Medicines (k): Medicinal Powders

In the preceding section, most of the scented substances were employed as powders. This section primarily deals with other powders which are not mentioned as aromatic.

Theravāda:—“… powders as medicines.”^[1]

Dharmaguptaka:—“At that time a sick monk needed various types of fine powder-medicine for cleansing. The Buddha said: ‘[I] allow the use of various types of fine powder-medicine–herein, fine powder-medicine is: powder of poon tree, powder of common gurjun tree, [or] powder of silk-cotton tree–for cleansing. Either one makes [the powder] by himself or even makes [it] for each other.’”^[2]

Mahāsāṃghika:—“Powder is: powder of realgar, powder of lead,^[3] [and others] such as these examples.”^[4]

These powders, like the aromatic substances above, are used externally for curing skin diseases. In the Theravāda Bhesajjakkhandhaka, the Buddha allowed the use of powders for skin diseases; for one who is not sick, he allowed the use of animal dung, clay, and boiled dye to apply on the body. The Buddha also gave permission for using mortar and pestle for preparing the powders. In addition, there is an explanation in the Samantapāsādikā relating to the powders: “… For him, the powders of siris tree, Kosambī’s neem tree (?), etc., or scented powders–all are fit.”^[5] In the Dharmaguptaka passage on the medicinal powders, there follows further instructions concerning the use of tools such as mortar, pestle, sieve, dustpan, and broom for preparing the powder-medicines; the adding of perfume to powder-medicines; the usage of lidded bottle for the powder-medicines; the place for storing them; the making of fine powders; and the types of skin disease that such powder-medicines can be used (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1428. 867b5-13). From the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya, it is noted that metallic or minerals were used as medicinal powders, not only those obtained from plants. In this source, there is further rule for using these powders: after anointing with them, one cannot stay in the community and has to stay at a concealed place (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1425. 497a24-25).

Both Āyurveda and modern medicine use medicinal powders for curing skin problems. This will be further discussed in Chapter Five.

The following table summarises the mentioned powders:

	Original name	English name	Scientific/Botanical name
Theravāda	sirīsa	siris tree	Albizia lebbeck
	kosamba	Kosambī’s neem tree (?)	Azadirachta indica (?)
Dharmaguptaka	胡桐樹末	powder of poon tree	Calophyllum inophyllum
	馬耳樹末	p. of common gurjun tree	Dipterocarpus turbinatus
	舍摩羅樹末	p. of silk cotton tree	Salmalia malabarica
Mahāsāṃghika	摩那石粉	powder of realgar	arsenic sulphide
	鉛錫粉	p. of lead	lead (metal)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka I. 202: “... cuṇṇāni bhesajjāni.”

[2]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1428. 867b2-5: “爾時病比丘須種種細末藥洗，佛言：「聽用種種細末藥。是中細末藥者，胡桐樹末，馬耳樹末，舍摩羅樹末洗。若自作若更互作。」” 舍摩羅 should be śālmalī.

[3]:

See Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, s.v. “鉛錫” [accessed January 30, 2015, http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xprddb.pl?q=%E9%89%9B%E9%8C%AB].

[4]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka1425: 497a22: “粉者，摩那石粉、鉛錫粉如是比。” This piece of information is not within the Chapter on Medicine parallel in this Vinaya. 摩那石 is manaḥśilā (realgar).

[5]:

Samantapāsādikā V. 1090: “... tassāpi sirīsakosambādicuṇṇāni vā gandhacuṇṇāni vā sabbāni vaṭṭanti.” Here kosamba seems to refer to kośambaka–Kosambī’s neem tree as shown in the footnote 105 above.