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This about
the correspondence between two kings who lived 3300 years before our time.
Archaeologists
have unearthed interesting letters exchanged between common citizens and kings
and between two kings.
Hittite king
Hattushili III (1267 BCE-1237 BCE) wrote to Ramesses II of Egypt. He didn’t
reply immediately. After some time he sent a letter saying that he was sending
a physician with herbal medicine and a magician to drive away the demon who caused
the disease.
We can call
Ramesses as Rama Seshan or Rameshan (i.e.Vishnu or Shiva) and Hattusili as
Kshatriya Sri or Sathya Seelan; both Hittites and Ramesses had Hindu
connections.
Here is the
detail of the letter and the background of the correspondence: –
The letter
at hand provides, among other things, evidence for the great interest the
Hittite kings showed for Egyptian physicians and their healing practices. Egyptian
medicine is known from the third millennium BCE, but there is no evidence for a
long standing medical tradition among the Hittites.
Hattusili III
requested medical help on multiple occasions, both for others and to cure his
own illness, which was caused by a demon according to the letter. The illness might
have been an affliction of the eyes that Hattusili suffered from. After ignoring
three letters from him, Ramesses finally sent a positive response and announced
that he had dispatched , along with medicinal plants, a physician and a second
person by name Leya, who might have been an incantation priest charged with
performing magical rituals to dispel the
demon thought to be the cause of illness.
(Hindu’s
Atharva Veda also has such magic rituals)
The letter was written a few years after Egypt and Hatti (kshatriya = Hatti= khatti) had concluded a peace treaty. This reminds us the Peace Treaty between the Pandyas and Sri Lankan king Ravana which is reported in an inscription (That must be the world’s first International Peace Treaty).
At one time
both empires (Egypt and Hatti) tried to control the Middle East which led to
the famous battle of Quadesh. Since it ended in a stalemate Egyptian king had
to acknowledge the Hittite king as his
equal. Hattusili removed his own nephew and made his way to the throne. This
recognition by Egypt was an acknowledgement to his legitimacy. Each king
addresses the other as ‘dear brother’. Ramessess II was one of the longest
ruling pharaohs of Egypt. He died at the at the age of 90. He was the greatest
and most powerful and most celebrated king of New Kingdom.
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are taken from various sources; beware of copyright rules; don’t use them
without permission; this is a non- commercial, educational blog; posted in
swamiindology.blogspot.com and tamilandvedas.com simultaneously. Average hits
per day for both the blogs 12,000
டால்பின்கள்
மீன் போலத் தோன்றினாலும் அவை குட்டி போட்டுப் பாலூட்டும் மிருகங்களின் வகையில்
சேரும். அவைகள் மிகவும் அறிவும் மனிதர்களிடத்தில் அன்பும் கொண்டவை. அவைகளை வைத்து
நோய்களைத் தீர்க்கும் எனது 1992ம்
ஆண்டுக் கட்டுரை பழுப்படைந்து வருகிறது. பழைய பேப்பர்களைக் குப்பைத் தொட்டிக்குள்
போடுவதற்கு முன்னர் இங்கேயும் போட்டு விட்டால் யாருக்காவது பயன்படட்டுமே ட் என்ற
அற்ப ஆசை. இதோ எனது 16-2-1992
தினமணிக் கட்டுரை
உண்மையா? பொய்யா?
கடந்த
சில ஆண்டுகளில் வந்த விஞ்ஞான சஞ்சிகைக் கட்டுரைகளைப் புரட்டிப் பார்த்தேன். அவை
எல்லாம் டால்பின் சிகிச்சையில் விசேஷ பலன் எதுவும் இல்லை என்றே செப்புகின்றன. ஒரு
சிறுவன் நாயுடன் விளையாடும் போது கிடைக்கும் பலனே இதிலும் கிடைக்கிறது. ஆகையால்
பெருஞ் செலவு செய்து டால்பின் சிகிச்சைக்குப் போக வேண்டாம் என்று அவை சொல்லாமல்
சொல்கின்றன. புதிய செய்திகள் வந்தால் வெளியிடுகிறேன்.
ஆனால் இன்று வரை டால்பின் சிகிச்சை அளிக்கும் நிலையங்கள் இருப்பதும் தெரிகிறது.
Dolphin therapy is any kind of intervention (treatment or
service) which involves dolphins. … The more
complex therapies, such as Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT), are
based on structured programmes which are designed to meet the needs of the
individual child.
