Scientific Achievements of Ancient India,Stcherbatsky,1924

7/28/2019 Scientific Achievements of Ancient India,Stcherbatsky,1924

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Studies In theftistoru. of Science in India

Volume 1


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Studies In The

HISTORYO f

SCIENCEI n

Volume I

EDITED BY

Dehprasad

EDITORIAL ENTERPRISESL-1/10, tfauz Khas

. New Delh? 110 016


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Printed by Barun Maitra on behalf ofIndian Studies: Past & Present, 3 SambhuNath Pundit Street, Calcutta 700 020,and published byEditorial En terprisesL-l/10 Hauz Khas, New Delhi110 016

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C O N T E N T S

Volume 1Acknowledgements

Introduction

Sources & Principles of Reprint

[Date of first publication of each contribution is given in brackets]

PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

Th. StcherbatskyScientific Achievements of Ancient India(1924) / 3

Introduction 3. Character of the People 4. Physics 6.Vaisesika System 9. Atomic Theory of thejaina s 10.Atomic Theory of the Buddhists 11. Medicine 12.

Surgery 13. Botany 14. Chemistry 15. Technology 16.Mathematics 17.H. JacobiAtomic Theory in Indian Thought (1908) / 23

B. N. SealOn the Scientific Method (1915) / 36

The Doctrine of Scientific Method 36. Criterion or Testof Truth : After the Buddhists 36. Perception 37 .Observation (Darsana : Vcaspati & Udayana ) 37.Experiments 39. Fallacies of Observation 40. Doctrineof Inference 40. The Crvka View 42. The Buddhists :their Analysis and Vindication of Inference 42.Ascertainment of Inseparableness or non-Disjunction :Buddhist Account 43. The Nyya Doctrine of Inferen-ce 48. Nyya Objection to the Buddhist Method ofDifference as a means of Ascertaining Causality 51 . TheNyya Analysis of the Causal Relation (Continued) 53.Synchronousness of Cause and Effect 53. Time-relationin a Chain of Causes and Effects 54. Nyya Ground ofInference -Vyapti 54. Ascertainment ofVypti accordingto Early Nyya 56.Vyapti between Cause and Effect -Relation of Causality toVyapti 59.


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T. W. Rhys DavidsCausality as Weltanschauung : Early Buddhism (1910) / 64

MEDICINE

G. N. MukhopadhyayaOn the Medical Authorities (1923) / 73

Agnivesa73. Bhela 74. Jatukarna76. HritaI 76.Ksrapni76. Vrddha Parsaraor ParsaraI 77. Par-sara II 77. Vrddha Susrutaor SurutaI 78. Caraka84. Drdhabala 89. Bhiksu treya92. Jvaka 94.VgbhataI 97. Ngrjuna101. Dhanvantari102.Slihotra105. Plakpya110. Atreya Punarvasu111.Krsna Atreya112. Kapya 114. Knkyana114.Kanada115.

A. F. R. HoernleThe Bower Manuscript (1909) / 116

The Discoveryof the Bower Manuscript116. Descriptionof the Bower Manuscript119. The Script,the Scribesand their Usages130. Subject and Contentsof theTreatises131.

A. F. R. HoernleThe Composition of the Caraka-samhit in the Light of the Bower

Manuscript : An Essay in Historical and Textual Criticism

(1909)/ 141

J. JollyPhysicians and Therapy (1901) / 175

Trainingof Physicians175. Positionand PracticeofPhysicians176. Diagnosis178. Prognosis180. Heal-ing Substances182. Propertiesof Medicines184. CuringMethods186. Form and Quantityof Medicine189.Mercuryand Opium 190. Surgical Operations192. Surgi-cal Instruments195. Cauterisationand Branding198.Blood-letting200. Diet202. Hygienic Directions204.


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D. ChattopadhyayaCase for a Critical Analysis of the Caraka-samhit (1979) / 209

Introductory209. Flat Contradictions: the Cow 210.Food : Religiousand Medical Views214. Medical Ethicsand Traditional Morality216. Celibacy: AlcoholandAlcoholism218. The Criterion 221. Modelof MedicalTreatise222. Two Fallacies223. Fallacyof Irrele-vance224. Fallacyof Contradiction 225. Specific Medi-

* cal Context 227. Irrelevanceand Contradiction230.Salvation Superimosedon Healing Technique 231. Meta-physical Correlates 233. SummingUp 236.

I-TsingObservations on Medicine in India and China (c, 692) / 239

On Symptomsof Bodily Illness239. Ruleson GivingMedicine 243. Hurtful Medical Treatm ent Mustnot bePractised251.

J- JollyIndian Medicine and Its External Relations (1901) / 254

A. Csomade KorosAnalysis of a Tibetan Medical Work (1835) / 258

P. O. BoddingSantal Medicine (1925) / 289

ALCHEMY,CHEMISTRY, BOTANY ETC.

Al-BrnOn Alchemy in India (c. 1030) / 329

On Alchemy amongthe Hindusin General329. Scienceof Rasyana330. The Alchemist Vydiin the Timeof King Vikramditya331. Story aboutthe PieceofSilver in the Door of the Government-housein Dhra332. Story of the Fruit-seller Rankaand the KingVallabha 333.An Eranian Tradition335. On the Bird

Garuda 335. The Effect of Charmson the Bite ofSerpents 335. Hunting Practices336.


