LESLIE
HAMILTON
SHIRLAW
21
(f) Bhattacharjee in the Introduction to his translation of the ' Ghora
Nidan ' mentions :—
(i) Ghora Lakshana.
(ii) Ghotaka Ratna.
(B) ELEPHANT MEDICINE
The literature on this subject is far less voluminous than that on equine
medicine for two reasons. The first is that elephants have always been in
India a state monopoly : the second, that, in the past, it was not customary
to breed elephants, and defective animals were naturally not captured; the
stock was thus predominantly healthy and the services of the elephant doctor
(chikitsaka) only rarely required.
(i) Palakapya
Palakapya (or Palakavya) is regarded by the Indians as the ultimate
authority on this science. He is reputed to have been veterinary adviser to
King Romapada, a contemporary of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, the father
of Rama. The style of his work, however, suggests a much later date, and,
from the facts that he follows Suśrutha in his method of describing surgical
instruments and that he is quoted by Kataulya, it appears that he lived
somewhere between the seventh and fourth centuries B.C. He is said to
have been equally renowned as an equine doctor but his work on elephants,
' The Hastiayurveda ' (sometimes called ' Gajayurveda ' or ' Mahapada ') is
the only one extant.
This is a lengthy work of twenty thousand slokas, dealing with elephant
medicine and surgery. It is dedicated to Ganeśa and divided into four
parts :—
(1) Maharogasthana—or Major Diseases. 18 chapters.
(2) Ksudrarogasthana—or Minor Diseases. 72 chapters.
(3) Salyasthana—or Surgery. 34 chapters.
(4) Supplement of Materia Medica. 36 chapters.
* Part 1 deals with the origin of the science ; the grooming and feeding of elephants
and the 15 kinds of natural death. It then defines the qualities necessary for good
students and teachers, continuing with a classification of the 156 different diseases and a
description of the origin of fevers. Among the major diseases are included Pakala,
a fever to which elephants are peculiarly susceptible ; tetanus (?), anaemia, flatulence,
fainting caused by overeating, diseases of the head caused by deranged humours or
worms ; diseases of the foot; anasarca, and eye diseases. It concludes by detailing the
religious rites to be performed before beginning treatment.
Part 2 contains the treatments for vomiting, diarrhoea and swooning caused by the
use of the Madana plant (Randia dumetorum) ; it describes wasting caused by excessive
eating of unwholesome foods or by too much work ; it tells how elephants should be
protected from poisoning by enemies, with the signs, symptoms and treatment of toxaemia.
Sections follow on snake bite, boils, the five kinds of erysipelas, the influence of the planets,
mental disorders, retention of urine and faeces, bloody urine, the three kinds of farcy (?)
due to the three humours, wryneck, wasting and loss of strength, diet, wounds on the
feet, swellings in the throats, insanity and possession by supernatural powers, hysteria,
epilepsy, rheumatism, chronic inflammation, of the lungs, inflammation of the scrotum
and of the foot, warts, diseases of the digestive tract, care of young elephants, puerperal
fever, diseases of the teeth, colic, difficulties in drinking fluid, ringworm, vitiligo, etc.,
diseases caused by earth-eating, dysentery, phthisis pulmonalies, intestinal worms,
rut, diseases of the ear, anorexia and loss of appetite, inflummation of the chest and
abdomen, tumours and finally diseases of the heart.
D