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Bower Manuscript

2025-10-03T12:21:38Z

2405:201:C00D:214A:F549:557C:A411:EEF:

{{Short description|Manuscript on early treatise of Indian Medicine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:Bower-ms.jpeg|thumb|The Bower Manuscript]]
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| image1=5th to 6th century Bower manuscript, Sanskrit, early Gupta script, Kucha Xinjiang China, Leaf 1.jpg
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| footer = The Bower Manuscript is a late 5th or early 6th-century collection of Sanskrit texts (above) in early Gupta script. Discovered near [[Kucha]] (China), it includes an ancient Indian medical treatise (33 leaves), and several other treatises (23 leaves). Samples of both are shown above.
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The '''Bower Manuscript''' is a collection of seven fragmentary [[Sanskrit]] treatises found buried in a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] memorial [[stupa]] near [[Kucha]], northwestern [[China]].<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972">{{cite book|author1=Gushtaspshah Kaikhushro Nariman|author2=Moriz Winternitz|author3=Sylvain Lévi and Eduard Huber|title=Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KYowUNgHH90C&pg=PA276|year= 1972|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass |isbn= 978-81-208-0795-2|pages= 276–278}}</ref>{{sfn|D. Wujastyk|1998|p=149}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yoeli-Tlalim |first=Ronit |title=Reorienting histories of medicine : encounters along the silk roads |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4725-1249-9 |location=London, UK |pages=chapter 2 |oclc=1191456473}}</ref> Written in early [[Gupta script]]<ref>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1912), ''The Bower Manuscript, Facsimile leaves, Nagari transcript, Romanised transliteration and English translation with notes'', Calcutta, Aditya Prakashan (Reprinted 2011), {{oclc|7083012}}; [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012410505 The Bower Manuscript], AF Rudolf Hoernle (1914), Volume XXII of the New Imperial series of the Archeological Survey of India, British India Press, Chapter 3, '''Quote:''' "It is now generally known as Gupta script because its prevalence coincided with the rule of the early Gupta Emperors in whose epigraphic records it is employed." (p. 25)</ref> (late [[Brahmi]]) on [[birch bark document|birch bark]], it is variously dated in 5th to early 6th century.<ref name="Callewaert1983">{{cite book |last=Callewaert |first=Winand M. |title=Bhagavadgītānuvāda: A Study in the Transcultural Translation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9OwXAAAAIAAJ |year=1983 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Biblia Impex |page=17 |oclc=11533580}}</ref><ref name=sander>L Sander (1987), ''Origin and date of the Bower Manuscript, a new approach'', in: M Yaldiz and W Lobo (eds.): Investigating the Indian Arts, Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin, pp. 313–323</ref> The Bower manuscript includes the oldest dated fragments of an Indian medical text, the ''Navanitaka''.<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972"/><ref name=rh2011/>

Of the seven treatises included in the collection, three on [[Ayurveda|Ayurvedic medicine]], two on divination by dice, and two on incantations ([[Dharani]]) against snake bites.{{sfn|D. Wujastyk|1998|p=197}} The collection had at least four scribes, of whom three were likely Buddhists because the second, the sixth and the seventh treatises open by invoking the [[Buddha]] and other Buddhist deities.<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972"/><ref name=rh2/> Two invoke [[Shiva]], [[Vishnu]], [[Devi]], and other Hindu deities.<ref name=rh2>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1891), [https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofasi1891asia/page/56 Remarks on Birch Bark MS], Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1891, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, pages 57–61; [https://archive.org/details/TheBowerManuscript/page/n19 Bower Manuscript Translations: Parts III-VII], A.F. Rudolf Hoernle, pages 197, 209–210</ref> The discovery of the manuscript in remote China near the Central Asian region is considered evidence of the spread and sharing of ideas in ancient times between India, China and Central Asia.<ref name="mirskysas82">{{cite book |last=Mirsky |first=Jeannette |title=Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3YKfArws2QC&pg=PA81 |date=October 1998 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-53177-9 |pages=81–82}}</ref> It also contains excerpts of the ''[[Bhela Samhita]]'', a medical text whose damaged manuscript is in [[Tanjavur]], [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hoernle |first=A. F. Rudolf |date=July 1910 |title=The Bhela Samhita in the Bower Manuscript |jstor=25189734 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |pages=830–833|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00040107 |s2cid=163536742 }}</ref> The medical fragments of the Bower manuscript have much in common with other ancient Sanskrit medical treatises such as those by [[Caraka Samhita|Caraka]], Ravigupta, [[Vagbhata]] and [[Kashyapa Samhita|Kashyapa]].{{sfn|D. Wujastyk|1998|p=197}}