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J. FilliozatAl-Brn and Indian Alchemy ( 1951 ) /338

P. G. RayChemistry in Ancient India (1918) / 344

[Introductory]344. On Apparatusand the ColourofFlames 351. Efficacyof the Apparatus351. Crucibles351. Colourof Flames 351. Testsof a Pure Metal352.Copper fromthe Pyrites352. Extractionof Zinc fromCalamine352. Initiation into Discipleship352. On theLaboratory353.

P. G. RayAntiquity of Hindu Chemistry (1918) /356

G. P. MajumdarThe History of Botany and Allied Sciences (Agriculture, Medicine,

Arbori-horticulture) in Ancient India (c. 2000 B. C. to A. D. 100)

(1951) I 365General Introduction365. I. Science of Botany inAncient India(History of Plant Science - Its genesis andDevelopmentup to 1st Century B.C.). In t roduc t ion366.Botany Duringthe Vedic Period(c. 2000 B.C. to 800B.C.): 1. Morphology- External368. 2. Internal Struc-ture 369. 3. Physiologyof Plants369. 4. Classifica-tionof Plants370. 5. Plantsand Evolution370. Post-Vedic Development (from800 B.C. to A.D. 100) 371.TheVrksyuneda by Parsaraor the Scienceof PlantsandPlant-life (c. 1st CenturyB.C. or A.D. or Earlier?) 375.Contentsof the Vrksayurveda 376. Internal StructureofLeafand Stem 378. Food Manufacturein Leaves379.Classificationof Plants (ganavibhga) 379. 1. Samlga-nyam (Leguminoseae)379. 2. Svastika-ganyam (Cruci-ferae) 380. 3. Tripuspa-gamyam (Cucurbitaceae)380.II. Scienceof Medicine 381. Beginningsof the MedicalScience382. Maladies, their Classificationsand Reme-dies(Atharvaveda) 384. Some Outstanding AchievementsDuring this Period(c. 2000 B.C. to A.D. 100) 388.Conclusion392. III. Science of Agriculture393.Beginningsof Agricultural Science (VedicAge) 393.Development During Maurya Period398. Kr si-paras ara400.


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CONTENTS

Volume 11(Synopsis)

ASTROLOGY, ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICS

The Sulva-stra-s

' Vednga-Jyotisa

Astronomical Siddhnta-%Literature on Astronomy Etc.

Age of Aryabhata, Varham ihira, Brahmagupla, Bhattotpala,

Bhskarcrya, Etc.

Aryabhata and Epicyclic Astronomy

On the B r h a t s a m h i t of VarhamihiraOn the K h a n d a k h d y a k aof BrahmaguplaAl-Birnl on Indian T heories of EclipsesAlgebra, Arithmetic and Mensuration

The Bakhshl Manuscript

Mathematical Achievem ents of the Jainas

Ancient Indian Num erals

Aryabhata's System of Expressing Num bers

Calendrical Systems

MEDIEVAL INDIAScience and Technology in Medieval India

INTERACTION AND EXCHANGEIndia and ChinaIndia and Central AsiaIndia and the West

Biographical Notes

General Index

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PHILOSOPHY & SCIENCE

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SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF ANCIENT INDIATh. STCHERBATSKY

INTRODUCTION

The progress of a nation, viewed in historical perspectivdoes not always proceed along a continuously advancing straigline. At times this progress is arrested, and the reverse procesets in. Though this phase may be more or less temporary, may sometimes lead to even complete annihilation of the natipopulation from the arena of liistory and its replacement by taliens. The historical development of the peoples is checkedby warsexternal and especially internal particularly whthey continue too long. But, then, they also do some goo

provided they are followed by spells of peace and ordersomtimes on a larger territory than that involved in war. The hitory of the Indian peoples, as that of no other peoples on earfor four thousand years of which more or less accurate daare available, is full of such examples of zigzag advance anarrest of culture. We see clearly that during these four thosand years of India's history, in the few epochs when the cou

try was united under one power, was well governed, and wnot subject to foreign yoke, it made rapid advances in all diretions. The remarkably rich and large territory of the countryand the high degree of competence of the people apparentsecured the possibility of its rapid progress. And in fact, whin the fourth century B.C., in the course of its aggressive avance on the East, the Greek civilization reached India, it mresistance from the high Brahmin culture which was in no winferior to the Greek civilization. Alexander's forces were fouinadequate for conquering even a small part of Indian territorThe towns founded and the population left behind by him wefast submerged in the surrounding Indian environment, exeting little or almost no influence.

