AYURVEDIC TEXTS IN KHOTANESE LITERATURE

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  M. Tame

Abstract

One of the oldest medical schools in the world is the Ayurvedic School or Indian traditional medicine, which dates back to almost five thousand years ago. This method of medicine, which was formed and matured in the Indian subcontinent, has affected other medical schools in the world and Iranian medicine has also been affected by it. In extant texts from one of the Eastern Middle Iranian languages, Khotanese, we can clearly see the influence of this school. Khotanese once was spoken in the kingdom of Khotan in the southwestern Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. The great bulk of the extant Khotanese documents belongs to date from the period between the 7th and 10th centuries CE, but some fragments have been dated on paleographical grounds to the 5th and 6th centuries CE. Khotanese is one of the most conservative Eastern Middle Iranian languages, thus we can see more Old Iranian features in it than in other Eastern Iranian languages. But on the other hand, it had been affected by Sanskrit due to the conversion of its speakers to Buddhism. Aside from Buddhist texts translated into Khotanese, there is a general or partial translation of some of the most important texts of the Ayurvedic School into Khotanese. Among the most important medical texts in the Khotanese language, which are in fact translations of Indian texts, are Siddhasāra and Jīvaka-pustakaSiddhasāra has long been known and used as a comprehensive and complete source of medicine not only in India and Nepal but also in Central Asia. The author of this medical book is Ravigupta. Of the 31 chapters of Siddhasāra, only 15 have Khotanese translation; although some of these chapters are also incomplete. In addition to the Khotanese translation of this book, there is also a Tibetan translation, and the Khotanese translation is mainly based on the Tibetan translation. Jīvaka-pustaka is a bilingual treatise in Sanskrit and Khotanese. The Sanskrit text is in verse, but the Khotanese translation is in prose. This treatise is considered as an anthology or a collection of medical instructions that has been collected in the form of a single treatise. On the whole, there are ninety-one medical prescriptions in the extant Jīvaka-pustaka. The present article is an attempt to introduce these Khotanese texts and examine their content.

How to Cite

Tame, M. (2020). AYURVEDIC TEXTS IN KHOTANESE LITERATURE. The Oriental Studies, (86), 99-118. https://doi.org/10.15407/skhodoznavstvo2020.86.099
Article views: 49 | PDF Downloads: 30

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Keywords

Ayurveda, Jīvaka-pustaka, Khotan, Khotanese Medical Texts, Siddhasāra

References

Bailey H. W. (1938), Codices Khotanenses: India Office Library Ch. ii 002, Ch. ii 003, Ch. 00274 Reproduced in Facsimile with an Introduction, Levin & Munksgard, Copenhagen.

Bailey H. W. (1940), “Rāma II”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 559–98. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00088649

Bailey H. W. (1951), Khotanese Buddhist Texts, Taylor’s Foreign Press, London.

Bailey H. W. (1962), “The Preface to the Siddhasāra-Śāstra”, in W. B. Henning and E. Yarshater (eds), A Locust’s Leg, Studies in Honour of S. H. Taqizadeh, Percy Lund Humphries & Co. Ltd, London, pp. 31–8.

Bailey H. W. (1969), Khotanese Texts, I–III, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Bailey H. W. (1970), “The Ancient Kingdom of Khotan”, Iran, Vol. 8, pp. 65–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/4299633

Bailey H. W. (1979), Dictionary of Khotan Saka, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Bailey H. W. (1983), “Khotanese Saka Literature”, in E. Yarshater (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3 (2), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1230–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521246934.023

Chen M. (2005), Dunhuang chutu hu yu yi dian “Qipo shu” yanjiu (A Study on Sanskrit Text of Jivaka-pustaka from Dunhuang), Hong Kong. (In Chinese).

Chen T. S. N. and Chen P. S. Y. (2002), “Jivaka, Physician to the Buddha”, Journal of Medical Biography, No. 10, pp. 88–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/096777200201000206

Chopra A. S. (2003), “Āyurveda”, in H. Selin (ed.), Medicine Across Cultures: History and Practice of Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York, pp. 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48094-8_4

Emmerick R. E. (1968), The Book of Zambasta: A Khotanese Poem on Buddhism, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Emmerick R. E. (1975–1976), “Ravigupta’s Place in Indian Medical Tradition”, Indologica Taurinensia, Vol. III–IV, pp. 209–21.

