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DECEMBER, 1892.)
INSTALMENT OF THE BOWER MANUSCRIPT.
367
fact the quills of its tail-feathers, or its feet, burned and powdered, and its bile, form the ingredients of several medicines and antidotes prescribed in the older Indian medical works. Thus a powder containing burned quills (Sikhi-náda dagdham) occurs in the larger medical treatise of the Bower MS. on A. I 62. A very similar powder or tincture is given in the Charaka: p. 7:26 (mayúra-nálan dagdhvá), in the Susruta, p. 850 (barhi-patra-prasutam bhasma, i. e.,
ashes of peacock-feathers'), in the Vangaséna, p. 288 (barhi-pádar dagdhau i.e. burned peacock's feet '), and in the Chakradatta, p. 277 (áikhi-puchchha-bhati, i. e., ashes of peacock's tail-feathers').78 This, however, is not prescribed as an antidote; but an antidote against snakepoison, containing the powdered quills of the tail-feathers of the peacock (áikhi-barha) is given in the Charaka, p. 764. This powder is to be mixed with clarified butter and set fire to ; and with it one's house, bed, and clothes are to be fumigated. Again in.Charaka, p. 774, the broth (rusa) and tail-feathers (párshatu) of the peafowl, in Charaka, p. 760 its bile (sil:hi-pitta), and in Charaka, p. 773, its eggs (barhin-anda) are prescribed to be taken, with other things, as an antidote against snake-poison, and in Charaka, p. 776, the peafowl is, therefore, directed to be kept on one's premises. Similar prescriptions occur in the Suéruta ; see, e. 9, p. 632, 650, and in the Vangaséna, p. 935 (mayára-pitta, i. e,, bile of a peacock). I cannot find any such prescriptions in the Ashtanga Hridaya.
But while searching for these references, I came across a much more curious circumstance. The Charaka describes an antidote against the poison of snakes as well as poisons generally, which exhibits some striking features resembling those of the spell in pur manuscript. It is given on pages 762-764.80 It is called the Mahá-gandhahasti (lit. the great scent-elephant'), and is described as very powerful. This antidote consists of 60 drugs which are to be made up with the bile of cows (pittena gavám) into pills (gudilcá) for internal, or into a liniment (pralépa) for external use. Used internally, the patient will quickly recover from poisoning; if applied externally, a person will be proof against poison, he may handle snakes or eat poison without any risk. It may also be smeared on various musical instruments and these sounded, or on umbrellas or flags, and these exhibited ; in that case, they will act as a protection against infantine seizare (hála-graha), khárkhota,81 witchcraft, Vétálas, magic spells (atharvaná mantrák), every kind of seizure (sarva-graha), fire-arms (agni-sastra), kings (nripa) and robbers (chaura). In short there will be prosperity, whenever this antidote is present. During the process of grinding its ingredients, the following spell (mántra) should be pronounced :. "To my mother success and glory! success and glory to my father! To me saccess, to my son success, may I be successful ! Reverence to the Perfect (Purusha-sisha) Vishạn, the Creator (višvakarman), the Eternal Krishna who upholds and renews the world! may his wonderful control be at once seen over Vțishayapi,8Brahma and Indra, so that I may not witness the discomfiture of Vasudeva, nor the marriage of my mother, nor the drying up of the ocean. May this antidote be made efficacious by means of this true spell! Hili, Mili! With this all-healing powder protect me! Svâhâ !"
What appears to be intended for the same antidote is given in the Susruta, p. 641, 642, under the name Mahd-sugandhi ("the great sweet-scented one'), but it is made to consist of 85 ingredients. It is given as one of those antidotes, which are "to be sounded with drums" (dundubhi-svaniya). On p. 629 the Susruta says, that drums (dundubhi) which are smeared with an antidote, are to be sounded in the presence of the patient (see also p. 633). There is this difference, however, that the Sušruta prescribes no particular spell to be said during the preparation of the Mahá-sugandhi antidote.
* I quote Jivananda's editions of the Charaka and Suśruta. The editions of the Vangaséna and Chakradatta are specified in my first instalment, in Journal As. Soc. Beng., Vol. XL., P. 149, 150.
59 Párshata means the 4 parti-coloured part," and is in that place of the Charaka applied to the skin of the antelope (Ana), the fonthers of the peafowl, quail and partridge (ikhin, Iva, taittiri), and the bristles of the porcupine (vavith).
0 In tho Bongkili odition, it is in Vol. III., PP. 495, 496. 1 For this the Bengali recension reade rakshasi 'Rakshasas,' and for VetA148 it reads mantra 'spells." 82 The Beng. recension reads visha.kshaye.wonderful in its destruction of poison.'
