Cannabis formed a key part of the Indian pharmacopeia until modern times. In spite of its central role as a part of Indian medicine, its widespread usage by society as well as extensive prescription by Indian native physicians for a wide range of diseases, it was subsequently prohibited in India and world wide.
Many texts documenting the usage of cannabis may have been destroyed through the passage of time and human negligence, but some records still remain showing the cannabis plant as a powerful medicine to be revered unlike our modern approach of reviling it and its users.
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1893-94, as a part of its investigations came across the references to cannabis as medicine in various medical texts including by Sushruta in 8th century AD. Its first mention as a plant is said to have been in the Atharva Veda dated to around 1400 BC.
Here are some of these references.
In CH. X. Effects - General Observations, Report Of The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893-94, https://digital.nls.uk/74464868, the following information is to be found.
459. Before alluding to the use of hemp drugs by native physicians in the present day, the Commission consider that it will perhaps be of interest to give a brief résumé of the medicinal properties assigned to hemp by some of the ancient writers. Mr. George A. Gricrson, I.C.S., informed the Commission that having searched through all the Sanskrit and Hindi books accessible, he found the first mention of bhanga as a medicine in the work of Suçruta, written before the eighth century A.D. Bhanga is recommended with a number of other drugs as an antiphlegmatic. In the same work Mr. Grierson points out that vijaya is mentioned as a remedy for catarrh accompanied by diarrhœa, and as an ingredient in a prescription for fever arising from an excess of bile and phlegm. In these two passages, however, vijaya is probably an equivalent of haritaki, the yellow myrobolan, and does not mean hemp; and Dr. Hœrnle informed Mr. Grierson that in the oldest medical works the word vijaya is explained by commentators as referring to the yellow myrobolan. The use of bhang between the fifth and twelfth century is frequently mentioned in dictionaries, and the names used would seem to show that its use as an intoxicant was then known. In the Rajanighantu of Narahari Pandita, A.D. 1300, the effects of hemp on man are described as excitant, heating, astringent: it destroys phlegm, expels flatulence, induces costiveness, sharpens the memory, and excites appetite. In the Carngadharasamhita, a medical work, the date of which is unknown, but which must have been compiled during the Muhammadan period of Indian history, bhang is specially mentioned as an excitant. In the Dhurtasamagama, or "Rogues' Congress," A.D. 1500, the following passage occurs: "Ganja, which is soporific and corrects derangements of the humours, which produces a healthy appetite, sharpens the wits, and acts as an aphrodisiac." In the Bhavaprakaça, written about A.D. 1600, bhang is described as being "antiphlegmatic, pungent, astringent, digestive, easy of digestion, and bile-affecting, and increases infatuation, intoxication, the power of the voice, and the digestive faculty." In the Rajarallabha, a materia medica of rather later date, ganja is described as "Indra's food," is acid, produces infatuation, and destroys leprosy. It "creates energy, the mental powers, and internal heat, corrects irregularities of the phlegmatic humour, and is an elixir vitæ."
In the Makhzan-el-Adwiya, hemp seeds are said to be "a compound of opposite qualities, cold and dry in the third degree, i.e., stimulant and sedative, imparting at first a gentle reviving heat, and then a considerable refrigerant effect." The qualities of the plant are stimulant and sedative. "The leaves make a good snuff for deterging the brain; the juice of the leaves applied to the head as a wash removes dandruff and vermin; drops of the juice thrown into the ear allay pain and destroy worms and insects. It checks diarrhœa, is useful in gonorrhœa, restrains the seminal secretions, and is diuretic. The bark has a similar effect. The powder is recommended as an external application to fresh wounds and sores, and for causing granulations; a poultice of the boiled roots and leaves for discussing inflammations and cure of erysipelas, and for allaying neuralgic pains. The dried leaves, bruised and spread on a castor-oil leaf, cure hydrocele and swelled testes." Rumphius in the Herbarium Amboinense, A.D. 1695, states that the Muhammadans in his neighbourhood frequently sought for the male plant from his garden to give to persons afflicted with virulent gonorrhœa or with asthma, and the affection which is popularly called "stitches in the side." He also adds that the powdered leaves check diarrhœa, are stomachic, cure the malady named pitao, and moderate excessive secretion of bile. He mentions the use of hemp smoke as an enema in strangulated hernia, and of the leaves as an antidote in poisoning by orpiment.
