Life in Ancient India as Depicted in Jain Canons

SR No.: 011077
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jagdishchandra Jain
Publisher: New Book Company
Publication Year: 1947
Total Pages: 429
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 16 MB

Page 183

ARTS AND SCIENCES
181
from the ant-hill, salt, gold and incantations were other means to cure snake-bite 80 Water was sprinkled over the blisters caused by the spider and snake bite. The fly dropping was used in case of vomitting, and the horse-fly (āsamakkhiya) to remove dirt from the eye 69 There were pulls to cure eye-sore 63 Flesh was used to cure fistula and in its absence rice powder (kaņıkka) mixed with honey and ghee was used 64 Foi madness, it is stated that if a monk or a nun became mad, they werc tied gently and were kept in a room or a well without water 65 A novel method of curing the madness of a nun due to her attachment to the sexual part of a person is mentioned A slave was made drunk and made to sleep. His body besmeared with vomit, attracted flies, sceing which the nun was cured of her obsession 68
Besides, various oils such as hamsatella, satapāgatella, sahassapūgatella and marutella are mentioned in Jain canonical literature 87
Sores were healed by applying oil, ghee and powder, by bandaging the injured parts and by stitching them properly. In the battle field the physicians carried these articles with them 8 The fringe of the garments was used in case a monk was suffering from carbuncle (vrsakumbha).
Pearl oysters (suktıkā) were used for storing medicine."
Besides medicinal treatment, surgical operations also seem to have been carried out We read that once a fish bone (maccha-kantaka) stuck into the throat of a fisherman ; the surgeons were called. They tried to extract the bone with an instrument (salla) and tried other means but could not succeed."
Lastly, the knowledge of physical science was not confined only to human beings, but it was also applied to animals. We read in the Nisītha cūrņi how a thorn was extracted from the body of a horse."
(4) ARCHERY
The science of archery (dhanuvveya) was highly advanced in ancient India and heroism in this country is invariably associated with proficiency
80 Nisi cú Pi. pp 58, 121, Ogh pp. 129a, 134 a. 01 Ogh. P 129 a
Ibid. P 134 a. 03
Bph Bha. 1. 1277. 84 Nisi. cü., p. 89
Vya. Bha 2, 122-5. Brh. Bha. 6 6267.
Nisi. Cū. Pi. P 109, Brh. Bha 5. 6031. 68 Vya. Bhā. 5.100-103, cf Arthasāstra, p 397. 00 BTh. Bha. 3 3907. TO Ogh. Nir. p. 134 a. " Viva 8, p 48 ; also Bth. Bhd. 1051. That medical science including, surgery was fairly developed in ancient India, is revealed from the stories of the physician Jivaka told in the Vinayapastu of the Mülasarvästivada, pp. 27-43. TI p. 1244 ; cf. also Susruta Samhstā, 26. 13, p. 163.