Bhela Samhita

Bhela Samhita (IAST: Bhela-saṃhitā, "Compendium of Bhela") is a Sanskrit-language medical text from ancient India. It is known from an incomplete c. 1650 CE manuscript kept at the Sarasvati Mahal Library in Thanjavur, and a c. 9th century fragment found at Tuyoq. Quotations in other works suggest that an older version of the text, possibly composed during 400-750 CE, existed.

Much of the text is in form of a dialogue between sage Atreya and his pupil Bhela, the author of the text. It shows many similarities with the ''Charaka Samhita'', another text of the Atreya school, but it also shows some similarities with the ''Sushruta Samhita'' of the Dhanavantri school.

Authorship

The text is primarily in form of a dialogue between the sage Atreya and his pupil Bhela (also called Bheḍa). However, several other people also talk to Atreya in the text, including:

* the royal sage Nagnajit, who asks Atreya questions about detecting poison in food
* Gurdalu Bhekin, who asks Atreya about medical topography
* Sushrotar Medhavin, who describes the treatment of the dosha-related disorders
* Several sages (including Khandakapya and Maitreya) talk to Atreya on the topic of tastes

In the text, the dialogue between Nagnajit and Atreya takes place during Atreya's visit to Gandhara. Based on the text's mention of Gandhara, some scholars theorize that Bhela was from Gandhara. However, R.S. Singh theorizes that Bhela was from western India, based on an analysis of vegetables used for preparing medicines mentioned in the text.

Date

Multiple sources, including the Thanjavur version of the ''Bhela Samhita'' mention Bhela as a pupil of the ancient sage Atreya. Plus, Bhela is mentioned in ancient texts such as the Bower Manuscript. This suggests that Bhela was regarded as a medical authority in the ancient period.

Modern scholars date the Thanjavur manuscript to c. 1650, and the ''Bhela Samhita'' version represented by this manuscript was probably completed in the 7th century CE or later, as suggested by internal evidences. Unlike the ''Charaka Samhita'' and the ''Sushruta Samhita'', it has not been revised by later authors.

Tisata's ''Chikitsa-kalika'' (10th century) contains a recipe attributed to Bhela; this recipe is very similar to the recipe described in the Thanjavur manuscript, although the wording is somewhat different. This suggest that the ''Bhela Samhita'' text represented by the Thanjavur manuscript was not very different from the one known to Tisata in the 10th century. The Thanjavur version contains several quotes attributed to Bhela in ''Jvara-samuchchaya'', whose oldest manuscript dates to 924 CE.

Sodhala's ''Gada-nigraha'' (c. 1200 CE) describes the formula for a medicine called ''dhanvantara-ghrta'', attributing it to Bhela; the Thanjavur manuscript refers to this medicine twice, but does not provide the actual formula. This suggests that a more complete version of ''Bhela Samhita'' existed around 1200 CE.

An earlier form of the text probably developed sometime during 400-750 CE. The ''Bhela Samhita'' refers to several practices that originated in the Gupta period, such as chanda-karman and the worship of Shiva on a cremation ground. The original ''Bhela Samhita'' was not identical with the Thanjavur text, as suggested by several quotations. For example, on the topic of applying enema to children, the '' Kaashyapa-samhita'' (possibly c. 7th century) attributes an opinion to Bhela which disagrees with the Thanjavur text.

Bhela's text is probably not much earlier than the ''Sushruta Samhita''. While the ''Charaka Samhita'' refers to the ''Bhela Samhita'', the Thanjavur version was probably composed after Dṛḍhabala redacted the present-day version of ''Charaka Samhita''.

The Bower Manuscript attributes three gruels to Bhela. Eleven more prescriptions mentioned in the Bower Manuscript also appear in the Thanjavur manuscript of ''Bhela Samhita'', although not attributed to Bhela; these may have derived from earlier works that are now lost.

Contents

''Bhela Samhita'' is a medical treatise that primarily deals with internal medicine (''kaya-chikitsa''). The text mainly consists of shloka verses in anuṣṭubh metre, and only the ''Sharira-sthana'' part contains prose passages.

The ''Sutra-sthana'' section of the text lists its contents as follows:

Some features of the text include:

* It names four categories of living beings: placentals, oviparous, germinating, and moisture-born (''svedaja'').
* It states that the main task of a physician (''kaya-chikitsaka'') is to treat the disorders of the "digestive fire" (''kaya-agni''), which is located in the abdomen, and whose size depends on the body size of the animal
* Its list of internal and external organs differs slightly from the ''Charaka Samhita'', and it names the ''rasa'' (nutritive fluid) as the most important constituent of the body. Its description of the heart is similar to that of the ''Sushruta Samhita'', and it states that according to Parashara, the heart is the first part of the embryo to develop. It also discusses other concepts in physiology, such as 8 types of sweat.
* It contains general advice regarding diet. For example, it describes 12 types of wholesome food articles; advises people against drinking water before or during a meal; and advises against eating a fish called ''chilichima'' in combination with milk.
* It states that the mental state of the parents during the sexual intercourse determines the nature (''guṇa

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