The manuscript is named after [[Hamilton Bower]] – a British Lieutenant who bought the manuscript in March 1890 while on a mission to chase an assassin who was charged with hacking [[Andrew Dalgleish (spy)|Andrew Dalgleish]] to death. The fragmentary manuscript was analyzed, edited, translated, and published by [[Kolkata|Calcutta]]-based [[Rudolf Hoernle]]. The Bower Manuscript is preserved in the collections of the [[Bodleian Library]] in Oxford.{{sfn|D. Wujastyk|1998|p=196}}

==Discovery and edition==
[[File:Hoernle-bower-tp.png|thumb|Hoernle's 1897 text and translation of manuscripts Parts III to VII]]
The Bower Manuscript is named after its accidental purchaser [[Hamilton Bower]], a [[British Army]] Lieutenant. The story begins with the brutal murder of Andrew Dalgleish, a Scotsman camping in the [[Karakoram]] mountains, north of [[Kashmir]]. He was hacked to death inside his tent by an Afghan named Dad Mahomed. The British government wanted to bring Mahomed to justice, and therefore sent Hamilton Bower with some troops to go after the killer, states Wujastyk. Mahomed learned about the effort and escaped. Bower, in the chase, followed Mahomed through the Himalayan valleys into the [[Takla Makan]] desert. Bower arrived near Kucha ([[Xinjiang]]) in early March 1890 and set his camp. On the night of 2 or 3 March, a man came to his tent and offered to sell him old manuscripts and artifacts that his treasure hunters had found. Bower bought them.{{sfn|D. Wujastyk|1998|p=196}}

Bower took the manuscripts with him when he returned to Simla and forwarded it to Colonel [[James Waterhouse (photographer)|James Waterhouse]], the then President of the [[Asiatic Society of Bengal]]. Waterhouse reported the manuscript at the monthly meeting of the Society on 5 November 1890, whose proceedings were widely distributed.<ref name=waterhouse>J Waterhouse (1890), ''Birch Bark MS from Kashgaria'', Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, pages 221–223</ref> At the meeting, he stated that Bower visited the site where the manuscript was found, and referred to the stupa as something that looked like a huge "[[cottage loaf]]" near the "Ming–oi" Buddhist monastery ruins, 16 miles from Kucha near the banks of a river.<ref name=waterhouse/> Waterhouse mentioned that the Bower manuscript had 56 leaves (the edition now preserved at Bodleian Library has 51 leaves). He reported that the Bower manuscript was bound with two wooden boards on either end and a string running through a hole. He had sought the help of Babu Sarat Chandra Das and Lama Phuntshog to decipher the manuscript. Neither was able to read the script and said it must be "very ancient", according to Waterhouse.<ref name=waterhouse/><ref name=rh2011/>

The Waterhouse report was reprinted in ''Bombay Gazette'', where [[A. F. R. Hoernle|Hoernle]] learned about it and became very eager to study it.<ref name=rh3>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1891), [https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofasi1891asia/page/54 Remarks on Birch Bark MS], Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1891, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, page 54</ref> After the meeting, in parallel, some attempts were made to decipher the manuscript, but they proved unsuccessful. German Indologist [[Georg Buhler]] succeeded in reading and translating two leaves of the manuscript, reproduced in the form of heliogravures in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Immediately after his return to India in February 1891, Hoernle began to study the manuscript. He found that the manuscript leaves were jumbled out of sequence, but had the page numbers marked on the left. After re-arranging them, he concluded that it was an abridged collection of several different treatises. He presented the first decipherment two months later, at the meeting of the Society in April 1891, with evidence that it was "the oldest Indian written book that is known to exist".<ref name=rh3/> Between 1893 and 1897 Hoernle published a complete edition of the text, featuring an annotated English translation and illustrated facsimile plates. A Sanskrit Index was published in 1908, and a revised translation of the medical portions (I, II, and III) in 1909; the Introduction appeared in 1912.<ref name=rh2011/>

