THE COURSE OF PREPARING JEWELRY IN BENGAL

v1.c9.14

Soldering—Filing and Cutting—The Chemical Operations of the Goldsmith : Cleansing, Colouring and Polishing -The Processes of the Rungwala—Chemical Explanation -The Restorative Processes—The Neharwala—The Jamakwala—Conclusion . . . . . . 198 Note on the Salts . . . . . . 243 Note on the Killing of Metals . . . . 246 On the Hindu Method of Manufacturing Calomel— The Hindu and Japanese Methods Compared—The Explanation of the Reactions Involved . . . . 250

v1.c9.15

APPENDIX I

v1.c9.16

ANALYSIS OF SOME PREPARATIONS USED IN

v1.c9.17

THE HINDU MEDICINE

v1.c9.18

Æthiops Mineral—Sulphide of Copper—Calomel— Rust of iron—*Achyranthes aspera*—*Trianthema monogyna* . 261

v1.c9.19

APPENDIX II

v1.c9.20

Illustrations . . . . . . 269-284

v1.c9.21

INDEX

v1.c9.22

Index of Proper Names . . . . . 287-295 Index of Subjects . . . . . 296-313

v1.c9.23

SANSKRIT TEXTS . . . 1-70

v1.c9.24

*Erratum* : Intro., p. civ, the 3 lines from the bottom upwards are to be deleted

v1.c9.25

Alchemical Ideas in the Vedas

v1.c9.26

IN tracing the progress of chemical knowledge among the civilized nations of old, one always finds it intimately associated with medicinal preparations, metallurgical operations, the technical arts and the belief in the transmutation of metals. In India, more so than in Europe, chemistry has, however, been evolved chiefly as a handmaid of medicine; and, somewhat later on, as an adjunct of the Tantric cult. The efficacy of the drug alone was by no means considered sufficient unless backed by the kindly interposition of the deities. Thus in the *Rigveda* we find the Asvins, the divine physicians, invoked, who give sight to the blind and make the lame walk. These twin gods have many points in common with the Dioskouroi of Greek mythology. One very curious myth is that of the maiden Vispalá who, having had her leg cut off in some conflict, was at once furnished by the Asvins with an iron limb.

v1.c9.27

The higher gods of the *Rigveda* are almost entirely personifications of the elements and the other natural phenomena, such as the fire and the wind, the sun and the dawn. But we often find also herbs and plants endowed with potent and active properties, raised to the dignities of the gods and addressed as such. The Soma plant is an object of particular adoration and the Vedic worshippers are in ecstacy over the exhilarating effects of the fermented juice expressed from it.¹ The Soma rasa (juice) began even to be regarded as the amrita; this immortal draught, allied to the Greek ambrosia, is "the stimulant which conferred immortality upon the gods . . . it is medicine for a sick man and the god Soma heals whatever is sick.” It will be seen later on that in the Soma rasa and its attributes we have the dawn of Hindu Alchemy (*Vide* p. 79).

v1.c9.28

¹ See Eggeling's Intro. to "Satapatha Bráhmana." Pt. II, pp. 1 *et seq.* also Roth; Ueber den Soma; "Zeit. deut. morg. Ges." XXXV. pp. 680-692; also ibid, XXXVIII. 134-139: Wo wächst der Soma? And Windischmann: Ueber den Somacultus der

v1.c9.29

Other plants were likewise invoked as divinities. Thus one entire hymn is devoted to the praise of plants (*oshadhi*) alone, mainly with regard to their healing powers.¹

v1.c9.30

Arier: Abhand. d. Münch. AK. d. Wiss. IV. B. Abh. 2.

v1.c9.31

(1) One or two typical hymns may be quoted here:—

v1.c9.32

या ओषधीः पूर्वा जाता देवेभ्यस्त्रियुगं पुरा ।
मनौ नु बभ्रूणामहं शतं धामानि सप्त च
शतं वो अम्ब धामानि सहस्रमुत वो रुहः । X.97.1.
अघा शतक्रत्वो यूयमिमं मे अगदं कृत ॥ ibid., 2

