Hindu Medicine c7.75

c7.75

The all-powerful arcanum of this hymn exhibits a complex pattern of motifs. It looks like the final result of a prolonged process of adding and blending all possible means of treatment together with their proper formulae. To what extent smaller charms, once independent, or fragments of earlier hymns were combined to form the incantation as it stands, can only be surmised. Here, as in many far more extensive and famous instances of sacred Hindu tradition, as in the “Bhagavadgītā” for instance, a complex mosaic, meant to be encyclopedic, became the classic vehicle of thoughts developed during earlier periods. The intention to create a formula, all-effective through being all-embracing, is evidenced in the present form of the hymn, hallowed by faithful tradition in subsequent ages. It exhibits a wide and detailed knowledge of what forms the subject-matter of materia medica, and it reveals an intrinsic diffidence and insecurity with regard to the specific effectiveness of the components of this highly praised arcanum.