Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita

by Nayana Sharma | 2015 | 139,725 words

This page relates ‘Superintendent of the Royal Kitchen’ of the study on the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita, both important and authentic Sanskrit texts belonging to Ayurveda: the ancient Indian science of medicine and nature. The text anaylsis its medical and social aspects, and various topics such as diseases and health-care, the physician, their training and specialisation, interaction with society, educational training, etc.

Superintendent of the Royal Kitchen

Another physician of the royal household attached to the royal kitchen had to supervise the kitchen operations along with a superintendent (adhyakṣa) having the same qualities as the physician.110 Suśruta recommends that both these officials should belong to respectable families, should be righteous, affectionate, well paid, always watchful about their duties, free from greed, honest, devoted, grateful, handsome, and devoid of anger, rudeness, jealousy and laziness. They should also be self-controlled, forgiving, clean, noble, kind, intelligent, untiring, sympathetic, well wisher, skilful, prompt, dexterous, competent and energetic.111 The physician should be well versed in the treatment of poisons, and should be highly respected by members of his own profession.112 His duties include supervision of the kitchen, touching the prepared food with anti-poisonous substances and sprinkling of antidote water after chanting the necessary mantras to ensure that it is free of toxins and venoms. Thereafter, he offers the food to the king.113 As Caraka makes no reference to this post, we may surmise that it was later development.

As Suśruta says that the qualities of superintendent should be similar to those of the physician of the royal kitchen, we may surmise that he too is a physician specialising in toxicology. Appointment of two persons of the qualifications probably indicates that one is expected to keep check over the other. After stating the duties of the physician attached to the royal kitchen, Suśruta gives a description of the dining area, the vessels in which the preparations should be served and the correct order of serving the items.114 We may surmise that ensuring the neatness and cleanliness of the dining space and supervision of the serving etiquette-that is serving the dishes in appropriate utensils and in the correct order-fell in his ambit. The position of this physician is therefore an important one. Other than the regulation of the kitchen to ensure cleanliness and food safety, he possibly had the responsibility of drawing up the diet chart of the royal household. In the Harṣacarita we are told that the head-cook prepared the food according to the instructions of the court physicians.115 It is interesting to note that Cakradatta, the commentator of the Caraka Saṃhitā, was the son of the head-cook of a Bengali king.116

The Arthaśāstra, however, makes no reference to the physician attached to the royal kitchen but does makes suggestions about precautions to be taken for prevention of poisoning of the king. Kauṭilya prescribes that all the cooking should be done under the supervision of the head cook in a guarded place, who should taste it several times. The king should partake of the same by first offering some of the food to the sacred fire and the birds.117 Experts in the science of poison-cure and physicians should be in attendance on him.118 Before offering a medicine to the king, Kauṭilya says the physician should ensure its purity by tasting it himself. Besides, the cook and the pounder (i.e., those who had prepared the medicine) should also be made to taste it.119 Similar precautions are advised for drinks and water.120

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