Ancient Indian Medicine

Ancient Asian Medicine: The Indian Paradigm Somnath Ghosh The history of development of human civilization, through the organization of social production, tells us that astronomy was astronomy  was the first natural science to emerge as a separate discipline from the absolute necessity of pastoral and agricultural peoples, to keep track of the the chang changin ing g seaso seasons. ns. Howev However, er, astro astrono nomy my could could develo develop p only only with with the aid of  mathematics – hence that discipline too had to be tackled. Then, at a still later stage of  agriculture agriculture and, in certain regions of the planet Earth, and especially, when there arose towns, towns, with with big buildi building ng structu structures res and and a certain certain develo developme pment nt of the handic handicraft rafts, s, mechanics also arose, which soon made itself extremely useful in navigation and war . Throughout the antiquity scientific investigation proper, remained restricted to these first three branches, and indeed in the form of exact, systematic research it occurs for the first time in the post-classical period in Greece, Alexandria and some other places. Up till that period, physics and chemistry were not yet separated, separated, the disciplines disciplines of botany, botany, zoology and, human and animal anatomy had only managed to collect some facts and arrange the same as systematically as possible; and physiology, in the absence of the vital knowledge of ‘circulation of blood’, groped in the dark to explain anything beyond the most tangible bodily functions like digestion and excretion (Engels 1976: 184-185). Incidentally, like all these basic disciplines, the technology of  medicine also has a very long history of development, because mankind got acquainted with the feelings of bodily distress, pangs of illness, ageing and, finally, with the irreversible phenomenon of death, right from its own emergence as a distinct species on Earth; and, the basic animal instinct within, created the natural urge among the human beings to get rid of the various various forms forms of illness. illness. Medicine Medicine or medical medical technolog technology y is depende dependent nt on the other  other  branches of science, like physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, and physiology. Even the rudimentary development of this art of ‘healing the sick’ was not possible until the development of all these sciences up to a certain level. Yet the suffering of the diseased was in no way less intense in the ancient times than it is in this modern age. The helpless disease-stricken peoples of antiquity were forced to take refuge in the illusory world of gods and demons, of incantations and spells of magic. Thus, we find the dominance, of spirits and omens, of hymns and incantations, of sacrificial rituals and offerings, and of magical activities and talismans in the ancient methods of ‘treatment of  the diseased’, all over the world (Sen 1962: 106). This dominance continues even today among those who are yet to receive the fruits of advancement of modern science, in a significant way. However, even among these less advanced sections of the humanity, there are always some intelligent and watchful persons who observe the annual or  seasonal repetitions of the common diseases, learn to discern and realize their typical symptoms, and also try to master, more or less, the technique of applying several plant plants, s, extra extract cts s ther thereof eof and, and, other other natur natural al objec objects ts for for the treatm treatmen entt of ailme ailments nts.. Accumulation of such experience over a period of many years gradually culminated in the the spont spontane aneou ous, s, and gradu gradual, al, build building ing up of an ‘art ‘art of heali healing ng’’ the sick, sick, for the the emerg emergenc ence e of which which the gene generat ration ion of econ econom omic ic surp surplus lus throu through gh a more more or less less established system of Neolithic agriculture and animal husbandry acted as a simple pre1

condition. condition. Thus, we observe the sprouting of the rudimentary rudimentary science, or proto-science, proto-science, of medicine or, medical technology in some seats of ancient human civilization, namely, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. This development was later on carried forward by the people of Greece, Hellenic Africa, Arabia, Persia and, Central Asia. The history of post-Neolithic, agricultural agricultural surplus based, ‘first urbanization’ urbanization’ (Childe, 1970: 140-217, 1976: 77-79, Chattopadhyay Chattopadhyay 1986: 334-371, 334-371, 1988: 1-12) in India began with the Indus Valley Civilization of Mohenjo-Daro Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa from around the middle rd of 3 millennium B.C.E. However, till date, we have been able to discover only a very little amount of information about the knowledge of drugs and methods of treatment possess possessed ed by the Indus Indus Valley Valley people. people. Archaeo Archaeologic logical al investi investigati gations ons have have retriev retrieved ed some some substa substance nces s pres preserv erved ed in earthe earthen n pots pots havi having ng coal coal like like black black colou colour. r. This This substance, on dissolution in water, produces a solution of deep brown colour and its resemblance with silajit , an important drug effective in the treatment of digestive and liverliver-rel relate ated d disea disease ses, s, as well well as in those those of diabet diabetes es and and rheum rheumati atism sm,, has has been been established (Sen 1962: 54). Apart from this, some pots have been found to contain bones of Cuttle fish, and these bones on chewing stimulates appetite and can also act as an useful medicine for the diseases of eye, ear and throat. Probably, the Indus Valley people also employed coral, leaves of the Neem tree, and the horns of deer and rhino, as medi medici cina nall subs substa tanc nces es (Maj (Majum umda darr and and Pusa Pusalk lker er 1953 1953:: 178) 178).. It is a fact fact that that archaeological research has not been able to provide us with any more information about about the level level of medic medicin inal al knowl knowled edge ge of the the Indus Indus Valle Valley y peop people, le, but but the town town planning observed in the urban ruins of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa definitely indicate high level of alertness about public health among the architects of these cities, and, naturally, the assumption that these health-conscious Indus Valley people may have invented a well organized method of treatment, is not at all unreasonable (Sen 1962: 110-111). We know that, with the decline of the Harappan/Indus Valley Civilization the period of ‘first urban revolution’ came to an end in the Indian subcontinent (Chattopadhyay 1986:352-352, Childe 1954, Wheeler 1979). In this geographical territory, the ‘second urban revolution’ appeared with the establishment of the Mauryan Empire (Woolley 1963: 458, Chattopadhyay 1986: 373). This intervening period, having a span of roughly 1000 years (c. 1500 B.C. – c. 500 B.C.), witnessed a general decline in material culture and technology (Singh 1986: 406-409, Sachau 1983: 171-172), and the disappearance disappearance of the Indus Script. However, However, this period also saw the maturing of human expression in the composition of poetic hymns, as well as in the formulation of cosmogonic ideas, as recorded in the Vedas. Only towards the end of this thousand-year period, that the regeneration of urban culture began and, the Bramhi  and Kharosthi  scripts came into being (Singh 1986: 407, foot note 2). The most striking feature of this intervening period is the absence absence of writing writing and urbanity urbanity.. Much of the corpus corpus of Vedic literatu literature re was composed in this period. The composition and preservation of the large corpus of Vedic lite litera ratu ture re in the the nonnon-li lite tera rate te,, oral oral phas phase e of hist histor ory y of civi civili liza zati tion on in the the Indi Indian an subcontinent is really a paradox. It is resolved only when we pay attention to the development of linguistics in ancient India. This development led to the creation of  abstr abstract act inter interes estt in the pheno phenome mena na of langua language ge,, trigg triggeri ering ng later later on sophis sophistic ticate ated d theoretical theoretical advances, advances, culminating culminating in Panini’s (600 B.C.E. – 400 B.C.E.)  Astadhyayi  (Singh 1986: 441). 2