v1.c9.33

Sáyana’s commentary to the above is:— याः ओषधयः पूर्वाः पुरातन्यः जाताः उत्पन्नः, केभ्यः सकाशात् ? देवेभ्यः ; यद्वा देवाः द्योतमानाः ऋतवः, तेभ्यः । कस्मिन् काले ? त्रियुगं त्रिषु युगेषु प्रादुर्भावापेक्षया कृतादियुगत्रयमुक्तं, कलौ तु अत्यन्ताल्पत्वात् उपेक्षितम् । अथवा त्रिषु युगेषु वसन्ते प्रावृषि शरदि चेत्यर्थः । अहं बभ्रूणां बभ्रुवर्णानां सोमाद्योषधीनां शतं सप्त च धामानि अनुलेपमार्जनाभिषेकादिरूपेण आश्रयभूतानि स्थानानि नु क्षिप्रं मनौ मन्ये संभावयामीत्यर्थः ।

v1.c9.34

हे अम्ब मातरः ओषधयः वो युष्माकं धामानि स्थानानि जन्मानि वा शतम् अपरिमितानि ; उतापि च वो युष्माकं रुहः प्ररोहः प्रोद्गमः सहस्रपरिमितः । अघा अपि च हे शतक्रत्वः हे शतकर्मणः यूयमिमं मे मां मदीयं वा जनम् आमयग्रस्तम् अगदं गदः रोगः तद्रहितं कृत कुरुत ।

v1.c9.35

Again, in another hymn we read: "O King Varuna ! a hundred and a thousand medicinal drugs are thine."

v1.c9.36

It is in the "Atharva-veda" however, that plants and vegetable products in general are fully recognised as helpful agents in the treatment of diseases, though their use is invariably associated with the employment of charms, spells, and incantations. Thus the plant apámárga (*achyranthes aspera*), which still occupies a prominent place in the Hindu system of medicine as a di-uretic and laxative etc., is invoked as the "mistress of remedies" (IV. 17, 1.) and "sole ruler over all plants." In another hymn the Soma plant is thus referred to:—

v1.c9.37

"The strength of this amrita (ambrosia) do we give this man to drink. Moreover, I prepare a remedy, that he may live a hundred years !"

v1.c9.38

Again, "as many (plants), as the human physicians know to contain a remedy, so many, endowed with every healing quality, do I apply to thee!’¹ Here is a spell for the cure of leprosy by means of a dark-coloured plant :—

v1.c9.39

Born in the night art thou, O herb,
Dark-coloured, sable, black of hue :
Rich-tinted, tinge this leprosy,
And stain away its spots of grey ! (I.23,1).

v1.c9.40

—Macdonell

v1.c9.41

There is also a distinct reference to a remedy for promoting the growth of hair.

v1.c9.42

“As a goddess upon the goddess earth thou wast born, O plant ! We dig thee up, O nitatní, that thou mayest strengthen (the growth) of the hair.
“Strengthen (the old hair), beget the new ! That which has come forth render more luxurious !” VI. 136. 1-2.

v1.c9.43

Although in the Vedic age caste as a hereditary system did not exist, the healing arts had evidently acquired sufficient importance to be pursued by particular members of the patriarchal families. Thus with that charming sim-

v1.c9.44

(1) Bloomfield : “Hymns of the Atharva-veda” pp. 43-44.

v1.c9.45

plicity which is the characteristic¹ beauty of the *Rigveda*, one Rishi says pathetically of himself:

v1.c9.46

“Behold I am a composer of hymns, my father is a physician, my mother grinds corn on stone. We are all engaged in different occupations¹” (IX. 112, 3),

v1.c9.47

“Princes like Divodása, and bards and leaders of the tribe of the Angiras, administered medicines and gloried in effecting cures. A skilled physician is distinctly defined as one who lives in a place abounding with medicinal plants, and who assiduously devotes his time to the acquisition of knowledge².”

v1.c9.48

Thus not only in the Atharvan but even in the *Rik*, we can trace the earliest literary record of Indian Medicine.

v1.c9.49

The “Atharva-veda” deals chiefly with sorcery, witch-craft and demonology. There are deadly imprecations against evil-doers;

v1.c9.50

(1) R. C. Dutt: “Civilisation in ancient India,” p. 65 (Calc. ed.)
(2) Introduction to “Astángahridaya” of Vagbhata, by Anna Morsvar Kunte, B. A., M. D., p. 2.