NOTE BY MR. G. A. GRIERSON, C.I.E., MAGISTRATE AND COLLECTOR,. HOWRAH, ON REFERENCES TO THE HEMP PLANT OCCURRING IN SANSKRIT AND HINDI LITERATURE.
I have the honour to state that I have searched through all the Sanskrit and Hindi books accessible to me, and to forward the accompanying note on the references to the hemp plant occurring in the literatures of those languages. I have met the hemp plant in Sanskrit and Hindi literature under various names. The principal are— (1) Bhanga. (2) Indraçana. (3)Vijaya or Jaya. The earliest mention of the word ganja which I have noted is dated about the year 1300 A.D. Whenever the word vijaya is used, it is doubtful whether the hemp plant is meant, or the yellow myrobolan, as the word means both. The name bhanga occurs in the Atharvaveda (say, B.C. 1400). The hemp plant is there mentioned simply as a sacred grass. Panini (say, B.C. 300) mentions the pollen of the hemp flower (bhanga). In the commencement of the sixth century we find the first mention of vijaya which I have noted. It is a sacred grass, and probably means here the hemp plant.
The first mention of bhanga as a medicine which I have noted is in the work of Suçruta (before the eighth century A.D.), where it is called an antiphlegmatic. During the next four centuries bhanga (feminine) frequently occurs in native Sanskrit dictionaries in the sense of hemp-plant. In the tenth century the intoxicating nature of bhang seems to have been known: and the name Indraçana, Indra's food, first appears, so far as I know, in literature. Its intoxicating power was certainly known in the beginning of the fourteenth century. In a play written in the beginning of the sixteenth century, it is mentioned as being consumed by jogis (Çaiva mendicants). It is there named "Indra's food." In later medical works it is frequently mentioned under various names. I append a more detailed account of the passages in which I have noted the uses of the Indian hemp. I may add that I have not traced in literature any difference between the uses of the word ganja and of the word bhanga, though modern kavirajas tell me that they are distinct plants.
Cir. B.C. 1400 - In the Atharraveda (cir. 1400 B. C.) the bhang plant is mentioned (11, 6, 15) once:— "We tell of the five kingdoms of herbs headed by Soma; may it and kuça grass, and bhanga and barley, and the herb saha release us from anxiety." Here reference is evidently made to the offering of these herbs in oblations.
Cir. B. C. 300 - The grammarian Panini (5,2 ,2 9) mentions bhangakata, the pollen of the hemp flower, as one of his examples. The fact that the pollen of this special flower was quoted is worth noting.
A. D. 504 - Varahamihira in his Brihatsamhita (XLVIII, 39) mentions vijaya as used with other grasses in the rites of the Pusya, bathing festival. Vijaya in this passage certainly means some plant or other. The word may mean either the Indian hemp-plant or be a synonym of haritaki (the yellow myrobolan). Dr. Hœrnle informs me that in the oldest medical works the word is explained by commentators in the latter sense. It is doubtful what meaning we are to adopt here. The word may mean the hemp-plant bhanga. In the passage from the Atharvaveda, already quoted, amongst the five plants special honoured as oblations, bhanga is closely connected with the herb saha. So also in the Brihatsamhita, vijaya is mentioned as one of a long list of plants to be used in the offering, and the very next plant mentioned is saha, which is apparently the same as saha. This would encourage the theory that the vijaya of the Brihatsamhita was more probably the same as the bhanga of the Atharvaveda.
