Ayurvedic Sanskrit Medical Code "Miao Wen Ji" Study

The Susruta samhita was one of the most important ancient Indian Ayurvedic classical medical treatises in Sanskrit.The text discusses the field of surgical and orthopedic therapies etc..The treatise is divided into upper tantra and subsequent tantra,which contains 186 chapters.The upper tantra has five sections:section on general principles,section on diagnosis,section on human body,section on treatment and section on toxicology.The tantra contains 120 chapters.It is said that this tantra was taught by Divodasa dhanvantari,a king of the Kasi,and compounded by his disciple Susruta in 1500-600 BC of Vedic period.The subsequent tantra contains 66 chapters.The tantra was written by Nagarjuna(3-4th Century),a medicine expert,who also redacted this entire treatise.It is a representative work of Dhanvantari school.It describes both theoretical and practical knowledge.Its fundamental theories are the three humors(tridosa)and eight limbs(Astanga).The Susruta samhita has been translated into Arabic,Latin,German,English,Japanese,and Chinese(section on general principles);however,the text has not been translated into Tibetan language yet.In addition,Tibetan medical scholars have not conducted any extensive study on this text.Therefore,the records about Susruta or Susruta samhita are very few in Tibetan language.Scholars from India,Japan,U.K,Germany,and from other provinces of China have conducted some research on Susruta samhita,but have not conduct comparative study with the Four Tantras(rgyud bzhi,a Tibetan medical classic).In the history of Tibetan medicine,many Ayurvedic texts in Sanskrit were translated into Tibetan.However,Tibetan medical scholars in China have not done any extensive studies on Ayurvedic texts in Sanskrit and they never translate any Ayurvedic texts into Tibetan language since the founding of P.R.China.The traditional knowledge of translation from Sanskrit into Tibetan is almost lost in this generation of Tibetan scholars.Thus,it is very important to do such research and translation project.In my thesis,I have applied following research methodologies:the classical research method on Tibetan medicine,the method of translating Sanskrit into Tibetan,as well as other the multidiscipline such as historical,linguistical and logical methodologies.By comparing some parts of the Susruta samhita(Sanskrit versiton)with Astangahrtayam(Sanskrit and Tibetan version)and Four Tantras(Tibetan version),I try to explore the relationship between three classical medical texts.The thesis contains two parts.The first part discusses Susruta samhita itself and its relationship with other Ayurvedic texts and Tibetan medical texts.Second part offers a Tibetan translation of some parts of Susruta samhita.In first part,it examines the date,authors of the Susruta samhita,as well as the contents of palm leaves manuscripts and publication of Susruta samhita.It demonstrates the unique theory of Susruta samhita is anatomy and surgical knowledge,which are very different from others and we can find its influence in many later medical literatures.It is a new discovery for Tibetan medical scholars that we can find the distribution of 500 muscles in Susruta samhita,but some other texts of Ayurvedic medicine and Tibetan medicine record the total number only.We can find many similarities between Susruta samhita and Astangahrtayam,through camparing of some Sanskrit sentences of them.It seems that Susruta samhita is one of the main sources of Astangartayam.Some influence of Susruta samhita can be found in the Four Tantras.It seems clear that some parts of Four Tantras have been derived from Susruta samhita through the intermediary of Astangahrtayam.However,Yuthog Yonten Gonpo might have not consulted Susruta samhitd directly.The second part provides a Tibetan translation of the contents and the first five chapters of the Susruta samhita.When I translated those chapters,I had consulted following references:the Two-Volume Lexicon(sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa),Mahdvyutpatti(sgra bye brag tu rtogs byed chen mo),Tibetan version of Astangahrtayam,Sanskrit and English version of Astangahrtayam,and Tibetan and Sanskrit versions of Bodhicaryavatara.Both the Two-Volume Lexicon and Mahavyutpatti are texts for guidelines of translation,which were edited during Tibetan Empire(7-9th century).The Two-Volume Lexicon is text for guidelines of translation.Mahavyutpatti is Sanskrit Tibetan dictionary.Astangahrtayam was translated by Rinchen Sangpo(958-1055AD),a great Tibetan translator,in eleventh century.If we only consult Tibetan version of Astangahrtayam,it is hard to see the whole picture of theory and practice of Aurvedic medical tradition.Since Susruta samhita is the most important Ayurvedic medical treatise,conducting a systematic and extensive study on the text is necessary.Furthermore,some contents in Susruta samhita can help us to understand specific meaning of paragraphs in the Four Tantras correctly.In addition,conducting comparative study on the Susruta samhita,Astangahrtayam,and the Four Tantras,we can promote medical and cultural exchange between Ayurvedic and Tibetan medical tradition.This thesis recovers a new way to conduct research on Ayurvedic texts in Sanskrit language,provides a new reference for Tibetan medical scholars,and laid a good foundation for the further research on Ayurvedic medicine.This thesis inherited the knowledge of translation from Sanskrit into Tibetan significantly.