24 Jul 2012 – The purpose of this
paper is to review and critique studies that have been conducted on dolphin-assisted therapy for children
with various …
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Two interesting
articles about rats have appeared in a London News magazine.
‘THE WEEK’ magazine
published from Britain, has published a news item about rats driving small cars
in its issue dated 9th November 2019
Rats are
very cunning and clever. They learn new tricks quickly. A team at the University
of Richmond in Virginia (USA) constructed a rat operated vehicle (ROV). The
vehicle is just a plastic jar mounted on wheels. Three copper bars and an aluminium
plate are used as seat and steering wheel. If they sit on an aluminium plate
and touch the copper wires to complete the circuit they are given some rewards.
Once they complete the circuit this way the car moves forward. Then they could
steer with the help of three copper bars.
Two sets of
rats are used. One set was housed in an enriched environment with toys and exercise
machines. Another set was raised in normal lab cages. The enriched rats learnt driving
far more quickly than the rest, indicating stimulation in early life is beneficial
to rodents as it is to humans.
Source -The Week,
9th November 2019
xxx
Rat Doctor and
Rat Detective
In Africa rats
are trained to detect land mines and diagnose tuberculosis (TB). A single
trained rat can search over 2000 square feet of land for explosive mines in
around 20 minutes. A human would take a week to do the same. This is done in
Morogoro in Tanzania. (Lot of countries affected by wars have the land mine
problem)
Lives are
saved and the war torn countries will be a safer place to live because of these
hero rats. The rats we are talking about
are African pouched rats growing up to three feet long. Apopo , an NGO founded
in Belgium, has been using their extraordinary sense of smell to find
explosives all over the world.
The rats have also been trained to detect tuberculosis, while many other applications, all based around smell, are being researched. They are astonishingly effective. Over the past 20 years, rats have cleared 100,000 landmines giving back almost 2.5 million square miles of land to a million people who had previously lived in fear.
There are
more than 50 species within the genus Rattus, but African giant rats –
Cricetomys gambianus- would be best suited to this task. It takes nine months
to train a rat to sniff the explosives in landmines. Rats have been used to
detect TB since 2007. The rats have helped to halt more than 117,000 potential TB
infections. When somebody has TB their
sputum (spit) contains compounds by a bacterial pathogen and these have an
odour. Some doctors claim to be able to smell it on very ill patients, but it
is recognisable to some animals – such as rats taught by Apopo- at an early stage.
Rats can easily smell the harmful bacteria. When the rats find something harmful,
they are trained to scratch the ground.
( a longer
version of this article was published in the Telegraph magazine.)
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CHARAKA
AND SUSRUTA were great Ayurvedic physicians who lived in India at least 2300 years
ago. Hindus are very great editors and redactors and ‘up to date’ people. They kept
on updating all their scriptures except the Vedas. No one dared to touch the
Vedas. As a matter of fact they were not written until Muslims started
destroying all Hindu institutions. Since Hindus updated everything in their
hands, Marxists and White skinned half- baked scholars gave the latest date for
al the books. For instance, if I add a
news item from London Times today, then they will dub the work as 7th
November 2019. But Hindu scholars believe in the Kali Yuga calculation, Saka
year calculation etc. I have given umpteen points to place Manu Smrti before Hammurabi.
Coming back
to today’s topic Charaka and Susruta, scholars believe Charka Samhita is older
than Susruta Samhita. These treatises passed through repeated recensions by
later and more advanced workers.
According
to the Chinese version of Tripitaka, a physician named Charaka was attached to
the court of King Kanishka who reigned in the second century CE. But scholars
point out that the appellation of Charaka occurs in Vedic literature as a patronymic
name.
Differences
Charaka’s
book is not as systematic as Susruta’s. He indulges in random and irrelevant
discourses.
In the Charaka
Samhita we find the author is fond of metaphysical disquisitions in preference to
experiments and observations. The Susruta Samhita in this respect is far more
scientific than the Charaka.
This shows
that Charaka is more ancient, older than Susruta.
Again we find only Vedic gods and mantras in the Charaka treatise/ Samhita. He follows closely the authority of the Vedas. Between the Atharva Veda and that of the Charaka there must have been several medical treatises , each reflecting the spirit and progress of the age.
