Epidemics and Crisis Management

in Pre-modern South Asia

Tag: remedies

  • Epidemiology in the Bhelasaṃhitā

    The Carakasaṃhitā (CS) has its own chapter on epidemics (3.3) and the Suśrutasaṃhitā (SS) deals with collective suffering within the frame of its chapter on the seasons (1.6). But what about the Bhelasaṃhitā (BhS)? This poorly preserved early āyurvedic compilation, like the CS, belongs to the school of internal medicine, and could provide precious insights,… → Read more

  • Epidemics in Suśruta

    or: Why critical editions matter. An example from Ayurveda, Suśrutasaṃhitā. According to the vulgate editions (none of them critical), all the compilations of early Ayurveda have a chapter on the seasons near their beginning discussing topics such as the structure of time, seasonal hazards, appropriate diet and conduct. Usually they bear a title like “ṛtucarya”… → Read more

  • Mantras and epidemics

    Mantras and epidemics

    Someone recently asked me why I, conducting a project on epidemics, write a paper on mantras in Ayurveda. Here is the reason: Early South Asian medical compilations discuss epidemics and how to treat them. They suggest various countermeasures. Besides more “medical” remedies they also mention truthfulness, compassion, mantras, offerings, fasting, atonement, veneration of gods, certain… → Read more

  • Mantras in early Ayurveda

    Mantras in early Ayurveda

    Vitus Angermeier presented a paper on “Medication or Magic? Mantras in Early Āyurveda” at the Workshop Mantras: Sound, Materiality, and the Body, 12-14 May 2022, Vienna. The complete paper is available here: https://www.academia.edu/79051821/For the slides, please visit https://www.academia.edu/79092507/. Abstract The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which… → Read more

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