Glossary of Vegetable Drugs in Brhattrayi

Book Specification

Book Description

Foreword

The problem of identification of the medicinal plants mentioned by the authors of the three great Samhitas, collectively called Brhattrayi , has not been solved satisfactorily in case of a sizeable number of plants.

This challenge has been taken up, with laudable success, by Thakur Balwant Singh and Dr. K. C. Chunekar, in their excellent work, “Glossary of Vegetable Drugs in Brhattrayi;”

The senior author, Thakur Balwant Singh, is an eminent Ayurvedic botanist of India and accepted as a leading authority on the subject. His knowledge of Indian medicinal plants is not likely to be excelled by that of any other worker in the field, at least to my knowledge.

It will hardly be fair to the work to regard it as a mere glossary of the plants for, the text is full of lengthy and fruitful discussions on a large number of important items which have evaded correct identification for a long time.

Apart from its utility to the average reader, seeking information on Ayurvedic plants, the publication will become an authentic book of reference of abiding value to the future research workers in the field.

The academic circles will welcome the publication and be greatly beholden to the authors for enriching the Ayurvedic literature with a treatise of great practical utility and scientific value.

Preface

The book in hand presents an alphabetical list of all the Sanskrit names of the food and drug plants mentioned in Brhattrayi i.e. Caraka Samhita (C. S.), Susruta Samhita ( S. S.) and Astangahrdaya Samhita (A. H.) of Vagbhata together with their references in them. Appropriate Latin (botanical) names of non-controversial source plants have been incorporated in the head-line, while the dotanical identities of others have been critically discussed. The discussions are based on the informations collected from the commentaries of Dalhana, Cakrapani and the Hrdayadipaka of Bopadeva. They have been supplemented here and there by the informations contained in Dhanvantarinighantu, Rajanigbantu and those of Madanapala, Kaiyadeva and Bhavamisra, It is regretted that the treatment could not be made more broad-based by more useful and reliable informations likely to be furnished by the older Samhita commentaries and other extant documents on the subject. This lapse was tried to be made good by recourse to field study of drug plants and it is felt that this adventurous programme initiated by the senior author about four decades back has paid us good dividends.

The field work was conducted in the selected forest areas of Uttar Pradesha and Bihar and in certain areas of Kashmir, Kangra, Darjeeling, Gauhati, Shillong, Amarakantaka and Panchmarhi (M. P.) and Nagpur. The results of the first two decades were published in two small Hindi books-e’Vanausadhi Darsika ( 1948) and Bihar-ki-Vanaspatiyan (1955) and some of them were incorporated in the commentary on Bhavaprakasa Nighantu ( 1969). The present book sums up the result of our entire work in respect of the identification of Samhita plants.

In order to make it possible for the readers to get an idea, at a glance, of our success in our venture, a list is given here of our conclusions which may be called only tentative in many cases. They are none-the-less fruitful suggestions for future workers and the present day scholars who may be earnestly requested to seek their confirmation or otherwise laying aside their prejudices. It may be noted that somi of our views expressed earlier in the two books referred to here in the list as ‘V’ ( Vanausadhi Darsika ) and ‘B’ (Bihar-ki-Vanaspatiyan) have been revised here in the present book (referred to as ‘G’ ) as more and more informations came to our hand after reference to the Samhitas and their commentaries available to us.

This list is not exhaustive as regards the total number of fresh suggestions made in the book. It excludes especially those pertaining to some of the so-called divine drugs and the poisonous plants mentioned by Caraka and Susruta, It is also exclusive of hints on possible identities of plants implied by certain intriguing drug names such as Guha and