DR. K. D. SHARMA

Deputy Director (Technical), Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha,
61-65 Institutional Area, D Block, Janak Puri, New Delhi, India
 

ABSTRACT

     Ayurveda, the "Science of Life" practiced by the ancient Indians is based on Atharva-veda, one of the oldest scriptures of the Hindus, about 3,000 years old.  One- fifth of the human race even practiced it today despite of its antiquity.  It is an encyclopedia of the ancient medical knowledge.  Ayurveda is not only considered to be merely a compendium of therapeutics based on herbal, animal and mineral resources of the world but also a philosophy of life and living.  Its main object is to be counteract the imbalance of the 3 essential elements viz. Vata (air), Pitta (bile) and Kapha (phlegm), these three elements constitute the  Tridosh (triad) from which the human body originates.  Thus, Tridosh regularises the normal working of the human body.

          The paper highlights the bird's eye view of the classical literature of Ayurveda which remains a part and parcel of the culture of India and as such is scattered in the entire Indian documents.  Even the non-medical literature contains valuable information about medicine.  Not only the origin and philosophy of the Ayurveda have been described but also sources of literature viz. pre-vedic, vedic and post-vedic periods, major literatures of 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Ayurveda in the non- medical texts, literature in Urdu and availability of classical literature.

          The ancient Indian medical system - Ayurveda originated with pre-historic age. Ayuh means life and Veda-means knowledge i.e. a Science of life.  The great sage Sushruta termed it as the sub-part of "Atharva Veda".  The four Vedas viz. Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda are the earliest sacred books of India.  It is believed that Vedas are not composed by men but they were taught by the Gods to the sages.
 

     Origin:

          Let me quote the description from Charaka about how Bharadwaja learnt Ayurveda from Lord Indra and brought and propagated it on earth. "When diseases arose like so many impediments to the austerity, fasting, study, continence and vows of embodied souls, the great sages - the doers of good - keeping compassion for creatures foremost, met together on the sacred slops of the Himalayas. "Many great sages attended this conference.  All of them were veritable mines of the Brahmic lore. Even after a long discussion, they could not reach to the conclusion then to bring this question in meditation then Dharana and then reached in the stage of  Samadhi  and all  they could got answer at a time and came to know that Lord Brahma is the pioneer to know Ayurveda. He taught to Prajapati and then to Asvins who delivered it to Lord Indra and then this knowledge was transmitted to Bharadwaja& Divodasa. There are two schools of thoughts i) Atreya Sampradaya i.e. school of medicine originated from the great sage Bharadwaja and the ii) Dhanvantari Sampradaya i.e. school of surgery originated by Lord Dhanvantari. The opinion of both the schools Deputy Director(Technical), Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha, 61-65 Institutional Area, D Block, Janak Puri, New Delhi, India.

      i.e. Attreya and Dhanvantari, is given in the Table hereunder:

Table I: Origin of Ayurveda

     According to discourses by Lord Dhanvantari to Sushruta, the Brahma composed one thousand chapters containing one lac  Shlokas, before the creation of man and afterwards it was summarised in 8 chapters / branches as mentioned below:-

Table II: Eight Branches of Ayurveda

The Philosophy of the Ayurveda

The Philosophy of the Ayurveda lies on the theory of Panchamahabhutas (five basic entities) viz. Akash (space), Vayu (air), Agni/Tejas (fire), Apa (Water) and Prithvi (earth) of which all the universal as well as living beings are made of.  The union of these five elements are represented in the form of Tridosh (triad) e.g. Vata      (ether + air), Pitta (fire) and Kapha (water + earth).  These are also known as three humors. The six Rasas are formed by different combinations of the Panchamahabhutas.  The mental attributes are known as Satva, Rajas and Tamas.  The diverse mutual transference and combinations of these three form human temperament (Prakrati) and personality.  Thus, human being is a combination of three Doshas, Panchamabhutas, seven body tissues (Sapta Dhatu), five senses (Pancha Indriyas) with sensory and motor functions, mind ((Manas), intellect (Budhi) and Soul (Atman). The principle of Ayurveda lies to keep these structural and functional entities in a equilibrium state which signifies  good health (Swasthya).  Any imbalance causes diseases and to restore the equilibrium through various techniques, procedures, regimen, diet and medicine  - is the treatment.

