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INTRODUCTION
Research officers from the Rural
Studies Unit of the Micro-level Socio-economic Studies Division, Marga
Institute, have come across several old manuscripts dealing with
traditional Sinhalese medicine. A unique characteristic of these
manuscripts is that they recognize the existence in the human body of
numerous loci (particularly acupunctural and cauterization points)
relevant to healing purposes.
One of the most valuable among
them is a manuscript in the private library of Ayurvedic Dr. Sugathadasa
Samararatne of Nalagama, Tangalle, entitled Salla Vidiya.
It is a coherent presentation of systematic thought on the subject of
cauterization as a healing technique. The name of the author is
unknown. The word salla in the title corresponds to
Sanskrit salya, which means 'surgical'. Vidiya
implies method or body of instructions.
The Samararatne manuscript
Salla Vidiya is written in ink on an improvised pad of four sheets
of ruled foolscap paper, each sheet being folded in two. The first
eight pages are numbered; the other pages are left unnumbered. The
last page contains additional notes on cauterization. The writing
there is in vivid contrast to that of the numbered pages, where the
original black ink has turned a pale ash colour. The paper, which
must originally have been white, has a light brown tinge, indicating the
lapse of about three-quarters of a century. Dr. Raja de Silva,
former Commissioner of Archeology, and Mr. G. P. S. H. de Silva Deputy
Director, Department of National Archives, were shown the manuscript.
The first two pages consist of
introductory statements in prose. Thereafter the author expounds
his system in 61 stanzas of verse. Seven additional stanzas and
other notations were added later.
In assessing the objective
properties of the Samararatne manuscript of the Salla Vidiya, we
can say that it was copied in about A.D. 1905 in black ink from an older
manuscript. Many facts can be inferred from internal
evidence. It is of course theoretically possible for a later
writer to imitate old forms of expression and spelling. In this
instance, it is far-fetched to think so as other investigators have
independently come across other manuscripts dealing with the same or
similar subject matter.
The word bottama, occurring
in line 5 of page 1 and elsewhere in the Samararatne manuscript in the
sense of a cauterizing implement with one end resembling a button, is
probably derived from Portuguese. It is a relic of Portuguese
influence which was present in Sri Lanka during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. An earlier Sanskrit name for the instrument
was jāmbava salākā.
On line 2 of page 1 of the
manuscript the name Jayasuriya is written with a palatal s.
Line 2 of stanza 3 has satakina, also with a palatal s.
Such preference for the palatal letter s is a common feature of
manuscripts copied in Kandy and its suburbs during the seventeenth,
eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
The dental n and l
and the cerebral n and l are used in this manuscript
indiscriminately, uninfluenced by grammatical theories concerning their
usage.
Prior to the sixteenth century,
there had been a fair degree of agreement as to the use of dentals in
preference to the cerebrals. The underlying principles were lost
later on but were revived by Venerable Dharmarama (head of the
Vidyalankara Pirivena, Kelaniya) in the third decade of the twentieth
century.
At about the same time, divergent
views were expressed by scholars of the Vidyodaya Pirivena, Colombo.
The author of the Samararatne text appears to have lived at least 40 to
50 years prior to the third decade of the twentieth century, so his
usage did not conform either to the Vidyalankara views or to the
Vidyodaya views on the use of cerebral and dental n and l.
Thus, in line 4 of stanza 9 the
word gurulu has a dental l. The word ukunuwala
in line 1 of stanza 6 has a dental n, while ukunuwalen in
line 1 of stanza 14 has a cerebral n. Line 2 of stanza 1
has pamanin with dental n, while line 4 of stanza 12 has
the same word with cerebral n. Line 3 of stanza 5 has
kana with cerebral n but line 2 of stanza 26 has kane
with dental n. Line 1 of stanza 61 has poranaduran
with dental n.
By the third decade of the
twentieth century printed Sinhalese books were quite common. The
printing press was popularizing a standard form of spelling joint
consonants as separate printed sounds. In the old palm-leaf
manuscripts, joint sounds were written very close together. But
the Samararatne manuscript uses both forms - the joint form in some
words, the separate form in other words.
The use of the imperative mood
ending in -pan as found in this text is found in line 4 of stanza
50 as pulussapan. Line 1 of stanza 53 has ahapanne.
These forms were current in textbook language in the nineteenth century
but tended to drop out of the written idiom afterwards, although they
were retained in the colloquial idiom, especially in addressing
inferiors.
The colloquial form nan (in
place of nam meaning 'if') is in the same category. Out
manuscript has nan in line 1 of stanza 1 but nam in line 1
of stanza 53. Similarly, nan occurs in line 1 of stanza 19,
and ise rade nan in line 1 of stanza 48. This too is
evidence of nineteenth century authorship of the original.
Most statements on loci made in
the Samararatne manuscript are in agreement with statements in modern
books on acupuncture, e.g., the importance of the pinna for
correcting eye defects and the relevance of different zones on the sole
to healthy functioning of various parts of the body.
The first two pages of the
manuscript, in prose, form a résume of instructions pertaining to
embrocation and cauterization in instances of specific illness.
Eighteen sanni illnesses are mentioned. Collectively they
form a field for intensive research for identifying each sanny illness.
Loci corresponding to points at the back of the head, on the top of the
head, between the eyebrows, near the elbow joint, below the knees, and
above the angle bone are mentioned.