There are, on the whole, two distinct periods in the historof India when large territory of the country was united unde


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4 History of Science in India

one power, was well governed, and was strong enough not onlto repel any foreign attack but also to march on the path of progress.The first of these is that immediately following Alexander'invasion ; the other and a more prolonged oneis tha t fromthe fourth to the seventh century A.D. During all other periodsInd ia appe ars to us a pic ture of disorder, intern al discord an dweakness as com pared to her neighbours, who flowed in to heterritory in a continuous stream and dominated the country onafter anoth er. The Persians, the Greeks, the Scy thians, theTurks, the Huns, the Arabs, the Afghans, the Mongols, andthen the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and lastly the Britishall avidly strove for the dom ination of the country, whoslegendary riches, high cu lture and unusua l weakness held oupromises of rich gain until the British finally overpow ered athe rivals an d un ited the who le cou ntry under their sway. ...A

also in other countries, no thing in Ind ia could withstand thenergy of Islam. W ha t happ ened in many other countriesdid not, however, happ en in Ind ia. The Ind ian culture didnot vanish once and for all. W hat ha pp en ed in In dia wassomething unusual and almost singular in the history of humanity : the na tional life withd rew with in its ancien t heritage a ndpreserved itself within the socalled caste stru ctu re and in par ti

cular alliances of religious ch aracter imbued with the spirit oextrem e conservatism, cultura lly absolutely static, inacce: sible any outside influence, an d at the same time highly submissivto any power, resigned to any foreign aggression not havinthe capac ity to show any resistance whatsoever. U nd er thistrict caste system, no progress could have been possible.

CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE

The scientific achievements of the Indians are closely relateto their national charac ter, w hich has left its imprin t on altheir work. What strikes most a student of the history of Indiascholarship is the excessive deve lopm ent of the imaginativpowers of the India ns. In any work, some imagina tion is absolutely essential. Not to speak of poetry and philosophy , n


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Scientific Achievements / Stcherbatsky 5

hypothesis is possible without imagination. Its exceptional oprominent development, however, becomes a setback : it alienates a person from reality, tha t is from tru th a nd may lead himso far away th at the gulf between fantasy an d reality may become un br idg eable . It would be unfair to say tha t the flighof fantasy in Ind ia was absolutely unch ecked . Norm ally, pr oceeding from a rational basis and deve loping with inexorab llo g ic /th is fantasy works in a known direction along specifilines ; the idea is worked out upto the end till it leads either ta blind alley or to absu rdity. T he rem ark ma de by the leadinmodern mathematician-philosopher, Bertrand Russell, that onwishing to be a philosopher must learn no t to be scared of absurdity, is fully app licable to the Ind ian methods of work. T hIndians never feared carrying things to absurdity if their inexorab le logic so dem anded. Such disposition of the peo ple, it i

clear, m ad e them take up prim arily those sciences which werdominated by the method of speculationthe methoda prioriviz. inference of a result theoretically from some principleestablished or accepted beforehand onbelief. This is why phi-losophy has been the strongest side of Indian scho larship. Thfield is still far from being fully know n to us. O ne m igh t evesay that the veil has hardly been lifted from the enormous riche

of Ind ian philosophical thou gh t. And nevertheless, we havwitnessed what revelation the first light of Indian thou gh t habrou ght to Europe in spite of its hav ing reached through thprism of bad translations. Schopen hau er's system, as its au thohimself acknowledged, was m uch indeb ted to In dia n influencBut the pioneer work in this field is still only in its infancyT he greatest Ind ian thinkers, Dignga an d D harm akrti, aralmost still unknown to Europe.

As regard s exp erim enta l sciences, one cannot say that thInd ians did not at all know experimen t an d observation. Othe con trary, they were very good observers. W e have highlsignificant embryos of a majority of experimental sciences durinthe glorious period of Ind ian scholarship. However, in thirespect, they lag behind other nations, particularly the GreekDuring the period of decadence and difficult living cond ition


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the experimental sciences completely vanished whereas thefavourite contemplation of Indians wenton.

PHYSICS

Indian physics represents the transition state from pure philosophical speculation to experimental science. We have number of theories about the structure and evolution of th

material world from the primary substance. From the moancient times, we find in India a number of cosmogonie sytems,gradually passing over from mythological conceptions tdistinctive scientific theories. The earliest system that is fitbe called scientific is the Smkhya. According to it, the whoworld with all its diversityeverything of the nature of unoganised matter, all the plants and the entire world of animals

everything is basically and essentially material. This diversiincludes not only the inert mass but also the active forces anconscious processes, yet all this is derived by evolution from oprimeval matter. This system cannot be called fully materiaistic, for here the conscious processes do not invariably arise oof the material ones, and a special conscious constituent is assmed to exist separately from matter. This conscious constitue

is present in the process of evolution of matter, as it were, bit does not participate in it. Byitself, it is absolutely inactive.All psychical processes are the processes of matter and specmaterial forces. But among the constituents of matter, there one that is akin to the spiritual one and is capable of perceiviand reflecting its static being. This spiritual element canhowever, be safely ignored, for it plays no role in the process evolution of matter. In all other respects, the system, is fulmaterialistic, for the whole complex process of evolution accomplished by matter from out of its own forces without anoutside interference or control of the conscious will. Thereforin the beginning of the universe, we have only one shapelesindivisible, unbounded, all-pervading, indestructible, eternprimeval matter which none has created and none controls. Bits unity and immobility are caused only by the fact that th