     Ayurveda defines life as the continuous union of body, senses, mind and spirit. According to it, health is a total physical, sensory, mental and spiritual well being. The health of the body is preserved through simple natural means by regulating routine as per natural environment.  To maintain the physical and mental health, Ayurveda suggests proper living style during the day (Dincharya), night (Ratricharya) and during the different  seasons (Ritucharya). Sources of Literature

(A) Pre-Vedic Period( 4000 B.C.-1500 B.C.)
     Pre-Vedic period comprise all the human communities in the sub-continent, from the old stone age to the time written history begins i.e. Indus valley civilization. The historian of ancient Indian medicine is greatly handicapped by want of inscriptions or manuscripts.  The Seals and Tablets discovered at Harappa and Mohenjodaro are yet to be deciphered and so remain a sealed book.  Pre-vedic period extends from the earliest times to the Aryan invasion of India i.e. about 1500 B.C.

(B) Vedic Period(1500 B.C. - 600 B.C.)
     About 5000 years ago, Aryans came to northern India from Central asia and a new civilisation began on the banks of river Ganges.  The learned men of that time wrote the famous Vedas.  The most ancient of there is Rig-Veda.  After Rig-Veda three other Vedas were written.  The Atharva Veda (1200 B.C.) the last of the three Vedas contains a part called Ayurveda which is concerned with the principles of health and attaining long healthy life. Vedic period contains the status of medicine as evinced from the vedic literature in its various ramifications - Samhitas,   Brahmanas, Upanishads and Kalpasutras. Two Vedas e.g. Rigveda and Atharvaveda consists the knowledge of the medicine.  It is to the Atharvaveda that we are mainly indebted for our knowledge of Vedic medicine.  Atharva vedic medicine is an amalgamation of religion, magic and empirico-rational elements.  Some diseases are attributed to the greater gods as a punishment for sin.  Lord Varun (vayu) sends dropsy to punish crime and especially falsehood.  Certain sharp pains are ascribed to the spear of Rudra, diarrhoea is connected with the  arrows of Parjanya (the rain god).  Agni is regarded as producing fever, headache and cough.  The Atharva veda deals with the treatment of diseases by advising propriatory rites offerings, auspicious oblations, penances, fasting and incantations (mantras).  The praise of the Atharvan as the physician par excellence superior to all medicines prescribed by other physicians, implies the existence of two systems of medicine side by side. (i)  The system of charms prescribed by the Atharvan (priest-physician);
(ii) The system of drugs prescribed by ordinary medical practitioners.

(C) Post-Vedic Period (600 B.C.-800 A.D.)
     It is the period when Ayurveda emerged in its crystallised form as a result of discussions and serious thinking in the preceding age.