While studying the Vedic literature we find that the major portion of the first three Vedas, namely, the Rk, Yaju  and Sama, Sama , are concerned principally with sacrificial and other religious rituals, and contain no reference to medicine. In contrast, the last of the four four Vedas, Vedas, the  Atharvaveda, contains contains specific specific instruct instructions ions and prescri prescriptio ptions ns for  treatment and remedy of human maladies, both psychic and somatic, based on magical charms, spells, etc. The magical activities implied by the word ‘Atharva’  were used for  welfa elfare re of the the comm common on mass mass,, such such as, as, trea treatm tmen entt of dise diseas ases es or toxi toxic c acti action ons, s, enhance enhancemen mentt of nutritio nutrition, n, providing providing antidote antidote for draught draught conditio condition, n, etc., etc., while while the incantations or rituals meant for bringing evils to enemies, were included in ‘Angiras’  – and as both these stuffs are the subject matter of the  Atharvaveda,  Atharvaveda , it was also called ‘Atharvangirasaveda’ .. The views of the ‘sages’ of  Atharvaveda ‘Atharvangirasaveda’  of  Atharvaveda were more practical than those of the Rgveda; Rgveda; they had observed that human life is engrossed with poverty and misery, that people were panic-stricken, they had bad dreams and imagined that they saw mysterious mysterious omens and, and, that they were afraid of their rivals. In order to save save the lives of human beings from these tragedies and to remove all obstacles to peaceful life, either man-made, or, god-ordained, these sages of  Atharvaveda of  Atharvaveda relied more on magical incantations and charms (Bandyopadhyay 1993). Hence, we find the  Atharvaveda to cons consist ist most mostly ly of charm charms, s, spell spells, s, incan incantat tation ions, s, magic magic,, sorce sorcery ry,, demo demono nolog logy y and and witchcraft. However, it also deals with plants and vegetable products as helpful agents in the treatment of diseases and for the prolongation of life. In the  Atharvaveda the hymns for the cure of diseases and from possessions by demons of diseases are known as “bhaishajyani ”(‘the “bhaishajyani ”(‘the herbal therapy’) (Ray 1956: 37), while those, which have for their object the prolongation of life and preservation of youth and health, are known as “ayushyani”  (‘the elixir therapy’, consisting of metal, mineral, and animal-product based drugs, apart from herbals) – a term which later on gave place to “rasayana”, commonly known as the Sanskrit equivalent of alchemy (Ray 1956: 37, Needham 1990: ). Thus, we observe that the origin of the so-called alchemical/iatro-chemical notions gathered around gold, lead, soma juice and other medicinal plants as early as the age of the  Atharvaveda, in India. Since the Vedas enjoyed a very high canonical sanctity and were viewed more as revelations than as human compositions, compositions, there is no wonder  that medicine, and the attending chemical knowledge as well, in ancient India have seldom been been able to free themselves themselves completely from the influence influence of magic, religion and alchemy as auxiliaries. Thus, it is but natural that apart from linguistics, the only other other proto proto-sc -scien ientif tific ic evolu evolute te from from the the Veda Vedas s is the the scien science ce or protoproto-sc scien ience ce or  technology of medicine, namely, ‘ Ayurveda’–  Ayurveda ’– literally, ‘the lore of life’, or, ‘the science of  longevity’ – whose origins go back to at least five thousand years from now, to the period period of Indu Indus s Valle Valley y Civi Civiliz lizati ation on,, as menti mentione oned d earli earlier, er, and and which which bega began n as an appendix to Atharvaveda (Sen 1962: 113, Hoernle 1907, Part - I: 109-114, Svoboda and Lade 1998: 44). The incantation-based incantation-based medicine of Atharvaveda Atharvaveda evolved into a system of empirical medicine, in the  Ayurveda,  Ayurveda , roughly around c. 6 th century B.C.E, this implies that the extensi extensive ve develop developmen mentt of  Ayurveda of   Ayurveda is contemp contemporan oraneous eous with the time of  Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha, and he supported both the study and the practice of  medicine. This connection between  Ayurveda and Buddha and his teachings is not at all fortuitous or accidental. Actually, the Four Noble Truths of the Buddhist ‘ darsana’ darsana’ have a close close similar similarity ity with with the four successi successive ve questio questions, ns, which which the neophy neophyte te Ayurved Ayurvedic ic physicians of India were taught to ask themselves, by their Gurus, before engaging 3

them themsel selve ves s in the actua actuall treat treatme ment nt of a patien patient. t. Thes These e questi questions ons are: are: 1) are the the complaints of the patient based on some real suffering; i.e., has the person a real disease or is the person only seemingly ill? If the answer to this is in the affirmative, then, 2) with what kind of suffering is the patient afflicted and what is its origin? Next, 3) whether the disease is curable or not; after completion of the diagnosis in the second step, this third step is crucial in the sense that if the answer to this question is in the negative negative then the physician physician is supposed supposed to withdraw from treatment of the patient, but if  the answer is positive, and the disease seems curable, then the doctor will ask himself  the fourth and the last question about proper therapy, namely, 4) what kind of treatment is imper imperati ative ve for this this parti particul cular ar ailme ailment? nt? Incide Incidenta ntally lly,, the Four Four Noble Noble Truth Truths, s, as delineated in Theravada Buddhist Ethics, are: 1) realizing that misery exists; 2) realizing that that mise misery ry has has a caus cause; e; 3) real realiz izin ing g that that the the part partic icul ular ar caus cause e of the the mise misery ry is eradicable; and, 4) realizing that misery will cease after one has pursued the Eightfold Path (‘the  Astangika Marga’ ), ), leading ultimately, to Nirvana (Dale 1964: 145, Zimmer  1948: 33-34, Sogen 1912: 69-70). The striking resemblance resemblance between the two issues, in question, question, is further concretized concretized by the facts that there are, actually, eight main divisions of  Ayurvedic therapy,  Ayurvedic  therapy, namely, Kayacikitsa (General Medicine), Salyatantra (Surgery and Obstetrics), Salakyatantra (Treatment of the diseases of ear, nose, throat and eye), Bhutavidyatantra (Disc iscussio ssions ns on Psyc sychic dis disease ases and their heir treat eatment), nt), Kaumaravrityatantra (Pediatrics),  Agadatantra (Poison (Poisons, s, their their actions actions and remedie remedies), s), Rasayanatantra (Geriatrics), (Geriatrics), and Vajeekaranatantra (Rejuvenation therapy and Virilityenhancement). Further, two very significant and well-known  Ayurvedic  treatises bear  the titles,  Astanga  ‘ Astanga Sangraha’  Sangraha’  and ‘Astanga Hridaya Samhita’  (Sen 1962: 113 [vol. I], 71-72 [vol. II], Svoboda and Lade 1998: 46). Thus, the doctrines of Buddha appear to have provided the functional as well as the operational foundation of   Ayurveda.  Ayurveda . It is to be remembered that the period of proliferation and establishment of   Ayurveda also coincide coincides s with with the beginni beginning ng of several several great system systems s of Indian Indian Darsana, Darsana, namely namely,, Bauddha, Jaina, Samkhya, Vaiseshika, and NyayaNyaya-Vaiseshika (c. 600 – 300 B.C.E.), as well as certain common orthodox doctrines of the Indian Darsanas, Darsanas , such as, those of  ‘Transmigration of Soul’, Karma, Mukti , ‘Life is Suffering’, etc., which were settling to the status of dogma around this time (Dale 1964: 33). Ther There e is no relia reliabl ble e histor historica icall evide evidenc nce e regard regarding ing the the actua actuall compos composers ers of  Ayurveda. Probably, the experiences and knowledge of many expert physicians and physiologists/anatomists went into the formation of this empirical discipline. The Indian tradition speaks of three major source books of Ayurveda, called the Vriddha-trayi  or  ‘the three elder ones’. These are the Caraka-Samhita, Susruta-Samhita, and AstangaSamgrah Samgraha a / Astanga Astanga-Hri -Hridaya daya-Sa -Samhit mhita a . There ere exist ist a con conside iderable ble number of  commentaries commentaries on these and, many digests are based on them. There are certain early, fragmentary fragmentary medical works as well, like the so-called Bower Manuscript  and the BhelaSamhita. Samhita . What come down to us as the Kasyapa-Samhita, Kasyapa-Samhita , Harita-samhita, Harita-samhita , though undoubtedly bearing the names of some ancient authorities, are not considered to be really really ancient ancient works by scholar scholars. s. Hence Hence the Vriddha-trayi  remains remains the most most basic basic sources on ancient Indian medicine. Of these again, the  Astanga-samgraha is more in the nature of a medical manual prepared by the famous physician, Vagabhata (c. C.E. 200-300), undoubtedly depending on the Caraka-samhita and Susruta-samhita , hence Astanga is not to be considered considered as basic as the other two, of which the primary interest interest 4