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forces flowing in it are linked in a state of equilibrium. Whthis equilibrium is destroyed under the influence of undetemined transcendental causes, the primeval matter is found have three different constituentsi.e. the constituent mentionabove, which is capable of developing into consciousness ; topposite constituent of inert mass ; and the active constitueof forces or energies, under the influence of which the whoprocess takes place. These energies are conceived as a contituent, which has no mass or weight but has a quantum ievery real product of matter. All the three constituentsmasenergy and the consciousare inseparably linked to each othThe primeval matter is a continuous limitless substance consiing oE infinitely small particles of these three inter-acting contituents. The nature of their inter-action is such that one cannexist independently of the others. Energy cannot exist witho

mass ; the conscious presentations do not occur without energThe presentation finally obtained, however, depends on thconstituent that is predominant. Thus, for instance, a materibody in a state of rest shows the predominance of mass ; thenergy is linked here but the conscious constituent is not at adeveloped. The same body in motion shows the dominance the constituent of energy ; the mass i.e. resistance is overcom

and the conscious constituent is not developed. In a consciowilful motion, the appearance of energy is due to thepredominance of conscious constituent and the presence of tinert constituent is expressed in the overcoming of hindranceIn the primeval matter also, all the three constituents do nocome into being, for which it is necessary that here and theone of them should become dominant and thus release a paof the interlinked constituents. The process begins when thindividual particles of the three constituents scattered indifferely in the primeval matter, arrange themselves to form a whounder the influence of natural affinity. This results in unevepressure in various parts of matter, and the single undifferetiated matter yields to various bodies which go on forming grduallyall different from each other.

Unlike in the atomistic systems, evolution does not tak


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place here by the accu mulation of atoms. The atom s are therbu t they are formed later : the re are still three stages of infraatom ic deve lopm ent and the atom is not the first one. Everatom has all the thre e universal constituents of primevam atte r. T he evolution generally takes place in the m atteras a whole ; it is described as the process of transform ation of homogeneous, indeterminate and undifferentiated masinto heterogeneous, dete rm inate an d organised bodies. In thprocess of evolution, noth ing is adde d or taken off; m atter cabe neither created nor destroyed. T he sum -total of m atter aa . whole its three constituents remains constant, if all istates, actu al and poten tial, are taken into account. T he elements of m att er are in eterna l motion, which cannot stop evefor a single mo m ent. Any m aterial processany grow th odecayis nothing but a redistribution of the particles of matte

its trans ition from past to presen t, from present to future ofrom po tentia l to ac tua l state. T he redistribu tion of mass andenergy gives rise to all the diversity of m aterial world , plantand anim als. The process of evolution of primeval m attebegins when its three componen t constituents are separatedfrom each other. Later, this separation becomes obvious. Althe In dian systems are formulated on the basis tha t m atte r

fully determinate and cognizable, consists of a number of sensuqualities of smells, tastes, touches, colours a nd sounds. Wknow of no other m atte r outside these qualities. Thereforethe re are five forms of m atter correspond ing to ou r five senseTho ug h they are called ea rth , water, fire, air and ether, whais however m eant by these is only the various agents causintheir respective sensations. Thus , in the evolution of m atte rbifurcation takes place alongtwo different lines : oneforthe produ cts with the pre do m inan ce of the element capa ble oforming consciousness, thus giving rise to substances with consciousness and sense organs ; and the otherwhere inert matteis pre do m inant, and we get its five forms corresponding to fivsenses. First, matter is formedthough differentiated yet subtlecontaining only the capacity of showing the respective qualitieThereafter, farther evolution takes place , when these element


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are condensed into real sensual qualities.This is how this process takes place : a t first, in th e mos

subtle rarefied prim eval m atte r, are formed separate points orotatory motionwhirlwinds of its typecontaining potentially the capacity of sound. The n, these points are so condened that the real atom of ether is formed out of them. Thiatom having its special energy decomposes un de r the influencof the same primeval released energy an d creates a new cen trof new energy , generating the possibility of tou ch in it, whicthen forms an atom of m atter of touch . T he ma terial atoms ofire and of taste and smell are also formed in the same m an neThus every subsequent atom possesses all the qualities of thprevious ones so that the atom of hard mat te r possesses all thsensual qualitiessound, taste, touch:, heat and finally smell-.

VAISESIKA SYSTEM

O ther In dian atomistic systems originated from the notionof infinitely small dimension. In the most anc ient literatu rethere are speculations on the infinitely sm all bodies-. T he souconceived as the body having absolutely no dimension, was athat time considered such an entity. In the Vaisesika system

the atoms are divided into complex having m inimu m dimension,and simple or dimensionless m athem atica l points. Thespoin ts, however, have po tential qualitiescorresponding tothe four m ain senseson the basis of wh ich they are dividedinto four categories. In the system, sound an d its corresponding element, ether, do no t have atomic struc ture . E the r onlyfills the empty space between the dimensionless points of simplatom s. In order to form a complex atom it is necessary to havat least six such dimensionless points which, together with ethefilling the space between them , form something like a prismIt is only homogeneous atoms of the same category that canform a complex atom ; the heterogeneous simple atoms cannoform anyth ing . Since in simple atoms, the qualities are only

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10 Historyof Sciencein India

potentialinthe formsof imperceptible forcesitis necessarytha t some homogeneous points should arrang e themselvesin aspecial compound, whichis called creativeand is analogoustothe chemicalone. In matteras existingin the universe, atomscannot exist freely without combination with others.Any speci-fic qualityis always traced backto a compoundof two atomswith potential qualitiesof the same type. The only exceptionis air which, some scholars opine,is the aggregateof free atoms

which,so to say, do not

jointhe

chemical compound.The

Vaisesika systemdid not in any way negatethe fact that bodiesconsist evenof heterogeneous atom s having different qualities;bu t these so-called extraneous qua lities will have only subordnate and secondary importancein the formationof the body.A body consists mainlyof matter; the atomsof other categoriesonly furtherthe main processof formation of the body. The

temperature developedin the chemical processes always presu-pposesthe existenceof solid so-called earth atom s. Neitherairnor watercan heat up by itself.