==Description and dating==
The 'Bower Manuscript' is a collation of seven treatise manuscripts, compiled into a larger group and another a smaller one. The larger manuscript is a fragmentary convolute of six treatises (Part I, II, III, IV, V and VII), which are separately paginated, with each leaf approximately 29 square inches (11.5 inch x 2.5 inch). Part VI is written on smaller folio leaves, both in length and breadth, with each leaf approximately 18 square inches (9 inch x 2 inch).<ref name=rh2011/> The larger group and the smaller set likely came from different trees or region. The scribes wrote on both sides of the leaves but did not use both sides when the leaf was very thin. These seven constituent manuscripts are numbered as Parts I to VII in Hoernle's edition.<ref name=rh2011>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1912), ''The Bower Manuscript, Facsimile leaves, Nagari transcript, Romanised transliteration and English translation with notes'', Calcutta, Aditya Prakashan (Reprinted 2011), {{oclc|7083012}}; [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012410505 The Bower Manuscript], AF Rudolf Hoernle (1914), Volume XXII of the New Imperial series of the Archeological Survey of India, British India Press</ref>

The Bower manuscript, as discovered, had 56 birch bark leaves, cut into oblong [[palm leaf manuscript|palmyra shape]] (rectangular strips with rounded corners). This is the form commonly found in numerous ancient and medieval Indian manuscript books (''pothī''). The pages are bound in Indian style, with each leaf containing a hole about the middle of the left side, for the passage of the binding string.<ref name=rh2011/> The undamaged leaves of the Bower manuscript are numbered on the left edge of the reverse side, a tradition found in ancient ''pothi'' manuscripts in north India, in contrast to the historic south Indian tradition of numbering the obverse side in manuscripts. This suggests that the Bower manuscript scribes were trained in the north Indian tradition.<ref name=rh2011/>

The seven parts of the manuscript are written in an essentially identical script, the [[Gupta script]] (late Brahmi) found in north, northwest and western regions of ancient India. Early attempts to date the text placed it around 5th-century, largely on palaeographic grounds.<ref name="Sircar1996">{{cite book|last=Sircar|first=D. C.|title=Indian Epigraphy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXMB3649biQC|year=1965|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (1996 Reprint)|isbn=978-81-208-1166-9|page=207}}, Quote: "Kumaralata's ''Kalpanamanditika'' and the ''Udanavarga'' both of which are assignable on palaeographical grounds to the 4th or 5th century AD, and the Bower manuscripts the date of which is about a century later".</ref> Hoernle determined that the manuscript belonged to the 4th or 5th–century because the script used matched with dated inscriptions and other texts of that period in the north and northwest India.<ref name=afrh1891>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1891), [https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofasi1891asia/page/54 Remarks on Birch Bark MS], Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1891, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, pages 54–65</ref> He also compared the style and script for numerals – particularly zero and position value – and the page numbering style in the manuscript with those found in Indian inscriptions and manuscripts. By combining such evidence with palaeographic evidence therein, he concluded that the Bower manuscript could not be dated in or after the second half of the 6th century.<ref name=afrh1891/> Hoernle remarked that at least some treatises of the manuscript "must fall somewhere within that period [470 and 530 CE], that is, about 500 CE."<ref>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1891), [https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofasi1891asia/page/62 Remarks on Birch Bark MS], Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 1891, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, pages 62–64</ref>

Winand M. Callewaert dates it to c. 450 CE.<ref name="Callewaert1983"/> According to a 1986 analysis by Lore Sander, the Bower manuscript is best dated between 500 and 550 CE.<ref name=sander/>

===Scribes===
The fragmentary treatises are copies of much older Indian texts authored by unknown scholars. These treatises were prepared by scribes, buried in a stupa built at some point to honor the memory of a Buddhist monk or some other regional influential person. Hoernle distinguished four scribes, based on their handwriting, subtle font and style differences. One scribe wrote Parts I, II and III; second wrote Part IV; third wrote Parts V and VII; while a fourth wrote Part VI.<ref name=rh2011/> He added that there may have been more than four scribes, because Part VI has some scribal differences, while V and VII too seems cursive and careless work of possibly more than one person.<ref name=rh2011c3>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1912), ''The Bower Manuscript, Facsimile leaves, Nagari transcript, Romanised transliteration and English translation with notes'', Calcutta, Aditya Prakashan (Reprinted 2011), {{oclc|7083012}}; [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012410505 The Bower Manuscript], AF Rudolf Hoernle (1914), Volume XXII of the New Imperial series of the Archeological Survey of India, British India Press, Chapter 3</ref>

