9th Century

Title sman dpyad zla ba’i rgyal po Sanskrit Title Somarājabhai sajyasādhanā Author Nāgārjuna (klu sgrub) (9th c?), Translators: Hashang Mayayana and Vairocana (other texts mention different translators) Reprint bod gzhung sman rtsi khang, Dharamsala 1994 Pages 323 Electronic Version 550 KB Comments According to Sangye Gyatso this work originates from China, then came to India and into the hands of Nagarjuna, who often is attributed with the authorship. The text belongs to the ‘early translation period’ (snga ’gyur). Next to the cha lag bco brgyad and the yan lag brgyad pa it was mentioned as an important medical text at least until the 17th century.

11th Century

Title gso dpyad rgyal po’i dkor mdzod Author Jetsun Drapa Gyaltsen (rje btsun grags pa rgyal mtshan) (1147-1216) Reprint kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang; Lanzhou 1993 Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok, Sikkim 1966 Pages Chinese edition: 224 Electronic Version (of the Chinese edition) 262 KB Comments Grags pa rgyal mtshan was a Sakya throne holder, and the third great scholar from the remarkable family of Khon. He authored the earliest rgyal rabs of Tibet, bod kyi rgyal rabs, as well as many other texts on various topics. His medical work comprises 27 chapters on the treatment of various diseases with an emphasis on the different types of fevers.

Title yan lag brgyad pa’i snying po bsdus pa zhes Brief Title yan lag brgyad pa Author Translators: Rinchen Zangpo (958-1055) and Jarandhara Reprint gso rig pa’i rtsa ’grel bdam bsgrigs. (A collection of medical works from the Tenjur). mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing 1989, Vol. 1-3 Pages 112-756 (Vol. 1) Electronic Version to be completed Comments The early Ashtanga Hridaya Samhita is a systematised text of human illness and therapy in six sections (Skt. sthana), which incorporates the Eight Branches, known as Ashtanga Hridaya in Sanskrit, and yan lag brgyad pa in Tibetan. The relationship between Vagbhata and rgyud bzhi are dealt with in detail by Emmerick (1977), according to which the Tibetan translation of Astanga Hrdaya Samhita forms a basis of the rgyud bzhi. ITTM has been working on preparing a glossary database of medical terms derived from this text (for details see www.ittm.org). [Emmerick, Ronald E. 1977: “Sources of the rgyud bzhi ”. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden. Supl. III:2:1135-1142)]

12th Century

Title cha lag bco brgyad Brief Title cha lag bco brgyad, also: sman gzhung cha lag bco brgyad (“The 18 Implementations”) Author controversial; authorship is generally attributed to Yuthog Yonten Gonpo (1112-1203) and to his students Reprint sMan gzhung cha lag bco brgyad. Varanasi 1967 Yuthog’s Treatise on Tibetan Medicine. Lokesh Chandra (ed.). Satapitaka Series Vol. 72. New Delhi 1968 Gyu thog cha lag bco brgyad: a corpus of Tibetan medical teachings attributed to Gyu thog the Physician. Delhi: Topden Tshering, Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre, Dolanji, H.P. 1976 Pages 538 (1968 version) Electronic Version to be completed (1968 version) Comments The value of the work was interpreted differently at various stages of Tibetan medical history. Till the 17th century this collection was held in high regards by the zur lugs and byang lugs medical traditions. After Sangye Gyatso’s works appeared, the cha lag bco brgyad received less attention. However, it is still consulted by Tibetan medical students today.