of Susruta is surgery though on the whole it shares the doctrinal content of Caraka and accepts the drugs and diets prescribed by the later. The Caraka is an enormous medical compilation, parts of which are entirely in verse; the parts in prose alternating with those in verse, concluding with mnemonic verses. Its language is classical Sanskrit and does not correspond to a definite period. The text contains 126 chapters in all, which include the sub-chapters on rasayana and vajikarana, vajikarana , and these are arranged in eight books (again we meet the number eight!), namely, Sutra-sthana, Nidana-sthana, VimanaVimana-stha sthana, na, SariraSarira-stha sthana, na, IndriyaIndriya-sth sthana, ana, Cikitsa Cikitsa-sth -sthana, ana, Kalpa-s Kalpa-sthan thana, a, and Siddhi-sthana. Siddhi-sthana . A great deal of rigor has not been maintained in the arrangement of the main subjects discussed in these eight books. The text as a whole is full of repetitions and digressions; it also describes debates and disputes among various authorities on question questions s of basic basic theoret theoretical ical importan importance ce (Chatto (Chattopadh padhyay yay 1988: 1988: 153-154 153-154). ). Caraka Caraka mentions the conclusions shared by all contemporary schools of medicine, and these are; are; “there “there are causes; causes ; ther there e are are diseases; diseases ; there there are ways ways of curin curing g the the curab curable le diseases diseases”” (Chatto (Chattopad padhya hyay y 1988: 1988: 151,154 151,154,, Caraka Caraka Samhita Samhita 1949 1949). ). The The thera therapy py reco recomm mmen ende ded d by the the Cara Caraka ka is base based d main mainly ly on the the use use of drug drug and and diet diet.. It recommends surgery only in a few exceptional cases and that too somewhat reluctantly. In contr contrast ast,, Susru Susruta ta empha emphatic ticall ally y argue argues s in defen defense se of the the prima primary ry impo importa rtance nce of  surgery in medical science and technology, as instantaneous actions can be produced with the help of surgical operations, cauterization, etc. Compared to the Caraka, the Susruta is lesser in bulk; it is also written in classical Sanskrit, partly in verse and partly in prose. The main body of the text contains 120 chapters arranged in 5 books, namely, Sutra-sthana, Sutra-sthana, Nidana-sthana, Nidana-sthana, Sarira-sthana, Sarira-sthana, Cikitsa-sthana, Cikitsa-sthana, and Kalpa-sthana. Kalpa-sthana . To this main body of the text has been added later on, an appendix in 66 chapters chapters on assorted topics, which is called the Uttara-tantra (‘postscript to the treatise’) (Chattopadhyay 1988: 155, Susruta Samhita 1972), and possibly this addition was done by the Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna, of 6 th – 9th century C.E., the so-called final redactor of the Susruta, who removed removed Salya-tantra from from the cano canon, n, appa appare rentl ntly y under under the influ influenc ence e of the the Buddhist doctrine of ‘non-violence’ (Sharma 1982: 540, Rosu 1982: 65, Misra 1981: 9-10,18). According to the basic theoretical generalization of Ayurveda, as delineated in the Caraka Samhita or the Susruta Samhita, everything is made of matter, especially, of the ‘five great elements’ ( panca mahabhuta: mahabhuta: kshiti [Earth], [Earth], apa[water], apa[water], tejas[Fire], tejas[Fire], marut [Air], [Air], and, vyoma vyoma[Ether/S [Ether/Sky]) ky]) and, everything everything is involved in the ceaseless process process of coming into being and passing out of existence, where the role of the physicians and of their  medical technology, technology, “is to maintain maintain the health of the healthy persons and to remove the disorders in the ailing”. In fact Caraka states that everything that exists in the vast external universe, in the macrocosm, also appears in the internal cosmos of the human body, in the microcosm, microcosm, in altered form. The universe is thus continually influencing influencing the living human body and the latter is likewise influencing the former. Prana (the life force), tejas (the subtle fire), and ojas (the essence) are the quintessential expressions of the five five eleme elements nts as applie applied d to embo embodie died d life. life. Furth Furtherm ermor ore, e,  prana,  prana , tejas, tejas, and ojas individually express the intrinsic attributes of Air, Fire, and Water elements, respectively, in their greatest degree. The life force, subtle fire and essence are considered to be too subtle to satisfy all energy requirements of a living body and so they metamorphose into doshas, doshas, a dosha being ‘something that can go wrong’ (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 49, 5

