Ayurveda is reckoned as a portion of the fourth Veda or the Adharvana and has been considered the oldest work on Hindu medicine. Although this is claimed by the Aryans as theirs, neither its author nor the age in which if was written is known; and only fragments of it have come down to us embodied in certain commentaries of subsequent writers. The modern Hindus ascribe its authorship to their gods, some to Brahma and others to Siva; but in their philosophical writings they are all attributed only to siva who in this aspect is known at Vaidisvara(God of Medicine).
It is not clear how the human race got access to it as many and various are the legends current about it. It is said that, in Kaliyuga, the world became reprobate and the corruption of the human race was such as necessitate a great curtailment of life and to leave the people embittered by numerous ailments. This legend is supposed to indicate the epoch of Ayurveda as intermediate between the Vedic and the Brahminical times-which is about the 9th or the 10th century B.C.
European nations are much indebted to the Arabs for the preservation and transmission of the works of the ancient Greeks which had fallen into their hands during the destruction of the famous library at Alexandria and for having provided a connecting link with classical antiquity during an age when science, art and literature in Europe lay buried under the colossal ignorance of barbarism.
Tamil Siddha system of Medicine
The world 'siddha' comes from the word 'siddhi' which means 'an object to be attained' or 'perfection' or 'heavenly'. Siddhi generally refers to Ashtama siddhi i.e., The eight great supernatural powers which are enumerated as Anima etc., Those who attained or achieved the above said powers are known as Siddhars.
Siddhis are also construed as powers which are attained by birth, (according to previous Karma), by chemical means or power of words or by mortification or through concentration. As for instance-Kapila, the father of the great Sankhya philosophy is a born Siddha. Concentration on the elements beginning with the Gross and ending with the Superfine enables one to get mastery over the elements; and this was practiced by a sect of Buddhists who concentrated on a lump of clay with a view to see its fine ethereal particles.
A brief account of the Siddhars is given on page 10 of this volume under the foot-note. In Dawson's classical dictionary of Hindu Mythology, they are described as belonging to a class of semi-divine beings of great purity and holiness, dwelling in the regions of the sky or between the earth and the sky, but they are generally mistaken for Ghosts. In Ayurveda, such classes of persons were called Rasayanas on account of their proficiency in the knowledge of Alchemy and Rejuvenation.
As Nandi is apparently the head of the members in the above list, the school should only be Nandivargam and cannot be Moolavargam.
The Siddhars were a class of popular writers in Tamil in all its branches of knowledge; and many of their works were written in what is called high Tamil. The Kavi or poetry in which the medical and other scientific tracts have been composed is much admired by those who have made it their special study. The Siddhars were further the greatest scientists in ancient times. They were man of highly cultured intellec tual and spiritual faculties combined with supernatural powers. Their works in Tamil are supposed to be more valuable than many that have been written in Sanskrit. They are sad to be works less shackled by the mythological doctrines of the original Ayurveda. They contain a large number of valuable formulae and exhibit further minute enumarations of morbid symptoms. They evince a moral conviction of the intervention of the evil spirits and offer many curious rules for averting their evil influences and effects.
This Siddhars are universally supposed to have lived at a very early period; and we cannot ascertain their exact period of existence as their school also ceased to function long long ago. Agastya Siddha who is the chief of the Siddhars’ school is said to have been a celebrated rated philosopher and physician who laboured amongst the Tamils in Southern India. Some of his works are still standard books of Medicine are Surgery in daily use among the Tamil medical practitioners. It is very doubtful whether this Agastya is identical with the great Rishi in Northern India. He is said to have written by his followers and fathered on him. It is quick unnecessary for our purpose here to append to list of books of the Tamil Siddha system, as has been done in the causes of the other two systems, for the simple reason that they are so numerous as likely t extend to several pages. The readers may refer to the bibliographical list which will be furnished at the end of this work which would be fairly exhaustive.