THE ATOMIC THEORYOF THE JAINAS

The theoryof the Jainasis distinguished fromthe Vaisesika

systemin that the former assumesthe existence primarilyofthe homogeneous atoms onlythoseof matter, in general.Each atom is an infinitely small quantityand is, by itself,devoidof qualities. These qua lities, however,do exist poten-tially; each atom thus possesses taste, smell, colour, temperaturand other special tangible qualities whichcan cause amalgama-tion of atoms formingnew bodies. For this, mere neighbour-hoodof the atomsis not enough; moreof mutual conjunctionis necessary,for which they must have opposite qualities.Twohomogeneous atoms cannot blend together.One must be, soto say, positiveand the other negativeor,if they are homoge-neous, the intensity of one quality mustbe at least more thantwice thatof the other. Whentwo atomsof opposite qualitiesblend together, something like m utu al attraction takes placbetwen them. If the amalgamationis causedby the intensity


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of one element, the higher degree of intensity absorbs the lowone. All changes in the qualities of com pounds are explaineby the na ture of their m utual attraction .

THE ATOMIC THEORY OF THE BUDDHISTS

The most interesting atomic theory in India is perhaps thaof the Buddhists. They generally started by nega ting the exisence of every eterna l substance. Th ey pictured the wo rld as photoplay consisting of unique flashes of light. Strictly speakinthere is no m at ter; there exist only forces. At first, it was thexistence of spiritual substance only that was denied. Th igave rise to a controversy between the Brhm ana s and thBuddhists on the existence of soul. The Buddhists, on the wholwere grea t negaters. They negated the existence not only o

God and soul, bu t also of every substance. T he soul wareplaced by separa te m en tal elements or ideas and m atte r bindividua l forces. T he flashes of these forces were not in anway connected with each other; they did not belong to anysubstance. Th ey were linked to each other in the regula rwhole of the universe only by the fact tha t their app earanceor flashes were regula ted by laws of strict causality. Ju st a

the light of a lamp appears to an observer as a lasting objectin reality, there is a new flash of light every mom ent exac tlso, all othe r m aterial elements, i.e. colour, sound , taste, smeland touch are nothing bu t a chain of recu rring flashes. T hu san atom is nothing bu t a m om en tary flash, app earing according to specific laws in rela tion to all oth er flashes which theworld consists of. But no t a single atom like this is ever m ein na ture . W e have in na ture only complex atoms, each atomhaving at least eight parts of wh ich four are of the na tu re oprim ary forces, an d the other fourof dep end ent secondaryforces. The pr im ary forces are ea rth , water, fire and air, bu twhat we actu ally m ean by these is the forces of reflection,adhesion, heating an d m ovem ent. Th us the complex atomsan d everything th at consists of them possess these four forcesFor instance, a flame has a motion, a temperature, an arrange


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Scientific Achievements / Stcherbatsky i'3

medieval Europe where they held sway right up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. But it is difficult to say whethethese notions were borrow ed by the Greeks from the In dian sor reversely, by the Ind ians from the Greeks. It is prob ab lethat their medica l concepts, as those of the other peoples, havbeen taken from ancient Babylon. In any case, there has beenan active exchang e of medical knowledge between bo th thecultu red peoples of th at time, which is eviden t from the largenum ber of im po rtant prescriptions for various diseases. In facthese ideas of hum ora l pathology were only the theoretical sidof the affair. They did not at all interfere with accurate observation, not to speak of experim entation. The Indian medicalitera ture gives us a num ber of fine descriptions of variousdiseases and of the medic inal effects of various herbs an d preparat ions. However, the specialists in the field opine that

Indian achievemen ts are far beh ind those of the Greeks. T h ephysiological concepts of the Ind ians are not based on observation, for the Ind ians were afraid of touch ing a dead bod ybecause of their religious convictions. In this field, they didr.ot have the precise knowledge; the whole pic ture of hu m anbody and its physiological functions were dra w n pure ly on thbasis of the theory and the most irrepressible oriental fantasy.