Before the eighth century - In Suçruta (Ut. XI, 3) Bhanga is recommended together with a number of other drugs as an antiphlegmatic. Vijaya is mentioned in the same work as a remedy for catarrh accompanied by diarrhœa (Ut. XXIV, 20, and Ut. 39, page 415, 20), as an ingredient in a prescription for fever arising from an excess of bile and phlegm. In these two passages, however, vijaya is probably an equivalent of haritaki, the yellow myrobolan, and does not mean hemp.
Twelfth century - In the various kosas, or dictionaries, bhanga is frequently mentioned as meaning the hemp plant. Thus,— (1) Amarakosa, 2, 9, 20. (2) Trikandaçesa, 3, 364. (3) Hemacandra's Anekarthakosa, 2, 37. (4) Hemakandra's Abhidhanacintamani, 1179.
Twelfth century - The Sarasundari (date not known to me), a commentary on the Amarakosa mentioned above, by Mathureça, and quoted in the Çabdakalpadruma, mentions that the seed of the bhanga plant is the size of that of millet (kalaya).
Cir. 1050 A.D - Cakrapanidatta is said to have flourished under Nayapala, a prince who reigned in the eleventh century A.D. In his Çabdacandrika, a medical vocabulary, he gives the following Sanskrit names for bhang:— (1) Vijaya (victorious), (2) Trailokyavijaya (victorious in the three worlds), (3) bhanga, (4) Indraçana (Indra's food), (5) Jaya (victorious). These names seem to show that its use as an intoxicant was then known.
A.D. 1300 - The Rajanighantu of Narahari Pandita adds the following names to those given by Cakrapanidatta in the Çabdacandrika, above mentioned:— (6) Virapattra (hero-leaved or the leaf of heroes), (7) Ganja, (8) Capala (the light-hearted), (9) Ajaya (the unconquered), (10) Ánanda, (the joyful), (11) Harsini (the rejoicer), and adds that the plant possesses the following qualities:— (1) Katutva (acridity); (2) kasayatra (astringency); (3) Usnatva (heat); (4) tiktatva (pungency); (5) vatakaphapahatva (removing wind and phlegm); (6) samgrahitva (astringency); (7) vakpradatva (speech-giving); (8) balyatva (strengthgiving); (9) medhakaritva (inspiring of mental power); (10) çresthadipanatva (the property of a most excellent excitant).
Say A.D. 1500 - The Çarngadhrasamhita, a medical work by Çarngadhara, the date of which is unknown, but which must have been compiled during the Muhammadan period of Indian History, specially mentions (1,4,19)1 bhanga as an excitant (vyavayin). In the same passage it mentions opium.
A. D. 1500 - The Dhurtasamagama, or "Rogues' Congress," is the name of an amusing if coarsely written farce of about the year 1500 A.D., the author of which was one Jyotiriça. In the second act two Çaiva mendicants came before an unjust judge, and demand a decision on a quarrel which they have about a nymph of the bazar. The judge demands payment of a deposit before he will give any opinion. One of the litigants says— "Here is my ganja bag; let it be accepted as a deposit." THE JUDGE (taking it pompously, and then smelling it greedily):—"Let me try what it is like (takes a pinch). Ah! I have just now got by the merest chance some ganja which is soporific and corrects derangements of the humours, which produces a healthy appetite, sharpens the wits, and acts as an aphrodisiac." The word used for ganja in the above is Indraçana (Indra's food).
Cir. A.D. 1600 - The Bhavaprakaça, another medical work written by Bhavadevamiçra (cir. A.D. 1600),1 has as follows:— Bhanga gañja matulani madini vijaya jaya | Bhanga kaphahari tikta grahini pacani laghuh | Tiksosna pittala moka- -mada-vag-vahni-vardhini || "Bhanga is also called gañja, matulani,m adini( the intoxicating), vjjaya (the victorious) and jaya( the victorious). It is antiphlegmatic, pungent, astringent, digestive, easy of digestion, acid, bile-affecting; and increases infatuation, intoxication, the power of the voice, and the digestive faculty."
