Medicines (d): Flowers (Puṣpa)

Amongst the Chapters on Medicine, only the Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhaiṣajyavastu comprises a list of flower-medicines, while other Chapters on Medicine do not. The Sanskrit and the Chinese lists of these drugs are almost identical, with one more item in the Sanskrit list. The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya has brief information on using flowers as remedies, but such material is not within the Chapter on Medicine parallel.

The flower-medicines are enumerated in the following passages:

Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit):—“Flower-medicine–[there are] five flowers: flower of Malabar nut tree, flower of neem tree, flower of fire-flame bush, [flower of] zedoary,[flower of cobra’s saffron,] [and] sacred lotus flower; or, furthermore, another [flower which] serves for the need of flower-medicine [but] not for the need of food.”^[1]

Mūlasarvāstivāda (Chinese):—“Flower-medicines are flower of Malabar nut tree, flower of neem tree, flower of fire-flame bush, flower of cobra’s saffron, [and] sacred lotus flower. [If], further, there are others of this category, [they] should be used in accord with [the flower-medicines].”^[2]

Mahāsāṃghika:—“Flowers are water-lily, golden champak, [and] common jasmine; such as these, all flowers should not be worn. If a monk is afflicted with painful eye [or] headache, [and] the physician instructs: ‘[he] should need wearing a flower garland on the head for relieving [the pain]’–[then he] can wear [it].”^[3]

These plants are known in the classical Āyurvedic texts and flowers are widely used in Āyurvedic medicine. However, like the medicines of stems and leaves enumerated in the Chapters on Medicine, no particular category of flower-medicines is found in the classical medical texts. Flowers are known to be medicinal, but they are often described as flowery vegetable foods with their individual properties and usages (Suśruta Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 46. 281-288). Flower parts such as stamens, stigmas, and pollen can be utilised. Sometimes the whole inflorescence can be used (van Wyk and Wink 2004, 16).

The following table lists the various names of flower-medicines found in the Chapters on Medicine:

	Original name	English name	Botanical name
Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit)	vāśikapuṣpa	flower of Malabar nut tree	Adhatoda vasica
	nimbapuṣpa	flower of neem tree	Azadirachta indica
	dhātukīpuṣpa	flower of fire-flame bush	Woodfordia fruticosa
	śaṭipuṣpa	flower of zedoary	Curcuma zedoaria
	nāgapuṣpa	(flower of) cobra’s saffron	Mesua ferrea
	padmakeśara	sacred lotus flower	Nelumbo nucifera
Mūlasarvāstivāda (Chinese)	婆舍迦花	flower of Malabar nut tree	Adhatoda vasica
	絍婆花	flower of neem tree	Azadirachta indica
	陀得雞花	flower of fire-flame bush	Woodfordia fruticosa
	龍花	(flower of) cobra’s saffron	Mesua ferrea
	蓮花	sacred lotus flower	Nelumbo nucifera
Mahāsāṃghika	優鉢羅	water-lily	Nymphaea species
	瞻蔔	golden champa	Michelia champaca
	須摩那	common jasmine	Jasminum grandiflorum

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Gilgit Manuscripts III. 1.iii: “puṣpabhaiṣajyam| pañca puṣpāṇi| vāśikapuṣpaṃ nimbapuṣpaṃ dhātukīpuṣpaṃ śaṭipuṣpaṃ [nāgapuṣpaṃ] padmakeśaramiti| yadvā punaranyadapi [puṣpa-]bhaiṣajyārthāya spharati nāmiṣārthāya|” Dhātukī seems to be a corruption of dhātakī (fire-flame bush). Śaṭipuṣpa is missing in the Chinese version. According to a footnote in the Gilgit Manuscripts, the original manuscript has the item nāgapuṣpa preceding padmakeśara, but it is absent in the Tibetan version of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhaiṣajyavastu. So the editor did not show it in the Gilgit Manuscripts edition. The Chinese version has it (龍花) as the fourth item in the list. Thus it is replaced here. The English common name is adopted from Srikantha Murthy’s translation of Bhāvaprakāśa (2011, vol. 1, 217).

[2]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1448. 1b17-18: “花藥者，謂婆舍迦花、絍婆花、陀得雞花、龍花、蓮花，更有餘類，應隨所用。”

[3]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1425. 494b8-10: “華者，優鉢羅、瞻蔔、須摩那，如是一切華不應著。若比丘患眼痛、頭痛，醫教言：「當須華鬘繫頭差。」者，得繫。” 優鉢羅 is utpala; 瞻蔔 is campaka; 須摩那 is sumanā. There are further instructions on wearing a flower-garland as remedy: If a monk wants to wear a flower garland, he should first offer it to a Buddha stupa and then he can wear it. Having worn, he cannot stay amidst the community and he should stay in a concealed place. When the illness is relieved, he should abandon it (494b10-12: “若欲繫者當先供養佛塔，然後得繫。繫已不得在眾人中，當在屏處，差已當捨。”).