3. Healthcare and Medicines in ancient India

Medicine was practised both ny amateurs and professionals 8. Instances of professionals who hankered after money 9 and amateurs who won respect from the people 10 can be noted from the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa I. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II.15lb. 3. Ibid., II.153a. 5. Ibid., II.153ab. 7. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 86. 9. Ibid., 2. Ibid., II.152. 4. Ibid., 6. Ibid., II.153b-154b. 8. Ibid., 177. 10. Ibid., 86.

389 Medicine and Magic : From the study of the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, it becomes clear that in contemporary times magic was mixed up with medicine. To have a clear idea about this phenomenon one has to study the reasoning behind such a practice. Causes of disease: The According to Jaina tradition, diseases were not known in the times prior to Usabha. _ Sami. first appearance of an premature death occurred in the period of the childhood of Usabhasamil. Further, according to Jaina philosophy, the various diseases appeared not because of some disturbance in the bodily system but due to the result of the sin committed by a being in the last birth². As such, the way to get rid of diseases for a person was not medicine but to endure the consequences of these upto the last moment 3. Such a mode of thinking was one of the logical corollories of the simple application of the theory of Karman. The reasoning behind king Sagara's welfare activities at his illness is probably the same 4. The disease was supposed to be overcome with merit ! Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa 1. ibid., 161. 3. Ibid., 234-35. 2. Ibid., 8, 38. 4. Ibid., 189.

390 Disease and demi-gods : The origin of a disease was many times attributed to demigods or demons. An epidemic like mari have been was believed to spread by a god named Mahakala. The disease was brought under control by Brahmins with the performance of animal sacrifices¹. Thinking that Princess Sirimati's dumbness was because of the Jambhaga gods, was offered to them, so also sacrifice and other pacificatory rites were performed ². Similar rites were a bali performed also when Amsumamta thought that Vasudeva was possessed by Pisaya³. Charms : Charms were employed to ward off (ussarani) wild animals like tigers and serpents 4. Reference to a peculiar way of curing a person of snake-bite has been referred to in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa The snake charmer, it seems, could summon the serpent, ask him to suck back the poison injected by it. If the serpent did not suck the poison, the alternative for it was to die in fire 5. Medicinal herbs were also employed sometimes in cases of snake-bite. 2. Ibid., 171, also 222. 6 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 189. 3. Ibid., 213. 4. Ibid., 55. 5. Ibid., 254. 6. Ibid., 317.

391 In the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa Vasudeva is described to have used a similar herb in the case of an actor who feigned to have been bitten by a serpent. In this connection the author of the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa has referred to the seven attacks (vega) of snake-bite 1. Care in pregnancy : Medicine had its positive side also. 2 Good care was taken to pay attention to the health of a child, even before its birth. Every care was taken to fulfil the desires (dohala) of a pregnant woman and physicians were consulted before the birth of the child. A physician in such an examination of a courtezan could foretell that a twin would be born to her³. The period of pregnancy was calculated to be nine months or a period round about it 4. After delivery the umblical chord was cut and the Jatakamma ceremony was performed. One of the tonics recommended for a convalscing woman to overcome the puerperal weakness was ghee 5. 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, II.205a. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 87, 368. 3. Ibid., 10-11. 5. Ibid., 152. 4. Ibid., 27.

392 Nursing a child : In the case of the newly born child, every care was taken by appointing a nurse to look after it. In the case of well-to-do families five nurses looked after the child? Various diseases : Many diseases have been referred to in the • course of narratives in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa These are pestilence (mari) 2, blindness resulting from continuous weeping³, colic (sula)4, belly-ache (kucchi-sula)5, indigestion resulting from the eating of hard objects like wood • (visuiga), puerperal sickness (suyaroga)7, fistula in the anus (bhagamdara), the itch (Kamdu), costiveness (parojjha, Skt. prarodha ?) 8 and dysentery (atisara) 9. Leprosy (kuttha) 10 and a variety of it called Kimikuttha wherein the diseases portion of the body was infested with worms have also been referred to. Some of the above 11 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 27. 2. Ibid., 192. 3. Ibid., 19. 4. Ibid., 69. 5. Ibid., 234. 6. Ibid., 86. 7. Ibid., 18, 298. 8. Ibid., 234. 9. Ibid., 117. 10. Ibid., 39. 11. Ibid., 177.