17th century - "The Rajavallabha, a materia medica, by Narayanadasa kaviraja, the date of which I do not know, but which is quoted in the Çabdakalpadruma, and is believed to be ancient, has the following:— Çakra-'çanam tu tiksno-'snam moha-krit kustha-naçanam | Bala-medha-'gni-krit-çlesma- -dosa-hari rasayanam || Jata mandara-manthanaj jala-nidhaup iyusa-rupap ura| Trailokye vijaya-prade 'ti vijaya çri-devaraja-priya || Lokanam hita-kamyayak siti-tale-praptan araihk amada| Sarva-"t anka-vinaça-harsa-jananiy aihs evitas arvada. || "Indra's food (i.e., ganja) is acid, produces infatuation, and destroys leprosy. It creates vital energy, the mental powers, and internal heat, corrects irregularities of the phlegmatic humour, and is an elixir vitæ. It was originally produced, like nectar, from the ocean by the churning with Mount Mandara, and inasmuch as it gives victory in the three worlds, it, the delight of the king of the gods, is called vijaya, the victorious. This desire-fulfilling drug was obtained by men on the earth, through desire for the welfare of all people. To those who regularly use it it begets joy and destroys every anxiety."
?Date - The Rasapradhipa, a work, the date of which is unknown to me, and which is quoted in the Çabdakalpadruma mentions jaya, as a remedy for indigestion:— Ksaratrayam sutagandhou pancakolam idamç ubham| Sarvais tulya jaya bhrista tad-ardha çigruja jata || Natron, salt petre and borax, mercury and sulphur, and the prosperous five spices (long pepper, its root, piper chaba, another pepper, and dry ginger). To these add an equal amount of parched jaya and half of that amount of horse-radish (moringa) and jata. It is not certain whether jaya here means bhang or Haritaki (yellow myrobolan). The word has both significations. The latter, perhaps, suits the formula best.
?Date - In the Rasaratna-samuccaya, a work written in the south of India, jaya is classified as a semi-poison,— Langoli visamustiç ca karaviro jaya tatha | Tilakahk anako' rkaçc a vargo hy upavisatmakah.|| Langali (4) (Vanguiera spinosa), the root of the Nerium odorum, jaya (Symplocos racemosa) kanaka (5) and ak (a kind of Euphorbia), are semi-poisonous.
Notes on the above According to Dutt "not before 1535 A.D." 2Nectar was produced in this fashion. 3The name of several plants; I do not know which is meant here. (4)The name of several plants,—Jussisæa Repens, Hemionitis cordifolia, Rubia munjista, Hedysarum Lagopodioide. (5) Said by a kaviraja to mean dhatura.
1400 A.D. - Bhang is frequently mentioned by vernacular poets. The oldest instance with which I am acquainted is the well-known hymn by Vidyapati Thakur (1400 A.D.), in which he calls Çiva "Digambara bhanga," in reference to his habit of consuming that drug. According to an old Hindu poem, on which I cannot now lay my hands, Çiva himself brought down the bhang plant from the Himalayas and gave it to mankind. Jogis are well-known consumers of bhang and ganja, and they are worshippers of Çiva. In folk-songs, ganja or bhang (with or without opium) is the invariable drink of heroes before performing any great feat. At the village of Bauri in Gaya there is a huge hollow stone, which is said to be the bowl in which the famous hero Lorik mixed his ganja. Lorik was a very valiant general, and is the hero of numerous folk-songs. The epic poem of Alha and Rudal, of uncertain date, but undoubtedly based on very old materials (the heroes lived in the twelfth century A.D.), contains numerous references to ganja as a drink of warriors. For instance, the commencement of the canto dealing with Alha's marriage, describes the pestle and mortar with which the ganja was prepared, the amount of the intoxicating drink prepared from it (it is called sabzi) and the amount of opium (an absurdly exaggerated quantity) given to each warrior in his court. That the consumption of bhang is not considered disreputable among Rajputs may be gathered from the fact that Ajabes, who was court poet to the well-known Maharaja Bishwanath Singh of Riwa, wrote a poem praising bhang and comparing siddhi to the "success" which attends the worshipper of "Hari." Here there is an elaborate series of puns. The word siddhi means literally 'success,' and hari means not only the god Hari, but also bhang.
