Abstract

CONTRIBUTION OF SHARANGADHARA TO PANCHAKARMA

Alvaryne W. K.*, Veena G. Rao and Jayaraj R.

ABSTRACT

Sharangadhara Samhita, a popular treatise on Ayurveda was written by Acharya Sharangadhara, the son of Sri Damodara and grandson of Raghavadev. It has been categorized under Laghu Trayee or the lesser triad of Ayurvedic literature, the other two being Madhava Nidana of Madhavakara and Bhava Prakasha of Bhavamishra. Sharangadhara Samhita was one of the products which originated from the concept of simplification of Ayurvedic treatises. Brhat Trayees, the first line triad – Charaka Samhita, Susrutha Samhita and Astanga Hridaya are considered as the main source of Ayurvedic knowledge. Though these treatises are universally accepted, their works were very voluminous and hence difficult for the general practitioners of Ayurveda to understand and follow. Hence the authors and scholars of Ayurveda belonging to a later period felt that the important aspects and basics need to be extracted from these voluminous texts and simplified. They felt the need of writing down the short treatises which could help in Ayurvedic practice, therefore Laghu Trayees originated. Sharangadhara also adopted the same principle and wrote his work on medicine which later got popular as ‘Sharangadhara Samhita’. This treatise has not only described about Nadi pariksha or different Kalpanas but has also allotted to Panchakarma, the detoxification therapy of Ayurveda. Keeping this in view the present study has been taken up to emphasize the practical orientation of Sharangadhara’s contribution towards Panchakarma.

Keywords: Sharangadhara, Laghu Trayee, Brhat Trayee, Panchakarma.