Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

7. Chihrtsa Samniilani. (a monthly medical journal in Bengali). Subscription in advance for one year Rs. 3-6 ; for the poorer classes, Rs. 2-6, (Back volumes for seven years may be had for Rs. 21, or Rs. 3 for each volume embracing 12 numbers.)

PART VI.

CHARAKA-SAMHITA

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH \

Published by

AVlNASH CHANDRA KAVIRATNA,

Editor of Caharaka Samhita and of Susruta Samhita

( in original) .WITH COMMENTARIES ; BENGALI AND

Hindi translator of ChAraka Samhita and of Susruta Samhita; editor of ChikitsaSammilani ( Medical Journal in Bengali) ; Practitioner of the Hindu-SYstem of Medicine,

&c., &c>, &c.

Cnkidta ;

Printed by D, C. Dass & Co.( "Corinthian pRESSj” 33, New China BA2AR

Published at goo, Cornwallis Street,

( The fight of translation is reserved-. )

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(The, Universal Medical Journal , Philadelphia, February 28th, 1898.)

The first four fasciculi of this valuable result of painstaking labor have reached us. Of all the works constituting the medical literature of ancient and medi¬ aeval India, that most universally studied by the Hindu profession, is Charaka-Samhita, written about nine cen¬ turies ago. The richness of its contents, which led Dr. Sircar to remark before an English audience that “ there is much in it that even an accomplished physi¬ cian will profit by learning,” and the fact that the Hindu system of medicine was not faithfully pourtrayed by the English versions, induced Pundit Abinash to undertake the translation which forms the subject of this review. That ancient books contain much that is of value hid¬ den from the estimate and appreciation of students, hardly expresses with sufficient force their relative posi¬ tion as regards our progressive age. If we compare asepticism, that greatest of modern contributions to the welfare of suffering humanity, with the procedures in vogue among the Zullus for centuries,— -earliest possible obturation of all wounds, subsequent charcoal treatment, and results far outstripping those obtained by European physicians ; the Siamese method of protecting the system against small-pox, in existence before the fifteenth cen¬ tury, — another of the greatest of modern achievements ; and the Japanese manuscripts, prepared over three .centuries ago, giving full description of the obstetric forceps and the rules for its manipulation ( introduced by Dutch physicians in the reign of Tokuawa ), we can hardly deny' the value of ancient records, of hidden*

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dusty piles, which, unfortunately, racial prejudices so often seek to bury in the tomb of scorn.

The Hindus, less engaged in efforts to develop the mechanical commodities which constitute the greater part of our civilization, cannot but have contributed much to the art of healing. They may have entered many false channels of thought ( which proclivity has not been absent from Western medicine), but a careful perusal of Pundit Abinash’s work will prove beyond a doubt that their mental labor was not sterile.

Charaka’s fanciful pathology and quaint therapeutics simply accord with the local customs and belief of the period during which they were formulated. Ancient civi¬ lization, which has furnished so many hints to modern art, would likewise inspire us, were its medical lore read in the light of modern research. In a mass pf rubbish -could be found many hints, much food for thought, many seeds then and now deprived of proper attributes for development, but which time will some day render fruit¬ ful.

Pundit Abinash is rendering a great service, not only to medical men who take ap interest in historical medicine, but also to Sanskrit scholars. It is the author’s firm belief that if his work ‘f succeeds in attracting the attention of scientific men in Europe and America, it is sure to produce many important changes is modern systems of treating disease. . . . Charaka is a highly philosophical work. Its deliverances on many subjects, unsurpassed for brevity and weight, are, like those of Bacon, extremely'suggestive. Locked in a difficult tongue, those hints, have for ages lain unutilized. Whether

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