50). The three doshas inside a living body are: Vata, Vata, Pitta, Pitta, and Kapha, Kapha, which are the grosser forms of prana, tejas, and ojas, respectively. Vata arises from Air and Ether, Pitta from Fire and Water, and Kapha from Water and Earth, of each of these two elements elements attached to a particular dosha, one functions as its active component and the other acts as the passive medium through which the active element is expressed. All movements of any kind in the physical body of every living being is governed by Vata; all transformations of every kind and particularly those involving the digestion of food and information are governed by Pitta; stability, including such functions as lubrication of joints and organs, is governed by Kapha. Bile, phlegm and other bodily secretions are vehicles for the three doshas, doshas, substances through which they display their qualities and perform their actions. As mentioned above, all five elements are essential to life, and their harmony, or disharmony, which arises when Vata, Pitta, and Kapha are balanced, balanced, or imbalanced, determines an individual’s condition of health or disease. A healthy organism produces just enough of the three doshas to meet physical needs, while an unhealthy body overproduces or under-produces the doshas at the expense of the body’s vitality, adaptability and immunity (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 50-51). The three doshas pervade the entire body but concentrate only on those tissues in which they are part partic icul ular arly ly requ requir ired ed.. Actu Actual ally ly,, by arra arrang ngin ing g and and nour nouris ishi hing ng the the tiss tissue ues s and and by sequ sequest esteri ering ng and and excre excretin ting g the the wast wastes, es, the dosha doshas s make make the body body functi function on.. The The products of digestion, or the dhatvagni , are the seven tissues, or the body-elements, the so-called dhatus, dhatus , which anchor mind and spirit firmly to the physical physical body. These seven dhatus dhatus are: Sap Sap ( rasa), rasa), Blood (rakta ( rakta), ), Flesh (mamsa ( mamsa), ), Fat (medas ( medas), ), Bone (asthi  ( asthi ), ), Marrow (majja (majja), ), and the Reproductive Tissue ( sukra). sukra). Sap (rasa ( rasa), ), the foundation of the body, is the first “juice” absorbed by the body from the digested food, and it has been variously translated by modern scholars as, ‘chyle’, ‘lymph chyle’, ‘fluid of life’ and ‘orga ‘organic nic sap’. sap’. Susru Susruta ta emph emphas asize izes s the the impor importan tance ce of the Sap as: as: “Know “Knowing ing that humans are the product of  rasa, rasa, one must be especially careful about the preservation of rasa of rasa”” (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 54-55). According to Susruta, the origin of this Sap is through the complete transformation of the food, made of matter in five forms by the agency of digestive fire into its subtlest essence, and it is termed rasa (presumably derive derived d from from the the root, root, ras, ras, “to move move”) ”) as it cease ceaseles lessly sly circu circulat lates es thro through ughou outt the the organism. More importantly the branch of  Ayurveda of  Ayurveda devoted to the ‘path’ ( ayana) ayana) of this all-important rasa within the body and the control of it through drugs or otherwise has been named as rasayana (Chattopadhyay 1977: 53, Chatterjee 2002: 193, 505). Each of these seven dhatus acts as the raw material for the next; that is Blood is formed from Sap, Flesh from Blood, Fat from Flesh, and so on. At each stage of transformation the next tissue in the sequence is produced along with a waste and a secondary tissue. The Reproductive Reproductive Tissue includes all the reproductive reproductive fluids of the male and female bodies; it produces no waste, and its secondary tissue is the fetus it creates (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 55). Thus, we find that based on the Samkhya doctrine of cosmogonic creation of  matter in the ‘macrocosm’,  Ayurveda formulated a theoretical schemata regarding the hierarchical generation of the primary body-elements, or  dhatus inside the ‘microcosm’ through the ‘transformation’ of the entering environmental matter, inclusive of food, within within the body. Accordi According ng to this scheme scheme therefor therefore, e, health health means means nothing nothing but the balance or equilibrium of these body-elements, body-elements, while disease is the loss of this balance resulting from the wrong way of absorbing environmental matter, i.e., either the over6

absorption or the under-absorption of a specific form of it. In the manifestation of a human disease, Ayurveda disease,  Ayurveda,, unmistakably, identifies the loss of the prevalent ‘equilibrium’ within the human body of the three ‘ doshas’, doshas’, through through the interven intervention tion of ‘extern ‘external’ al’ environment -- clearly a direct influence of the Samkhya doctrine of ‘evolution’ of the unmanifested  prakriti   ‘ prakriti ’, ’, where the ‘three ‘ gunas’ gunas’ – sattva, sattva , rajas, rajas, and, tamas -- were in total harmony, by receiving the ‘stimulus’, or ‘disturbance’ from the ‘ purusha ‘  purusha’. ’. In fact, according to  Ayurveda,  Ayurveda , diseases are basically of three types: ‘endoge ‘endogenous nous’’ (breakd (breakdown owns s from ‘within ‘within’), ’), ‘exogeno ‘exogenous’ us’ (attack (attacks s from ‘without ‘without’), ’), and ‘mental’ – any of which can subsequently lead to others; the ‘tissues’ and the ‘wastes’ being the “things” in the human body that are vitiated by the doshas and the vitiation spreads from one tissue or waste to the others. Hence, to an  Ayurvedic  physician the therapeutic principle really means that if there is an excess or inadequacy of bodymatter in a particular form within the body, he has to prescribe as drug or diet (the ‘restoring external agents’) certain specific substances which, when transformed within the afflicted body, lowers or raises the affected body-matter to its required level, to the level level at which which it retain retains s balan balance ce with body-ma body-matte tterr in other other forms forms.. How How does does the physician physician select the efficacious substances substances from the plethora of natural objects that can be administered either as drug or as diet? This problem, pertaining to the operational aspect of  Ayurvedic  of  Ayurvedic  therapy, has been tackled using the principle of six categories: dravya, guna, karma, samavaya, samanya, and visesa, visesa, as enumerated enumerated in the Vaisesika or  Nyay-Vaisesika Nyay-Vaisesika Darsan (Faddeg (Faddegon on 1918: 1918: 177-18 177-180, 0, Dasgup Dasgupta: ta: Vol. I: 285-294 285-294,, 313313-31 319, 9, Riep Riepe e 1964 1964:: 231231-23 238) 8),, and and form formul ulat ated ed cry cryptic ptical ally ly by the the accl acclai aime med d theoretician of  Ayurveda, Ayurveda, Bharadvaja, as: “ samanyam ca visesam ca gunan, dravyani  karma ca / samavayam ca……”; ca ……”; here here the categor categories, ies, samanya and visesa do not maintain their original connotation (in which they are applied in the Vaisesika theory) in  Ayurveda.  Ayurveda . To hand handle le this this specif specific ic proble problem m the theor theoreti etici cians ans of medic medical al scien science ce in ancient India had, not only to formulate the problem, namely, how the actions and properties of substances used as drugs and diet can be linked or connected to their  material material (bhauta) bhauta) composition, but they were also required to develop some conceptual conceptual tools for solving it. Of the conceptual apparatus developed for the purpose, three of the abov above e ment mentio ione ned d six six cate catego gori ries es are are most most impo import rtan ant, t, and and they they are: are: dravya or  ‘substance’, guna or ‘qualities’, and karma or ‘action’, though—specially for explaining the relation between the substance and its qualities—the need is also felt for the fourth category, category, the samavaya, samavaya , the ‘inseparable ‘inseparable or inherent inherent relation’. relation’. The therapeutic therapeutic agents are view viewed ed as belon belongi ging ng to the gener general al cate categor gory y of natur natural al subst substanc ance e or  dravya. dravya . Medically speaking, the most important aspect of these substances is their actions or  karma on human beings. Though the necessity of these two categories for the problem at hand is more than obvious, but, here, we must acknowledge the view of the ancient physicians that the clue to the matter-composition of these substances as well as to their actions, can only be provided by their qualities, and hence the need for the third category category,, namely namely,, the qualitie qualities s or  guna. guna. How How far far is this this proc proced edur ure e of judg judgin ing g a substance from the qualities really dependable? It cannot at all be dependable, if the relation between the two, the substance and the quality, is ‘accidental’, ‘transitory’ or  ‘detachable’. However, the traditional experience of the physicians instruct them that it is not not alway always s the the case, case, and that that ther there e are are cases cases wher where e the relat relation ion betw between een the qualities and the substances is peculiarly inseparable, as for example, the relation 7

