A comparative analysis of Parimana (measurements) mentioned in Hastyayurveda with Charak Samhita and Sharangdhar Samhita

Abstract

The Hastyayurveda, authored by sage Palkapya is one of the most important ancient text available having description of wellbeing, diseases and their management in elephants. The text has been composed in the form of conversation between king of Anga Desha, Romapada and sage Palkapya. The text Hastyayurveda is the unexplored part of Ayurvedic literature. There is a need to explore the text and understand the fundamental principles, theories and traditional healing system by comparing it with the well-established available Ayurvedic literature. This endeavour will not only enrich our understanding but also serve as a crucial step in preserving ancient wisdom. It is an established and well accepted fact that Parimana (Measurements) have crucial importance in therapeutics, in both human beings as well as in animals. Like Charak Samhita and Sharangdhar Samhita, Hastyayurveda also contains description of Parimana. As we know, Charak Samhita is most widely accepted Samhita text in Ayurveda and Sharangdhar Samhita is considered as the basic text dealing with Bhaishajya Kalpana. Present paper is an effort towards a comparative analysis of different types of Parimana described in Hastyayurveda with those described in Charak Samhita and Sharangdhar Samhita.