Charaka himself
records that he simply based his work on that of Agnivesha. At the time of Charaka there existed at least six standard works by
Agnivesha,
Bhela,
Jatukarna,
Parasara,
Harita,
Ksharapani
Thus Charaka Samhita is not the first medical work. It represents rather a fairly developed state of the subject.
Replicas of Susruta’s Surgical Instruments (in London)
Medical conferences
There are
chapters in the Charaka Samhita which suggests that it is a record of
deliberations of a congress of medical experts. We already knew that Janaka
organised big philosophical conferences where women scholars like Gargi
attended. Emperor Asoka also organised very big Buddhist conferences. Hindus were
the first to organise big conferences in the world.
Conference
hints are in ‘Discourse on the Tastes’ in Charaka Samhita.
Charaka was
a compiler like Vyasa of Mahabharata; we see lot of overlapping and repetitions
and contradictions. Vyasa knew the danger of losing scriptures and Vedas . So
he didn’t bother about repetitious but did compile the world’s largest
literature. If one takes into account the puranas, Mahabharata and Vedas he
compiled, one would understand the greatest work done by Vyasa.
In Charaka also we find overlap in their content. It appears to have gathered, sifted and brought into a definite form the information handed down from the preceding ages.
Agnivesha,
disciple of Atreya, was a university professor who lived 2600 years ago. During
Buddha’s time he was teaching medicine at the University of Taxila (Thakshaseelam).
It is written in the Buddhist Jataka story.
So we may
safely conclude that Charaka belongs to the early Buddhist era or pre Buddhist
period. The information he provides
regarding metals and metallic preparations, are of less advanced than those in
the Arthasastra of Kautilya which was composed around 300 BCE.
Age of Susruta
Susruta’s
terminology and technique in general do not differ much from those of the Charaka.
Its style is dry, laconic and matter of the fact in contrast to the discursive
and diffusive character of the Charaka Samhita.
Susruta aims
at systematic classification; avoids unnecessary details. This indicates
somewhat a later date of its composition. Modern recension is thoroughly
redacted, recast and remodelled. Numerous passages agree verbatim with those
found in the Charaka Samhita.
The Susruta
is par excellence a treatise on surgery as the Charaka is on medicine proper.
In modern
terms,
Charaka has M.D. qualification and Susruta has M.S qualification.
Susruta was
disciple of Dhanvantri according to Buddhist Jataka and he was a teacher in the
University of Kasi during Buddha’s time. He was a younger contemporary of Atreya
so there cannot be a great interval between Charaka and Susruta.
They are
repositories of accumulated knowledge of earlier periods dating back to the Vedic
age.
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INDUS-SARASVATI VALLEY
In almost every country the progress of chemistry can be
traced to medicine and alchemy. Alchemy details the method of changing base
metals into silver or gold. It describes the elixir of life and philosopher’s
stone. In India religious worship and certain religious rites are also included
in the study of Chemistry or Rasayana. Throughout the Rig Veda we see people
praying for 100-year life span. To keep themselves fit, they drank the Soma rasa
which gave them long and healthy life. Indian life in all its aspects, social,
political and intellectual has always been under the mighty sway of religion. Soma rasa,
juice of Soma plant is described as an Amrita (ambrosia, elixir of life).
Magic (Electric) Light
The ‘Vasavadatta’ and the’ Dasakumara charita’ in the sixth century allude to the preparation of a mass of fixed or coagulated mercury, (Paradindadrab), ; of a chemical powder capable of producing deep sleep or stupor by its inhalation ( Yoga churna); of a chemically prepared wick for producing light without fire (Yogabartika) and of a powder which acts like an anaesthetic and paralyses sensor and motor nerves, (Stambana churnam.) These are in the above mentioned two books.
MERCURY IN THERMOMETER
(Mercury is Paatha rasam in Tamil)
KUBJIKATANTRA is a manuscript in the collection of Maharajah
of Nepal. This was written in Gupta character and copied in the sixth century.
In one place of this Tantra work, Lord Shiva himself speaks about the efficacy
of mercury when it is ‘killed’/ treated six times. Transmutation of copper into
gold with the help of mercury is also explained.
Tantrics believe that preservation of body is necessary to achieve
liberation through certain rites and mercury will make the body undecaying and immortal.
Nagarjuna, the great Buddhist philosopher and alchemist is
credited with a work called RASA RATNAKARA. He is also the reputed author of
KAKSHAPUTA TANTRA and AROGYAMANJARI. He was the redactor of Susruta Samhita. He
lived in the second century CE. There are two dialogues, one between Salivahana
(Sathavahana) and Nagarjuna, and the other between Ratnagosha and Mandavya.