v1.c9.51

magical incantations for bringing about ruin, death, dementation and stupefaction of one's adversaries; and charms intended to secure the love of women through the potency of various herbs. Some of them are of hostile character, being meant to injure rivals. The picture here presented has its counterpart in the ancient Egyptians, who were noted for their magical lore to which the Greeks were no less attached. There is a close resemblance between the contents of the A. V. and those of the Papyrus of Leyden in some essential features. In the latter also there is an intermixture of magic, astrology, alchemy as well as recipes for love philters.¹

v1.c9.52

¹ The reader may compare this portion with Berthelot's "Les Origines de l' Alchimie," pp. 81-83.

v1.c9.53

The A. V., on account of its frequent calling-in-aid of super-natural agencies for selfish and malevolent purposes, has not generally been accorded the canonical sanctity of the Vedic Triad—The Rik, the Yajus and the Sáman; the very authority of the fourth Veda as a scripture has been questioned in the several law-books of the Apastamba, the Vishnu, the Yájñavalkya and the Manu schools, and the practices it sanctions strongly condemned.

v1.c9.54

As Hindu medicine has seldom been able to shake itself completely free from the influence of magic and alchemy as auxiliaries, physicians, as practicers of the "black art," have been given an inferior position in the legal treatises. The Mahábhárata, reflecting the spirit of the above law-books, regards the physicians as impure. In spite of this "the Atharvan retains in a measure its place by virtue of its profound hold upon popular beliefs, because the Atharvan performs, especially for the king, inestimable services in the injury and overthrow of enemies."¹

v1.c9.55

In the A. V., the hymns for the cure of diseases and possession by demons of disease are known as "bhaishajyáni,' while those which have for

v1.c9.56

Rasáyana or Alchemy.

v1.c9.57

(1) Bloomfield's "Hymns of the Atharva-veda":—Introduction, p. XLVI.

v1.c9.58

their object the securing of long life and health are known as "áyushyáni"—a term which later on gave place to rasayana, the Sanskrit equivalent of alchemy (see p. 80). We shall quote two under the latter heading as invocations to pearl and its shell and gold respectively. "Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought on from the river (Sindhu), this shell, born of gold, is our life-prolonging amulet."

v1.c9.59

"The bone of the gods turned into pearl; that, animated, dwells in waters. That do I fasten upon thee unto life, lustre, strength, longevity, unto a life lasting a hundred autumns. May the (amulet) of pearl protect thee!"

v1.c9.60

"The gold which is born from fire,' the immortal, they bestowed upon the mortals. He who knows this deserves it : of old age dies he who wears it."

v1.c9.61

"The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful colour, which the men of yore, rich in descendants, did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre! Long-lived becomes he who wears it!"

v1.c9.62

¹ Among the five kinds of gold referred to in the "Rasaratna-amuch chaya" (p. 10 5 अग्निसम्भूतं (born from fire) is one.

v1.c9.63

While gold is regarded as the elixir of life, lead is looked upon as the dispeller of sorcery: "To the lead Varuna gives blessing, to the lead Agni gives help. Indra gave me the lead; unfailingly it dispels sorcery."¹

v1.c9.64

It is of interest to note the alchemical notions which had gathered round gold and lead ² at the time of the A. V.

v1.c9.65

To the student of Hindu medicine and alchemy, the A. V. is thus of special interest as the earliest repository of information on the subject.

v1.c9.66

(1) The quotations are from Bloomfield's A. V. pp. 62-65.
(2) In the alchemy of the West, lead, as is well known, is associated not with beneficent but "Saturnine" influence.

Chapter II. The Ayurvedic Period

v1.c9.s1.1

The Ayurvedi Period

v1.c9.s1.2

We now alight upon a period when we find the Hindu system of medicine methodised and arranged on a rational basis, with a scientific terminology.

v1.c9.s1.3

The two great works of this period are the Charaka and the Susruta. In them we find the study of the subject to have made a distinct advance and to have been evolved out of the chaotic state it was in during the Vedic period. Of the two, the Charaka is by far the more ancient.¹

v1.c9.s1.4

¹ Cf. "The theological doctrine of the nature of disease indicated its means of cure. For Hippocrates was reserved the great glory of destroying them both, replacing them by more practical and

v1.c9.s1.5

There must have been a wide gap between the age of the A. V. and that of the Charaka—an interval of probably a thousand years or more.