Based on the handwriting and fonts prevalent in the inscriptions discovered in India from that era, Hoernle suggested the first scribe who wrote Parts I through III likely grew up and came from Kashmir or Udyana (North India) to Kucha (China) because his writing shows early Sarada script influences.<ref name=rh2011c3/> Part VI, and possibly V and VII were written by scribe(s) who may have come to China from a region that is now the central India to Andhra Pradesh, for similar reasons.<ref name=rh2011c3/> The writer of part IV appears to have the style of someone used to "writing with a brush", and therefore may have been a local native or a Buddhist monk who came from interior China.<ref name=rh2011c3/>

==Contents==
The text consists of seven separate and different treatises, of which first three are on medicine, next two on divination, and last two on magical incantations.<ref name=rh2011c8/> The three medicinal treatises contain content that is also found in the ancient Indian text called the [[Caraka Samhita]].<ref name= dwtra/> Treatises I to III are the medical treatises of the collection and contain 1,323 verses and some prose. The metrical writing suggests that the scribe of the three medical treatises was well versed in Sanskrit composition. The scribe of divination and incantation sections (Treatises IV-VII) was not conversant with classical Sanskrit, made grammatical errors and used a few Prakrit words.<ref name=afrh1891/>

The manuscript is mostly in the [[Shloka]] verse style – a Vedic [[anuṣṭubh]] poetic meter (exceptions are found in Part I of the collection).<ref name=afrh1891/><ref name=rh2011/> The Bower Manuscript is written in the [[Gupta script]] – a type of late [[Brahmi script]].<ref name=mirskysas82/>

===Medical treatises===

Part I has 5 leaves, and the incomplete treatise ends abruptly.<ref name=rh2011/> It is a fragment of a treatise on garlic, it medicinal properties and recipes, its use for eye diseases.<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972"/> It opens with a flowery description of the Himalayas, where a group of ''[[rishi]]s'' reside, interested in the names and properties of medicinal plants. It mentions Hindu sages such as [[Atreya|Ātreya]], [[Harita Samhita|Hārīta]], [[Parasara|Parāśara]], [[Bhela]], [[Garga (sage)|Garga]], Śāmbavya, [[Susruta|Suśruta]], [[Vasistha|Vasiṣṭha]], Karāla, and [[Kashyapa|Kāpya]]. Suśruta, whose curiosity is aroused by a particular plant, approaches muni Kāśirāja, enquiring about the nature of this plant. Kāśīrāja, granting his request, tells him about the origin of the plant, which proves to be [[garlic]] (Sanskrit ''laśuna''), its properties and uses. The section on garlic consists of 43 verses in poetic meter. This section also mentions the ancient Indian tradition of "garlic festival", as well as a mention of sage [[Sushruta Samhita|Sushruta]] in Benares ([[Varanasi]]).<ref name="dwtra">{{cite book |last=Wujastyk |first=Dominik |title=The Roots of Āyurveda: Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJOEMwrVyRcC |year=1998 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-043680-8 |pages=195–206|chapter=Chapter 4: The Uses of Garlic (from the Bower Manuscript)}}</ref> This is the part where the initial 43 verses are in eighteen different, uncommon meters ([[Sanskrit prosody]]) such as the ''vasanta tilaka'', ''trishtubh'' and ''arya'', while the verses thereafter are in the ''shloka'' style.<ref name=rh2011c8>A.F. Rudolf Hoernle (1912), ''The Bower Manuscript, Facsimile leaves, Nagari transcript, Romanised transliteration and English translation with notes'', Calcutta, Aditya Prakashan (Reprinted 2011), {{oclc|7083012}}; [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012410505 The Bower Manuscript], AF Rudolf Hoernle (1914), Volume XXII of the New Imperial series of the Archeological Survey of India, British India Press, Chapter 8</ref> The verses credit the knowledge to past sages. Verse 9, for example, attributes the knowledge to [[Sushruta Samhita|Susruta]], who received it from the sage king of [[Varanasi|Kashi]].<ref name=rh2011c8/>