SURGERY

Surgery was the most illustrious aspect of ancien t In dianmedicine. Since olden days, the In dia n doctors were renow nedfor their surgical operations. In plastic surgery, they hadachieved such perfection that the European surgery of the nine

teenth century had to borrow some methods from th em . Comparatively large number of cases of chopping of noses in punishm ent for various crimes had m ade it necessary that a nose becreated artificially. Sam e is the case with the crea tion ofartificial ears and lips. In the field of ophthalm ology, thecataract was w ell-known to the Ind ians; they ha d describedit in detail and had also given a m eth od for rem oving it surgically. Th ey were also fully acqu ain ted w ith and widely applied


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the most daring operations in cases of abnorm al delivery varous methods of laparotomy and enterotomy. T he n um beof sha rp instruments used in these cases was 20 and tha t of thbluntones181. It is rem arka ble that in the decadent periodof Indian culture, even surgery fell into decay. Though populmedicine generally con tinued to existand it exists even noalong with modern medicine taught in the universities on Eurpean modelyet it is evident th at the living conditions in thperiod of decadence were not conducive to its developmenThe atmosphere heretofore, in which the complicated operatiowere possible, was no longer there ; the com plex surgicamethods, thereforej gradually fell into oblivion.

BOTANY

The advancement of medicine would have been unthinkableif the sprouts of two other subsidiary sciencesbotany an dchemistrywere not there . T he rich India n flora gave richmaterial for gathering medicinal plants and studying theireffects. In the treatises on medicine datin g from the anc ienperiod , we find descriptions of abou t five hu nd red herbs an dtheir the rap eu tic uses. W e also find various attem pts a t the i

classification, bu t these are very elementary an d superficialT he India n bo tany of the glorious period did not reach thestage when a scientific classification could be made.

During the later decadent period, when medicine itself started falling into oblivion, there was still less chance of havin gsuch a scientific classification. A specific branch of study wathat of the toxic meanspoisons an d various herbs. In thestill earlier period, when all was not quietviz. in the M au ryperiod(contemporary of the period of Alexander theM aced onianwhen the M au rya dynasty was in powerpoison was the usuameans of political struggle of various groups in the cou rts : inthe kitchen of every rule r, there always used to be a learnedbrahmana an expert in poisonous substanceswho was respon-sible for examining the food prepared for the ruler, so that therwas no possibility of any poisonous substance being mixed.


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CHEMISTRY

In ancient India , chemistry served medicine on one h a n din the preparation of a nu m be r of med icines and technologon the otherfor preparing colours, steels, cements, spirits, etOf the metallic medicines, mercury was particularly popu larT he Indians could ex tract and purify m ercury and use it fovarious complex prepa ratio ns . Its medicinal effect was considered very strong . T he re was an assum ption th at it was possble to obtain such a perfect mercury compound that could givnot only health bu t also imm ortality. T h e nu m ber of varioumercury compounds known was as high as 18. There also exised a special school of chemists and alchemists, wh ich endow em ercury with the imp ortanc e of being the basic element of thuniverse. T he Ind ians generally had knowledge of othe r m eta

and their oxides. The y also knew tha t some of these w erechemical com pounds. Th ey had various theories of chem icaaffinity and described practical preparation of various metallisalts. Fine sheets of meta l were covered with salts and theheated. T he well-known autho r of the Ind ian treatise onmetallurgy, Ngrjuna, gives directions for preparation of complex metallic salts and amalgams, and for the extraction, pur

fication an d precipitation of metals. H e is, however, pa rticularly known for his mercury com pounds. An other famouchemist, Patanjali, is known for his invention of a special mixture (calledvidas) which con tained nitric acid. T he chemistsdiligently engag ed themselves in the prep ara tion of complesubstances from the simple an d in the decomposition of thcomplex into simple ones. Various chemical processes generalldescribed in the anc ient treatises are those of extraction , pu rfication, tempering, calcination, powdering, liquefying, preciptation , washing, drying, steam ing, melting, filing, etc. Late rall these processes were applied to various metals, using speciapp aratuses and reagen ts and heating to different degreeshigh, average and low. Tho ug h these me thods had not beenperfected, they did give the desired results, m ainly by the usof various strong reagents containing nitric, sulphuric and


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16 History of Science in Ind ia

hydrochloric acids. T he m ethod of pre pa ring silver nitrate frothe ashes of plants and that of p reserv ing caustic alkali in metallic vessel so am azed the French chemist, Berthelot, th ahe dou bted the authenticity of th e Ind ian source. H e surmisethat the prescriptions had probably been borrowed from Europan d inserted in an anc ient In dian treatise as a later ad ditio nBut it can be easily proved against him tha t the m ethod habeen described in all the earliest treatises; the information othe use of silver nitrate has been taken from the ancien t B uddhist literature.

TECHNOLOGY

The progress of chemistry also influenced its practical application in technical pro du ction . Various method s for prepa rincements had already been known to India since olden days. I

the 7th century, a special m ethod was invented for m anufacturing cem ent. Its unusual streng th, as seen in the old structures which are still no t ruin ed even in the smallest degreeamazes us. T he Indian s say tha t it can withstand destructivinfluence for a milliard years. In the seventh century, we comacross references to various specialists in structu re of mach ineand apparatuses, in pre pa ratio n of dyes, co louring m atter, an

also spirits and cosmetics. Three technical inventions have particularly enhan ced the rep utatio n of the Indian, industrial technology and secured for it such excellence as th at of the Britisindustry in the 19th centu ry. It is difficult to form even aslightest notion of the huge commerce tha t Ind ia cond uctedwith the West in the anc ient times. No t being in a position toexport anything to India, the Roman Empire was economicallshattered because of the hug e am ou nt of gold tha t had to besent to Ind ia in pay m ent for the Ind ian goods. Recen tly, astorehouse of Rom an coins which had in it eighteen man-loadof gold coins was discovered in one place in In dia . T he flourishing of this export trade was due to the superiority of In d iantechnology. . Two of these three m ain inventions were the fasred dye prep ared from a com bination of m add er with alums


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and the blue dye extract pre pa red from indigo by a m ethowhich is analogous to modern chem ical processes. Because o

these inventions, India started meeting the demand for dyes othe whole cu ltured world of t hat time. In this respect, it hathe same position at that time as th at of G erm any after theinvention of aniline dyes. The third invention was an advanced m eth od for tem pering steelwhich gave the so-calleddamask-steel to the middle ages.