v1.c9.s1.6

In the latter the humoral pathology is fully developed, the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases described at length, and an elaborate mode of classification adopted. We have seen above that the physicians were assigned rather an inferior status in society; the healing art was, in fact, never recognised as a division of the Vedas.¹ Still the claims of the indispensable science of medicine, which can be distinctly traced to the A. V., could not altogether be ignored, and ultimately a compromise was arrived at. In the Charaka itself the Science of Life

v1.c9.s1.7

material ideas, and, from the votive tablets, traditions, and other sources, together with his own admirable observations, compiling a body of medicine- The necessary consequence of his great success was the separation of the pursuits of the physician from those of the priest. Not that so great a revolution, implying the diversion of profitable gains from the ancient channel, could have been accomplished without a struggle, We should reverence the memory of Hippocrates for the complete manner in which he effected that object."—Draper's "Hist. of the Intellect. Dev. in Europe," I. p. 393 (ed. 1896). The services rendered by Charaka, Susruta and their predecessors were equally valuable.

v1.c9.s1.8

(1) The six limbs or divisions of the Vedas are sikshá (phonetics), kalpa (ceremonial), vyákarana (grammar), nirukta (etymology), chhandas (metre) and jyotisha (astronomy).

v1.c9.s1.9

(Ayurveda) is regarded as a secondary or subsidiary branch (*upánga*) of the Atharvan and as a direct revelation of the gods (Sútra : Ch. XXX. 8-9).

v1.c9.s1.10

The Susruta even goes a step further and asserts that the self-existent (Brahmá) created Ayurveda, as an *upánga* of the Atharvan (sútra : I. 3.)

v1.c9.s1.11

The age of Charaka. We shall now concern ourselves with finding the time of Charaka within approximate limits. The task is not a light one, and it is one of the most abstruse questions of Indian chronology.

v1.c9.s1.12

M. Sylvain Lévi has recently unearthed from the Chinese Tripitaka the name of a physician named Charaka, who was attached as spiritual guide to the Indo-Scythian King Kanishka, who reigned in the second century A. D. The French Orientalist would have this Charaka as the author of the famous Hindu medical work, specially as it would offer an easy explanation of the supposed Greek influence discernible in it.

v1.c9.s1.13

"Les éléments traditionnels mis en œuvre par les conteurs peuvent se résumer ainsi : le roi devaputra Kanishka, de la race des Kushanas, règne sur les Yuetchi, sept cents ans après le Nirvāna ; il est assisté de ministers éminents, nommés Devadharma et Māthara. Le bodhisattva Asvaghosha est son conseiller spirituel ; l'illustre médecin Charaka est attaché à sa personne."
* * * *

v1.c9.s1.14

"La mention de Charaka est la première indication positive obtenue sur la date du savant praticien qui dispute à Susruta la gloire d'avoir fondé la science médicale dans l'Inde. Les influences grecques qu'on avait cru reconnaître dans les doctrines de Charaka s'expliquent aisément, s'il est vrai que ce grand médecin vivait au temps et à la cour des Indo-Scythes, alors que l'hellénisme semblait pénétrer en vainqueur dans la vieille civilisation brahmanique." —"Journ. Asiatique" (1896), T. VIII. pp. 447-51

v1.c9.s1.15

We confess we are by no means convinced of M. Lévi's theory. If we are to go by name alone, we can claim a still higher antiquity for our author. The appellation of Charaka occurs in Vedic literature as a patronymic; in short, Pánini felt it necessary to compose a special sūtra for deriving the “Charakás” *i.e.* the followers of Charaka.¹ Then again, Patañjali, who is now generally admitted to have lived in the second century B. C., is known to have written a commentary on the medical work of Charaka, thus further proving the antiquity of our author;² and both Chakrapáni and Bhoja agree in alluding to him as the redactor of Charaka.³ Indeed, in such matters we would do well to set store by native traditions. It would be beside our purpose, however, to enter into any lengthy discussion on the grounds on which we are inclined to place Charaka in the pre-Buddhistic era, but we shall summarise below the salient points.

v1.c9.s1.16

¹ कठचरकाल्लुक् । 4. 3. 107.

v1.c9.s1.17

² आप्तो नाम अनुभवेन वस्तुतत्त्वस्य कात्स्न्येन निश्चयवान्, रागादिवशादपि नान्यथावादी यः स इति चरके पतञ्जलिः । Quoted in the “Laghu Mañjushá” of Nágesa Bhatta.