Emmerick R. E. (1979), “Contribution to the Study of the Jīvaka-Pustaka”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 235–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00145793

Emmerick R. E. (1980), The Siddhasāra of Ravigupta, Vol. 1: The Sanskrit Text, Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, Wiesbaden.

Emmerick R. E. (1982), The Siddhasāra of Ravigupta, Vol. 2: The Tibetan Version with Facing English Translation, Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, Wiesbaden.

Emmerick R. E. (1983), “Some Remarks on Translation Techniques of the Khotanese”, in K. Röhrborn and W. Veenker (eds), Sprachen des Buddhismus in Zentralasien: Vorträge des Hamburger Symposions vom 2. Juli bis 5. Juli 1981, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 17–26.

Emmerick R. E. (1992a), A Guide to the Literature of Khotan, 2nd Edition, The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo.

Emmerick R. E. (1992b), “The Savastika Antidote”, Journal of the European Āyurvedic Society, No. 2, pp. 60–81.

Emmerick R. E., 1993, ‘‘Notes on the Crosbey Collection’’, in W. Skalmowski and A. van Tongerloo (eds), Medioiranica: Proceedings of the International Colloquium Organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven from the 21st to 23rd of May 1990, Peeters Press, Leuven, pp. 57–64.

Emmerick R. E. (1994), “The Mahāsauvarcalādi Ghee”, in K. Röhrborn and W. Veenker (eds), Memoriae Munusculum: Gedenkband für Annemarie v. Gabain, Wiesbaden, pp. 29–42.

Emmerick R. E. (2009), “Khotanese and Tumshuqese”, in G. Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 377–415.

Filliozat J. (1946–1947), “Khotanese Text I”, Journal Asiatique, Vol. 235, pp. 134–5.

Hoernle A. F. R. (1917), “An Ancient Medical Manuscript from Eastern Turkestan”, Commemorative Essays Presented to Sir Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Bhandarkar Orientai Research Institute, Poona, pp. 415–32.

Konow S. (1941), A Medical Text in Khotanese: Ch. II 003 of the India Office Library: With Translation and Vocabulary, I Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad, Oslo.

Krishna R. (2003), “Ayurveda – The Ancient Scientific Medicine with Natural Healing”, in E. P. Cherniack and N. Cherniack (eds), Alternative Medicine for the Elderly, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp. 235–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05185-6_16

Maggi M. (2008a), “A Khotanese Medical Text on Poultices: Manuscripts P 2893 and IOL Khot S 9”, in R. P. Das (ed.), Traditional South Asian Medicine, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, pp. 77–85.

Maggi M. (2008b), “Jīvakapustaka”, Encyclopaedia Iranica, available at: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jivakapustaka (accessed May 14, 2020).

Maggi M. (2009), “Khotanese Literature”, in R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch (eds), A History of Persian Literature: The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, I. B. Tauris, London, pp. 330–17. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755610402.ch-007

Maue D. (1990), “Das Mahāvaidehakaṃ ghr̥tam in Tocharisch B”, Historische Sprachforschung, Bd. 103/1, pp. 159–65.

Mishra L. C. (2004), Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies, CRC Press, Boca Raton. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203498583

Monier-Williams M. (1899), A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Rezai Baghbidi H. (2000), “Vāže-gozini Dar Asre Sāsāni va Ta’sir-e Ān Dar Fārsi-ye Dari [Neologizing in the Sasanian Period and Its Impact on Early Persian]”, Nāme-ye Farhangestān, No. 3, pp. 145–58. (In Persian).

Rezai Baghbidi H. (2013), “Hend Dar Šāhnāme-ye Ferdowsi [India in the Shanameh of Ferdowsi]”, in M. R. Nasiri (ed.), Šāhnāme Dar Šebehqarre [Shanameh in the Subcontinent], The Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Tehran, pp. 3–14. (In Persian).