(i)  Charaka Samhita Among the existing old medical treatise of India, Charaka Samhita can be considered as the oldest.  The exact date of Charak is not known but he probably lived in the first millennium B.C.  The whole book is divided in eight parts.  One of the parts deals with crude drugs 'Bhesaja" and describes 500 crude drugs with detailed information on their qualities and effectiveness.  It describes not only the existing knowledge about medicine in all aspects but also the logic and philosophy behind the medical system. During the 9th century the Charaka Samhita was re-edited by Dridhabala who added 17 chapters in therapeutic section,  2 sections on pharmaceutics (Kalpa) and success in treatment (Siddhi) from various treatises.  He not only added the missing chapters but also edited the whole Samhita. Charaka Samhita was originally composed by Agnivesha, one of the six students of Atreya.  Commentary on Charaka Samhita by Chakrapanidatta, called Charaka-tatparya-tika or Ayurveda dipika written in 1066 A.D. is very famous.  Other commentaries are by Patanjali (not available), Hari Chandra's in 1111 A.D. (not available), Jaijjata's Nirantarpad-Vyakhya, Shiva Dash's Charak-tattva Pradipika, Ganga Dhar's Jalpa -Kalpa-taru in 1879 A.D. The above Samhita was translated from Sanskrit into Arabic in the beginning of the eighth century and its name Sharaka Indianus occurs in the Latin translation of Avicenna, Razes, and Serapion.  A translation of the Karka from Sanskrit into Persian and from Persian into Arabic is mentioned in the Fihrst (finished in 987 A.D.), as mentioned by Alberuni. Charaka Samhita was first translated into English by A.C.Kaviratna in 1897. (ii) Sushruta Samhita Sushruta who was almost contemporary of Charaka, wrote famous Sushruta Samhita - a treatise on the use of  drugs and surgery.  The book is divided into eight parts, the first of which describes about 700 plants, grouped under 37 'ganas' or classes.  This   book was later on probably revised by Nagarjuna, the Great Scientist of Buddhist era, who became the Rector of University of Nalanda, during the Second Century.  Sushruta has divided medicinal plants into various classes - barks, leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, underground stems, natural exudates and extracted substances like oil, ash etc. Of the commentaries on Sushruta Samhita the most renowned is that of Dalhana called Nibandha Samgraha written in the 12th century A.D.  Another commentary is by Chakrapanidatta written in the 11th century A.D.,  it is called Bhanumati and only a portion of it is available now.  Other commentators include Gayadasa, Jejjtacharya, Bhaskara, Madhava and Brahmadeva. It was translated into Arabic, before the end of the 8th century A.D., called Kitab-shaw-shoon-a-Hindi or Kitab-i-susrud.  Rhazes, the famous Arab physician often quoted from it and mentioned Sarad as an authority on surgery.  It was translated into Latin by Hassler and into German by Ullers.  It was translated into English in parts only by U.C.Duatta (1883), A Chattopadhyaya (1891), Hoernle (1897), K.L.Bhisagaratna translated it in full between the years 1908 and 1917 and it is this translation which is now available.
(iii)     Vagbhata
          After Sushruta came the work of Vagbhata -I who wrote Astanga Samgraha.  This was written probably just before the birth of Christ.  In 7th or 8th century, Vaghbhata-II wrote another medical text called Astanga- Hridaya - Samhita. Some scholars have stated that there was one Vagbhata. Commentaries on Astanga Samgraha were written by Arundatta about 1220 A.D. and by Hemadri a few decades later.

