Although the many extant Sanskrit versions of the story of King Śibi and the dove have been thoroughly studied, one version, from the Vahnipurāṇa, has so far escaped the attention of scholars. This paper presents a new, critical edition of the Sanskrit text, based on all available material — an existing edition, quotations, and a recently disco…[Read more]

Presentation in the working group “History of Science in Early South Asia” at https://www.chstm.org/early-south-asia on Dec. 19th 2022.

The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which mantras were used in early Ayurveda: the treatment of wounds and swellings/tumours, of poisoning, of mental disorders, and the collection and preparation of certain medicines. Although this article is a highly important contribution to the study of the…[Read more]

The seminal 1989 study “Mantra in Ayurveda” by Kenneth G. Zysk1 describes four areas in which mantras were used in early Ayurveda: the treatment of wounds and swellings/tumours, of poisoning, of mental disorders, and the collection and preparation of certain medicines. Although this article is a highly important contribution to the study of the…[Read more]

Although he was the first professor of Tibetan in Europe as well as the chair of Sanskrit at the Collège de France, Philippe-Édouard Foucaux (1811-1894) is little remembered today; Bernard le Calloc’h, in a series of biographical articles on Foucaux, has described him as “un Angevin oublié.” Nevertheless, Foucaux’s published works, especial…[Read more]

Im Ayurveda bedarf die Entstehung von Epidemien einer gesonderten Erklärung, da sie nicht mit dem dort gültigen allgemeinen Verständnis der Krankheitsentstehung in Einklang zu bringen ist. Das Grundkonzept sieht vor, dass Menschen je nach Konstitution, Ernährung, Körperkraft, Gewöhnung,
Charakter und Alter für bestimmte Krankheiten anfäll…[Read more]

Slides accompanying a talk presented at a joint research meeting of the Sushruta Project and the Classical Āyurveda Text Study Group in Vienna, July 2022.

Darjeeling tea is known worldwide for its delicate taste and for being one of the most expensive teas. Despite this, when we look at the tea laborers we find how little their condition has changed over time. They still have to protest for days to increase a few rupees in their wages. Although there is still rising demand for Darjeeling tea in the…[Read more]

We all know about Darjeeling tea but little do we know about its history. The story of the establishment of Darjeeling has many twists and turns. There are only few works which are done on this topic and hence we have very limited sources to refer to. Set against the backdrop of the looming Himalayas and drenching monsoons, this interview will aim…[Read more]

This article probes the history of education and current pedagogical practices among Malayali physician-teachers, vaidya-gurus, of Ayurveda in central Kerala. Considering the sources vaidya-gurus cite as the bases of their teaching styles, especially a three-part method known as mukhāmukhaṃ (‘face-to-face’ instruction), I discuss the place, produc…[Read more]

In this article, I hitch the ever-present awareness of disease in my personal life and our shared world today to a pointed and academic reflection on the ways we consume and re-present information about disease from premodern South Asia that’s contained in texts.