Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

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YASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
In Book II the young prince Yasodhara is declared to be wellversed in the art of healing, like Kāśirāja. Kāśirāja is explained by the commentator as Dhanvantari. According to a tradition preserved in the Harivansa (Parva I, Chap. 23), in the dynasty of Kāśa king Dhanva had & son named Dhanvantari, said to be an incarnation of the divine physician of that name on account of his knowledge of medical lore. In the same line of kings Divodāsa came two generations after Dhanvantari, and it is remarkable that at the beginning of the Susruta-sanihită Susruta and other sages are described as being instructed in medical lore by Divodāsa Dhanvantari, the king of Benares: अथ खलु भगवन्तममरवरमृषिगणपरिवृतमाश्रमस्थं काशिराज Patay n a...quarta 57: Dhanvantari' is here explained by Dalhaņa as an expert in surgery,'' and it is clear that Divo:lāsa, like his ancestor, was an expert in the art of healing and had the epithet Dhanvantari attached to his name. Divodāsa is described in the Harivamsa (op. cit., verse 29) as the king of Benares, and in the Mahābhārata (Anusāsanaparva 30. 16 Cal. ed.) he is said to have founded the city. It appears that an ancient line of kings ruled in the country round about Benares, and both Dhanvantari and Divodāsa belonging to this dynasty were famous as medical authorities and known as Kāśirāja. The Harivamsa (op. cit., verses 26-7) tells us that Kāśirāja Dhanvantari learnt the Ayurveda from Bhāradvāja, and dividing it into eight sections taught them to his disciples.
तस्य गेहे समुत्पन्नो देवो धन्वन्तरिस्तदा । काशिराजो महाराज सर्वरोगप्रणाशनः ॥
आयुर्वेदं भरद्वाजात् प्राप्येह भिषजां क्रियाम् । तमष्टधा पुनर्व्यस्य शिष्येभ्यः प्रत्यपादयत् ॥ Dhanvantari is cited as an authority in the Carakasanhitā (S'ārirasthiina 6. 21 ), Astāngahrdayas and other works. For a fuller discussion of the problem of Dhanvantari the reader may refer to the learned Sanskrit Introduction to the Nirnayasagar edition of the Susrutasamhita.
ari and Divodāsa bel the country round it. It appears that
WRITERS AND TREATISES UN PAINTING, SCULPTURE, GEMS ETC.
A work on painting called Citrakarma ascribed to Prajāpati is quoted in Book IV. yatafaatti a la form
श्रमणं तैललिप्ताङ्गं नवमिर्मितिभिर्युतम् । यो लिखेत् स लिखेत् सर्वा पृथ्वीमपि ससागराम् ॥ A work on sculpture called Adityamata is quoted in the same Book. fcand 7
भवबीजाङ्कुरमथना अष्टमहाप्रातिहार्यविभवसमेताः । ते देवा दशतालाः शेषा देवा भवन्ति नवतालाः ॥ A work on gems called Ratnaparikṣā is quoted in Book V.
1 FENTIT 9 oreletaenda 2 'धनुः शस्यशास्त्रं तस्य अन्तं पारम् श्यति गच्छतीति धन्वन्तरिः तम् ।' 3 See list of authors cited in N. S. edition.