     Many commentaries on Astanga Hridaya have been written from time to time by as many as 35 important Ayurvedic physicians.  The following commentaries are known on to be more important among them:(1) Arundatta's Sarvanga Sundari (1220 A.D.), (2) Hemadri's Ayurveda Rasayana (between 1271-1309(A.D.);(3)Asadharas' Astangahridaya Uddyot (4) Chandernandana's Padartha Chandrika (about 10th century A.D.), (5) Damodara's Sanketa Manjari,  (6) Ramanath's Astanga Hridaya- Tika; (7) Bala Prabadhika; (8) Hridaya Bodhika, (9) Pathya; (10) Harikrishna's Vagbhataratha Kaumudi, and (11) Jasodanandan Sarkar's Pradipa . Astanga Hridaya  was translated from Sanskrit into Persian in 1473 A.D. by Hakim Ali Mohammed Bin Ali Ismaili Asavali Aseeli and dedicated to Mohamood Shah - I, the ruler of Gujarat. (iv)    Bhel Samhita Bhel was one of the six students of Atreya alongwith Agnivesha.  He is said to have composed a treatise called Bhel Samhita.  This was not traceable for many centuries, but in the year 1880, a palm leaf manuscript of it, composed in Sanskrit but written in the Telugu script, was found in the Palace Library at Tanjore,  This too has eight divisions like the Charaka.
(v)    Kashyapa Samhita This ancient text deals particularly with children diseases.  It is said to have been enunciated by Sage Maricha Kashyapa.  A palm leaf manuscript of it, written about six or seven centuries ago, was recovered from Nepal and published in 1953 by Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series, Varanasi.
(vi)  Harita Samhita Harita was one of the six disciples of Punarvasu Atreya and had composed his treatise, Harita Samhita.  The date of the original text is stated to be 1000 B.C.
(vii)    Nava-Nitaka or Bower Manuscript Nava-Nitaka manuscript has been stated to between 2nd  and 4th century A.D. This manuscript was discoverd by a man of Kuchar.  Kuchar is an oasis of Eastern Turkestan in Central Asia on the caravan route to China.  The manuscript is known by the name of Col.H.Bower, who bought for a small sum.  The manuscript was forwarded to J.Waterhouse, the then President of the Asiatic Society.  It was deciphered and published by Dr.A.F.Hoernle. It is written on birch bark, cut into longish folios like the palm leaves of Southern and Western India. Among the names that the manuscript mentions are those of Charaka, Sushruta, Bhel, Kankayan, Nimi, Ushnus, Agastya and Jivaka. Nava-Nitaka for the first time gives details about the use of garlic in various diseases such as consumption (Rajyakshma) and scrofulous glands in the neck.
(viii)    Others: Madavacharya wrote Rugvinischaya.  Later on Chakrapanidutta,  Bangasena and  Sarangadhara wrote important treatises  on medicinal plants.  The last author's work appeared in the Ist half of 15th century. During the 16th century, Dhanvantari wrote Raja-Nighantu and Bhavamishra wrote Bhava Prakash and Guna Ratnamala.  They added descriptive names to the real names of the plants for more accurate identification.
(ix) Major Literature of 18th & 19th Centuries: A number of books on Ayurveda were written during 18th & 19th centuries. Some of these works are given below:

Table III: 18th Century Literature
                                        -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S.No. Name of the  Text Book    Author/Commentator       Year of Publication -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1    Atankatimirabhaskra Balarama,Varanasi                        Early 18th  Century 2.   Vaidya Vinoda       Shankar Bhatta, Jaipur                     1705 3.   Shivatattvaratnakara     Keladi Basavaraja                      1709 4.   Divyarasendra Sara  Dhanapati                                      18th century 5.   Vaidyamrta               Narayana                                      -do- 6.   Prayogamrta         Vaidya Chintamani                            -do- 7.   Rajavallabha Nighantu     Rajavallabha                           -do- 8.   Ayurvedaprakasha         Mahadeva Upadhyaya               1713 9.   Vaidyaka Sara       Shrikantha Shambhu                         1734
          Samgraha 10.  Yogatarangini       Trimalla                                           1751 11.  Rajavallabhiya      Narayana Dasa                                 1760
          Dravyaguna 12.  Hikmatprakasha      Mahadeva                                     1773 13.  Chikitsa Sagar      Beteshvare                                       1785 14.  Paradakalpadrum          Ananta                                    1792 15.  The design of a          Jones                                         1789 etc.
          treatise on the
          Plants of India (Eng.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table IV: 19th Century Literature
                                     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S.No.     Name of the Text Book             Author/Commentator   Year of Publication ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.   Ajirna Manjari or Amrata-Kashinath or Kashiraja or          1811
          manjari                  Kashirama 2.   Disquisitions in the History  Miller                                    1811
          of Medicines 3.   Gudhaprakashika or       Dinakara Jyotisi                         1818
          Upakararasa 4.   On the Medical and Surgical   Wilson                              1823
          Sciences of Hindus 5.   Dhaturatnamala           Deva Dutta                                 1828 6.   The antiquity and inde-       Royle                                  1837
          pendent origin of Hindu
          medicine. 7.   Cobaciniprakasha              Compiled under Ranjit Singh   1851 8.   Nighanturatnakara             Vishnu Vasu deva Godbole     1867 9.   Ayurvediyadravyabhidhana K.B.Lal Sengupta                  1876 10.  Materia Medica of Hindus      Umesh Chandra Dutta       1877
          (English) 11.  Ayurveda Vijnana (2 parts)    Kaviraja Vinod Lal Sengupta   1887 12.  Bower manuscript              Found by Col.H.Bower             1890
          (Navnitaka)                   (Kachar, East Turkey) 13.  Brhannighanturatnakara        Dattarama Caube                    1891 14.  Nighantu Samgraha        Raghunathaji Indraji                      1893 15.  Bhaisajyaratnavali            Govinda Dasa (Calcutta)              1893 16.  Vaidyaka Shabda Sindhu        Umesh Chandra Gupta          1894 17.  Siddhabhesajamanimala         Krishnarama Bhatta               1896 18.  Shaligrama Nighantu      Lala Shaligrama Vaishya                1896 19.  A short History of Aryan      Sir Bhagwat Singhi Jee            1896
          Medical Science (English) ____________________________________________________________________ _