v1.c9.s1.18

³ पातञ्जल-महाभाष्य-चरकप्रतिसंस्कृतैः । मनोवाक्-कायदोषाणां हत्रैऽहिपतये नमः ॥ Vide salutation in the commentary named आयुर्वेददीपिका on the Charaka by Chakrapáni.

v1.c9.s1.19

(1) कठचरकाल्लुक् । 4. 3. 107.

v1.c9.s1.20

(2) आप्तो नाम अनुभवेन वस्तुतत्त्वस्य कात्स्न्येन निश्चयवान्, रागादिवशादपि नान्यथावादी यः स इति चरके पतञ्जलिः । Quoted in the “Laghu Mañjushá” of Nágesa Bhatta.

v1.c9.s1.21

(3) पातञ्जल-महाभाष्य-चरकप्रतिसंस्कृतैः । मनोवाक्-कायदोषाणां हत्रैऽहिपतये नमः ॥

v1.c9.s1.22

Vide salutation in the commentary named आयुर्वेददीपिका on the Charaka by Chakrapáni.

v1.c9.s1.23

In the handling of the subject-matter the Charaka is not so systematic as the Susruta, but indulges in random, hap-hazard and irrelevant discourses, which make the reader often lose the thread of the main narrative. The author, whenever he has an opportunity, boldly and with evident relish, launches into metaphysical disquisitions, which, he believes, make up for lack of experiments and observations.¹ In this respect the Susruta is far more scientific than the Charaka. The Nyáya and the Vaiseshika systems of philosophy, which have been interwoven into the body of the text, again remind us of a stage when they were more or less in a state of flux, but had not crystallised into the well-defined form and shape of the sútras in which they have come down to us—this also goes towards proving the high antiquity of the Charaka.¹

v1.c9.s1.24

¹ This has given ample scope to a recent commentator, the late Kavirája Gangádhara Kaviratna, who in his जल्पकल्पतरु, surpasses Charaka himself in philosophical dissertations.

v1.c9.s1.25

¹ The Nyáya of Gotama enumerates 16 padárthas (categories), while Charaka under his (medical) disputation, वादमार्ग, mentions 44 categories (Vide Vimána. Ch. VIII. 22., also A. C. Kaviratna's Eng. trans. pp. 564-65). Bodas in his learned Introduction to the Tarkasamgraha of Annambhatta (pp. 12-14) places the aphorisms of Gotama and Kanada in the period between 400 B. C. to 500 A. D.

v1.c9.s1.26

Again, only Vedic gods and mantras figure in the Charaka, not a trace of Pauranic mythology being discernible in it.² Charaka follows closely the Vedic authority³ in counting the number of bones in the human body; the limit of childhood he takes to be thirty years—quite in keeping with the conception of the heroic age.

v1.c9.s1.27

² The names of Krishna and Vásudeva occur in a salutation in the supplement added by Dridhavala. Chikitsita. Ch. 21. 92-93. ed. Gaṅgádhara). But Krisna-worship was in vogue at the time of Pánini ; 4. 3. 98. See also Lassen's Alterthumskunde 1. p. 648. Bühler also points out that "the earlier history of the puránas, which as yet is a mystery, will only be cleared up when a real history of the orthodox Hindu sects, especially of the Sivites and Vishnuites, has been written. It will, then, probably become apparent that the origin of these sects reaches back far beyond the rise of Buddhism and Jainism."—Intro. to "Apastamba," &c. p. XXIX..

v1.c9.s1.28

³ Namely 360; Sáríra. Ch. VII, 5. According to the Institutes of Vishnu "it (the human frame) is kept together by three

v1.c9.s1.29

It should, however, be borne in mind that the Charaka, as we now possess it, can by no means lay claim to be the first comprehensive and systematic treatise on Hindu medicine, it represents rather a more or less final development of the subject, just as the elaborate grammar of Pánini is based upon some twenty previous works of his predecessors, notably of Yáska, Sákalya, Sákatáyana, Gárgya and others.

v1.c9.s1.30

The above has its parallel in the history of Greek medicine anterior to the time of Hippocrates. As Draper observes:

v1.c9.s1.31

“Of the works attributed to Hippocrates, many are doubtless the production of his family, his descendants, or his pupils. The inducements to literary forgery in the times of the Ptolemies, who paid very high prices

v1.c9.s1.32

Writings of Hippocrates.