Letter of Nagarjuna
One Friendly epistle of Nagarjuna to King Udyana is available
in Chinese and Tibetan languages. The Sanskrit original is lost. Sathavahanas
ruled Andhra region in the first two centuries of modern era. It looks like
there were more than one Nagarjuna. Arabian scholar Alberuni wrote about one
Nagarjuna of Daihak near Somnath, nearly a century earlier than his own time.
He was a great expert in alchemy according to Alberuni. Rasa ratnakara might
have been written by the second Nagarjuna. In the Durbar Library of Nepal there
are two more works attributed to Nagarjuna. They are Yogasara and
Yogasatak.
RASARNAVA is a Hindu Saiva Tantra work which describes
mercury as of divine origin. This book has valuable information on chemistry.
Mica has been described as the seed of Goddess Gouri. It says mercury can not
only improve the quality of metals but also can make human body undecaying and
imperishable.
RASAHRIDAYA is another book which talks about ‘Rasa Siddhas’.
They got another body without quitting their own bodies .
Asmaga was a Buddhist monk of Gandhara who lived around 400 CE.
He composed Yogachara Bhumisastra. He introduced Patanjali yoga principles into
Buddhism.
During the reign of the Pala Dynasty, there were many masters
of magic and ‘Mantra Vajracharyas’, who performed the most prodigious feats
with the Siddhis they attained. Siddhis are of eight types with which one
becomes Superman with supernatural powers .
Following Buddhist works are minor chemistry books:-
RASAHRIDAYA was written by Govindabhagavat around 11 th
century at the request of king of Bhutan, Kirataland .
RASENDRACHUDAMANI of Somadeva compiled lot of information
from early works. He has praised Nagarjuna and others.
RASAPRAKASA SUDHAKARA by Yasodhara is another important work
of 12th century.
Metallurgy of Zinc is explained in RASA RATNA SAMUCHCHAYA.
RASAKALPA is part of Rudrayamala Tantra which describes
metals and minerals and the methods to kill/ treat them.
About the gigantic voluminous encyclopaedic Tibetan Tanjur
and Kanjur, a separate article is posted already.
Please see
the attached list of Chemistry Books (In Sanskrit):–
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GULA WITH DOG
SUMMARY IN BULLET POINTS
Following are notable similarities between the Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Vedic India:–
1.They believed that diseases are caused by Gods and Evil spirits
2.They used magical spells to drive away the disease causing demons.
3.They wore talismans made up of animal, plant and inanimate objects to protect them from the demons or evil spirits
4.They worshiped Gods or Goddesses in charge of medicines.
5.They thought Gods who become angry send the diseases to earth to punish people.
6.Both the cultures did surgeries and had surgical instruments.
7.To some extent they used herbal medicines.
8.They had trained medicine men, magicians to cure diseases.
XXX
சுஸ்ருதர் உபயோகித்த கருவிகாளின் அச்சு (replicas) மாதிரிகள்
18 Jun 2015 – King Bhoja In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Post No 1939; Date: 18 June 2015. Written by London swaminathan. Uploaded from London at 8-57. தேரையர், ஜீவகன் ஆகிய இரண்டு பெரிய ..
24 Apr 2016 – 2900 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னர் இந்திய மருத்துவர் செய்த மூளை அறுவை சிகிச்சை … திரிபிடகம் என்பது புத்த மதத்தைச் சேர்ந்த ஒரு பெரும் அறிவுக் களஞ்சிய நூல் … பெரியோர்கள் வடமொழியில் எழுதிய நூல்கள் வேத கால அறிவை …
17 Jun 2015 – Posts about Brain Surgery written by Tamil and Vedas. … Brain Surgery in Ancient India: Bhoja and Indus Valley … Jeevaka’s Eye Operation.
25 Feb 2013 – Picture shows Kannappa Nayanar placing his foot on Shiva to mark the place for placing the second eye. Jeevaka’s Eye Operation. There is a …
3 Feb 2018 – Sushruta was the Father of Surgery. He describes a lot of surgical instruments. On the basis of his description, model instruments were created.