Title bdud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud Brief Title “THE FOUR TANTRAS” or Gyushi Author controversial; authorship is generally attributed to Yuthog Yonten Gonpo (1112-1203) Reprint Dharamsala (no date) Chakpori Medical Institute, Darjeeling 1992 Pages 687 (Dharamsala edition), 424 (Chakpori edition; excluding the 3rd Tantra) Electronic Version version: 1.16MB (Dharamsala edition) Comments The Four Tantras contain 156 chapters and are divided into four books. The current version is based on the 12th century edition, compiled by the famous physician Yuthog Yonten Gonpo (1112-1203), and is the most important text in Tibetan medicine still today. The debate whether it is the translation of an Indian text, or a Tibetan composition is ongoing, although most scholars agree that it must be indigenously Tibetan, but has been heavily influenced by Indian, Chinese, Greek and other medical traditions. The chapters explicate the eight branches of Tibetan medicine: the body (including physiology, anatomy, embryology, pharmacology), paediatrics, gynaecology, disorders caused by spirits, wounds inflicted by weapons, toxicology, geriatrics, and fertility.

Title bdud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngag gi rgyud las bshad pa’i rgyud kyi ’grel pa ’bum nag gsal sgron Brief Title bshad rgyud ’grel pa ’bum nag gsal sgron Author Dznyana Dharitsam (dznya na dha ris brtzams = Ye shes gzung) (12th c.) Reprint mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing 1998 Pages 270 Electronic Version 447 KB Comments Ye shes gzung was the most famous student of Yuthok Yontan Gonpo the Younger and author of several medical works. This is an early commentary on the 31 chapters of the bshad rgyud (the second part of the Four Tantras). It quotes the original sections from the Gyushi, followed by explanations of the meaning.

15th Century

Title mkhas dbang skyem pa tshe dbang mchog gis mdzad pa’i rgyud bzhi’i ’grel pa Author Kyempa Tsewang (skyem pa tshe dbang mchog), completed in 1479 Reprint bod gzhung sman rtsi khang, Dharamsala 1997 Pages Vol.1: x, 592 Electronic Version Vol.1: 1.07 MB Comments Kyempa Tsewang was a renowned scholar and physician of the 15th century Tibet. He followed the tradition of the Zhurkar (sur lugs) that developed about half a century after the Jangpa tradition (byang lugs). The first two of his four commentaries have recently (Dharamsala 1997) been reprinted as a hard-bound book (592 pages). Kyempa Tsewang gives considerable importance to the ethics and pre-requisites for students as well as teachers of Tibetan medicine and devoted the entire first chapter to the subject. Not only personality and character development of student and teacher, their ethics in teaching and receiving the teachings, but also spiritual guidelines are included in his expositions. He arranged his work in four sub-treatises following the outline of the Gyushi. The same chapter outline reappears in the “Blue Lapis Lazuli” (vaidurya sngon po) by Desi Sangye Gyatso, written about two hundred years later.

Title man ngag bye ba ring bsrel bod chung rab ’byams gsal ba’i sgron me Author Zurkha Nyamnyi Dorjee [1439-1475] Reprint kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Lanzhou 1993 Pages 3, 29, 854 Electronic Version 960 KB Comments This text is a summary of two previous works by Zurkha Nyamnyi Dorjee. It has three parts and was of importance to Sangye Gyatso in writing the Vaidurya sngon po three hundred years later. The author was a representative of the zur lugs school of Tibetan medicine. The work still forms a part of the Tibetan medical curriculum today.

16th Century

Title rgyud bzhi’i ’grel pa mes po’i zhal lung Author Zurkha Lodo Gyalpo (zur mkhar ba blo gros rgyal po, 1509-1579), Compiled between 1560 and 1570. Reprint bod gzhung sman rtsi khang, Dharamsala Pages Indian edition: Vol. 1: 3728 pages Vol. 2: 6782 pages Electronic Version Vol. 1: 1.73 MB Vol. 2: 1.84 MB Comments Lodo Gyalpo was the main representative of the zur lug school of Tibetan medicine. This is his main work, a commentary on the Gyushi, and is entitled “Commentary on the Four Tantras: Oral Instruction of the Ancestor”. Lodo Gyalpo completed the commentary only on the first and second Tantra and on the first two chapters of the Last Tantra of the Gyushi. The work was later completed by Darmo Menrampa Lobsang Choedrag. This work of dual authorship has been exemplary in the history of Tibetan medical literature. It summarises the main points of previous writers, corrects erroneous views and explores the content of previous Indian sources. It was a major source for Sangye Gyatso’s Vaidurya sngon po.

