Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/314

Rh 294 SANSKRIT [LITERATURE, MJEDI- CDIE. literary composition are very numerous. Indeed, a subject of this description involving such" nice distinctions as regards the various kinds of poetic composition, the particular subjects and characters adapted for them, and the different sentiments or mental condi- tions capable of being both depictured and called forth by them could not but be congenial to the Indian mind. H. H. Wilson, in his Theatre of the Hindus, has given a detailed accouut of these theoretic distinctions with special reference to the drama, which, as tho most perfect and varied kind of poetic production, usually takes an important place in the theory of literary composition. The Bharata-sdstra has already been alluded to as probably the oldest extant work in this department of literature. Another comparatively ancient treatise is the Kdvyddarsa, 1 or "mirror of poetry," in three chapters, by Dandin, the author of the novel Dasakumaracharita, who probably flourished not long after Kalidasa (wljose Prakrit poem Setubandha he quotes) in the 6th century. The work consists of three chapters, treating (1) of two different local styles (rtti) of poetry, the Gaudi and the Vaidarbhi (to which ^later critics add four others, the Panchali, Magadhi, Lati, and Avantika) ; (2) of the graces and ornaments of style, as tropes, figures, similes ; (3) of alliteration, literary puzzles, and twelve kinds of faults to be avoided in composing poems. Another treatise on rhetoric, in Sutras, with a commentary entitled KAvy&lank&ra-vritti, is ascribed to Vamana. Prof. Cappeller, to whom we owe an edition of this work, is inclined to fix it as late as the 12th century ; but it may turn put to be somewhat older. The K&vydlank&ra, by tho Kashmirian Rudrata, must have been composed prior to the llth century, as a gloss on it (by Nami), which, professes to be based on older commentaries, was written in 1068. Dhananjaya, the author of the Daa- r&pa,- or "ten forms' (of plays)," the favourite compendium of dramaturgy, appears to have flourished in the 10th century. In the concluding stanza he is stated to have composed his work at the court of King Munja, who is probably identical with the well- known Malava prince, the uncle and predecessor of King Bhoja of Dhara. The Dasarupa was early commented upon by Dhanika, possibly the author's owu brother, their father's name being the same (Vishnu). Dhanika quotes Rajasekhara, who is supposed to have flourished about 1000 A.D., 3 but may after all have to be put somewhat earlier. The Sarasvati-kanlJidbharana, "the neck- ornament of Sarasvati (the goddess of eloquence)," a treatise, in five chapters, on poetics generally, remarkable for its wealth of quotations, is ascribed to King Bhoja himself (llth century), pro- bably as a compliment by some writer patronized by him. The Kdvya-prakdsa,* "the lustre of poetry," another esteemed work of the same class, in ten sections, was probably composed in the 12th century, the author, Mammata, a Kashmirian, having been the maternal uncle of Sri-Harsha, the author of the Naishadniya. The Sdhitya-darpaiia, 6 or "mirror of composition," the standard work on literary criticism, was composed in the 15th century, on the banks of the Brahmaputra, by VisVanatha Kaviraja. The work consists often chapters, treating of the following subjects : (1) the nature of poetry ; (2) the sentence ; (3) poetic flavour (rasa) ; (4) the divisions of poetry ; (5) the functions of literary suggestion ; (6) visible and audible poetry (chiefly on dramatic art) ; (7) faults of style ; (8) merits of style ; (9) distinction of styles ; (10) ornaments of style. VI II. MEDICINE (Ayur-veda, Fawfya-Atara). Though the early cultivation of the healing art is amply attested by frequent allu- sions in the Vedic writings, it was doubtless not till a much later period that the medical practice advanced beyond a certain degree of empirical skill and phannaceutic routine. From the simultaneous mention of the three humours (wind, bile, phlegm) in a varttika to Panini (v. 1, 38), some kind of humoral pathology would, however, seem to have been prevalent among Indian physicians several centuries before our era. The oldest existing work is supposed to be the Charaka-samhitd* a bulky cyclopaedia in 41okas, mixed with prose sections, which consists of eight chapters, and was probably composed some centuries after Christ. Of equal authority, but probably somewhat more modern, is the Sii&ruta (-samhitd), 7 winch Susruta is said to have received from Dhanvantari, the Indian ^sculapius, whose name, however, appears also among the "nine gems" (c. 550 A.D.). It consists of six chapters, and is likewise composed in mixed verse and prose, the greater simplicity of arrangement, as well as some slight attention paid in it to surgery, betokening an advance upon Charaka. Both works are, however, characterized by great prolixity, and contain much matter which has little connexion with medicine. The late Prof. E. Haas, in two very suggestive papers, 8 tried to show that the work of Susruta 1 Ed. with commentary, by Premachandra Taikabugtsa, Bibl. Ind. 3 R. Pischel, Gott, Oel. A., 1883 ; G. Bilhler, Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 29. Ed. by Jibunanda Vidyasagara, Calc., 1S77. 