In two of the couplets he agrees with Charaka and Susruta, the great authors of …. A lot of surgical instruments, surgeries like rhinoplasty (plastic surgery for …
Pictures are taken from various sources; beware of copyright rules; don’t use them without permission; this is a non- commercial, educational blog; posted in swamiindology.blogspot.com and tamilandvedas.com simultaneously. Average hits per day for both the blogs 12,000.
from Babylon in Berlin Museum
There are lot
of similarities between the Mesopotamian and Vedic beliefs regarding diseases
and medicines. Atharva Veda has more similarities than other Vedas with the Mesopotamian
Cuneiform tablets. Only in Hindu religion God is called Doctor and Medicine
(Bishak and Beshajam). After the Vedic period Hindus advanced with great speed.
But Sumerian, Babylonian and Akkadian stopped growing. We see the same old
belief prevailing in 6th and seventh century BCE in Babylonia. That was
the time of Buddha, Mahavira, great physicians Susrutha and Charaka in India.
Following are notable similarities between the Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Vedic India:–
1.They
believed that diseases are caused by Gods and Evil spirits
2.They used
magical spells to drive away the disease causing demons.
3.They wore
talismans made up of animal, plant and inanimate objects to protect them from
the demons or evil spirits
4.They
worshiped Gods or Goddesses in charge of medicines.
5.They
thought Gods who become angry send the diseases to earth to punish people.
6.Both the
cultures did surgeries and had surgical instruments.
7.To some
extent they used herbal medicines.
8.They had
trained medicine men, magicians to cure diseases.
There are dissimilarities
as well.
First let us
look at the Vedic literature.
Atharva Veda
is dated around 1000 BCE or earlier. This Veda consists mostly of charms,
spells, incantations, magic, sorcery, demonology and witchcraft. It deals also
with plants and vegetable products as helpful agents in the treatment of diseases
and for the prolongation of life.
In Atharva Veda
we have even remedy for promoting the growth of hair (AV 6-163-1/2)
In the Atharva
Veda the hymns for the cure of diseases and of possessions of demons are known
as BHAISAJYANI, while those for prolongation of life and preservation of youth
and health are known as AYUSHYANI.
It can be
compared with the tasks of two types of medicine men ASU and AASIPUS in
Mesopotamia.
Ritual healers
or exorcists were called Aasipus and other healers were called Asus. They were
highly respected during Neo Assyrian period (About 900- 612 BCE) . They were
employed by kings along with astrologers, diviners and scholarly professionals.
Mesopotamian
gods were short tempered and they signalled their displeasure by sending
diseases. The Asipus were experts in reading them and they mediated between the
victims and gods. The gods had the power to provide well being and plenty and
bring about disaster if they so wished.
A catalogue
from the first millennium BCE lists the texts expected to be mastered by a
ritual healer. It features several series of incantations and rituals for
healing and protection from various evils, handbooks on diagnostics and physiognomy,
and medical remedies as well as descriptions of plants and stones used as
therapeutic substances.
But the ‘Exorcist’s
Manual’ as the catalogue is now called now, also registers various types of
omens dealing with signs in heaven and on earth. The physicians performed basic
surgeries
According to
Laws of Hammurabi (1800 BCE), the physicians also healed broken bones and
performed eye surgery as well as veterinary care, for which he could charge a
fee of ten shekels of silver, depending on the social status of the client.
The laws
also specify the punishments (either financial or physical) that a physician could
face if his interventions appeared to injure or kill a patient.
India had
great eye surgeons like Jeevaka during the time of Buddha. He charged a very
high fee for surgeries Susruta is the first one to talk about artificial plastic
nose. He lists lot of surgical instruments. Asvins of Vedic literature were
experts in treating patients and providing them artificial limbs. Dhanvatri is
the God of Medicine in Hindu scriptures.
A Tamil Pandya king was given an artificial hand and he was called ‘Pandya with
a Golden hand’ 2000 years ago. These are just a few examples.
Charaka and
Susruta, two great physicians, list the qualifications of physicians.
Mesopotamian Gods and Demons
While the
ritual healers regarded the gods of wisdom and magic, Ea (Enki) and Marduk (Asalluhi)
as their guardians, physicians especially venerated the heling goddess Gula and her
consort Damu.
Goddess Gula
was known as ‘Great Physician of the Land’ and was portrayed as applying
bandages to treat skin sores, operating with surgical instruments ,reciting
incantations, and performing midwifery. She was often shown with a dog. Like
Hindu Yama and Bhairava she was accompanied by a dog.