MATHEMATICS

The greatest progress that the Indians made was in the fielof mathem atics, especially algebra and arithm etic. They havto their credit such achievements that were much in advance othose of the Greeks and are close to th e m odern Euro pe anscience.

In the field of geometry and astronom y, on the other h a n dthey were far beh ind the Greeks, an d that is why they werestrongly influenced by the la tter. Since it is w idely believedthat Pythagoras borrowed his m athe m atical know ledge and hiwhole philosophy from India, it appears that this influence wareciprocal in the early stages. The famous Pythag oras -theo remwas known to the India ns in the most anc ient, the so-calledVedic age. Bu t in the 2nd century A .D., we already see cleatraces of Greek influence. T he Indian astronom y was built u pcom pletely un de r Greek influence borrowing from the lattereverything right up to the whole rang e of terminology whichwas not even translated. In the 8th an d 9th centuries, theIndians becam e teachers of the Arabs. T h e Ind ian astronomerwere invited to the cou rt of the C aliph in Ba ghd ad. T he Arabsthen passed on the know ledge so acquired to the Eu rop eanW est. Like all othe r sciences, the glorious period of In dianastronomy and m athem atics dates from 5th-7th centuries thetime of the great India n astronom ers, ry ab ha ta (5th cent.)an d Var ha m ihira (6th cent.). Th eir works were translated also

HS-3


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into the Arabic language and are studied even now by thspecial schoolof Indian astronomers, which continuesto existdespite a totally different modern European astronomy taughin the universities. After 7th century, like all other fields oIndian life, astronomy too has its period of decadencea static periodall under the influence of the same politicaconditions and war to which everything else had fallen victim. Nevertheless, pure mathematicsalgebra and espe

cially arithmeticcontinued to develop even in these difficutimes. After the 11th century, however, with the completedisappearance of Buddhism from India, the leading mathemticians also disappeared.

The last well-known astronomer and mathematician, Bhkara, lived in the1 Ith century. In this field, the Indians wereapparently found to be more gifted by nature than all othe

peoples of the past. This special natural disposition of thIndians resulted in the amazing development of mathematicart. They invented a system of calculation by figures, to whicvalues were assigneddepending upon their relative positioalongside other figures. The Indians then passed on thiindisputable invention of theirs to the Arabs and, througthem, to the whole civilized world. The most important ste

in this system of figures was the invention ofzero which wecome across in the 5th century. It was, in all probabilityinvented a little earlier, bu t was, like all other Indian inventions,kept a secretconfined to the special school of scholaronly. In the beginning of the 18th century, when the Russiasystem of education came in contact with the Tibetan systemin Trans-Baikal, the system of figures was surprisingly found be the same in both of them. Coming from India, this systecompleted a full cycle of migration and returned to India frothe opposite end. As compared to all other nations, the Indiamind devoted much more attention to figures. This is seefrom a study of Sanskrit where there are, from the olden timespecial words for much higher numbers (this is not so in thlanguages of other peoples) in addition to the general Indo-Eropean words for denoting "hundred" and "thousand". I


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the most ancient epic,Mahbhrala, we find special words fordenoting such numbers as hundred-thousand-billion.

Archimedes is known to have studied the problem wheththe symbols available with the Greeks would be found adequte if it were necessary to count the particles of sand which oplanet consists of. For the Indians, this would have been tleast difficult, for there are words in Sanskrit language whi

can denote the highest numbers. Thus, it is not merelymatter of chance that the concept and the symbol ofzero to-gether with the whole decimal system of figures were inventin India and not anywhere else. Comparing the Indian mathmatics with all other Indian sciencesphysics, atomic theorpsychology, epistemology, metaphysicswe find that thIndian mind always approached the concept of maximumvalue from all aspects, irrespective of whether the value w

intensive or extensive, and that it was this train of thoughthat ultimately found expression in the invention ofzero fordenoting the concept which had already been prepared anworked out from all angles. One of the later Indian mathematicians defined the value ofzero as follows ( his words are,of course, applicable even to the earlier period of Indianmathematics) :

If we go on decreasing the divisor successively, the quotienwill correspondingly go on increasing. If the divisor ireduced to the maximum possible limit, the quotient alsincreases to the maximum. But so long as the latter hasome specific value, however high, it cannot be considereto have increased to maximum limit, for one can still finda higher value. The quotient is, therefore, an undefinedvalue, and is rightly called infinite.This is also the modern mathematical concept of maximum

value. With its establishment, the transition of Indian sciencto the field of higher mathematics was completed. We find thsame train of thought even in the field of physicsin the atomtheory. In the ancient Indian systems, an atom was regardedas the minimum possible value. But so long as it is still aspecific value, it cannot be regarded as the minimum. Th


