Study of manuscript Govindadasotsavam

Abstract

Ayurveda the ancient Indian treatment science is codified and transmitted through centuries in the form of written documents called manuscripts. The term manuscript in a broader sense means any document written by hand, such as documents or texts written on materials like palm leaf, birch bark, leather, cloth, paper and inscriptions on rocks, pillars etc. It is worth knowing that Indian medical heritage has one of the largest collections of manuscripts in any civilization in the world. Very few of these texts have been published during the past decades and many of the published works are not available today.
The study of manuscript Govindadasotsavam is an effort to transcribe, critically edit and translate the manuscript Govindadasotsavam. The text is written by the author Mukunda Mishra. The period as given in the manuscript is dated as 1767. The manuscript having similarity in title, author, and contents are considered for critical edition based on availability. Transcription was done initially by identifying the script and by adopting appropriate transcription techniques which was followed by the method of critical edition. In the process of the critical edition, accepted readings from different codices were noted. Maximum number of accepted readings was from Codex A. Further, the manuscript was processed for translation into English language where the subject matter of the manuscript was decoded. Since the period of the manuscript is the 17th century CE the influence from other medieval textbooks is well evident in the manuscript. The unique aspect of the manuscript is that it deals with the subject in a very concise manner picks the best yogas from different classics for the treatment of various diseases and presents yogas simply and briefly.