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Many texts documenting the usage of cannabis may have been destroyed through the passage of time and human negligence, but some records still remain showing the cannabis plant as a powerful medicine to be revered unlike our modern approach of reviling it and its users.
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1893-94, as a part of its investigations came across the references to cannabis as medicine in various medical texts including by Sushruta in 8th century AD. Its first mention as a plant is said to have been in the Atharva Veda dated to around 1400 BC.
Here are some of these references.
In CH. X. Effects - General Observations, Report Of The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893-94, https://digital.nls.uk/74464868, the following information is to be found.
459. Before alluding to the use of hemp drugs by native physicians in the present day, the Commission consider that it will perhaps be of interest to give a brief résumé of the medicinal properties assigned to hemp by some of the ancient writers. Mr. George A. Gricrson, I.C.S., informed the Commission that having searched through all the Sanskrit and Hindi books accessible, he found the first mention of bhanga as a medicine in the work of Suçruta, written before the eighth century A.D. Bhanga is recommended with a number of other drugs as an antiphlegmatic. In the same work Mr. Grierson points out that vijaya is mentioned as a remedy for catarrh accompanied by diarrhœa, and as an ingredient in a prescription for fever arising from an excess of bile and phlegm. In these two passages, however, vijaya is probably an equivalent of haritaki, the yellow myrobolan, and does not mean hemp; and Dr. Hœrnle informed Mr. Grierson that in the oldest medical works the word vijaya is explained by commentators as referring to the yellow myrobolan. The use of bhang between the fifth and twelfth century is frequently mentioned in dictionaries, and the names used would seem to show that its use as an intoxicant was then known. In the Rajanighantu of Narahari Pandita, A.D. 1300, the effects of hemp on man are described as excitant, heating, astringent: it destroys phlegm, expels flatulence, induces costiveness, sharpens the memory, and excites appetite. In the Carngadharasamhita, a medical work, the date of which is unknown, but which must have been compiled during the Muhammadan period of Indian history, bhang is specially mentioned as an excitant. In the Dhurtasamagama, or "Rogues' Congress," A.D. 1500, the following passage occurs: "Ganja, which is soporific and corrects derangements of the humours, which produces a healthy appetite, sharpens the wits, and acts as an aphrodisiac." In the Bhavaprakaça, written about A.D. 1600, bhang is described as being "antiphlegmatic, pungent, astringent, digestive, easy of digestion, and bile-affecting, and increases infatuation, intoxication, the power of the voice, and the digestive faculty." In the Rajarallabha, a materia medica of rather later date, ganja is described as "Indra's food," is acid, produces infatuation, and destroys leprosy. It "creates energy, the mental powers, and internal heat, corrects irregularities of the phlegmatic humour, and is an elixir vitæ."
In the Makhzan-el-Adwiya, hemp seeds are said to be "a compound of opposite qualities, cold and dry in the third degree, i.e., stimulant and sedative, imparting at first a gentle reviving heat, and then a considerable refrigerant effect." The qualities of the plant are stimulant and sedative. "The leaves make a good snuff for deterging the brain; the juice of the leaves applied to the head as a wash removes dandruff and vermin; drops of the juice thrown into the ear allay pain and destroy worms and insects. It checks diarrhœa, is useful in gonorrhœa, restrains the seminal secretions, and is diuretic. The bark has a similar effect. The powder is recommended as an external application to fresh wounds and sores, and for causing granulations; a poultice of the boiled roots and leaves for discussing inflammations and cure of erysipelas, and for allaying neuralgic pains. The dried leaves, bruised and spread on a castor-oil leaf, cure hydrocele and swelled testes." Rumphius in the Herbarium Amboinense, A.D. 1695, states that the Muhammadans in his neighbourhood frequently sought for the male plant from his garden to give to persons afflicted with virulent gonorrhœa or with asthma, and the affection which is popularly called "stitches in the side." He also adds that the powdered leaves check diarrhœa, are stomachic, cure the malady named pitao, and moderate excessive secretion of bile. He mentions the use of hemp smoke as an enema in strangulated hernia, and of the leaves as an antidote in poisoning by orpiment.
