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Jvaranirṇaya: a rare monograph on diagnosis of fevers from the pre-colonial era

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Abstract

In Ayurveda, manuscripts in the form of monographs dealing with only one disease are rare and Jvaranirṇaya is one such rare monograph dealing exclusively with types of jvara (fevers) but currently unavailable. This treatise belongs to sixteenth century CE and is written by Sri Nārāyaṇa Paṇḍita. The out of print monograph is available without any language translation or commentary but is complete, readable, in Devanāgarī script and with 365 verses divided into five sections. The uniqueness of the text is that one can get a comprehensive classification, symptomatology and diagnosis of jvara, all at one place in this text. The context of fever caused due to the vitiation of all the three doṣas (sannipāta jvara) is elaborated in great detail and dealt exclusively as a separate chapter. The description of types of pacifications (upaśaya) is explained with examples. The concept of “prakṛti samā samavētā and vikṛti viṣama samavēta” and bad omen (ariṣṭa lakṣaṇā) related to the symptoms are some of the other interesting aspects of the text. These features of the monograph make it worth exploring further. It needs to be critically studied, translated and made available.

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Notes

  1. The numbers in the “ []” indicate the corresponding verse number in the manuscript.

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Acknowledgements

We are very thankful to Dr. Manoj Sankaranarayanan for providing the digital copy of the paper manuscript from his personal collection for us to work on.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amrita School of Ayurveda, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerala, India

    Shyamasundaran Kulangara & Sushma Naranappa Salethoor

Authors
  1. Shyamasundaran Kulangara
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  2. Sushma Naranappa Salethoor
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Correspondence to Shyamasundaran Kulangara.

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Kulangara, S., Salethoor, S.N. Jvaranirṇaya: a rare monograph on diagnosis of fevers from the pre-colonial era. Indian J Hist. Sci. 57, 56–59 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43539-022-00033-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43539-022-00033-5

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