Introduction

Numerous cases of diseases and treatments are recorded in the Vinaya Piṭakas, especially in various versions of the Chapter on Medicine. This chapter of the present thesis, like the preceding one, will primarily focus on the medical data in the Chapters on Medicine (and related ones which are found elsewhere in the Vinayas). It deals with the cases of diseases and their remedies (as well as other objects such as tools) found in the Chapters on Medicine. It also aims at answering two research questions in this work: what were those illnesses and treatments, and what would be the interpretations for them in terms of modern medicine or knowledge. ^[1] Through this chapter, we attempt to interpret and understand what the cases were.

Illness is unavoidable. Every one of us experiences some kind of sickness in our lives. When we are sick, we seek treatment to recover. In the Buddha’s time there were many cases of Buddhist monks and nuns falling sick and receiving cures. These are recorded in the Vinayas, especially in the Chapter on Medicine. Moreover, there are even occasions when the Buddha himself was sick and his cases are mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures. For instance, as shown in Chapter Three, the Buddha had an illness and he recovered after listening to the chanting of the seven factors of enlightenment. The records of the Buddha and his followers’ sicknesses not only describe such events but also various remedies for diseases. These facts provide intriguing information on the śramaṇ-ic medicine in ancient India.

In this chapter, we will still use the three-fold interpretative method to study the medical data. All diseases will first be categorised and then examined through this method. Narration involves gathering passages of descriptions of a disease from different versions of the Chapter on Medicine and listing them together so that a more comprehensive view of that disease can be ascertained. Relevant accounts of the disease from elsewhere in the Vinaya Piṭakas will also be included. Explanation is chiefly based on Buddhist exegeses and Āyurvedic teachings, like that in Chapter Four. Translation is the rendering of these cases by means of modern medical/scientific knowledge, so that they can be better understood through present-day concepts and terms.

However, this chapter does not aim to be a medical essay which gives all details of the diseases and treatments recorded in the Chapters on Medicine. It aims at comprehending these records. Hence, interpretations of diseases/remedies will be general and concise, without providing every bit of medical detail. Readers, if interested, can explore thorough medical information in the references provided below.

Diseases found in the Chapters on Medicine will be classified according to the patho-physiology and/or the anatomical parts involved. Moreover, the classification is presented in accordance with modern medical specialisation for the following reasons: readers of this thesis would be more familiar with contemporary medical terms; the author is more acquainted with the modern medical system because of his previous training; and the classification of diseases in terms of the eight branches of Āyurveda generally resembles that in modern medicine. The diseases therefore will be grouped and discussed as per modern medical specialties. These include: internal medicine (including autumnal illness, wind diseases, humoural diseases, fever, gastrointestinal disturbances, headache, and jaundice); toxicology (encompassing snakebite and poisoning); ophthalmology (discussing eye problems); dermatology (covering itching lesions, carbuncles, wounds, and others); surgery (examining perineal diseases and foot ailments); and psychiatry. These will be dealt with one by one in the following sections.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See Section 1. 2. 1 in Chapter One and footnote 1 of Chapter Four at p. 137 on these research questions.