between matter in its earthy-form and its specific quality of ‘smell’—such relations are expressed through the fourth category of  samavyaya or inherence. This relation of  ‘insepar ‘inseparable ableness ness’’ or ‘inhere ‘inherence’ nce’ is, therefor therefore, e, exceedi exceedingly ngly importa important nt from a medical medical viewpoint, because only when the existence of qualities are thus impossible without the substance, substance, are they infallible infallible indices for the nature nature of the substance substance concerned. concerned. This identifi identificati cation on of the nature of a substan substance ce by its insepara inseparable ble qualities qualities enables enables the physicians to know, and thereby to regulate the action ( karma) karma) of the substances on human bodies. This action is determined by the inherent nature of the substance, i.e., by its matter-composition. From the medical point of view, therefore, the substance is the substratum not only of its inseparable qualities but also of its inseparable action. The nature of a substance, once identified by its inseparable qualities, can thus be effectively recommended by the physician for regulating the change required for the afflicted body. This means that though both the inseparable inseparable quality and the inseparable action action have have for their their substra substratum tum the same same substanc substance, e, the insepara inseparable ble quality quality of a substance is only a passive pointer to the nature of the substance, while the medical effect of it is entirely due to the function it has because of its matter-composition. matter-composition. Karma or action is thus the function of a substance inherent inherent in it, and the said function has two forms, called conjunction or  samyoga and disjunction or  vibhaga, vibhaga, which means the addition and diminution of some particular form of body-matter. These increasing or  additive action of substances used as drug or diet have been termed by the  Ayurvedic  physicians, samanya, whereas their diminutive action is called visesa. visesa. Thus, in the Vaisesika system the word samanya means a class concept, but in the  Ayurvedic  parlance it means the concrete things which have ‘similar’/’common’ constituents or  characteristics; characteristics; while visesa, visesa, in the Vaisesika system system means means the ultimat ultimate e specific specific properti properties es differen differentiat tiating ing one atom from another another,, in the Caraka Caraka Samhita Samhita it means means concrete concrete things things which which have have dissimil dissimilar ar or opposit opposite e constitu constituents ents and charact characteris eristics tics.. Samanya and Visesa thus have significances in  Ayurveda that are quite different from what they have in the Vaisesika-sutras . A substance causing ‘conjunction’ to a body element (i.e., adding to it) is termed samanya in relation to this particular body-element, body-element, while while a subst substanc ance e causin causing g ‘disju ‘disjunct nction ion’’ to a specif specific ic form form of body body-el -elem ement ent (i.e., (i.e., diminishing diminishing it) is called visesa in relation to this body-element. body-element. Thus, the six categories, categories, with which the ancient medical theoreticians in India attempted to systematize a vast stock of empirical data concerning the natural substances entering as input within the human system and of their ways of affecting this body, are: dravya (substance), guna (quality), karma (action), samavaya (inseparable (inseparable relation), relation), samanya (alternatively also called vrddhi-karana or “the cause of increase”) and visesa (or hrasa-hetu  (or hrasa-hetu  – “the cause of diminution”). These categories are then immediately put to use, as in the Caraka Samhita, Samhita, to classify the substances according according to their qualities in two separate lists: the first first one one consi consist st of five five quali qualitie ties—s s—sou ound, nd, smell smell,, touc touch, h, color color and and taste taste – that that are perceivable by the sense-organs; and the second one consists of ten pairs of mutually opposing qualities – heavy and light, cold and hot, wet and dry, dull and acute, stable and mobile, soft and hard, clear and sticky, smooth and rough, and solid and liquid – which are qualities of substances manifested after their digestion within the body, not   just just through through sense sense percepti perceptions. ons. Thus, Thus, in the classifi classificati cation on of effectiv effective e substanc substances es accordin according g to their their qualitie qualities, s, it is recogniz recognized ed by the theoret theoreticia icians ns of   Ayurveda,  Ayurveda , that anything that goes into the system influences it with its characteristics and the most 8

important of them is food, which affects the system thrice: before digestion when it is tasted by tongue, during digestion while it moves through the gut, and after digestion when it passes into the tissues. These effects are then further categorized as: taste (rasa), rasa), pote potenc ncy y ( virya), virya), and and post post-di -dige gest stive ive effect effects s ( vipaka); vipaka ); where herein in we find find two two significant peculiarities: i) out of the five sense-perceivable qualities only one, namely, the taste-quality has been picked out for classification, and ii) the term rasa appears in yet another connotation within the gamut of  Ayurveda of   Ayurveda.. The Caraka and the Susruta Samhita Samhitas s mention mention that the rasas, rasas, or the taste taste-qu -qual aliti ities es are six in number number:: swee sweett (madhur ), ), sour (amla (amla), ), saline (labanakta ( labanakta), ), pungent (katu  ( katu ), ), bitter (titkta (titkta), ), and astringent (kashaya); kashaya ); and this notion, possibly, arose out of the principle of identification of the element of water, rasa, rasa, with the sense of taste, in Samkhya, Samkhya, as each of the tastes, are thought, to arise out of the mixture of water together with the other four gross elements in varying proportions, in the  Ayurveda.  Ayurveda . These taste-qualities are not only derived from the five gross elements but they also tend to increase or decrease the three dosas in the the body. body. Howe Howeve ver, r, the the ancie ancient nt theor theoreti eticia cians ns of   Ayurveda underst understood ood from their  their  experience, that the medical effects of the large variety of substances are not fully explained explained in terms of taste taste alone, alone, so they formulated formulated the category category of  vipaka, vipaka, which tends to explain the change of the taste-quality ( rasa) rasa) of a substance altogether after  digestion, and that in such cases the changed taste following the process of digestion ( paka)  paka) could be operative, which can be taken care of through the category of  vipaka. vipaka. Even this was not sufficient, for there were many other effects of medicine which could not be explained in terms of the taste feeling of the substance by the tongue ( rasa), rasa), or in terms of the final effect produced by the substance after digestion ( vipaka) vipaka) – hence the term virya, virya, or “potency-in-chief” was introduced; it is an effect of the substance, that is felt felt throu througho ghout ut its presence presence in the the body, body, and and as such such it is medic medicall ally y much much more more important than either taste or post-digestive effect. However, to cope with the multivarious qualities and produced effects of substances administered as drugs or diets, the ancient physicians had to put forward another quality-classification of substances to account for the observed specialized attributes or powers of certain foods, medicines, and poisons— poisons—and and that is called, called,  prabhava (specia (speciall power). power). Thus, Thus, substanc substances es with with special powers may produce unusual effects in the body or mind, effects which cannot be predicted by the classificatory knowledge of taste, potency, or post-digestive effect (Chattopadhyay 1979). It is clear from what have discussed above, that the main methodological tool of   Ayurveda was ‘categorization’, or, ‘classification’ of diseases, causes of diseases, as well as of the therapeutic substances or drugs for alleviating these diseases – and this ‘tool’ ‘tool’ or ‘method ‘methodolog ological ical apparatu apparatus’ s’ is definite definitely ly a contrib contributio ution n of the ‘Gramma ‘Grammarian rian’’ school of thought, or, Vyakarana Darsana to Ayurveda to Ayurveda.. It is to be noted further, that this categorization or typological classificatory attempt of traditional Indian medicine is not restricted to diseases, their etiology and the applied drugs and dietary substances only  – it is extended even to the patients or clinical subjects also.  Ayurveda believes that every human being has a typical rhythm, an innate gait, (determined by what may be referred to as genes and chromosomes in the present day terminology), and that it reflects the body’s internal energy equation. All of us tend to favor particular energy pathways, organs, glands, nerves, limbs, thoughts, and images. The sum total of this preference preference produces our own individual individual ‘gaits’.  Ayurveda calls a person’s characteristic characteristic 9