v1.c9.s1.33

hundred and sixty bones” (XCVI. 55). This has been adduced by Jolly as a “reason in favour of the high antiquity of its laws.” Vide Intro. to Vishnu, pp. XVIII-XX. See also Jolly’s “Medicine” (Grundriss), p. 42.

v1.c9.s1.34

for books of reputation, have been the cause of much difficulty among critics in determining such questions of authorship. The works indisputably written by Hippocrates display an extent of knowledge answering to the authority of his name; his vivid descriptions have never been excelled, if indeed they have ever been equalled. The Hippocratic face of the dying is still retained in our medical treatises in the original terms, without any improvement."

v1.c9.s1.35

Still more appropriate are the remarks of Littré on the works which now bear the name of "the father of medicine."

v1.c9.s1.36

"Lorsqu'on recherche l'histoire de la médecine et les commencements de la science, le premier corps de doctrine que l'on rencontre, est la collection d'écrits connue sous le nom d'œuvres d'Hippocrate. La science remonte directement à cette origine et s'y arrête. Ce n'est pas qu'elle n'eût été cultivée antérieurement, et qu'elle n'eût donné lieu à des productions même nombreuses; mais tout ce qui avait été fait avant le médecin de Cos a péri. Il ne nous en reste que des fragments épars et sans coordination; seuls, les ouvrages hippocratiques ont échappé à la destruction; et, par une circonstance assez singulière, il existe une grande lacune après eux, comme il en existait une avant eux: les

v1.c9.s1.37

travaux des médecins, d’Hippocrate à l’établissement de l’école d’Alexandrie, ceux de cette école même ont péri complétement, à part des citations et des passages conservés dans des écrivains postérieurs; de telle sorte que les écrits hippocratiques demeurent isolés au milieu des débris de l’antique littérature médicale.

v1.c9.s1.38

Of internal evidence the first notable, and internal evidence. feature is the style.

v1.c9.s1.39

The simple, unvarnished prose of the Charaka reminds one of the Brāhmaṇas of the Vedas. Thanks to the researches of Bühler and Fleet, we have now some idea of the prose Kábya style as it existed in the second century A. D. The literary prose inscriptions discovered at Girnár and Násik, although less ornate and artificial than the romances of Subandhu and Vána (seventh century A. D)., abound in long-winded metaphors and alliterations and thus stand in bold constrast with the simple prose of the Charaka.

v1.c9.s1.40

Between the period of the A. V. and that of the Charaka there must have been composed several medical treatises, each reflecting the spirit and progress of its age¹. At the time of the Charaka itself there existed at least six standard works by Agnivesa, Bhela, Játukarna, Parásara, Hárita, and Kshárapáni, respectively. Charaka simply based his work on that of Agnivesa², which he completely recast and remodelled. Later on, Dridhavala added the last forty-one chapters³. The other five works seem to have perished⁴. Vágbhata,

v1.c9.s1.41

(1) We are at present engaged in examining the Bráhmanas, the Upanishadas and Buddhistic literature with a view to glean information on these points and hope to announce the results in the second volume.

v1.c9.s1.42

(2) Charaka himself naïvely assigns his reasons for giving preference to the treatise of Agnivesa in the words :—“of the six (authors) Agnivesa was the most “sharp of intellect” (sútra Ch. I 2.)

v1.c9.s1.43

(3) विस्तारयति लेशोक्तं सङ्क्षिपत्यतिविस्तरम् । संस्कर्ता कुरुते तन्त्रं पुराणञ्च पुनर्भवम् ॥ Siddhi. Ch. XII. 28. Also Chikitsita, Ch. XXX. 112; ed. D. N. Sen and U. N. Sen.

v1.c9.s1.44

(4) Cf. “We know how often in India the appearance of a convenient abstract has led to the neglect and subsequent loss of all earlier works on the subject.”—Intro. to Stein’s Rájatarñginí, p. 25. In Burnell’s Tanjore catalogue Pt. I. pp. 63-65, a full analysis is given of Bhelasamhita, from which it would appear that this work is still extant, though in a mutilated form. Dr. Burnell the epitomiser of the Charaka and the Susruta, mentions the works of Hárita and Bhela, which were probably extant in his days.