Salguero C. P. (2009), “The Buddhist Medicine King in Literary Context: Reconsidering an Early Medieval Example of Indian Influence on Chinese Medicine and Surgery”, History of Religions, Vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 183–210. https://doi.org/10.1086/598230

Skjærvø P. O. (2004), This Most Excellent Shine of Gold, King of Kings of Sutras: The Khotanese Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra, 2 Vols, Harvard University, Harvard.

Tafazzoli A. (2004), Tārix-e Adabiyāt-e Irān-e Piš az Islām [A History of the Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran], Sokhan Publishers, Tehran. (In Persian).

Tirtha S. S. (1998 [repr. 2005]), The Āyurveda Encyclopedia, Natural Secrets to Healing, Prevention and Longevity, Ayurveda Holistic Center Press, Bayville, N. Y.

Wise T. A. (1845), Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine, Smith, Elder & Co., Calcutta.

Wujastyk D. (1985), “Ravigupta and Vāgbhaṭa”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 74–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00026975

Zhang G. (1996), “The City-States of the Tarim Basin”, in B. A. Litvinsky et al. (eds), History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. III: The Crossroads of Civilization: A. D. 250 to 750, UNESCO Publishing, Paris, pp. 281–301.

REFERENCES

Bailey H. W. (1938), Codices Khotanenses: India Office Library Ch. ii 002, Ch. ii 003, Ch. 00274 Reproduced in Facsimile with an Introduction, Levin & Munksgard, Copenhagen.

Bailey H. W. (1940), “Rāma II”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 559–98. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00088649

Bailey H. W. (1951), Khotanese Buddhist Texts, Taylor’s Foreign Press, London.

Bailey H. W. (1962), “The Preface to the Siddhasāra-Śāstra”, in W. B. Henning and E. Yarshater (eds), A Locust’s Leg, Studies in Honour of S. H. Taqizadeh, Percy Lund Humphries & Co. Ltd, London, pp. 31–8.

Bailey H. W. (1969), Khotanese Texts, I–III, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Bailey H. W. (1970), “The Ancient Kingdom of Khotan”, Iran, Vol. 8, pp. 65–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/4299633

Bailey H. W. (1979), Dictionary of Khotan Saka, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Bailey H. W. (1983), “Khotanese Saka Literature”, in E. Yarshater (ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3 (2), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1230–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521246934.023

Chen M. (2005), Dunhuang chutu hu yu yi dian “Qipo shu” yanjiu (A Study on Sanskrit Text of Jivaka-pustaka from Dunhuang), Hong Kong. (In Chinese).

Chen T. S. N. and Chen P. S. Y. (2002), “Jivaka, Physician to the Buddha”, Journal of Medical Biography, No. 10, pp. 88–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/096777200201000206

Chopra A. S. (2003), “Āyurveda”, in H. Selin (ed.), Medicine Across Cultures: History and Practice of Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York, pp. 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48094-8_4

Emmerick R. E. (1968), The Book of Zambasta: A Khotanese Poem on Buddhism, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Emmerick R. E. (1975–1976), “Ravigupta’s Place in Indian Medical Tradition”, Indologica Taurinensia, Vol. III–IV, pp. 209–21.

Emmerick R. E. (1979), “Contribution to the Study of the Jīvaka-Pustaka”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 235–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00145793

Emmerick R. E. (1980), The Siddhasāra of Ravigupta, Vol. 1: The Sanskrit Text, Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, Wiesbaden.

Emmerick R. E. (1982), The Siddhasāra of Ravigupta, Vol. 2: The Tibetan Version with Facing English Translation, Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, Wiesbaden.

Emmerick R. E. (1983), “Some Remarks on Translation Techniques of the Khotanese”, in K. Röhrborn and W. Veenker (eds), Sprachen des Buddhismus in Zentralasien: Vorträge des Hamburger Symposions vom 2. Juli bis 5. Juli 1981, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 17–26.

Emmerick R. E. (1992a), A Guide to the Literature of Khotan, 2nd Edition, The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo.

Emmerick R. E. (1992b), “The Savastika Antidote”, Journal of the European Āyurvedic Society, No. 2, pp. 60–81.