NOTE BY MR. G. A. GRIERSON, C.I.E., MAGISTRATE AND COLLECTOR,. HOWRAH, ON REFERENCES TO THE HEMP PLANT OCCURRING IN SANSKRIT AND HINDI LITERATURE.
I have the honour to state that I have searched through all the Sanskrit and Hindi books accessible to me, and to forward the accompanying note on the references to the hemp plant occurring in the literatures of those languages. I have met the hemp plant in Sanskrit and Hindi literature under various names. The principal are— (1) Bhanga. (2) Indraçana. (3)Vijaya or Jaya. The earliest mention of the word ganja which I have noted is dated about the year 1300 A.D. Whenever the word vijaya is used, it is doubtful whether the hemp plant is meant, or the yellow myrobolan, as the word means both. The name bhanga occurs in the Atharvaveda (say, B.C. 1400). The hemp plant is there mentioned simply as a sacred grass. Panini (say, B.C. 300) mentions the pollen of the hemp flower (bhanga). In the commencement of the sixth century we find the first mention of vijaya which I have noted. It is a sacred grass, and probably means here the hemp plant.
The first mention of bhanga as a medicine which I have noted is in the work of Suçruta (before the eighth century A.D.), where it is called an antiphlegmatic. During the next four centuries bhanga (feminine) frequently occurs in native Sanskrit dictionaries in the sense of hemp-plant. In the tenth century the intoxicating nature of bhang seems to have been known: and the name Indraçana, Indra's food, first appears, so far as I know, in literature. Its intoxicating power was certainly known in the beginning of the fourteenth century. In a play written in the beginning of the sixteenth century, it is mentioned as being consumed by jogis (Çaiva mendicants). It is there named "Indra's food." In later medical works it is frequently mentioned under various names. I append a more detailed account of the passages in which I have noted the uses of the Indian hemp. I may add that I have not traced in literature any difference between the uses of the word ganja and of the word bhanga, though modern kavirajas tell me that they are distinct plants.
Cir. B.C. 1400 - In the Atharraveda (cir. 1400 B. C.) the bhang plant is mentioned (11, 6, 15) once:— "We tell of the five kingdoms of herbs headed by Soma; may it and kuça grass, and bhanga and barley, and the herb saha release us from anxiety." Here reference is evidently made to the offering of these herbs in oblations.
Cir. B. C. 300 - The grammarian Panini (5,2 ,2 9) mentions bhangakata, the pollen of the hemp flower, as one of his examples. The fact that the pollen of this special flower was quoted is worth noting.
A. D. 504 - Varahamihira in his Brihatsamhita (XLVIII, 39) mentions vijaya as used with other grasses in the rites of the Pusya, bathing festival. Vijaya in this passage certainly means some plant or other. The word may mean either the Indian hemp-plant or be a synonym of haritaki (the yellow myrobolan). Dr. Hœrnle informs me that in the oldest medical works the word is explained by commentators in the latter sense. It is doubtful what meaning we are to adopt here. The word may mean the hemp-plant bhanga. In the passage from the Atharvaveda, already quoted, amongst the five plants special honoured as oblations, bhanga is closely connected with the herb saha. So also in the Brihatsamhita, vijaya is mentioned as one of a long list of plants to be used in the offering, and the very next plant mentioned is saha, which is apparently the same as saha. This would encourage the theory that the vijaya of the Brihatsamhita was more probably the same as the bhanga of the Atharvaveda.
Before the eighth century - In Suçruta (Ut. XI, 3) Bhanga is recommended together with a number of other drugs as an antiphlegmatic. Vijaya is mentioned in the same work as a remedy for catarrh accompanied by diarrhœa (Ut. XXIV, 20, and Ut. 39, page 415, 20), as an ingredient in a prescription for fever arising from an excess of bile and phlegm. In these two passages, however, vijaya is probably an equivalent of haritaki, the yellow myrobolan, and does not mean hemp.