Part II abruptly ends on the 33rd folio of the Bower manuscript.<ref name=rh2011/> It is voluminous, relative to the other six treatises, and contains medical prescriptions sections on powder, medicated ''ghee'' (clarified butter), oil, elixirs, aphrodisiacs, decoctions, dyes and ointments.<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972"/><ref name=rh2011c8/> It opens with a salutation addressed to the [[Tathagata|Tathāgatas]], contains, as stated by the scribe, the ''Navanītaka'' text (''lit.'' "cream" text<ref name=rh2011c8/>), a standard manual (siddhasaṃkarṣa).{{sfn|G. Jan Meulenbeld|2000|p=5}} Then it states its intention to provide 16 chapters of prescriptions (but the surviving fragment only provides 14, ending abruptly).<ref name=rh2011c8/> According to G.J. Meulenbeld, "an important peculiarity of the Bower MS consists of its varying attitude towards the number of the [[Dosha|doṣas]] [humours]. In many instances, it accepts the traditional number of three, vāta, pitta, and kapha, but in a smaller number of passages it also appears to accept blood (rakta) as a doṣa."{{sfn|G. Jan Meulenbeld|2000|p=9}}

Part III consists of 4 leaves and also ends abruptly on the obverse side of the folio (Part IV starts on reverse).<ref name=rh2011/> It starts with the symbol [[Om]] as usual with the other treatises, and is a short treatise on 14 prescription formulary in a manner similar to Part II. It consists of 72 ''shlokas''.<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972"/><ref name=rh2011/> It is a fragment whose contents correspond to chapters one to three of the Part II.{{sfn|G. Jan Meulenbeld|2000|p=6}}

===Divination treatises===
Parts IV and V contain two short manuals of ''Pāśaka kevalī'', or cubomancy, i.e., the art of foretelling a person's future by means of the cast of dice, a ritualistic practice found in Tibetan manuscripts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brandon Dotson|editor=Petra Maurer, Donatella Rossi and Rolf Scheuermann|title=Glimpses of Tibetan Divination: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tcy8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |year=2019|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-41068-8|pages=29–32 with footnotes}}</ref> Part IV is almost complete, while the manual constituting Part V is markedly more fragmentary and defective. The dice is stated to be a group of three dice, each with four faces ([[tetrahedron]]) numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. When cast, it would yield one of 64 possible casts, of which 60 combinations are listed in Part IV (the missing 4 may be scribal error or lost; but those 4 are mentioned in later verses).<ref name=rh2011c8/> Hoernle mentioned that Part V is similar to other Sanskrit manuscripts discovered in Gujarat, and like it, these parts of the Bower manuscript may be one of the several recensions of a more ancient common source on divinatory work.<ref name=rh2011c8/> These are traditionally attributed to the ancient sage [[Garga (sage)|Garga]],{{sfn|G. Jan Meulenbeld|2000|p=8}} but maybe an influence of the Greek oracle tradition during the post-[[Alexander the Great]] period.<ref name=rh2011c8/>

===Dharani treatises===
Parts VI and VII contain two different portions of the same text, the [[Mahamayuri|Mahāmāyurī]], Vidyārājñī, a Buddhist [[Dharani|dhāraṇī]]-genre incantations text. The ''Mayuri'' text, in later centuries, became a part of the ''[[Pan̂carakṣā|Pancha-raksha]]'' magical incantations group – one of the highly popular ''dharani'' sets in Buddhist communities in and outside India.<ref name=rh2011c8/> Part VI of the Bower manuscript contains charms against cobra bite,<ref name="NarimanWinternitz1972"/><ref name="Simini2016p12">{{cite book|author=Florinda De Simini|title=Of Gods and Books: Ritual and Knowledge Transmission in the Manuscript Cultures of Premodern India|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.doa.109 |year=2016|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-047881-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dli.doa.109/page/n24 12]–13}}</ref> while Part VII is for protecting against other evils befalling a person.{{sfn|G. Jan Meulenbeld|2000|p=8}} Both these parts are a small select portion of the actual Mayuri text, and tiny compared to the much larger ''dharani'' compilations.<ref name=rh2011c8/> Part VI is complete, written on better quality birch and is the most well preserved treatise in the Bower manuscript.<ref name=rh2011/> According to Watanabe, the verses of these treatises as found in folio 49 to 54 of the Bower manuscript completely correspond to those found in ''Mahamayurividya-rajni'' verses of the [[Chinese Buddhist canon|Chinese Tripitaka]], in particular to the 705 CE translation by I-tsing, the 746–771 CE translation by Amoghavajra, and the 516 CE translation by Sanghapala.<ref name="Watanabe"/> Their shared source may be Pali verses in the ''Mora Jataka'', with interpolations by Mahayana Buddhists of that era. These parts of the Bower manuscript also contain the name Yashomitra, likely the votary or the influential person for whom the manuscript was prepared.<ref name="Watanabe">{{cite journal | last=Watanabe | first=K. | title=XI. A Chinese Text corresponding to Part of the Bower Manuscript | journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=39 | issue=2 | year=1907 | doi=10.1017/s0035869x00035942 | pages=261–266| s2cid=162152199 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/2193373 }}</ref> According to Hoernle, Yashomitra may well have been a Buddhist monk of great repute, the one for whom the stupa was built, and in whose memory the manuscript was prepared and buried in the stupa mound.<ref name=rh2011/>

