Sharangadhara Samhita: A Review of Its Unique Contributions to Ayurvedic Science

The Śārṅgadhara Saṁhitā is an integral and practical classical Ayurveda text whose treatise on the pharmaceutical sciences is exceptionally easy to understand. Earlier texts on Ayurveda focus on the theoretical aspects of the science and rely heavily on the abstraction of the various concepts. In contrast, this text addresses the preparation, standardization, dosage, and administration of medicines. This text is the first of its kind to have a practical focus and address the administration of medicines. This paper reviews the contributions made by Śārṅgadhara Saṁhitā and presents them in the three sections of the text. The focus was primarily on the unique aspects the text introduced such as the storage and the collection of the medicines, fundamental aspects of the processing of medicines, the determination of the dosage, the analysis of the pulse, the pharmacological actions of the medicines, the Shodhana and the marana, and the detailed procedures of the Panchakarma. The Madhyama Khaṇḍa is the first text to address the techniques of Bhishak and presents the concepts of the various dosage forms such as Swarasa, Kwatha, Phanta, Hima, Kalka, Churna, Vati, Avaleha, Sneha, and Sandhana Kalpanas. The text also addresses the concepts of the stability (of shelf life), the administration, and the measurement of the medicines. The layout and the organization of Śārṅgadhara Saṁhitā makes the text the most cited and referred in the contemporary times by Ayurvedic Scholars, Ayurvedic Research, Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Science, and Ayurvedic Practice as it focuses on the Standardization, (Good) Manufacturing Practice, and the Scientific advancement in Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Science.