Uttarakhand Information Centre

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1. Uttarakhand Innoformation Centre / Lake Manasarovar on 31-Aug-09 at 4:26 pm

   [...] Jains and the Bonpas of Tibet equally revere this spot with great [...]

2. Uttarakhand Innoformation Centre / Atharvaveda on 13-Sep-09 at 12:51 pm

   [...] Jain and Buddhist texts are considerably more hostile to the Atharvaveda (they call it Aggvāna or Ahavāna Veda) than they are to the other Hindu texts. The AV is the first Indic text dealing with medicine. It identifies the causes of disease as living causative agents such as the yatudhāna, the kimīdin, the krimi or kṛmi and the durṇāma. The Atharvans seek to kill them with a variety of incantations or plant based drugs in order to counter the disease (see XIX.34.9). This approach to disease is quite different compared to the trihumoral theory of Ayurveda. Remnants of the original atharvanic thought did persist, as can be seen in Suśruta’s medical treatise and in (Garuḍa Purāṇa, karma kāṃḍa – chapter: 164). Here following the Atharvan theory, the Purāṇic text suggests germs as a cause for leprosy. In the same chapter Suśruta also expands on the role of helminths in disease. These two can be directly traced back to the Atharvaveda saṃhitā. The hymn AV I.23-24 describes the disease leprosy and recommends the rajani auṣadhi for its treatment. From the description of the auṣadhi as black branching entity with dusky patches, it is very likely that is a lichen with antibiotic properties. Thus the AV may be one of the earliest texts to record uses of the antibiotic agents. [...]

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