393 diseases like Kuttha were supposed to be incurable while others like Visuiya, Sula or Suya sometimes proved fatal. Treatment : Treatment of any disease was done only after judging the humours in body. Imbalance of the elements (dhatu-visamvada) could result in diseases 1. Vasudeva, after traversing a long distance, did not drink water for some time though he was feeling thirsty. He thought that the wind-humour may get disturbed and result in some 'disease' (dosa) 2. To treat a princess who was suffering from Sula, Dhammilla prescribed her a medicine which was favourable to the wind-humour and the bilious humour (Vatapittanulomiya) 3. Medicines could be of two types, oral and external. In the case of a Jaina monk, suffering from leprosy oral medicine could not be given as he was practising penance. He was, therefore, treated with ointments (abbhamga-makkhana) 4. The affected parts of his body were massaged with oil specially extracted/ (sayasahessa-nipphanna). After the massage, paste of 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 92. 2. Ibid., 122. 3. Ibid., 69. 4. Ibid., 177.

394 sandal-wood was applied to the body and a piece of woollen cloth put over it. Such a treatment agitated the worms (kimi) to such an extent that the patient also swooned 1. In the story of Sihaliputta Namdana it is told that the minister's son was cured of his otherwise incurable leprosy (kuttha) after he was bathed with the blood of a blood horse². 2 To overcome weakness and regain health the patient was treated ³, initially with emission and purrge (vamana-virecanaihim). Herbal medicines: Muhavasas : The knowledge of various medicinal qualities of herbs was utilized in preparing such medicines which could do away with the foul smell issuing from one's mouth 5, or pills capable of changing one's voice and complexion (sara-vanna-bheda-guliyao)b. The Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa describes the preparation of muhavasa. The ingredients are given as Ela-group, Camdana group Jatiphala-group and 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 177. 2. Ibid., 39. 3. Ibid., 10. 4. Ibid., 13. 5. ibid., 218. 6. Ibid., 120.

395 Kappura-group. All these ingredients were first of all dried and then heated. Then except the Jatiphalagroup, all the herbs were ground in honey and sugar (sakkara) were placed in a box (puda) and wound in kusa grass. Afterwards, the compound was coated (levijjamti) When it was sufficiently heated with madhuramattiya. it was put in a new utensil and scented (vasijjamti) with fragrant flowers. In Jatiphala-group Biyapuraga was mixed and gamdhatila besmeared (abbhamgijjamti). Oil of mango was also added. The whole thing was fumigated with the smoke of Turukka and Aguru and was again scented with fragrant flowers. Thus the Parijataka muhavasa was ready 1. Poisons : Spirituous liquour (jogamajja) 2 strong enough 3 to kill a person, talapuda poison ³, and poisonous smoke 4 also were known and utilised to commit suicide and kill others. 1. Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, 96ab. 2. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 51. 3. Ibid., 321. 4. Ibid., 176.

396 Surgery: Physicians also practised surgery. In surgical operations a physician brought into use a host of instruments (satthakosa) 1 and herbs cicatricizing or healing wounds (visallakarani, samrohani) 2. Two surgical operations have been referred to in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa The first is of the tongue. To remove the fault in the speech of a Brahmin boy, Vasudeva cuts the black vein (jihatamtu kasina) with scissors (kattari) and applies cicatricizing herbs ³. The other was done by Dhammilla located the Dhammilla. A horse was so wounded that the wound carried a fragment of an arrow inside it. exact place of the pain with the help of mud which when applied to the body dried up immediately at that place. After removing the dart (salla) he applied honey and ghee to heal the wound (rohana)