== Legacy ==
The discovery of the Bower Manuscript, its antiquity, and its decipherment by Hoernle triggered "enormous excitement" in the 1890s, states Wujastyk.{{sfn|D. Wujastyk|1998|p=196}} Famous explorers were commissioned by some of the world's major powers of the era – such as Britain, Germany, Japan, France, Russia – to go on a Central Asia and Xinjiang expedition. They were to seek manuscripts and other ancient treasures. These expeditions yielded major discoveries such as the [[Dunhuang manuscripts]],<ref>[http://www.orientalstudies.ru/eng/index.php?option=com_publications&Itemid=75&pub=1253 On the Trail of Texts Along the Silk Road. Russian Expeditions Discoveries of Manuscripts in Central Asia], I. Popova and Takata Tokio (2009), Kyoto National Museum, Japan and The Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia</ref> as well as famous forgeries such as those of [[Islam Akhun]], in the decades that followed.<ref>[[Peter Hopkirk]] (1980), ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia'', University of Massachusetts Press, {{ISBN|0-87023-435-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hartmann|first=Jens-Uwe|title=Collection of Essays 1993 : Buddhism across boundaries : Chinese Buddhism and the Western regions|isbn=9575438604|pages=108|author2=Jens-Uwe Hartmann|article=Buddhist Sanskrit Texts from Northern Turkestan and their relation to the Chinese Tripitaka|year=1999}}</ref>

The European Union-funded [[International Dunhuang Project]] has continued the legacy of the Bower manuscript which in part inspired Rudolf Hornle to seek funds from the then Government of India to finance the first 1900–1901 expedition of [[Marc Aurel Stein]].<ref>[http://idp.bl.uk/downloads/newsletters/IDPNews32.pdf Archaeology in Xinjiang], IDP News, No. 32 (2008)</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Sims-Williams|first=Ursula|title=Rudolf Hoernle and Sir Aurel Stein|year=2012|editor= H Wang (Series: Sir Aurel Stein, Colleagues and Collections) |publisher= British Library|location =London}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=D. Wujastyk |title=The Roots of Ayurveda: Selections from Sankskrit Medical Writings |year=1998 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780140436808 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJOEMwrVyRcC }}
* {{cite book |author=G. Jan Meulenbeld |author-link=Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld |title=A History of Indian Medical Literature |volume=IIA |publisher=Egbert Forsten |location=Groningen |year=2000 |isbn=9069801248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G74rAAAAYAAJ }}
{{refend}}

===Editions===
* [[Augustus Hoernle|A. F. Rudolf Hoernle]], ''The Bower manuscript; facsimile leaves, Nagari transcript, romanised transliteration and English translation with notes'' (Calcutta: Supt., Govt. Print., India, 1908-1912. reprinted New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1987.
* Rudolf Hoernle, ''[https://archive.org/details/TheBowerManuscript Bower Manuscript Text and Translations, Part III to VII]'', 1897. (archive.org)
* Rudolf Hoernle, [https://indianculture.gov.in/rarebooks/bower-manuscript 1892 edition, Calcutta] (indianculture.gov.in)

=== Further reading ===
{{Commons category|Bower Manuscript}}
* [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.206680/page/n309 Description of the Bower Manuscript], The Indian Antiquary, Vol XLIII, 1914
* Dani, Ahmad Hasan. ''Indian Palaeography.'' (2nd edition New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1986).
* [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00045366 Review: The Bower Manuscript, ASI 1893–1912], F.E. Pargiter
* [[Peter Hopkirk]], ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia'' (Amherst: The [[University of Massachusetts Press]], 1980) {{ISBN|0-87023-435-8}}
* Sander, Lore, "Origin and date of the Bower Manuscript, a new approach" in M. Yaldiz and W. Lobo (eds.), Investigating the Indian Arts (Berlin: Museum Fuer Indische Kunst, 1987).
*Sims-Williams, Ursula, [https://www.academia.edu/2565007/Rudolf_Hoernle_and_Sir_Aurel_Stein ''Rudolph Hoernle and Sir Aurel Stein''].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bower manuscript}}
[[Category:Ayurvedic texts]]
[[Category:History of medicine]]
[[Category:Indian manuscripts]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian medical works]]
[[Category:5th-century Sanskrit literature]]
[[Category:6th-century Sanskrit literature]]
[[Category:Chinese artifacts held abroad]]