8 Z. D. 11. G., 1876, p. 617 tq. ; 1877, p. C47 tq. (identified by him with Socrates, so often confounded in the Middle Ages with Hippocrates) was probably not composed till after the Mohammedan conquest, and that, so far from the Arabs (as they themselves declare) having derived some of their knowledge of medical science from Indian authorities, the Indian Vaidya^astra was nothing but a poor copy of Greek medicine, as transmitted by the Arabs. But even though Greek influence may be traced in this as in other branches of Indian science, there can be no doubt, 9 at any rate, that both Charaka and Susruta were known to the Arab Razi (c. 932 A.D.), and to the author of the Fihrist (completed 987 A.D.), and that their works must therefore have existed, in some form or other, at least as early as the 9th century. Among the numerous later medical works the most important general compendiums are Vagbhata's Ashtdnga-hridaya , "the heart of the eight-limbed (body of medical science)," and Bhava Mis'ra's Bhdm-prakdta ; while of special treatises may be mentioned Madhava's system of nosology, the Rinjviniieliaya, or Mddhfiva-niddna, and Sarngadhara's compendium of therapeutics, the Sdrngadhara-samhitd. Materia medica, with which India is so lavishly endowed by nature, is a favourite subject with Hindu medical writers, the most valued treatise being the Rdja-nighantu , by the Kashmirian Narahari. The best general view of this branch of Indian science is continued in T. A. Wise's Commentary on Hindu Medicine, 1845, and in his History of Medicine, vol. i., 1867 ; but the whole subject, including the principal original works, still awaits a critical investigation. IX. ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICS. Hindu astronomy may be broadly divided into a pre-scientific and a scientific period. While the latter clearly presupposes a knowledge of the researches of Hipparchus and other Greek astronomers, it is still doubtful whether the earlier astronomical and astrological theories of Indian writers were entirely of home growth or i partly derived from foreign sources. From very ancient (probably Indo-European) times chronological calculations were based on the synodical revolutions of the moon, the difference between twelve such revolutions (making together 354 days) and the solar year being adjusted by the in- sertion, at the time of the winter solstice, of twelve additional days. Besides this primitive mode the Rigveda also alludes to the method prevalent in post- Vedic times, according to which the year is divided into twelve (sdvana or solar) months of thirty days, with a thir- teenth month intercalated every fifth year. This quinquennial cycle (yuga) is explained in the Jyotisha, regarded as the oldest astronomical treatise. An institution which occupies an important part in those early speculations is the theory of the so-called lunar zodiac, or system of lunar mansions, by which the planetary path, in accordance with the duration of the moon's rotation, is divided into twenty-seven or twenty-eight different stations, named after certain constellations (nakshatra) which are found alongside of the ecliptic, and with which the moon (rnasc.) was supposed to dwell successively during his circuit. The same institution is found in China and Arabia; but it is still doubtful 10 whether the Hindus, as some scholars hold, or the Chaldaeans, as Prof. Weber thinks, are to be credited with the invention of this theory. The principal works of this period are hitherto known from quotations only, viz., the Gdrgt Sarflhitd, which Prof. Kern would fix at c. 50 B.C., the Ndradt Samhitd, and others. The new era, which the same scholar dates from c. 250 A.D., is marked by the appearance of the five original Siddhantas (partly extant in revised redactions and in quotations), the very names of two of which suggest Western influence, viz., the Paitdmaha-, SArya-, 11 Vasishtha-, Romaka- (i.e., Roman), and Paulisa-sid- dhdntas. Based on these are the works of the most distinguished Indian astronomers, viz., Aryabhata, 12 probably born in 476 ; Varaha-mihira, 13 probably 505-507; Brahma-gupta, who completed his Brahma-siddhdnta in 628 ; Bhatta Utpala (10th century), distinguished especially as commentator of Varaha-mihira ; and Bhaskara Acharya, who finished his great course of astronomy, the Siddhdnta-siromani, in 1150. In the works of several of these writers, from Aryabhata onwards, special attention is paid to mathematical (especially arithmetical and algebraic) computa- tions ; and the respective chapters of Bhaskara's compendium, viz., the Ltldvatt and Vtja-ganita, 1 * still form favourite textbooks of these subjects. The question whether Aryabhata was acquainted with the researches of the Greek algebraist Dipphantus (c. 360 A.D.) remains still unsettled; but, even if this was the case, algebraic science seems to have been carried by him beyond the point attained by the Greeks. (J- E. ) ASTRO- NOMY AND MATIIE MATICS. Sec Prof. Aug. M tiller's paper, Z. D. if. G., 1880, p. 465. i See especially Prof. Whitney's essay on the Lunar Zodiac, in his Oriental and Linguistic Studies. 11 The Sjirya-siddhanta, translated by (W. D. Whitney and) E. Burgess, 1860. i* The Aryabhatiya, edited by H. Kern, 1874. '3 The Brihat-samhitd and Yogaydtrd, edited and translated by H. Kern; the Layhu-jdtdta, edited by A. Weber and H. Jacobi. " A translation of both treatises, as well as of the respective chapters of Brahma-gupta's work, was published (1817) by H. T. Colebrooke, with an import- ant " Dissertation on the Algebra of the Hindus," reprinted in the Misc. Essays, 11. p. 375 tq.
 * Edited by Fitzedw. Hall, Kill. Ind., 18C5.
 * Ed. by Malicsa Chandra Nyayaratna, 1860.
 * Text and translation in Bibl. Ind.
 * Ed. by Madhusudana Gupta, 1835-37, and by Jibananda Vidyasagara, 1873