Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems

(d) Kita

- Butterflies

Syena (hawK),

Hamsa (swan),

Kalavinka

the Brahmanas are

Tittiri (partridge),

Vaja (faloon)

Kapinjala (Hazel

(sparrow),

(e) Patanga

- Moths, locusts etc.

cockatoo) etc. Panini, the grammarian, divided the living creatures into two - Pranin (animate) and Apranin (inanimate). Pranin are supposed to have a mind ( cittavat ), while Apranin are devoid of mind (Acit- tavat). The animate are divided into Pasu (animals) and Manushya (human beings). Animals are further divided into gramya and aranya. Panini’s work, Astadhyi also refers to the determination of the age of animals based on the number of teeth, growth of the horns and hump. Terms like Angula srnga (horn of one finger length, dvidanta (two teeth) point to this fact. The Dharmasutras classify beasts under four divisions — Ekasapha (one hoof) Dvikhuri (two hoofs), Pancanakha (five nails) Ubhayatidanta (two rows of teeth). The Baudhayana Dharmasutra classifies birds into three categories - Vikira (insect eating); Pratuda (eating after, pecking them with beaks, and Kravyada (eating fish only). Two kinds of fish are also mentioned in the Dharmasutras - Vikrta rupa (peculiar in irregular shapes) and Avikrtarupa (regular shape) The Manasollasa of Someswara, a work belonging to 12 cent AD. has a section Matsyavinoda, dealing with fish. Though the section deals mainly with angling, it has many useful details of fish varieties. Fish are divided into marine and freshwater. Each of these is further divided into scaly and scaleless. The Manusmriti broadly classifies wordly objects into Sthavara (immovable) and Jangama (movable). The Jangama includes ani- mals and are further divided into Jarayuja (viviparous), Andaja (oviparous) and Svedaja (born out of sweat). Higher animals including human beings belong to Jarayuja class, birds, serpents etc belong to Andaja, while Svedaja has flies, mosquitoes, lice, bugs etc. Charakasamhita, an ancient medical text, divides animals un- der five categories - Aranya, Gramya, Jalodh.abh.ava (Aquatic), St- halaja (terrestrial) and Udbhijja (born out of vegetable matter). Sushruta, another celebrated ancient Indian surgeon, adds one more class Samsvedaja (bom out of heat and sweat) to the category of animals. Tattvarthadigama a Jaina work of Umaswathi gives an exhaus- tive classification of animals primarily based on senses . These are (I) Animals with touch and taste (a) Apadika - without lateral appendages (b) Nupuraka - Annelids (c) Gandupada - Arthropods (d) Sambura - Molluscs (e) Jaluka - Leeches

IV Animals with five senses

(a) Matsya

- Fish

(b) Uraga

- Reptiles without limbs

(c) Bhujanga

- Oviparous limbed animals

(d) Pakshi

- Birds

(e) Catuspada

- Quadrupeds.

Elephants and horses which were very useful in warfare were studied in great detail and there are several works exclusively dealing with them. These are Hasthyayurveda, Matangalila, Asv- asastra etc The Hasthyayurveda dealing with elephants has four sections ( sthana ), each divided into several chapters. The first section deals with diseases and remedies, surgery is dealt with in the third section while dietary details are found in the fourth section. Ten types of instruments of surgery are also mentioned. The originator of Asvasastra is believed to be Nakula, one of the five Pandava brothers. The work whose date is unknown is available in the Saraswati Mahal Library, Tanjore, Tamil Nadu. The work written in verses divides the body of the horse into ten parts. Various types of horses also have been described. These however are mostly from the utilitarian point of view and have little zoological value. Another ancient zoological work of considerable interest is a work on ornithology entitled Syainika Sastra attributed to one Rudra deva. The work includes classification of birds, diseases, details of hunting etc. To sum up it may be said that the knowledge of ancient Indians in animal science compares favourably with that of contemporary civilizations.

Sources and Chronology of Original Works Referred in the article

RigVeda

About 1500 B.C.

Brahmanas

Between Rig Veda and the rise

of Buddhism

Astadhyayi of Panini

400 B.C.

Arthasastra of Kautilya

300-4B.C.

Manusmriti

200 B.C. - 200 A.D.

Caraka Samhita, Susruta Samhita

Beginning of Christian era

II Animals with touch, taste and smell (a) Pipilika

Tatvarthadigama

135 -219 A.D.

- Ants and insects

Mahabharata

Earlier part of the Christian era or B.C.

(b) Rohinika

- Red ants

(c) Upacika

Puranas

- Bees, fleas

4th cent B.C. - 500 A.D.

Amarakosha

4th cent, A.D.

(d) Satapadi

- Centipedes

Brihat Samhita

4th or 5th cent. A.D.

(e) Trnapatra

- Aphids etc.

Vrkshayurveda of Parasara -

1st cent B.C. 1st cent A.D.

III Animals with sight, smell, taste and touch

Manasollasa

112 A.D.

Asvasastra

Unknown possibly 12 cent. A.D.

Hastyayurveda

Unknown

(a) Saranga (b) Makshika (c) Vrishika

- - -

Bees, wasps etc Flies, gnats etc.

(S.S.)

Scorpions, spiders etc.