The cures
for snake bites are similar to cures in the Atharva Veda. Mesopotamians feared
Lamashtu, the baby snatching demoness. This type of belief is in India as well.
Tamil Skanda Sashti Kavasam hymn mentioned the child devouring demon. Tamils used white mustard seeds to drive
away the demons from pregnant women and new born babies. Manasa Devi is
worshipped in Bengal to get protection from snake bites.
Source Books:
Ancient Mesopotamia
Speaks Yale University, 2019
History of
Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, P Ray, 1956
17 Jun 2015 – Posts about
Brain Surgery written by Tamil and Vedas. … Brain Surgery in Ancient
India: Bhoja and Indus Valley … Jeevaka’s Eye Operation.
25 Feb 2013 – Picture shows
Kannappa Nayanar placing his foot on Shiva to mark the place for placing the
second eye. Jeevaka’s Eye Operation. There is a …
3 Feb 2018 – Sushruta was the
Father of Surgery. He describes a lot of surgical instruments. On the basis of
his description, model instruments were created.
In two of the
couplets he agrees with Charaka and Susruta, the great authors
of …. A lot of surgical instruments, surgeries like rhinoplasty (plastic surgery
for …
Pictures are taken from various sources; beware of copyright rules; don’t use them without permission; this is a non- commercial, educational blog; posted in swamiindology.blogspot.com and tamilandvedas.com simultaneously. Average hits per day for both the blogs 12,000.
Vitamin Tablets to Students
1992ம் ஆண்டு நவம்பர் 8ம் தேதி நான் எழுதிய கட்டுரை மாணவர்
அறிவு வளர வைட்டமின் (விட்டமின் என்றும் உச்சரிக்கலாம்) மாத்திரைகள் உதவுமா என்று
பிரிட்டனில் நடந்த ஒரு சுவையான வழக்கு பற்றியதாகும்.
சுவையான
வழக்கு இது. படியுங்கள்
London Swaminathan’s Articles in 1992 Dinamani–subham–
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CHARAKA and
SUSHRUTA lived at least 2300 years ago.
Kautilya, author of Athasastra also lived 2300 years before our time. It is
amazing that they described various types of fermented drinks.
Charaka lists
nine sources of spirituous liquor or fermented drinks. These are- cereals, fruits, roots, wood, flowers,
stems/stalks, leaves, barks of plants and sugar -yielding canes. From these,
the preparation of 84 different kinds of ‘asava’(wine) has been described.
The nine
main classes of liquors from the nine sources, mentioned above, are named respectively
as-
Dhania asava
Phalasava,
Mulasava
Sarasava,
Pushpasava,
Patrasava,
Kandasava,
Tvagasava,
Sarkasrasava
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In Arthasastra
In a chapter
defining the duties of the Superintendent of Liquor, Kautilya writes,
By employing
such men as are acquainted with the manufacture of liquor and ferments 9kinva),
the superintendent of liquor shall carry on liquor traffic not only in forts
and county part (shops), but also in camps…………….
Illicit liquor destroyed
Various kinds of liquors described are-
Medaka
Prasanna
Asava
Arista
Maireya
Madhu
Medaka is
prepared from the fermentation of rice;
Prasanna from
the fermentation of flour with addition of spices and the fruits of Putraka (a
species of tree in the country of Kamarup/Assam).
Asava is the
liquor derived from the fermentation of sugar mixed with honey.
Jaggery mixed
with powder of long and black pepper or with the powder of triphala (mixture of
Terminalia chebula, Terminalia balerica, and Phyllanthus emblica), when
fermented , forms Maireya.
Fermented
grape juice is Madhu. The preparation of different kinds of arista for different
diseases can be learnt from the physicians.
Kinva or
ferment is prepared from boiled or unboiled paste of ‘masha’ (Phaseolus radiatus),
rice and Morata (Alanium salvifolium) and the like.
The liquor
that is manufactured from mango fruits may contain a greater proportion of
mango essence or of spices. It is called maha sura when it contains sambhara
(spices).
It is
interesting to note that Kautilya writes that all varieties of liquor other than that used for
the king are taxable with 5 percent as toll. These include acid drinks prepared
from fruits (phalamla) and spirit distilled from molasses (amla sidhu). But on
the occasion of festivals, fairs (samaja) and pilgrimage it is permissible to
manufacture liquor for four days (chaturahassaurikah) – liberty to drink liquor
without limit
Date: 25 OCTOBER 2019 British Summer Time uploaded in London – 7-22 AM
Post No. 7136
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them without permission; this is a non- commercial, educational blog; posted in
swamiindology.blogspot.com and tamilandvedas.com simultaneously. Average
hits per day for both the blogs 12,000.