physical and mental constitution,  prakriti  (which means ‘the manifested universe’ as a whole, and a person’s constitution is a representation of that ‘person’s innate, intimate, universe’, or ‘microcosm’), which is to be distinguished from vikriti  -- the condition or  current state of a person’s health that varies from moment to moment (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 65). This personal personal constitution, which is fixed at the moment moment of conception, conception, is determined by conditions prevailing in the bodies and minds of the child’s parents at that time. Severe disease disease may make the underlying underlying constitution irrelevant to diagnosis, diagnosis, but that pattern pattern is etched etched permanen permanently tly into the, so-called so-called,, ‘genetic ‘genetic material’ material’ of the person concerned. The diet and activity of the mother during pregnancy, conditions in the womb during pregnancy, and the events during delivery may also influence the child’s subsequent health and happiness, but these are all secondary to the constitution type – and, consequently, in Bengali traditional usage, this is called dhat  (probably derived from dhatu ) of the particular human being, in question.  Ayurveda recognizes ‘eight principal constitution types’ (again, that magical number, eight!!): (a) balanced (where all three doshas are in equilibrium), (b) vata (where vata is stronger stronger than the other two doshas), doshas), (c) pitta (where  pitta is predominant), (d) kapha (where kapha predominates), predominates), (e) vata-pitta or  pitta-vata (wher (where e the the two two indic indicate ated d doshas are stronger stronger than kapha), kapha), simila similarly rly,, (f) pitta-kapha or  kapha-pitta, kapha-pitta , (g) vata-kapha or  kapha-vata, kapha-vata , and, finally, (h) imbalanced (where the three doshas tend to go out of  equilib equilibrium rium). ). Empiric Empirical al study study reveals reveals that that most people people have have ‘double ‘double predomin predominance ance’. ’.  Ayurveda,  Ayurveda , actually, makes a list of characteristics, like: body frame (narrow, broad, etc.), weight (loses and gains easily or not), skin texture, sweating, fertility, speech, emotion, memory, etc., typical to persons belonging to each of the three mono-constitutions, vata, pitta, and kapha, kapha, while dual-constitution persons are said to posses suitable mixtures of these mono-constitutional characteristics. It must also be mentioned in this context, that ‘time’, like ‘personal constitution’, is one of the more significant factors implicated in the causation of disease. Diseases are said to arise at the “junctions” of  the ‘seasons’ – literally, at the junction of winter with spring ( kapha aggravation), spring with summer ( pitta aggravation), and summer with winter ( vata disturbance) – as also at the other “seasons” of one’s life, namely, those pertaining to ‘day’, ‘age’ and ‘digestion’. This is because the body must adapt to changing external conditions, but it becomes imbalanced imbalanced if the adaptation is less than perfect. Actually, it was realized by the ancient Ayurvedic physicians that no single factor is wholly responsible for either health or  disease; they are the results of concerted actions of many causes (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 65-67, Dash 1978 and 1991, Filliozat 1964). Caraka in summarizing the ideal attributes of a medicinal substance says: “A medicine is one which enters the body, balances the doshas, doshas, does not disturb the healthy tissues, does not adhere to them and gets eliminated through urine, sweat and feces. It cures the disease, gives longevity to the bodily cells and has no side effects” (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 53). Another unique Indian medical belief revolved the concept of  marma. marma.  Ayurveda portrays the human body to be composed of a number of intricately interwoven, onion like, layers: (i) the changeable body of fluids, tissues and wastes, (ii) relatively less changeab changeable le body of muscles muscles,, bones bones and nerves, nerves, (iii) (iii) the subtle body, body, and, and, (iv) the causal body. In the physical physical body energy and fluids move through visible channels, like nerves and blood vessels, while in the vital body  prana moves through the subtle ‘conduits’ and ‘plexuses’ called nadis and charkas. charkas . The nadis direct the activity of the 10

physica physicall channe channels ls through through which which energy energy flows, flows, includin including g the nerves, nerves, bones, bones, joints, joints, muscles, ligaments and glands, which then move the ‘body juices’ around. A Marma, Marma, actually, is a joint in the human body beneath which vital channels intersect – and in this intricate system of connected channels of our body the most vulnerable points are those where things join together, i.e., the marmas. marmas. Some of these intersections intersections are physically physically identifi identifiable able while others others are subtle subtle structur structures. es. Since Since Vedic Vedic times times warrior warriors s in India India targeted marmas on the bodie bodies s of their their enem enemies ies to inflic inflictt maxim maximal al dama damage ge and and surgeons used their knowledge of  marmas to treat such injuries. The Susruta Samhita classifies 107 marmas on the basis of the structure (muscles, (muscles, blood vessels, ligaments, nerves, etc.), on the regional location, the dimension, and the consequences of injury (disability, simply intense pain, delayed death, swift death, etc.). The practitioners of the martial art kalarippayattu , kalarippayattu , of Kerala, recognize 160 to 220 marmas in martial practice, and use 107 marmas of Susr Susrut uta a in ther therap apy y. Acco Accord rdin ing g to the the teac teachi hing ngs s of  kalarippayattu , kalarippayattu , inju injury ry to a marma blocks or cuts the associated nadi  at that point, interrupting the flow of both the  prana,  prana , the life force, and its waste product and ‘servant’, the vata, vata, in that area. Marmas exist only insofar as there is  prana in the body – that is, a dead body has no marma within it; the death or damage predicted for injury to a marma occur occurs s only only when when such such a marma is active active.. More interestingly, interestingly,  prana’s movement throu through gh and and conce concent ntrat ration ion in the marmas is suppo suppose sedly dly contr controll olled ed by the the ‘lunar  ‘lunar  day’ (Svoboda and Lade 1998: 59, 61-64). From From what what has has been been said said abov above, e, abou aboutt the the attem attempts pts of the theore theoretic tician ians s of   Ayurveda to rigorously systematize the effects produced by substances used as drugs and or diets to rectify the imbalance of the doshas in an afflicted human body, it is quite clear that the process of classification and categorization of substances according to their qualities and actions was pushed too far to enable the  Ayurvedic  physicians to chart out in the forms of tables of ready-reckoners, exhaustive listings of drugs, diets, their effects, and of the constitution types of human beings in terms of these doshas, doshas, on the the basis basis of the the empir empirica icall data data about about avail availab able le natu natural ral subst substanc ances es and and resu results lts of  observ observati ation on made made on nume numerou rous s diseas diseased ed perso persons. ns. Howe Howeve ver, r, such such an attem attempt pt of  schemat schematic ic understa understandin nding, g, relying relying principa principally lly on the  pancha-bhuta theory theory and and the the principle of three humors or  doshas, indicated also in the Rgveda-samhita, Rgveda-samhita , and in the  Atharvaveda,  Atharvaveda , in the form of the tridhatus— tridhatus —sushka (dry), sikta (wet), (wet), and sanchari  (spreading)—according to Sayanacharya (Sen 1962: 112), is bound to degenerate into dogmatic formulas, applied by physicians, generation after generation, without bothering to reexamine the issue of disease causation in a healthy being, with a more incisive attitude, open mental framework, and a greater stress on knowledge about human anatomy. anatomy. Possibly, the decadent decadent intellectual tenor of that age and the rigors of the logic of the gramma grammarian rians, s, which which provided provided the basic basic methodo methodologi logical cal structur structure e of medical medical science in ancient India, forbade such critical, exploratory attempts. Still, this theoretical exercise on the part of the ancient medical theoreticians theoreticians of India is remarkable, at least, on three counts: a) it treats diseases as something having ‘natural’ rather than ‘divine’ origin; b) it provides us with a huge body of categorized, empirical data that can function as the data data-ba -base se for gener generati ating ng a more more adva advanc nced ed scien scientif tific ic appro approac ach h of medi medical cal treatment, in future; and, c) it has provided the factual support towards the important epistemological idea of ‘perpetual flux’ of the Nyaya-Vaisesika system (Chattopadhyay 1979: 134-135); 134-135); and and possibly, possibly, in a mediated mediated way, way, the method method of Panini reinforced reinforced its 11