v1.c9.s1.45

On reading the Charaka, one often feels as if it embodies the deliberations of an international Congress of medical experts, held in the Himálayan regions to which even distant Balkh (Bactriana) sent a repersentative in the person of Kámkháyana (see p. 25). The work professes to be more or less of the nature of a record of the Proceedings of such a Congress.¹

v1.c9.s1.46

¹ Cf. "La lecture de cet ouvrage nous initie aux comptes rendus de véritables congrès philisophiques et médicaux, dans lesquels des maîtres accourus des points les plus éloignés de l'Inde et même de l'etranger, prennent successivement la parole."—Quelques Données Nouvelles a propos des Traités médicaux Sanscrits antérieurs au XIIIe siècle, par P. Cordier, p. 3.

v1.c9.s1.47

Bodas in discussing the philosophical disquisitions of the Bráhmanas observes :

v1.c9.s1.48

"It was a special function of the Brahmá priest to give decisions on any disputed points that may

v1.c9.s1.49

remarks; "the most superficial comparison shows how much Vágbhata was indebted to this ancient work."

v1.c9.s1.50

An "Hárita Samhitá has recently been published; but its authenticity is questionable.

v1.c9.s1.51

arise in the course of a sacrifice, and this he could not have done unless he was a master of ratiocination. Such decisions, which may be likened to the chairman's rulings in a modern assembly, are scattered through the ancient Brāhmaṇas, and are collected together as so many Nyāyas in the Pūrva Mīmamsa aphorisms of Jaimini."' ¹

v1.c9.s1.52

¹ Intro. to Annambhatta's Tarkasamgraha, p. 28.

v1.c9.s1.53

We would invite the reader to go through the "Discourse on the Tastes" (pp. 25-28) and he will naturally agree that the above remarks apply with equal force to our author. In short, judging both from the manner and the matter of the work, we have little hesitation in placing it in the pre-Buddhistic era. We shall revert to the subject under Susruta.

v1.c9.s1.54

As regards the Susruta we are on more solid grounds. Its terminology and *technique*, in genenal, do not differ much from those of the Charaka. In style the Susruta is rather dry, pithy, laconic, and matter-of-fact, as the Charaka is discursive and diffuse, and its composition altogether would point to a much later date.

v1.c9.s1.55

This is easily accounted for. The Susruta, such as has been preserved to us, is generally held to be a comparatively modern recension by the celebrated Buddhist Chemist, Nágárjuna,¹ who is said to have added the Uttaratan-tra or the Supplement.² Here for the first time in the history of Hindu Medicine and Chemistry, we come accross a personage who is historical rather than mythical (see below). That the redactor thoroughly recast and remodelled the Susruta is evident from the fact that there are numerous passages in it which agree almost verbatim with the Charaka, and which appears to have been amply laid under contribution.

v1.c9.s1.56

¹ "यत्र यत्र परोक्ते नियोगस्तत्रैव प्रतिसंस्कर्तृसूत्रं ज्ञातव्यमिति प्रतिसंस्कर्तापीह नागार्जुन एव "Vide Dalvana's commentary.

v1.c9.s1.57

² Cf. "It is said by Dalvanáchárya, the commentator of Susruta, that at the time of war between the Bauddhas and Hindus, the Susrutatantra was re-edited and rendered more comprehensive by the renowned chemist Siddhanágárjuna with a supplement called "uttaratantra." Since that period it has been known by the name of Susruta Samhita." Intrcduction to "Vaidyakasabdasindhu" p. 6. by Kavirája Umesachandra Gupta Kaviratna.

v1.c9.s1.58

The Susruta is *par excellence* a treatise on surgery¹ as the Charaka is on medicine proper. Ancient India must have acquired considerable skill in the handling of the lancet; for in the Charaka we find a distinction drawn between the "Káyachikitsakas," *i. e.* the physicians properly called, and the "Dhanvantvarisampradáyas" *i. e.* followers of Dhanvantvarí or the Chirurgeons—a distinction which we have already noticed in the beginning of the Vedic Age.

v1.c9.s1.59

¹ For a description of the surgical intstruments together with their drawings, see Wise: "Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine, (1845) pp. 168-170.