          Besides the above books, translations of Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Astanga hrIdaya, Madhavnidana and Sarangdhara Samhita were also published. (x)    Major Literature in 20th Century

          Many useful books related to the Ayurvedic disciplines were written as well as translations of the Charaka, Sushruta other Samhitas  were carried out during the 20th century as given below:
 

Table V : 20th Century Literature
                                     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - S.No Name of the Text Book    Author/Commentator             Year of Publication --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.   Sushrutarthsandipan           Harana Chandra                      1908
          Bhasya                   Chakravarthy 2.   Charakopaskar            Yogindranath Sen (Calcutta)           1920 3.   Charakapradipika              Jyotishchandra Saraswati          20th Century
                                   (Calcutta) 4.   Nighantu Ratnakar             Duttaram Chaube (Mathura)     -do-

     5.   Commentary on Charaka         Jaideo Vidyalankar              1970
          Samhita, Chikitsa Kalika &
           Bhaisajya Ratnavali

     6.   Commentary on Charaka         Atrideo Vidyalankar             20th Century
          Sushruta & Astanga
          Samgraha

     7.   Commentary on Charaka,        Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma          -do-
          Astanga Hrdaya etc.      (Patiala)

     8.   Commentary on Sushruta        Bhaskar Govinda Gharekar    -do-
          Samhita etc.                  (Varanasi)

     9.   Commentary on Rasaratna  Duttatraya Anant Kulkarni          -do-
          Samuchchya               (Varanasi)

     10.  Critical Commentary on        Lal Chandra Vaidya                -do-
          Astanga Hrdya, Bhava          (Varanasi)-
          Prakash & Ashtanga
          Samgraha.

     11.  Rasa Hrdaya Yantri, Rasa      Yadavji Vikramji Acharya      1910-
          Sara and 14 Other Books                                                    1911

     12.  Padarth Vijnana               Pt.Ramrakshaji Pathak               20th Century

     13.  Ayurveda Kriya Sharira        Vd.Ranjeet Roy Desai            -do-

     14.  Abhinava Prasut Tantra        Pt.Damodar Shastri Gaur       -do-

     15.  History of Medicine in India, Acharya Priyavrat Sharma      1972
          Dravya Guna Vijnana      (Varanasi) and
          Indian Medicine in                                     on-
          Classical Age etc.                                     wards.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                   (xi) Literature in Urdu

          Ancient authentic literature of Ayurveda is in Sanskrit.  It is difficult to translate the Sanskrit works in Urdu as both languages are not common.  Inspite of it Ayurvedic scholars translated original work of Sanskrit in Urdu while some compiled new works.  During 19th century to the Ist half of current century, seven books were compiled/translated as given below:

