EAP810/23/3

Titles in original script:

நூல் 1: நாடி லக்ஷணாநூல் 2: பக்ஷாதிசார சவ்யாக்யாநூல் 3: சிகிட்சா சாரதி;

The manuscript, containing 112 leaves, is composed of 3 texts, all incomplete. The leaves from 17 to 84 are in good condition, and among the first ones, 9 are broken and 7 partly broken.

Text 1- The text, whose the palm leaves are numbered from 1 to 84, is entitled Nāṭi Lakṣaṇā. Written in Tamil, it is a commentary in prose of Sanskrit verses or śloka. It describes the pulses (nāṭi), their features (ataṉ naṭai), their involvement in diseases (nōy kāṇum muṟai) as well as their state during diseases (nitāna vāta pētaṅkaḷ) such as dysentery. It details the clinical features of diverse diseases, the formulations of some medicines, the measurement of raw materials used in the formulations, the method of administration of the medicines and the dosage.

The diseases concern types of fever (curam): vāta curam, pitta curam, cilēttuma curam, vāta pitta curam and caṉṉipāta curam; types of delirium (caṉṉi): tāntirika caṉṉi, curable (cāttiya) and incurable (acāttiya) deliriums; diseases caused by bad influence (tōṣam): capta vita tōṣam, apattiya tōṣam, tiri cankama tōṣam, viṣa tōṣam, viṣama cītaḷa tōṣam and aticāra tōṣam; and types of dysentry (aticāram): pitta aticāram, cilēttuma aticāram, toṣa aticāram, cāttiya aticāram and acāttiya aticāram.

The medicines which are mentioned, mostly oils (eṇṇey) concern the treatment of fever (curam), hiccup (vikkal), vomiting (vānti), 13 types of delirium (caṉṉi), 80 types of vāta diseases, cardiac disorders (mārnōvu), venereal diseases (cukkila mēkam, pitta mēkam), menorrhagia (perumpāṭu), diabetes (nīriḻivu), 5 types of jaundice (kāmālai), thirst (tākam), and sinusitis (pīṉicam). Additionally, the text provides several formulations of decoctions (kaṣāyam), dried plant powder (curaṇam), oils (tailam) such as Tuvatacāra tailam, Elāti tailam, Piruṅkāmalā tailam, medicated ghī (ney) and electuaries (lēkiyam).

Text 2- The text containing palm leaves numbered from 1 to 10, is a Tamil translation of a Sanskrit text entitled Vyākyā, written in śloka; the author is not specified. This text describes diverse types of dysentery, notably pakṣa aticāram, carva aticāram, kulma aticāram and kirākaṇi, the medicinal formulations to treat these diseases and the form in which they are given to patients.

Text 3- The text is a Tamil translation of a Sanskrit text, written in śloka. Entitled Cikiṭcā Cārati, it is composed of palm leaves numbered from 1 to 18. It presents the clinical features of diseases which may occur according to the type of land (nilam) on which a person lives and the medicines to treat these diseases, as well as a type of delirium (apiṇyāca caṉṉi pātam) and diseases caused by bad influence (toṣam) with their clinical features and treatment. It describes an oil (eṇṇey) for head ache (talaivali) and the formulation of Amuta kalāti eṇṇey.

The text explains how siddha practitioners have to diagnose diseases. A note mentions notably what diseases may be cured by money, by medicine, or by massage (appiyāyam).

Size of the manuscript: 26,5cm x 3,0cm. The palm leaves of the text 1 are numbered from 1 to 84, of the text 2 from 1 to 10, of the text 3 from 1 to 18. The leaves from 1 to 10 of text 1 are very damaged by rodents and those of the others texts are lightly affected by larvae; some are broken.