நான் எழுதிய ‘இமயமலையில்
புற்றுநோய்க்கு மருந்து’ என்ற கட்டுரை தினமணியில் உலகப் பலகணி -யின் கீழ் 1992-ம் ஆண்டு ஜூன் 14ம் தேதி வெளியானது. அத்துடன் ரஷியாவை
அதிரவைத்த கொலை வழக்குகள், பாட்டில் படத்தின் விலை 21 லட்சம் டாலர் என்ற கட்டுரைகளும் வெளியாகின. முதலில் இமயமலையில்
புற்று நோய்க்கு மருந்து என்பதைக் காண்போம்.
நான் எழுதிய செய்தி 1992-ல் வெளியானது. அதற்குப் பின்னர் 2011-ல்
லண்டனில் வெளியான செய்தி அபாய மணி அடித்துள்ளது. இமயமலை மரங்களில் ‘டாக்ஸால்’ இருப்பதை
அறிந்து அதை அதிகமாக அறுவடை செய்வதால் அந்த இனமே அழிந்து விடும் என்ற பேராபத்து
ஏற்பட்டதாக லண்டன் கார்டியன் (The
Guardian Newspaper, London) செய்தி வெளியிட்டது.
பின்னர் 2015-ல் டாபர் (Dabur) நிறுவனம்
இதை ஆயுர்வேத முறையில் எடுத்துப் பயன்படுத்தப்போவதாக அறிவித்தது.
2002-ல் வெளியான மற்றொரு செய்தி ஆண் மரங்களில் 64 சதவிகிதம் அதிகம் ‘டாக்ஸால்’ கிடைப்பதாக ஆராய்ச்சியில் தெரிய வந்ததாகச் சொல்கிறது.
Thu 10 Nov 2011
Taxol,
a chemotherapy drug used in the treatment of cancer, was first found in the
bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolin). Photograph: National
Cancer Institute/Corbis
A species of
Himalayan yew treethat is used to produce Taxol, a chemotherapy
drug to treat cancer, is being pushed to the brink of extinction by
over-harvesting for medicinal use and collection for fuel, scientists warned on
Thursday.
The medicinal
tree, Taxus contorta, found in Afghanistan, India and Nepal,
has seen its conservation status change from “vulnerable” to
“endangered” on the IUCN’s annual “red list” of threatened
species.
Taxol was discovered by a US
National Cancer Institute programme in the late 1960s, isolated in the bark of
the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia.
All 11 species of yew have since been found to contain Taxol. “The
harvesting of the bark kills the trees, but it is possible to extract Taxol
from clippings, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental
to the plants,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor, IUCN red list unit manager.
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Dabur, one of India’s largest
Ayurvedic formulation manufacturers, has now ventured into modern
pharmaceutical research and product development. Dabur recently announced that
it had perfected a method to extract taxol — a potent drug used to treat
ovarian and breast cancers — from the leaves of the Himalayan yew (Taxus
baccata).
Says Anand Burman, director of research and
development at Dabur, “We cannot compete with the big players in the
synthetic pharmaceutical business, so we are limiting our efforts to what we
know best — natural plant products and extracts.”
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AGE AND SEX OF TREES DECIDE QUANTITY
OF TAXOL
Taxol content in the bark of
Taxus baccata trees growing in a homogenous (uniform) environment at Jageshwar,
District Almora in Central Himalaya has been quantified. The average taxol
concentration in the bark of sampled trees was 0.0558+/-0.008% (of dry wt.) and
was about 64% higher for male plants (averaged across tree age) in comparison
to female trees. Maximum taxol content was recorded in the bark samples
collected from trees of >110 yrs age.
ANOVA indicates a
significant difference in the taxol content of bark from trees of different
ages, however, differences were not significant between sexes. Taxol was
quantified by HPLC using a standard curve prepared with authentic taxol; the
identification of bark taxol was confirmed by UV and mass spectrometry. The
total taxol content of the bark of Taxus trees across an age series was found
to range between 0.064 to 8.032 g/tree, and a tree of about 100 yrs age can
yield 5.74 kg dry bark.
Tamil and Vedas 