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Buddhistand Brahmanical systems, therefore, consideredanatom a complex moleculethe resultof the actionof infra-atomic forces. Such infra-atomic forcesare real mathematicalpoints; theyare infinitely smalland have neither dimensionnor timenor value. The real atomis formed by their specialintegration. We come acrossa similar courseof thoughtinIndian psychology which statesthe complex characterof eventhe simplest thought.If in a thought, thereis no generalisation,no synthesisof past and present,or of the individualand thewhole,it is totally em pty the so-called p ure thought, whichdoesnot contradictany object, every object beingthe resultofsynthesis. T hu s every thought, howsoever primitive,is theresult of the synthesisof elements which haveno psychiccon-tent or wherethe content is infinitely small. This thoughtiscalled emptiness,or zero; both the concepts are denotedby

the same Sanskrit wordsnya. The Indian epistemologyandmetaphysics bothuse the concept of maximum valueas thepointof departurein the formulationof their systems. In thisconnection,it is not surprising thatthe Indian astronomywasfamiliar withthe principlesof differential calculus. This infor-mation tookthe British astronomersby great surprise.But,after add itiona l da ta were placed before them , theyhad to

acknowledge thatthe method employedby the Indians in the12th centuryfor finding out the longitudeof the planetswasclosely similar,if not identical,to the formula employedinmodern mathematical astronomy.

T he Ind ians differentiated betweenthe velocityof a planetmeasured roughlyand tha t measured accurately. Theyhadspecial technical termsfor denoting velocity duringa smallindefinite intervalof time. The difference betw een finite timeand indefiniteor infinitely small tim eis also mentioned.TheIndian astronomershad a special termfor denotinga particularsmall unitof time, approximately equalto 1/34000th par t of asecond. For calculatingthe so-called momentary motionof aplanet, i.e. the motion duringa mathematical moment,Bhskara comparesthe successive positionsof the planet. Forthis, he regards the velocityof the planetas constant during


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the respective interval of time , which is thus no t m ore than1/34000th par t of a second approxima tely bu t may be evenless. This m om en tary motion is, therefore^ a differential con-cept the differential plane tary longitude. It is thus clearthat the concept itself of the momentary motion and themethod of determining it were k now n to Bhskara; he cantherefore, be acknow ledged as the predecssor of Isaac Newtoin the discovery of the princip le of differential calcu lus.

In Sanskrit, the scientific exposition was almost always inmetric form. For almost every con cep t, therefore, it was necessary to have a nu m be r of synonyms so that the word , mosbefitting to the verse, could be selected. All the m ath em aticaconcepts and figures have a whole mass of synonyms, dete rmined on the basis of some associations. For instance, the worfor "e y e" deno tes the figure 2, and the wo rd for "season"

the figure 6. In one of our earliest sources,zero has been calledemptiness, that is, it is denoted by the same word(snya) which,almost in the same period, has been used in one of the Buddhisystems for den oting the concept of limit with rega rd to threlativity an d changeability of the whole em pirical wo rld. Ithis source,zero is still not deno ted by a circle bu t by a poin t.But among the many synonyms used for denotingzero, the word

ambara which m eans "sky " or "e m pty spac e" became m orewidespread subsequently. Pro bably this is howzero came to berepresen ted by a circleempty from inside.

Thou gh the progress in the field of mathem atics especiallcalculuscontinued in Ind ia somew hat longer than that in aothe r sciences, this too nevertheless cam e to an end. No mordistinguished m athem aticians are found after the 12th cen tur the period following the M uslim conquest. However, thInd ian achievem ents in this field are acknow ledged as highlsignificant. T he India ns are rightly considered the direct predecessors of J . La grange. T he India n arithm etic enum eratesix simple arithm etica l rules. Ra ising to the second and thirpower and taking square-root an d cubic-root are included isimple rules. Of the higher m athem atical rules, the Indianwere familiar with the sum ming up of arithm etica l series


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geom etrical progressions, irrationa l square-roo t, solving odefinite and indefinite equations of first degree right uptoth e solving of indefinite equa tions of the second degree. At thpoint, their achievements cam e to an end ; their direct successor here is J . La gran ge, who had to discover again an d develothis process further. Thu s, in th e field of m athem atics, theachievemen ts of the Indians are the greatest as com pared witthose of the other ancien t peoples. It is to the m th at th e wholcivilized world is indeb ted for the invention of ou r system ofiguresso unjustly called Arabic. It is h igh time that theireal nam e the Indian is restored to them . From what habeen stated abo ve, it is clear th at these achievem ents were nomerely a m atte r of ch ance , but ha d been worked out by incessant hard work in all provinces of abstract thought.

By thus reviewing the history of India, we see chat it had

its epoch of cultural progress, which, however, was soon arrested un de r the effect of unfavourab le historical conditions.Undoubted ly, we are at present at a sharp turn in the historyof Indian scholarship...

[ Translated from Russian by H.C. Gupta 1

Documents

Scientific Achievements of Ancient India,Stcherbatsky,1924