Table VI: Literature in Urdu
                                  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S.No.  Name of the Text Book        Author/Commentator        Year of   Publication ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.   Qarabadeen-e-Vedak  Mirza Akhtar Ahmed                            1899
                              Mujtaba Press, Delhi 2.   Kamal Sanyasi       Bhai Tara Chand Chabber                         1900
                              Mohiyal Mitra Press, Lahore 3.   Koka Shastra        Babu Pyare Lal                                         1909
                              Aligarh (U.P.) 4.   Amrit Sagar              Pyarelal Pandit (Translator)                    1913
                              Naval Kishore Press,
                              12th edition. 5.   Darbar-e-Ilm Al Nisa     Babu Salek Ram Bhalla                     1913
                              Rifah-e-Am Press, Lahore. 6.   Vaidya Vidya        Rajvaidya Narayana Keshavji                    1920
                              Mustafa Electric Press,
                              Bombay. 7.   Arogya Derpam       Hakim Tulsi Prasad Agrawal                   Not avail-
                              Aryawarthi Dawakhana,                                    able
                              Aligarh (U.P.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     (xii) Ayurveda in the Non-Medical Texts:

     (i) Epics
          The two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are valuable treasures and records of Indian culture contain a lot of information on medicine prevalent in those days.  Valmiki's Ramayana was composed in the 4th or  3rd century B.C. and was completed towards the end of 2nd century A.D.  As regards medicine, the emergence of Dhanvantari was mentioned in it.  It indicates the well established position of Ayurveda. The word Vaidya was generally used to denote physician.  In the story of Ramayana, when Laxman was injured in the battle, Vaid Suhain examined him and treated him with some herbs having miraculus powers, the main four  were - Mrata sanjivani, Vishalyakarani, Savarnakarani and Sandhani.
          In Mahabharata, there are references of Atreya (Krishnatreya), Divodasa and Nagnajit, which proves that these names were quite familiar to the society. It is difficult to decide the exact date of the Mahabharata and it is stated as between 4th century B.C. and 4th century A.D.  In the Mahabharata many points are observed which put it closer to the Sushruta Samhita.

     (ii) Puranas

          Puranas are so called as they descirbed the old traditions.  These are 18 in number.  Besides there are Up-Puranas.  The Puranas has come into existence by A.D. 1030 (as Alberuni mentioned).  Medical material in them, however, seems to belong to the Gupta period.

          Brahma Vaivarta Purana describes the genesis of Ayurveda.  Agni Purana contains some verses that are similar to those of Charaka Samhita.  It mentions veterinary medicine also : treatment of horses and elephants.  Garuda Purana describes different types of precious stones, their recognition and their influence on  the person who wears them. It also mentioned Astanga Hridaya of Vagbhata. (iii)     Panini's Grammer
          Panini in his grammer, composed around 500 B.C. mentions certain terms which provides information about the state of medicine at that time.  According to him, Charakas were a class of disciples who would go from place to place. Names such as Jatukarna, Parashar and Agnivesh which are mentioned in Charaka are mentioned here as well. (iv) Smritis or Dharmas Shastras:
          These are based upon the  techniques of the sages.  There are many Smritis, the important one of which are of Manu, Vishnu, Yajnavalaya and Narada. The views expressed in some of these Smritis are similar to that of Charaka Samhita. (v)  Artha Shastra
          Artha Shastra is said to have been composed by Kautilya (Chanakya) who placed Chandra Gupta Maurya on the throne of Maghada in the 4th century B.C. The book deals with the subject of governance of the state, but it also describes some aspects of medical practice and health conditions of the time.  The signs and symptoms of poisoning are also found in this book. (vi) Buddhist Literature:
          Vinaya Pitaka, Deepavamsu, Mahavamsa and other provides glimpses of the practice of medicine among the Buddhist monks during the time of Buddha and afterwards.  Vinaya Pitaka deals with the rules and regulations applicable to the monks.  It also gives an account of the physician Jivaka who was a famous physician of India in the 6th and 5th century B.C.
          Jivaka's fame as a physician brought him more work than he could cope with.  He was declared by the Buddha as the chief amongst his lay followers.
          Deepavamsa and Mahavamsa are the two great Srilankan Buddhist chronicles based on ancient historical tradition.  These belong to the 4th to 6th century A.D.  These two chronicles mention matters of medical interest.
 

