Bhesajjamanjusa, Paddhati 1-18, Devanagari edition, with a foreword by Dipak Kumar Barua and intro. in English.

Book Details

• Publisher: ADITYA PRAKASHAN Indological Publishers & Booksellers

• Language: English

• Edition: 2015

• ISBN-13: 9788177421514

• ISBN-10: 8177421514

• Subject: Buddhism

About the Book
The Bhesajjamanjusa, composed in Sri Lanka during the thirteenth century, is the only known medical work available in Pali and stands as a unique contribution to the study of South Asian traditional medicine. Drawing from around eighty medical treatises, including the Astangahrdaya, Astangasamgraha, Susrutasamhita, Carakasamhita, Siddhasara, and Madhavanidana, this work offers invaluable material for research in various fields such as bio-medical ethics, ethno-medicine, ethno-botany, medical anthropology, Pali lexicography, and the history of traditional medicine in South Asia.

The significance of the Bhesajjamanjusa lies not only in its unique status as a Pali medical treatise but also in its documentation of Indo-Sri Lankan relations concerning medical science. In its comparison of Sanskrit and Singhalese medical texts, the medical terminology is shown to be generally identical, highlighting the cross-cultural exchange of medical knowledge.

This edition of the Bhesajjamanjusa presents the Pali text in Devanagari script for the first time, based on the Roman script edition published by the Pali Text Society, Oxford. Additionally, it includes six detailed indexes, such as the samanya suci (general index), vanaspati suci (index of medicinal herbs and trees), pasu suci (index of diseases), materia medica, and an alphabetical index of terms, all of which provide a comprehensive guide to the text’s contents.

Authored and edited by Professor Bimalendra Kumar, a renowned scholar in the field of Pali and Buddhist studies, this work is a significant resource for scholars and researchers interested in the intersections of medicine, religion, and culture in ancient South Asia.