v1.c9.s1.60

The age of Susruta has been the subject of animated controversy for a long time past. The Hindus regard this branch of Ayurveda as a direct revelation from the Asvins or the Divine Surgeons (see p. i, Intro.). The origin of this myth can be traced to the Rigveda as already seen. In the Mahábhárata, Susruta is spoken of as the son of the sage Visvámitra and in the "Várttikas" of Kátyáyana (about 4th century B. C.) we also find mention of the same name. It is not, however, easy to establish any connection between these names and our present author. That there was a Vriddha (old) Susruta, exisiting as early as the fifth century A. D., has now been established almost beyond doubt. Dr. Hoernle, to whose profound scholarship and indefatigable labours the world is indebted for the excellent edition of the Bower Ms., has deduced from palæographic evidence that it must have been copied within the period from about 400 A. D. to 500 A. D.¹—a conclusion at which Prof. Bühler has independently arrived. The work professes to be by Susruta, to whom it was declared by the Muni Kásirája. The origin of the Ayurveda as given in the Bower Ms., is on much the same lines as in the Charaka and the mention in it, among others, of such names as Hárita, Bhela, Parásara, and the Asvins as founders of the science of medicine, would go to prove that even so early as the 5th century A. D., the old Susruta had come to be regarded as of mythical origin, and that therefore it must have been composed many centuries anterior to that time. Several important recipes as given in the Bower Ms., *e. g.* those of the “chyavanaprása,” “silájatuprayoga” (the doctrine of bitumen p. 53) etc., occur in practically identical recensions in the Charaka. This is easily accounted for. The Charaka, the Susruta, and the Bower Ms., and even the *Ashtángahridaya* of Vágbhata have more or less a common basis or substratum. In order to understand this point more clearly it is only necessary to refer for a moment to the legal literature of the Hindus. The “Mánava Dharmasástra” or the Institutes of Manu, which still exercises a potent influence in the regulation of the social life of the Hindus, is by no means the ancient work that it pretends to be. Modern research has shown that it is only a recension, or rather a recension of a recension, of “Dharmasútras” connected with the Vedic Schools, incorpora ting at the same time the laws and usages of the age at which it was remodeled.¹

v1.c9.s1.61

¹ On the date of the Bower Ms., See "Journ. As. Soc." LX. Ft. 1. p. 79.

v1.c9.s1.62

¹ Vide Bühler’s Introduction to “the Laws of Manu”: pp. XVIII et seq. “Sacred Books of the East,” Vol. XXV.

v1.c9.s1.63

It would equally be a great mistake to suppose that the knowledge—chemical and therapeutical—which our Susruta embodies is only representative of the time of its final redaction. As a matter of fact it is a repository of the informations on the subject accumulated from the Vedic age to the date of its final recasting.

v1.c9.s1.64

The remarks of M. Berthelot regarding a Greek technical treatise, which, from palæographic evidence, seems to have been written about the 11th century A. D., apply with still greater force to the Susruta.

v1.c9.s1.65

“En effet la date de rédaction originelle n’est certainement pas le même pour les divers articles que le traité renferme : les uns étant plus anciens et remontant parfois jusqu’à l’antiquité gréco Egyptienne ; tandis que les autres reproduisent des recettes postérieures et des additions peut-être contemporaines du dernier copiste. En tous cas, ce traité continue la vieille tradition de l’orfèvrerie alchimique, qui remonte aux anciens Egyptiens.”—“Coll. des anciens alch. Grecs.,” t. iii., trad. p. 307.

v1.c9.s1.66

The period when the Susruta received its final cast must always remain an open question. Vágbhata in his Ashtángahridaya makes copious extracts both from the Charaka and the Susruta. The latter must therefore have existed in their present form prior to the 9th century A. D. Mádhavakara in his Nidána quotes bodily from the Uttaratantra, and as the Nidána was one of the medical works which were translated for the Caliphs of Bagdad (see below), it can safely be placed in the 8th century at the latest. In is thus evident that the present redaction of the Susruta must have existed anterior to that date, and that it had become at that age stereotyped as it were. The Vágbhata and the Nidána are simply summaries of the Charaka and Susruta,¹ and were written at a time when the latter had become very old, and were therefore studied by few experts, and their abstracts were likely to be prized by the general practitioners.

v1.c9.s1.67

¹ This statement we make in a qualified sense, and we fully agree with Roth when he observes “Udoy Chand Dutt in seiner Mat. Med. bezeichnet das Werk als eine methodische geordnete Compilation aus Charaka und Susruta. Ich glaube er thut ihm damit Unrecht; Vágbhata der sich übrigens mehr an

v1.c9.s1.68

Vágbhata concludes his masterly treatise with the following observation, which is highly significant :—

First 200 of 2,264 passages. Read on

Linked texts (37)