Twelfth century - In the various kosas, or dictionaries, bhanga is frequently mentioned as meaning the hemp plant. Thus,— (1) Amarakosa, 2, 9, 20. (2) Trikandaçesa, 3, 364. (3) Hemacandra's Anekarthakosa, 2, 37. (4) Hemakandra's Abhidhanacintamani, 1179.
Twelfth century - The Sarasundari (date not known to me), a commentary on the Amarakosa mentioned above, by Mathureça, and quoted in the Çabdakalpadruma, mentions that the seed of the bhanga plant is the size of that of millet (kalaya).
Cir. 1050 A.D - Cakrapanidatta is said to have flourished under Nayapala, a prince who reigned in the eleventh century A.D. In his Çabdacandrika, a medical vocabulary, he gives the following Sanskrit names for bhang:— (1) Vijaya (victorious), (2) Trailokyavijaya (victorious in the three worlds), (3) bhanga, (4) Indraçana (Indra's food), (5) Jaya (victorious). These names seem to show that its use as an intoxicant was then known.
A.D. 1300 - The Rajanighantu of Narahari Pandita adds the following names to those given by Cakrapanidatta in the Çabdacandrika, above mentioned:— (6) Virapattra (hero-leaved or the leaf of heroes), (7) Ganja, (8) Capala (the light-hearted), (9) Ajaya (the unconquered), (10) Ánanda, (the joyful), (11) Harsini (the rejoicer), and adds that the plant possesses the following qualities:— (1) Katutva (acridity); (2) kasayatra (astringency); (3) Usnatva (heat); (4) tiktatva (pungency); (5) vatakaphapahatva (removing wind and phlegm); (6) samgrahitva (astringency); (7) vakpradatva (speech-giving); (8) balyatva (strengthgiving); (9) medhakaritva (inspiring of mental power); (10) çresthadipanatva (the property of a most excellent excitant).
Say A.D. 1500 - The Çarngadhrasamhita, a medical work by Çarngadhara, the date of which is unknown, but which must have been compiled during the Muhammadan period of Indian History, specially mentions (1,4,19)1 bhanga as an excitant (vyavayin). In the same passage it mentions opium.
A. D. 1500 - The Dhurtasamagama, or "Rogues' Congress," is the name of an amusing if coarsely written farce of about the year 1500 A.D., the author of which was one Jyotiriça. In the second act two Çaiva mendicants came before an unjust judge, and demand a decision on a quarrel which they have about a nymph of the bazar. The judge demands payment of a deposit before he will give any opinion. One of the litigants says— "Here is my ganja bag; let it be accepted as a deposit." THE JUDGE (taking it pompously, and then smelling it greedily):—"Let me try what it is like (takes a pinch). Ah! I have just now got by the merest chance some ganja which is soporific and corrects derangements of the humours, which produces a healthy appetite, sharpens the wits, and acts as an aphrodisiac." The word used for ganja in the above is Indraçana (Indra's food).
Cir. A.D. 1600 - The Bhavaprakaça, another medical work written by Bhavadevamiçra (cir. A.D. 1600),1 has as follows:— Bhanga gañja matulani madini vijaya jaya | Bhanga kaphahari tikta grahini pacani laghuh | Tiksosna pittala moka- -mada-vag-vahni-vardhini || "Bhanga is also called gañja, matulani,m adini( the intoxicating), vjjaya (the victorious) and jaya( the victorious). It is antiphlegmatic, pungent, astringent, digestive, easy of digestion, acid, bile-affecting; and increases infatuation, intoxication, the power of the voice, and the digestive faculty."