grip on this system. That the Paninian method was very significant for the exercises in medicine in ancient India, is also borne out by the fact that the renowned Ayurvedic physician physician Narahari, who lived in Kashmir in the 13 th century and composed a dictionary dictionary of herbal medicine titled  Avidhanachuramani ,  Avidhanachuramani , was also a famous grammarian. However, there there are indic indicat ation ions, s, that that in the the postpost-Bhartrihari  Bhartrihari  perio period d of develo developm pment ent of India Indian n phil philos osop ophy hy and and logi logic, c, the the stre stress ss on the the gram gramma marr-ba base sed, d, logi logica call appr approa oach ch was considerably lessened. Other significant works on medicine, medicinal chemistry and general chemical methods of utility, apart from these two ( Caraka-samhita and Susrutasamhita), samhita ), belon belongin ging g to this this perio period, d, were: were: Navaneetak , or the the Bowe Bowerr Manu Manusc scri ript pt,, discovered by the British army officer A. Bower, from the excavations at a Buddhist stupa in Chinese Turkistan, around the beginning of the twentieth century, the  Astanga Samgraha of the elder Vagbhata, and the   Astanga Hridaya Samhita, Samhita, of the junior  Vagabha Vagabhata. ta. Of these these the Bower Bower Manuscr Manuscript ipt is possibl possibly y the eldest eldest existing existing medica medicall th manu manusc scri ript pt,, whos whose e orig origin in prob probab ably ly goes goes to the the 4 cent centur ury y A. D., D., acco accord rdin ing g to paleographic evidence. Many of the chapters of this work may be regarded practically to be revisions of the corresponding ones of the Caraka Samhita. The work contains mention of the Susruta Samhita, but not of the Caraka Samhita. Recipes of several important preparations, described in the Bower Manuscript, agree in all essentials, and sometimes word for word, with those of the existing recensions of the Caraka and the Susruta Susruta Samhita Samhitas. s. The treatise treatise on medicine medicine next to the Caraka and the Susruta, Susruta, in which one can find some chemical information information worthy of note, is  Astanga Samgraha, Samgraha, of  the elder Vagbhata. This treatise may be regarded as an epitome of the Caraka and the Susruta line of thought with some gleanings from the works of Bhela and Harita. Mineral and natural salts figure chiefly in the prescriptions along with vegetable drugs; mercury is incidentally mentioned, in a recipe for the preparation of a collyrium along with, lead, stibium, and camphor. However, the mention occurs in such a perfunctory manner as to exclu exclude de any assum assumpt ption ion about about the know knowled ledge ge of its comp compoun ounds ds.. Some Some meta metalli llic c preparations preparations are recommended recommended in it, which would presuppose an advanced knowledge of chemical processes.  Astanga Hridaya Samhita is composed in the form of verses, based on the  Astanga Samgraha of the elder Vagabhata. In terms of popularity, it super superce ceded ded the earlie earlierr work, work, and and was was trans translat lated ed in both both Tibeta Tibetan n and and Arabic Arabic.. The The physician, named ‘Sindaksar’, or ‘Sindicar’, mentioned in the works of ar-Razi (Sen 1962, Stapleton et al 1926), al  1926), the famous Islamic alchemist and iatrochemist of the 9 th – 10th centu century ry C.E., C.E., along along with with the descr descript iptio ion n of the meri merits ts and demer demerits its of herba herball substances, is possibly the junior Vagabhata of Sind. A careful study of these two works of the two Vagabhatas, reveal that the advancement in Anatomy and Surgery that was achieved during the period of Caraka and Susruta suffered deterioration during this period, and the meager discussions about them that exist in these two treatises are very incoh incohere erent nt and and are are at times times not not even even corr correla elated ted.. This This indica indicate tes s that, that, the the study study of  Anatomy and Surgery practically declined during the period of these two Vagabhatas. In the Vedic period surgery used to enjoy a coveted position and surgeons used to receive honor and reverence reverence in society. society. In the succeeding succeeding Brahamanic Brahamanic age, with with the rise of  various various superst superstitio itions, ns, ‘treatm ‘treatment ent with with surgical surgical instrum instruments ents’’ gradua gradually lly became became a very downcast and despicable profession. Being despised and discarded by the educated Brahmins, surgery took refuge among the illiterate, low-lying communities of the society. The doctrine of non-violence ( ahimsa) ahimsa) of the Buddhists and the Jainas also impeded the 12

