Dear Patricia and Jonathan,

Just for the record, Meulenbeld does have quite a number of references to this subject under synonymous terms like viṣatantra and viṣacikitsā.  And as meritorious and useful as those volumes are, Meulenbeld did not use any (or few at any rate) unpublished sources.  He was not aware of the Gāruḍa or Bhūta Tantras as systematic classes, nor of most of the important titles, despite their definitive influence on Indian medicine where it involved poison/venom and exorcism in post-classical India.  Many of the most important sources I used in Early Tantric Medicine were only available in manuscripts.

And Jonathan, I would encourage Charles to not jump to conclusions on the origin of the material on poisons in his text, given that he has apparently not read the most recent scholarship!

All the best,

Michael
—
Michael Slouber, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, South Asian Studies
Global Humanities and Religions
Western Washington University


To: 
Indology List <indology@list.indology.info>



Dear Johnathan,


There is no mention of viṣaśāstra in the index of the History of Indian Medical Literature. I am currently working on a project that catalogues rasaśāstra texts, which relies heavily on the HIML. Thus
 far I have come across numerous references to poisons, purifying 
poisonous substances, etc., but no recipes for making poisons. If I do 
happen across one I will make a note of it for you. 


Best wishes,


Patricia 
Subject: 
Re: [INDOLOGY] poison
From: 
Patricia Sauthoff <sauthoff@ualberta.ca>
Date: 
6/9/20, 11:42 AM