“hētuliṅgauṣadhajñānaṁ svasthāturaparāyaṇam|

trisūtraṁ śāśvataṁ puṇyaṁ bubudhē yaṁ pitāmahaḥ||”

(caraka, sūtra, 1/24)

The entire subject matter of Āyuveda, dealing with human health is encapsulated in the form of triskandha (three arms) viz., hetu (the cause of disease), liṅga (the presentation of disease) and the aushadha (the medicine). Among these the first two deal with the pathophysiology and clinical methods. A careful observation of chronology of Āyurvedic literature reveals that, the Saṁhitā literature (Br̥ihatrayi) was succeeded by specialized treatises in the form of Laghutrayi (supplementary texts) dealing with specialized subjects like Nidāna (Clinical Methods), Dravyaguṇa (materia medica) and Cikitsā (Therapeutics). An undisputed and the best work pertaining to Nidāna category is “Ṛgviniścaya” which also known as “Mādhavanidāna” authored by Mādhavakara (7^th CenturyA.D). The specialty and unique contributions from Mādhavakara are vividly described by Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld, the author of “Mādhavanidāna and its chief commentary” in the forward which I quote here for the benefit of the reader;

“Mādhavakara set the standard as to the order in which the diseases should be described. In this he definitely improved upon the earlier Saṁhitās, in which a restricted number of diseases is dealt with in the section on Nidāna, while the remaining ones are found in various other sections. Collecting his material from the Saṁhitās, for the greater part at least, and selecting what was appropriate to the nature of his work and its scope, he organized the whole in a new way. Mādhavakara clearly met with success. The compendia written by subsequent authors (Vr̥ndakuṇḍa’s Siddhayoga, Cakrapāṇidatta’s Cikitsāsaṁgraha, Vaṅgasena’s Cikitsāsārasaṅgraha, Bhāvamiśra’s Bhāvaprakāśa, etc.,) faithfully reflect the scheme of Mādhavanidāna”.

There are numerous works available in print pertaining to Mādhavanidāna in print, but there is no e-Book version of it till date. In tune with the present time of computerization and web-based communications and e-learning, the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic sciences (CCRAS) is presenting “Mādhavanidāna” mūla text along with its two celebrated commentaries Madhukośa (written by Vijayarakṣita, Śrīkaṇṭhadatta), Ātaṅkadarpaṇa (written by Vācaspati vaidya) for the benefit of the Āyurvedic faculty. This work is a critical edition of Mādhavanidāna rebuilt from print version brought out by Yadavaji Trikamji Acarya, Nirnaya sagar press, Mumbai 1920 (first edition), 5^th edition in the year 1955; Kshemaraja-Srikrishadasa shreshti, Venkateshvara steam press, Mumbai.

I hope this work will bridge the gaps in the wide dissemination of Āyurvedic literature and will serve as a potential literary tool for the Research Scholars, Physicians and Scientists.

I appreciate the sincere efforts of Dr. Ala Narayana, Director, National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage, Hyderabad and his team for bringing out highly useful e-book on Mādhava Nidāna and hope the Institute will produce more such quality literary works on Āyurveda.

RAMESH BABU DEVALLA
Director General, CCRAS