advancement of surgery (Sen 1962). Hence, in spite of developments of the other  branches of medical technology, the rapid decline of surgery could not be checked, in the Buddhist age. age. The void thus created created by the gradual phasing phasing out of surgery on the one hand, and the decadence of  Ayurvedic  of  Ayurvedic  medicine on the other, due to its excessive dependence on the theory of three humors, provided the necessary operational space and impetus for the discoveries and innovations in the field of mercurial and mineralbased medicines, and thereby the age of alchemy proper made its appearance in India, in and around the 7 th century A.D., as a hand-maiden to the Tantrik or  Tantrik  or Siddha Siddha system of  medicine, also known as the Rasa Cikitsa Paddhati  (Rosu  1982: 65-66, Mazumdar  1982: 233). Actually, the so-called ‘religious alchemy’ evolved and devolved in India in three phases: a) the ‘magical alchemy’ – that dominated the field from the 2 nd to the 10 th century A. D., b) the ‘ tantrika alchemy’, which enjoyed its golden age between 13 th and 14th century, and, c) the ‘ siddha/sittar  alchemy’ which thrived from the 13 th to the 17 th century, mainly in south India --- and throughout these three phases, it interacted with, and was at times even indistinguishable from, other theoretical and applied sciences in which mercurial and mineral-based preparations played a central role (Ghosh 2006, White 1996: 52). The most important of these was, definitely,  Ayurveda,  Ayurveda , whose two foundational works, the Caraka Samhita and the Susruta Samhita, Samhita , contain references to external, therapeutic uses of mercury ( Caraka Samhita: Samhita : 6. 7. 70 – 71 and Susruta Samhita: Samhita : 4. 25. 39; 5.3. 14; 6. 35. 7). The goal of  Tantrika alchemy was ‘bodily (Gold like) immortality’, ‘(Diamond like) invincibility’ and ‘transcendence of human condition’ i.e., Nirvana or  Jeevan Mukti . This focus of the Tantrika alchemical method has been aptly summarized summarized in the text of  Rasarnava with the pithy formula ( Rasarnava, Rasarnava , 17, 165a, 166a): “Yatha “Yatha lohe tatha dehe / purvam lohe parikseta tato dehe prajojayet ” prajojayet ” – which means: “as in metal so in the body …. first test (mercury) (mercury) on a metal, then use it on the body”. Moreover, the two elements placed here in mutual relation, ‘metals’ ( loha) loha) and ‘bodies’ deha), deha), define the two distinctly different but interconnected branches of the Tantrika alchemical syntheses: they are the lohavada or “transmutational alchemy and dehavada or “elixir alchemy”. The most significant point that this verse highlights highlights is that even within this body of alchemical activity, transmutation of metals into gold was not an end end in itse itself lf,, but but rath rather er the the nece necess ssar ary y mean means s to the the ulti ultim mate ate end of ‘bod ‘bodil ily y th immortality’ (White 1996: 54). Sometime in the 14 century, century, the general disappearance disappearance of the Tantrika alchemy occurs, and along with it, the appropriation of its techniques of  transmutation and transformation by the other Indian systems of thought and practice, both old and new. Many of the techniques of  Tantrika alchemy were churned back into the Ayurvedic tradition – and this legacy of  Tantrika alchemy in this later  Ayurveda later  Ayurveda is, rasasastra, rasasastra , “the Aurvedic Aurvedic Pharmacy”, an indispensable part of the Ayurvedic Ayurvedic practice. It is a discipline that continues to be taught in the Ayurvedic parlance even today. This reapplication of transmutational and elixir alchemy to therapeutic ends is known as rogavada, rogavada , or the “Medicinal alchemy”, specific to the north Indian  Ayurveda.  Ayurveda . Another  development of the same order is rasacikitsa, rasacikitsa , or the “Mercurial medicine”. This school continued for centuries to thrive and even to rival classical  Ayurveda,  Ayurveda , with its shifted emph emphas asis is on ther therap apeu euti tic c tech techni niqu ques es rath rather er than than on tran transm smut utat atio ion n and and bodi bodily ly immortality, immortality, in south India and in the eastern states (like Greater Bengal), and the Sind,

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and was exported to Tibet, China, South East Asia and Sri Lanka, along with classical  Ayurveda (Rosu 1982: 65-66, Bose 1982: 233). After the 10 th century, century, the Central Asian conquerors imported their own system of  medicine into India. However, However,  Ayurveda too continued to be in practice. In the 13 th-14th century, a treatise on on Ayurvedic   Ayurvedic pharmacology pharmacology (rasasastra ( rasasastra), ), the Sharngadhara Samhita, Samhita , th appeared, and during the 16 century all Indian medical medical knowledge knowledge was collected collected and compiled by the order order of Mughal Mughal Emperor Emperor Akbar Akbar (Svoboda (Svoboda and Lade Lade 1998: 46). The conquests by the Europeans, however, were nearly fatal for  Ayurveda for   Ayurveda,, especially after  1835, when the British decided neither to recognize nor to support Indian sciences in their Indian dominions (Kumar 1997: 179).  Ayurveda began its renaissance in the wake of the Indian upsurge against British Rule (along with the renewal of the arts and sciences in India) at the beginning of the 20 th century, and today, in independent India, it exists as one of the six medical medical systems systems officially officially recognized recognized by Indian Indian government government – the other five being: Allopathy, Homeopathy, Unani, Siddha and Naturopathy.

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Dasgupta, S. N. 1975.  A History of Indian Philosophy , Vols. I and II, 1 st Indian edition, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi.

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Faddegon, Faddegon, B. 1918. The Vaises Vaisesik ika a system system Descri Described bed with with the Help of the Oldest Oldest Texts Texts,, Verhandelingen der Koninklije Akademie van Wetenschapen te Amsterdam: Johannes Mueller.

10. Filliozat, J. 1964. The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine. Medicine. Munsiram Manoharlal, Delhi. 11. Ghosh, Ghosh, S. 2006. 2006. “Role “Role of Mercur Mercury y in Alchem Alchemy y or Proto Proto-ch -chemi emistr stry: y: Western Western and Easter Eastern n

Perspectives”, Proceedings of the Second Biennial Conference of Indian Association for Asian & Pacific Studies, 2004, 2004, University of Sambalpur, Orissa. Orissa. Progressive Publishers, Kolkata. 12. Hoernle, A. R. R. 1907. Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India, India, Part – I. Oxford. 13. Kumar, D. 1997. Science and Raj, 1857-1905 . Oxford University Press, Delhi. 14

14. Majumdar, G. 1982, “Medicine”, in: Bose, D.M., Ed. A Ed.  A Concise History of Science in India. India . 15. Majumdar, R. C. and Pusalker, A. D. 1953. (Edited) The History and Culture of the Indian

People, Vol. – I, Vedic Age. Age. George Allen & Unwin. 16. Misr Misra, a, S. 1981 1981..   Ayurvediy Ayurvediya a Rasasastra Rasasastra. Jaikri Jaikrishn shnadas adas Ayurv Ayurveda eda Series Series,, 35, Benare Benares: s:

Chowkhamba Orientalia. 17. Riepe, D. 1964. The Naturalistic Tradition in Indian Thought . Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi. 18. Rosu, A. 1982. “Le renouveau contemporain de l’Ayurveda”, in: Wiener Zeitschrift fuer die

kunde Sudasiens, Sudasiens, Vol. 26. --.1982. “Yoga et Alchimie”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandsichen Gesellschaft , Vol. – 132, pp. 363 – 379. 19. Sen, S. 1962. Vijnaner Vijnaner Itihaas. Itihaas. Indian Indian Associati Association on for the Cultivat Cultivation ion of Science, Science, Jadavpur.

Calcutta, 2nd ed., Vols. I and II. 20. Sharma, P. 1982. Ayurved 1982. Ayurved ka Vaijnanik Itihas. Itihas . Banaras: Chowkhamba Orientalia. 21. Stapleton, H. E. et al . 1923. Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. VIII, No. 6. 22. Svoboda, Robert and Lade, Arnie. 1998. Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. Ayurveda. Motilal Banarasidass,

1st Indian Edition, Delhi. 23. White, D. G. 1996. The Alchemical Body . The University of Chicago Press, U.S.A. &London.

CATEGORY: HISTORY OF MEDICINE KEY WORDS: INDIA / AYURVEDA / CARAKA / SUSRUTA / RASASASTRA / TANTRA

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