Emmerick R. E., 1993, ‘‘Notes on the Crosbey Collection’’, in W. Skalmowski and A. van Tongerloo (eds), Medioiranica: Proceedings of the International Colloquium Organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven from the 21st to 23rd of May 1990, Peeters Press, Leuven, pp. 57–64.

Emmerick R. E. (1994), “The Mahāsauvarcalādi Ghee”, in K. Röhrborn and W. Veenker (eds), Memoriae Munusculum: Gedenkband für Annemarie v. Gabain, Wiesbaden, pp. 29–42.

Emmerick R. E. (2009), “Khotanese and Tumshuqese”, in G. Windfuhr (ed.), The Iranian Languages, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 377–415.

Filliozat J. (1946–1947), “Khotanese Text I”, Journal Asiatique, Vol. 235, pp. 134–5.

Hoernle A. F. R. (1917), “An Ancient Medical Manuscript from Eastern Turkestan”, Commemorative Essays Presented to Sir Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Bhandarkar Orientai Research Institute, Poona, pp. 415–32.

Konow S. (1941), A Medical Text in Khotanese: Ch. II 003 of the India Office Library: With Translation and Vocabulary, I Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad, Oslo.

Krishna R. (2003), “Ayurveda – The Ancient Scientific Medicine with Natural Healing”, in E. P. Cherniack and N. Cherniack (eds), Alternative Medicine for the Elderly, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp. 235–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05185-6_16

Maggi M. (2008a), “A Khotanese Medical Text on Poultices: Manuscripts P 2893 and IOL Khot S 9”, in R. P. Das (ed.), Traditional South Asian Medicine, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, pp. 77–85.

Maggi M. (2008b), “Jīvakapustaka”, Encyclopaedia Iranica, available at: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jivakapustaka (accessed May 14, 2020).

Maggi M. (2009), “Khotanese Literature”, in R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch (eds), A History of Persian Literature: The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran, I. B. Tauris, London, pp. 330–17. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755610402.ch-007

Maue D. (1990), “Das Mahāvaidehakaṃ ghr̥tam in Tocharisch B”, Historische Sprachforschung, Bd. 103/1, pp. 159–65.

Mishra L. C. (2004), Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies, CRC Press, Boca Raton. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203498583

Monier-Williams M. (1899), A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Rezai Baghbidi H. (2000), “Vāže-gozini Dar Asre Sāsāni va Ta’sir-e Ān Dar Fārsi-ye Dari [Neologizing in the Sasanian Period and Its Impact on Early Persian]”, Nāme-ye Farhangestān, No. 3, pp. 145–58. (In Persian).

Rezai Baghbidi H. (2013), “Hend Dar Šāhnāme-ye Ferdowsi [India in the Shanameh of Ferdowsi]”, in M. R. Nasiri (ed.), Šāhnāme Dar Šebehqarre [Shanameh in the Subcontinent], The Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Tehran, pp. 3–14. (In Persian).

Salguero C. P. (2009), “The Buddhist Medicine King in Literary Context: Reconsidering an Early Medieval Example of Indian Influence on Chinese Medicine and Surgery”, History of Religions, Vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 183–210. https://doi.org/10.1086/598230

Skjærvø P. O. (2004), This Most Excellent Shine of Gold, King of Kings of Sutras: The Khotanese Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra, 2 Vols, Harvard University, Harvard.

Tafazzoli A. (2004), Tārix-e Adabiyāt-e Irān-e Piš az Islām [A History of the Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran], Sokhan Publishers, Tehran. (In Persian).

Tirtha S. S. (1998 [repr. 2005]), The Āyurveda Encyclopedia, Natural Secrets to Healing, Prevention and Longevity, Ayurveda Holistic Center Press, Bayville, N. Y.

Wise T. A. (1845), Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine, Smith, Elder & Co., Calcutta.

Wujastyk D. (1985), “Ravigupta and Vāgbhaṭa”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 74–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00026975

Zhang G. (1996), “The City-States of the Tarim Basin”, in B. A. Litvinsky et al. (eds), History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. III: The Crossroads of Civilization: A. D. 250 to 750, UNESCO Publishing, Paris, pp. 281–301.