[INDOLOGY] poison

[Dan Lusthaus]

Thanks for catching that, Vitus.

The Caraka’s full title for that field of medicine is viṣagara-vairodhika-praśama.

https://sarit.indology.info/apps/sarit-pm/works/carakasamhita.xml?root=1.5.4.3.64&view=div <https://sarit.indology.info/apps/sarit-pm/works/carakasamhita.xml?root=1.5.4.3.64&view=div> 
Ca.1.30.28 tasyāyurvedasyāṅgānyaṣṭau tadyathā kāyacikitsā śālākyaṃ śalyāpahartṛkaṃ viṣagaravairodhikapraśamanaṃ bhūtavidyā kaumārabhṛtyakaṃ rasāyanaṃ vājīkaraṇamiti //

1. Kāyacikitsā (internal medicine)
2. Śālākya (treatment of diseases of organs in the head and neck)
3. Śalyāpahartṛka (extraction of foreign bodies by surgery)
4. Viṣagara-vairodhika-praśama (managing conditions caused by natural or artificial poisons)
5. Bhūta-vidyā (treatment of psychic diseases caused by demonic seizure)
6. Kaumāra bhṛtya (managing children's diseases)
7. Rasāyana (elixirs for maintaining youth and preventing old age)
8. Vājikaraṇa (aphrodisiacs)

Dan

> On Jun 8, 2020, at 6:37 AM, Vitus Angermeier via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> the chapter of the Carakasaṃhita concerned with poison (Cikitsasthāna 23) is called viṣaciktsitam (https://sarit.indology.info/apps/sarit-pm/works/carakasamhita.xml?root=1.5.4.13.50 <https://sarit.indology.info/apps/sarit-pm/works/carakasamhita.xml?root=1.5.4.13.50>). kaumārabhṛtyakam is one of the eight aṅgas of Ayurveda and includes mostly paediatrics.
> 
> There is some specialized information on poisoning in N.M. Penzers Appendix III (poison-damsels) in "The Ocean of Story" Vol. 2 from 1924 (pp. 275–313):https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533752/page/n303/mode/2up <https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.533752/page/n303/mode/2up>  It was reworked into a an essay later (Poison-Damsels and Other Essays in Folklore and Anthropology, 1952). 
> I believe no one has mentioned this so far.
> Best wishes,
> Vitus Angermeier
> Am 05.06.2020 um 22:30 schrieb Dan Lusthaus:
>> Dear Jonathan,
>> 
>> I believe viṣaśāstra, as its name implies, is a general term for toxicology, dealing with things like poisons, venoms, etc. Many medical works have sections on this. The Caraka-saṃhitā called this kaumārabhṛtyakam; the Suśruta called it agadatantra; Vagbhata called it daṃṣṭrā. Yijing, in his survey of Indian Medicine, called it 論惡揭陀藥 (cf. T 54.2125.223b28-23c6).
>> 
>> Some of our illustrious colleagues who deal with that literature can perhaps guide you to more specific sources.
>> 
>> best,
>> Dan
>> 
>>> On Jun 5, 2020, at 1:41 PM, Jonathan Silk via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear Friends
>>> My friend Charles Ramble is working on a Tibetan text on poison. It mentions for instance 32 types. I am aware that (no doubt among others) Suśrutasaṁhitā in its Kalpasthāna has much to say about poison, but understandably, not how to make it. There seems to exist a term viṣaśāstra, but more I have not been able to discover. I feel I may have overlooked something rather well known. 
>>> I would be delighted both to learn more myself (no, I'm not looking to poison anyone!) and to pass along the information to Charles.
>>> 
>>> Very best,
>>> Jonathan
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> J. Silk
>>> Leiden University
>>> Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
>>> Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b
>>> 2311 BZ Leiden
>>> The Netherlands
>>> 
>>> copies of my publications may be found at
>>> https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk <https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk>
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>> 
> -- 
> Dr. Vitus Angermeier
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> Austria
> 
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