Introduction to Garudapurăna with reference to Ayurvĕda.

The Purănas are the encyclopedic works of the ancient and medieval Hindu religion, philosophy, history, politics, ethics, sciences etc. There are 18 (Astădaśa) purănas, which are, considered as mahăpurănas, among which Garudapurăna is popular one. The Garudapurăna is divided into two parts viz., Pŭrvakhanda and Uttarakhanda. The first part, which is also called Acărakhanda consists of 240 chapters. The greater part of the Pŭrvakhanda occupies the descriptions of Vratas (religious observances), sacred places dedicated to the Sŭrya (sun), Lord Siva and Lord Visnu. It also contains treatises on various aspects like astrology, palmistry, politics, Sănkhya, Yŏga, anatomy, precious stones and extensive information on vedic medicine i.e., Ayurveda. The Uttarakhanda consists of two khandas viz. Dharmakhanda and Brahmakhanda, which are divided into 42 and 29 chapters, respectively. The Dharmakhanda is also known as the Prĕtakalpa which contains directions for the performance of obsequies rites. The Prĕtakalpa portion of the Garudapurăna is generally recited during the period of mourning and so its importance is self-evident. It is almost impossible to narrate within such a small framework, the wide range of splendid truths scattered in the pages of this noble purănam. Little information is available from internal evidence to establish its exact period. However, it is supposed to be quite ancient in its origin.

Biography of Sŏdhala and his contribution to Ayurvĕda.

Sŏdhala was a scholar of Ayurvĕda as well as săhitya, Jyotisya, Vyakaraņa and also a good poet who belongs to Gujarat. Sŏdhala contributed two important works to Ayurvĕda literature namely 1. Sŏdhbala nighaņţu, 2. Gadanigraha. Sŏdhala nighaņţu consists of two parts and contains about 2,050 (790+1,260) verses. The section on synonyms, the Nămasangraha, and the other one is on properties and actions of drugs, the Guņasangraha. The arrangement of the material constitutes an unprecedented innovation in the literature of Nighaņţu (Ayurvĕda drug's lexicons or dictionaries). The Gadanigraha is composed of two distinct parts and contains about 10,054 (2,700+7,354) verses. The first part is a collection of formulae arranged according to the several types of pharmaceutical preparations and the second one is a comprehensive text dealing with both Nidăna and cikitsă, arranged as for the Aşţăngas (8 major divisions) of Ayurvĕda. The work seems to be later than Sŏdhalanighaņţu because most of the drugs mentioned in this work are not found in the Sŏdhalanighaņţu. The diseases are arranged in systematically, which is a new feature and their order is differ from Mădhavanidăna. From the available evidences we can assume that Sŏdhala might be belongs to 1200 A.D. The contributions of Sŏdhala are noteworthy and they are important landmark works in history of Ayurvĕda.

Basic principles of pharmaceutical science in Ayurvĕda.

Pharmaceutical is one of the allied branches of science, which is closely associated with Medical science. Today pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacognosy are playing important role in treatment for a disease and its prevention. Herbal medicines are being used by about 80% of the world population mostly in the developing countries in the primary health care. There has been an upsurge in demand for the Phyto-pharmaceutical products of Ayurvĕda in western nations, because of the fact that the synthetic drugs are considered to be unsafe. Due to this many national and multinational pharmaceutical companies are now concentrating on manufacturing of Ayurvĕdic Phyto-pharmaceutical products. Ayurvĕda is the Indian traditional system of medicine, which also deals about pharmaceutical science. The Ayurvĕdic knowledge of the pharmaceutical science is scattered in Ayurvĕdic classical texts. Săranghadhara Samhita, which is written by Săranghadhara, explain systematically about the information of the Ayurvĕdic pharmaceutical science and also updated it. Industrialized manufacturing of Ayurvĕdic dosage forms has brought in new challenges like deviation from basic concepts of medicine preparation. Săranghadhara Samrhită the devout text on pharmaceutics in Ayurvĕda comes handy to solve such problems, as the methods described are very lucid and easy to follow.

Biography of Mădhavakara: his scholarly contribution.

Mădhavakara, the author of renowned work on 'Nidăna-Rŏgaviniścaya', popularly known as Mădhava Nidăna. It may be the first or earliest compendium detailed description of the diseases based on Nidăna Pancăkam (Five groups of subjects concerned to aetio-pathogenesis). He was the son of Indukara according to the colophon of a manuscript of Văcaspati's commentary on Mădhava Nidăna. He is probably lived between 700-800 A.D., because he is quoted by Vrnda, who belongs to 8th century A.D. The book Mădhava Nidăna was translated in to Arabic as evidenced by the writings of Ali Ibn Sahl 849-850 A.D. and other Arabic authors. Hence, he probably lived between 700-800 A.D. Madhava Nidana is a popular work on Nidăna (aetiopathogenesis) and it is the best in the field of ayurvĕda. "Nidăne Mădhavam srestah" and it is popularly known by the name of the author, but the title of the work is "Rugviniscaya" or "Rŏgaviniscăya". The subject matter explained in 73 chapters. The 1st chapter deals with Nidănapancakam and the other chapter's deals with diseases. The major contribution of Mădhava is the new order of arranging diseases, description of new diseases and recognizing some disorders as independent diseases. The other works attributed to Mădhava are Mădhavacikitsă, Paryăyaratnamăla etc. The important commentaries on Madhavanidana are "Madhukŏśa" by Vijayarakşita and Srĭkaņţhadatta and "Atankadarpana" by Vidyavăcaspati. The work is translated into English, Italian, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu etc., including some regional languages of India.

Standardization of Ayurvĕdic formulations : a scientific review.

Safety and efficacy of a drug mainly depends on the method of preparation. To assess the quality of a finished product, there should be some basic standards as well as methods of preparation. There are several parameters for testing the quality of a chemical drug, which have, are true indicators. So, there is no problem in assessing a synthetic drug's quality. As far as the preparation used in Ayurvĕdic system of medicine, a drug formulation or design may not be a problem, because many formulations are well documented in classical texts. But, there is confusion with respect to standards to be followed while preparing a formulation as well as basic parameters to assess the quality of the finished product. In Ayurvĕda, pañcavidhakaşăyakalpana are the basic pharmaceutical preparations, from which all the other preparations are developed. A specific method for each and every preparation and some basic standards of finished products are mentioned in Ayurvĕdic texts to maintain their quality. This information may some times vary from text to text. To overcome this problem Sărangdhara mentioned detailed information about various formulations with respect to their methods of preparation as well as basic standards and are documented in Sărangdhara Samhita.

Evolution of surgery--śuśrta's innovative skills.

Surgery and Medicine are inseparably fused today as essential parts of the art of heeling. Over the millennia of recorded history, Medicine and Surgery have followed separate and largely independent evolutionary pertains. It is obvious that medical care could not have been complete without some surgery in ancient times. This branch of medical skill was not accepted as profession. The practitioners were members of all low caste, who were illiterates and passed on their knowledge by oral tradition rather than in writing. The barbers are celebrity surgeons in ancient India and continued till the recent past it is evident by Pandyan inscriptions of Tamilnadu of 7th-8th centuries A.D. The barbers were also the surgeons in ancient and medieval Europe. śuśrta, a great ancient Indian Surgeon, who is regarded as father of the surgery, designed surgical equipment with innovative vision and described many surgical procedures, which laid basis for many advanced technologies in this field.