Vasu

2025-10-03T11:57:20Z

2405:201:C00D:214A:F549:557C:A411:EEF: /* Etymology */

{{Short description|Group of deities in Hinduism}}
{{other uses}}[[File:Udaigiri cave 5 Vasus.jpg|thumb|Agni, Vayu and other other Vasus, [[Udayagiri Caves]], c. 401 CE]]
The '''Vasus''' ({{Langx|sa|वसु|translit=Vasu}}) are a group of deities in [[Hinduism]] associated with fire and light.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&dq=eight+vasus&pg=PT1333 |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |date=2014-04-18 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-81-8475-277-9 |pages=1333 |language=en}}</ref> They are described as the attendant deities of [[Indra]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Coulter |first1=Charles Russell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEJUEAAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+attendants+vishnu&pg=PA493 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities |last2=Turner |first2=Patricia |date=2021-12-06 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9179-7 |pages=493 |language=en}}</ref> and later [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Achuthananda |first=Swami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9FqDwAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+attendants+vishnu&pg=PA65 |title=The Ascent of Vishnu and the Fall of Brahma |date=2018-08-27 |publisher=Relianz Communications Pty Ltd |isbn=978-0-9757883-3-2 |pages=65 |language=en}}</ref> Generally numbering eight and classified as the '''Ashtavasu''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Balfour |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCE_AQAAMAAJ&dq=eight+ashtavasu&pg=PA182 |title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures |date=1885 |publisher=B. Quartitch |pages=182 |language=en}}</ref> they are described in the [[Ramayana]] as the children of [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]], and in the [[Mahabharata]] as the sons of [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] or [[Yama (Hinduism)|Dharma]] and a daughter of [[Daksha]] named Vasu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hopkins |first=Edward Washburn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-H0eiuvcG5IC&dq=vasus+manu&pg=PA170 |title=Epic Mythology |date=June 1968 |publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers |isbn=978-0-8196-0228-2 |pages=170 |language=en}}</ref> They are eight among the [[thirty-three gods]] featured in the [[Vedas]].

== Etymology ==
The [[Sanskrit]] term ''Vasu''(s) is translated as the "bright ones".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardwick |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JufyDwAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+bright&pg=PA279 |title=Traditions, Ssuperstitions, and Folk-Lore |date=2020-07-24 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3-7523-3244-5 |pages=279 |language=en}}</ref>

==List==
There are varying lists of the eight Vasus in different texts, sometimes only because particular deities have varying names. The following are names and meanings according to the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]], Manava Purana, and according to the [[Mahabharata]], as normally equated:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Komilla |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oTMkDwAAQBAJ&dq=ashta+vasus&pg=PT212 |title=Nakshatras: The Stars Beyond the Zodiac |date=2014-05-01 |publisher=The Wessex Astrologer |isbn=978-1-902405-97-1 |pages=212 |language=en}}</ref>

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|-
!colspan = "2" style="background:#efefef;" | Brihadaranyaka
!Manava Purana!! colspan="2" style="background:#efefef;" |Mahabharata
|-
!style="background:#efefef;" | Name !! style="background:#efefef;" |Meaning
!Name!! style="background:#efefef;" | Name !! style="background:#efefef;" |Meaning
|-
| [[Prithvi]] || Earth
|[[Bhumi (goddess)|Bhumi]]|| [[Dhara (deity)|Dharā]] || Earth
|-
| [[Varuna]] || Water
|[[Samudra]]|| [[Ap (water)|Āpa]] || Water
|-
| [[Agni]] || Fire
|[[Agni]]|| [[Anala]]/Agni/Pavaka || Fire
|-
| [[Vayu|Vāyu]] || Wind
|[[Vayu]]|| [[Anila]] || Wind
|-
| Āditya || Sun
|[[Amshuman|Amsuman]]|| Pratyūsha || Sun
|-
| [[Dyaus]]/[[Akasha]] || Sky
|[[Akasha]]|| Prabhāsa || Sky/Ether
|-
| [[Chandra]]mas || Moon
|[[Varchas]]|| [[Soma (drink)|Soma]] || Moon
|-
| Naksatrani || Stars
|Prabhāsa|| [[Dhruva]] || Motionless/[[Polaris]]
|}

