Eternal India Encyclopedia

Ancient Concepts, Sciences & Systems

Eternal India

encyclopedia

the Brahmanas are

Syena

(hawK),

Hamsa

(swan),

Kalavinka

(sparrow),

Tittiri

(partridge),

Vaja

(faloon)

Kapinjala

(Hazel

cockatoo) etc.

Panini,

the grammarian, divided the living creatures into two -

Pranin

(animate) and

Apranin

(inanimate).

Pranin

are supposed to

have a mind (

cittavat

), while

Apranin

are devoid of mind

(Acit-

tavat).

The animate are divided into

Pasu

(animals) and

Manushya

(human beings). Animals are further divided into

gramya

and

aranya.

Panini’s work,

Astadhyi

also refers to the determination of

the age of animals based on the number of teeth, growth of the

horns and hump. Terms like

Angula srnga

(horn of one finger

length,

dvidanta

(two teeth) point to this fact. The

Dharmasutras

classify beasts under four divisions —

Ekasapha

(one hoof)

Dvikhuri

(two hoofs),

Pancanakha

(five nails)

Ubhayatidanta

(two

rows of teeth). The

Baudhayana Dharmasutra

classifies birds into

three categories -

Vikira

(insect eating);

Pratuda

(eating after,

pecking them with beaks, and

Kravyada

(eating fish only). Two

kinds of fish are also mentioned in the

Dharmasutras - Vikrta rupa

(peculiar in irregular shapes) and

Avikrtarupa

(regular shape)

The

Manasollasa

of Someswara, a work belonging to 12 cent

AD. has a section

Matsyavinoda,

dealing with fish. Though the

section deals mainly with angling, it has many useful details of fish

varieties. Fish are divided into marine and freshwater. Each of

these is further divided into scaly and scaleless.

The Manusmriti broadly classifies wordly objects into

Sthavara

(immovable) and

Jangama

(movable). The

Jangama

includes ani-

mals and are further divided into

Jarayuja

(viviparous),

Andaja

(oviparous) and

Svedaja

(born out of sweat). Higher animals

including human beings belong to

Jarayuja

class, birds, serpents etc

belong to

Andaja,

while

Svedaja

has flies, mosquitoes, lice, bugs

etc.

Charakasamhita,

an ancient medical text, divides animals un-

der five categories -

Aranya, Gramya, Jalodh.abh.ava

(Aquatic),

St-

halaja

(terrestrial) and

Udbhijja

(born out of vegetable matter).

Sushruta, another celebrated ancient Indian surgeon, adds one more

class

Samsvedaja

(bom out of heat and sweat) to the category of

animals.

Tattvarthadigama

a Jaina work of Umaswathi gives an exhaus-

tive classification of animals primarily based on senses . These are

(I) Animals with touch and taste

(a)

Apadika

without lateral appendages

(b)

Nupuraka

- Annelids

(c)

Gandupada

Arthropods

(d)

Sambura

- Molluscs

(e)

Jaluka

- Leeches

Animals with touch, taste and smell

(a)

Pipilika

Ants and insects

(b)

Rohinika

Red ants

(c)

Upacika

- Bees, fleas

(d)

Satapadi

Centipedes

(e)

Trnapatra

- Aphids etc.

III

Animals with sight, smell, taste and touch

(d)

Kita

- Butterflies

(e)

Patanga

- Moths, locusts etc.

Animals with five senses

(a)

Matsya

Fish

(b)

Uraga

- Reptiles without limbs

(c)

Bhujanga

- Oviparous limbed animals

(d)

Pakshi

- Birds

(e)

Catuspada

- Quadrupeds.

Elephants and horses which were very useful in warfare were

studied in great detail and there are several works exclusively

dealing with them. These are

Hasthyayurveda, Matangalila, Asv-

asastra

etc The

Hasthyayurveda

dealing with elephants has four

sections (

sthana

), each divided into several chapters. The first

section deals with diseases and remedies, surgery is dealt with in

the third section while dietary details are found in the fourth

section. Ten types of instruments of surgery are also mentioned.

The originator of

Asvasastra

is believed to be Nakula, one of

the five Pandava brothers. The work whose date is unknown is

available in the Saraswati Mahal Library, Tanjore, Tamil Nadu.

The work written in verses divides the body of the horse into ten

parts. Various types of horses also have been described. These

however are mostly from the utilitarian point of view and have little

zoological value.

Another ancient zoological work of considerable interest is a

work on ornithology entitled

Syainika Sastra

attributed to one

Rudra deva. The work includes classification of birds, diseases,

details of hunting etc.

To sum up it may be said that the knowledge of ancient Indians

in animal science compares favourably with that of contemporary

civilizations.

Sources and Chronology of

Original Works Referred in the article

(a)

Saranga

(b)

Makshika

(c)

Vrishika

Bees, wasps etc

Flies, gnats etc.

Scorpions, spiders etc.

RigVeda

About 1500 B.C.

Brahmanas

Between Rig Veda and the rise

of Buddhism

Astadhyayi of Panini

400 B.C.

Arthasastra of Kautilya

300-4B.C.

Manusmriti

200 B.C. - 200 A.D.

Caraka Samhita,

Susruta Samhita

Beginning of Christian era

Tatvarthadigama

135 -219 A.D.

Mahabharata

Earlier part of the

Christian era or B.C.

Puranas

4th cent B.C. - 500 A.D.

Amarakosha

4th cent, A.D.

Brihat Samhita

4th or 5th cent. A.D.

Vrkshayurveda of Parasara -

1st cent B.C. 1st cent A.D.

Manasollasa

112 A.D.

Asvasastra

Unknown possibly 12 cent. A.D.

Hastyayurveda

Unknown

(S.S.)