Some of these places correspond to
acupuncture points mentioned in books on Chinese acupuncture. For
instance, point yāmen in the Chinese system appears to be the
same as point ukunuwala on the back of the heat at the dent just
above the nape of the neck. Is it really so? Or is point
ukunuwala different from point yāmen? Patient research
is needed before we rush to conclusions.
Points for cauterizing are
described as being so many finger-inches (angula) above or below
other known places such as the knee or the elbow, the word angula
being closely related to the Sinhala word for finger, ängilla.
In the Chinese system, too, we hear of fen as a unit of
measurement. Concepts of such units also deserve to be studied
comparatively.
The application of heat in varying
degrees of temperature is mentioned in the Salla Vidiya.
The instructions tavanu ('you embrocate'), gasā tavanu
('you embrocate forcefully'), gasā pulussanu ('you cauterize
forcefully') as given here imply that the remedies are operative through
transmitting heat in the degree of temperature appropriate for each
ailment. Medical practitioners may be able to establish whether
such methods actually heal. Allopathic literature is not devoid of
references to electric cauteries.
The Chinese experience of the
efficacy of moxibustion gives us hope in this matter. Our text has
no direct mention of moxibustion. But stanza 45 refers to a
technique of placing a piece of creeper 3 finger-inches long on the
shank and lighting the two extremities of the piece of creeper.
The stanza claims that neuralgic pain of the foot ceases when this
remedy is carried out. Out text does not name the creeper.
But one Pelmadulla text calls it bāndurā.
The book proper ends with stanza
61, where the last line indicates that the book ends. Stanzas
62-68, added later, refer to the flow of the mystic forces of kalā,
soolam, and maru. They form an
astrological-cum-medical set of forces which constantly move up and
downt he bodies of males and females. Kalā corresponds to the
phases of the moon, while mary and soolam operate jointly on weekdays
during morning, noon, and evening. Cauterization is not permitted
in any part of the sick person's body if that place is influenced by any
or all of these mystic forces.
The last lines of stanzas 66 and
67 in this text are defective but can be reconstructed with the help of
similar stanzas in the Pelmadulla Text A and other texts of the Salla
Vidiya. It would be interesting to compare these mystic forces
and the Chinese channel theory of the dynamism of the human body.
After stanza 68, there is a charm
to use for oil that can be applied on the body if cauterization results
in excessive burning. The subsequent pages are blank but the last
page has short notes on the subject of cauterization.
Though we do not know the name of
the author of the Salla Vidiya, the name of the original owner of
this particular copy is given in line 2 of page 1 of the text -
Jayasuriya Aratchi Patabendige Babanis. Evidently he was from the
Tangalle area, where most of the residents belong to the Karave caste.
The Jayasuriyas of Tangalle are Karave people. Venerable
Welipatanwila Dipankara, the well-known Sanskrit scholar, came from such
a Jayasuriya family resident in Tangalle, as can be inferred from a
statement made by Venerable Dipankara himself on page 479 of his edition
of the Hitopadesa.
Babanis probably donated the
manuscript to the Jayasumanarama Temple in Palatuduwa, Tangalle.
It was from there that Ayurvedic Dr. Sugathadasa Samararatne obtained it
as a present from Venerable Walgameliya Somarama (1900-1968), who was
the chief incumbent of the temple till his death. That was an act
of generosity typical of monks who belonged to the Matara (Saddhamma
Yuttika) branch of the Amarapura Nikaya; they extended their favours
even to people who were outside their caste. The fact that Dr.
Samararatne belonged to a non-Karave group, while Venerable Somarama
came from a Karave family, did not prevent the venerable monk from
donating the manuscript to the physician. The doctor's family was
known to the elders of the temple. His brother-in-law had been a
lay disciple of theirs, and he himself, being a resident of Nalagama, a
village near Tangalle, visited the temple quite often to look into the
needs of the monks.
Dr. Samararatne is a successful
and popular traditional physician held in high regard by people of all
castes. His contemporaries have honoured him with the title Vaidya
Shiromani, which means 'crest gem among physicians'. The
government authorities have made him a justice of the peace. His
paternal ancestors who had been associated with the physicians of the
royal court of King Vimala Dharma Suriya I (1591-1604) brought them to
Devinuwara in the Southern Province, where they lived. Dr.
Samararatne's maternal ancestors were also distinguished physicians for
nine generations. Senior residents of the area still remember
their names - Carolis Vedarala, Basian Vedarala, Janis Vedarala, Arnolis
Vedarala, etc.
Dr. Samararatne is often called in
to examine cases of severe protracted illness in Matara and Hambantota
districts. Whenever he is not away on such curative work he spends
his time in the morning hours at his dispensary in Valgameliya, on the
Tangalle-Weeraketiya road. In the afternoon he can be contacted at
his home in Nalagama. He has a valuable library of palm-leaf
manuscripts and printed publications on traditional medicine. Born
in 1911, he will soon be completing his three score years and ten and
continues to maintain excellent health.
His daughter, who is married to
the son of a well-known physician of the area, also takes a keen
interest in traditional medicine. It may therefore be surmised
that his books will be properly looked after. But in order to
serve a wider public, it will be useful if some arrangements are made to
preserve photostats of his books. He is a general practitioner
interested in all aspects of medical treatment. Cauterization is
not his specialty. The book Salla Vidiya is merely one of
the manuscripts in his possession. |