Though the ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]'' uses the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|Brhad-Aranyaka]]'' names, most later texts follow the ''Mahabharata'' names with the exception that [[Ap (water)|Āpa]] 'water' usually appears in place of Aha. The [[Vishnu Purana]] equates Prabhāsa with the lights of the 27 Nakshatras (Constellations/Lunar Mansions) and Dhruva with Akasha, that is "space", Dhruva seemingly taking over Aha's role when Aha is replaced by Āpa.

==Legend==
[[File:The wife of one of the vasus is tempted to steal the wish-bearing cow.jpg|thumb|The wife of one of the Vasus is tempted to steal the wish-bearing cow|260x260px]]
In the ''[[Ramayana]]'' the Vasus are children of [[Aditi]] and [[Kashyapa]].

The [[Mahabharata]] relates how the Vasus, led by "Prithu" (presumably here a male form of [[Prithvi]]), were enjoying themselves in the forest, when the wife of Prabhasa (also referred to as Dyaus) spotted [[Kamadhenu|a divine cow]] and persuaded her husband Prabhasa to steal it,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Buitenen |first1=Johannes Adrianus Bernardus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8oe5fY5_3UC&dq=vasus+wife+cow&pg=PA221 |title=The Mahabharata, Volume 1: Book 1: The Book of the Beginning |last2=Buitenen |first2=J. A. B. van |last3=Fitzgerald |first3=James L. |date=1973 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-84663-7 |pages=221 |language=en}}</ref> which Prabhasa did with the agreement and aid of Prithu and his other brothers. Unfortunately for the Vasus, the cow was owned by the sage [[Vasishta]] who learned through his ascetic powers that the Vasus had stolen it.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Doniger |first1=Wendy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C&dq=vasus+wife+cow&pg=PA332 |title=The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology |last2=O'Flaherty |first2=Wendy Doniger |date=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0386-2 |pages=332 |language=en}}</ref> He immediately cursed them to be born on earth as mortals. Vashishta responded to pleading by the Vasus by promising that seven of them would be free of earthly life within a year of being born and that only Prabhasa would pay the full penalty. The Vasus then requested the river-goddess [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]] to be their mother. Ganga incarnated and became the wife of King [[Shantanu]] on condition that he never gainsaid her in any way. As seven children were born, one after the other, Ganga drowned them in her own waters, freeing them from their punishment and the king made no opposition. Only when the eighth was born did the king finally oppose his wife, who therefore left him. So the eighth son, Prabhasa incarnated, remained alive, imprisoned in mortal form, and later became known in his mortal incarnation as [[Bhishma]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raman |first=Gowri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDvqDwAAQBAJ&dq=ashta+vasus&pg=PA3 |title=Mahabharatha |date=2020-06-09 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Himanshu Prabha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5eSEAAAQBAJ&dq=vasus+ganga&pg=PT182 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Hindu Temples: Materiality, Social History and Practice |last2=Kulshreshtha |first2=Salila |last3=Suvrathan |first3=Uthara |date=2022-10-13 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-78581-4 |pages=182 |language=en}}</ref>

==Other uses==
''Vasu'' is also the name of the eighth ''chakra'' (group) of ''[[Melakarta]]'' [[raga]]s in [[Carnatic music]]. The names of ''chakras'' are based on the numbers associated with each name. In this case, there are 8 ''Vasus'' and hence the eighth ''chakra'' is ''Vasu''.<ref name="sim">''South Indian Music'' Book III, by Prof. P Sambamoorthy, Published 1973, The Indian Music Publishing House</ref><ref name="ragas">''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. S. Bhagyalekshmy, Pub. 1990, CBH Publications</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hindu deities]]
*[[List of Hindu deities]]
*[[Thirty-three gods]]
*[[Adityas]]
*[[Rudras]]
*[[Ashvins]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Hindu deities and texts}}

[[Category:Hindu deities]]
[[Category:Rigvedic deities]]