17th century - "The Rajavallabha, a materia medica, by Narayanadasa kaviraja, the date of which I do not know, but which is quoted in the Çabdakalpadruma, and is believed to be ancient, has the following:— Çakra-'çanam tu tiksno-'snam moha-krit kustha-naçanam | Bala-medha-'gni-krit-çlesma- -dosa-hari rasayanam || Jata mandara-manthanaj jala-nidhaup iyusa-rupap ura| Trailokye vijaya-prade 'ti vijaya çri-devaraja-priya || Lokanam hita-kamyayak siti-tale-praptan araihk amada| Sarva-"t anka-vinaça-harsa-jananiy aihs evitas arvada. || "Indra's food (i.e., ganja) is acid, produces infatuation, and destroys leprosy. It creates vital energy, the mental powers, and internal heat, corrects irregularities of the phlegmatic humour, and is an elixir vitæ. It was originally produced, like nectar, from the ocean by the churning with Mount Mandara, and inasmuch as it gives victory in the three worlds, it, the delight of the king of the gods, is called vijaya, the victorious. This desire-fulfilling drug was obtained by men on the earth, through desire for the welfare of all people. To those who regularly use it it begets joy and destroys every anxiety."
?Date - The Rasapradhipa, a work, the date of which is unknown to me, and which is quoted in the Çabdakalpadruma mentions jaya, as a remedy for indigestion:— Ksaratrayam sutagandhou pancakolam idamç ubham| Sarvais tulya jaya bhrista tad-ardha çigruja jata || Natron, salt petre and borax, mercury and sulphur, and the prosperous five spices (long pepper, its root, piper chaba, another pepper, and dry ginger). To these add an equal amount of parched jaya and half of that amount of horse-radish (moringa) and jata. It is not certain whether jaya here means bhang or Haritaki (yellow myrobolan). The word has both significations. The latter, perhaps, suits the formula best.
?Date - In the Rasaratna-samuccaya, a work written in the south of India, jaya is classified as a semi-poison,— Langoli visamustiç ca karaviro jaya tatha | Tilakahk anako' rkaçc a vargo hy upavisatmakah.|| Langali (4) (Vanguiera spinosa), the root of the Nerium odorum, jaya (Symplocos racemosa) kanaka (5) and ak (a kind of Euphorbia), are semi-poisonous.
Notes on the above According to Dutt "not before 1535 A.D." 2Nectar was produced in this fashion. 3The name of several plants; I do not know which is meant here. (4)The name of several plants,—Jussisæa Repens, Hemionitis cordifolia, Rubia munjista, Hedysarum Lagopodioide. (5) Said by a kaviraja to mean dhatura.
1400 A.D. - Bhang is frequently mentioned by vernacular poets. The oldest instance with which I am acquainted is the well-known hymn by Vidyapati Thakur (1400 A.D.), in which he calls Çiva "Digambara bhanga," in reference to his habit of consuming that drug. According to an old Hindu poem, on which I cannot now lay my hands, Çiva himself brought down the bhang plant from the Himalayas and gave it to mankind. Jogis are well-known consumers of bhang and ganja, and they are worshippers of Çiva. In folk-songs, ganja or bhang (with or without opium) is the invariable drink of heroes before performing any great feat. At the village of Bauri in Gaya there is a huge hollow stone, which is said to be the bowl in which the famous hero Lorik mixed his ganja. Lorik was a very valiant general, and is the hero of numerous folk-songs. The epic poem of Alha and Rudal, of uncertain date, but undoubtedly based on very old materials (the heroes lived in the twelfth century A.D.), contains numerous references to ganja as a drink of warriors. For instance, the commencement of the canto dealing with Alha's marriage, describes the pestle and mortar with which the ganja was prepared, the amount of the intoxicating drink prepared from it (it is called sabzi) and the amount of opium (an absurdly exaggerated quantity) given to each warrior in his court. That the consumption of bhang is not considered disreputable among Rajputs may be gathered from the fact that Ajabes, who was court poet to the well-known Maharaja Bishwanath Singh of Riwa, wrote a poem praising bhang and comparing siddhi to the "success" which attends the worshipper of "Hari." Here there is an elaborate series of puns. The word siddhi means literally 'success,' and hari means not only the god Hari, but also bhang.
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