     Availability of Classical Literature

     (a) Indian 1.   T.S.S.M.Library, Tanjaur (A.P.) 2.   Oriental Research Library, Chennai. 3.   Shri Ranvira Pustakalaya, Jammu 4    Shri Raghunath Temple Mss.Library, Jammu 5    Oriental Mss.Library,Pune 6    Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute, Jodhpur 7    Khudabaksha Khan Library, Patna 8    Pothikhana, Jaipur 9    Maharaja Granthagar, Bikaner 10   Raj Library, Darbhanga 11   Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune 12   Calcutta Sanskrit College, Calcutta, 13   K.P.Jayaswal Research Institute, Patna 14   Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamshala (H.P.) 15   Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Janpath, New Delhi. 16   Indian Institute of History of Medicine, Hyderabad. 17   Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar, Gujarat. 18   National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur 19   National Institute of Advance Studies, Bangalore. 20   Prachya Vidya Pratishthan, Jodhpur & Jaipur 21   Central Library, BHU, Varanasi. Foreign: 1.   Library of the British Museum, London 2.   India Office Library, London. 3.   Welcome Institute of History of Medicine, London. 4.   Trinity College, Cambridge, London. 5.   The National Archieves of Nepal Govt., Kathmandu, Nepal. 6.   Mahendra Sanskrit University, Kathmandu, Nepal. 7.   Bibliotheque National,  (Paris)
 

Future Strategy to Procure the Classical Literature.

1. Teams of Experts of Ayurveda should be deputed to the various foreign Libraries e.g. U.K., Germany, Japan, Nepal, Srilanka etc. to get the descriptive catalogues as well as view of the books and manuscripts of Ayurveda.
2. Indian High Commissions/Embassies in various countries could be approached by the Secretary, ISM &H to have information about the Ayurvedic Manuscript/literature in various countries.
3. Teams of experts should scrutinize the catalogues and identify the scripts requiring micro-filming as well as copies of the manuscripts.
4. Ayurvedic manuscripts/scripts are also lying in various states of the country, libraries of the various institutions, families of Vaidyas and Sanskrit Scholars. So, a scheme should be worked out to procure such  manuscripts after paying suitable remuneration to the owners.
5. Services of the retired eminent scholars of the Ayurveda/Sanskrit should be utilised to work on Literary Research as well as documentation of the Ayurvedic scripts.

Bibliography:

1. Dastur, J.F., Everybody's Guide to Ayurvedic Medicine, D.B.Taraporevala Sons & Co. Pvt. Ltd., Bombay, 1978.
2. Filliozat, J., The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine, M.Manoharlal, Delhi, 1964.
3. Hussain, S.A., Bhatnagar, V.K.& Ali,M.,Ayurvedic literature in Urdu, Bull. Indian Instt. Hist.Med.Vol.XXVIII (No.2), 151, 1998.
4. Jaggi, O.P.,History of Science and Technology in India, Vol.-IV: Indian System of Medicine, Atma Ram & Sons, Delhi, 1973.
5. Jolly,J.,Indian Medicine, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi, 1977.
6. Kutumbiah, P., Ancient Indian Medicine, Orient Longmans, New Delhi, 1962.
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8. Udupa, K. N., Advances in Research in Indian Medicine, B.H.U. Varanasi., 1970.