17th Century

Title gso ba rig pa’i bstan bcos sman bla’i dgongs rgyan rgyud bzhi’i gsal byed bE D’ur sngon po’i malli ka zhes bya ba Author Desi Sangye Gyatso (sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653-1705) Reprint bod ljong mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa, 1982 Pages Vol. 1: 734p Vol. 2: 735-1468p Electronic Version Vol. 1: 1.62 MB Vol. 2: 1.60 MB Comments A commentary on the Gyushi in two volumes, written AD 1687-88, on request of Dar mo sman rams pa, who was Sangye Gyatso’s teacher. This commentary is based among others on the previous sources of the 15th and 16th century mentioned above. The Indian reprint was prepared from a wooden block print from Derge (sde dge).

Title gso rig sman gyi khog ’bugs Full Title dpa ldan gso ba rig pa’i khog ’bugs legs bshad bE D’ur ya’i me long drang srong dgyes pa’i dga’ ston Author Desi Sangye Gyatso (sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653-1705), completed AD 1702/1703(?) Reprint Sonam W. Tashigang, Leh, Ladakh 1970 kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang; Lanzhou 1982 bod gzhung sman rtsi khang, Dharamsala, 1994 Pages xii, 573p (1994 reprint) Electronic Version 717 KB (1994 version) Comments Sangye Gyatso’s famous khog ’bugs is a history of medicine in 36 chapters, which places the development of the two Tibetan medical schools byang lugs and zur lugs in the context of a general history of Tibet. It discusses the development of medicine in India the history of medicine in Tibet from the 8th to the 17th century, and includes biographies of many important medical practitioners.

Title sman ngag lhan thabs Full Title man ngag yon tan rgyud kyi lhan thabs zug rngu’i tsha gdung sel ba’i katpü ra dus min ’chi zhags gcod pa’i ral gri Author Desi Sangye Gyatso (sde srid sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, 1653-1705) ; composed from 1691 onwards and completed in 1696. Reprint mtsho sdon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Ziling 1993 (3rd edition) Lhasa, s. n. ff. 288. lcags po ri rig byed ’gro phan gling blocks [LC Class: R127.5.S265 1950z] Pages 3, 10, 667p (1993 reprint) Electronic Version to be completed (1993 version) Comments The collection is a guidebook for practising physicians, has 133 chapters, and only refers to the third part of the Gyushi. Willhelm Alexander Unkrig in his “Introduction” to Korvin Krasinki’s Die Tibetische Medizinphilosophie (Zürich 1953) translated the title as “The additional methods of the basis of the advantages of the quintessence of the science of healing, the eight-fold secret instructions - the camphor for the removal of the hot disease of piercing pain, the sword that cuts the thread of an untimely death.” Unkrig pointed out that the misspelled katpûra, or k’adbuura, seems to have entered all bilingual editions, and what is actually meant is the Sanskrit karpûra, meaning camphor. In the lhan thabs, the dharani or magical spells are primarily taken into account as the most effective methods, and are described in detail, at times with illustrations of the respective amulets along with instructions for their manufacturing. Apart from the enumeration of chapters, there is another classification, which divides diseases into sixteen groups.

18th Century

Title dri med shel gong shel phreng Author Dilmar Geshe Tenzin Punthsok (De’u/Dil dmar dge bshes bstan ’dzin phun tshogs, born 1672); written in 1727 Reprint bod gzhung sman rtsi khang, Dharamsala 1994 Pages 22, 537p Electronic Version 912 KB Comments This is the best-known book on the indigenous Tibetan materia medica. Still today, it is considered the fundamental work on the topic, and both independent treatises, the shel gong and shel phreng are always published together. It enumerates 2,294 primary raw drugs of herbal and animal origin with their properties, action, indications for treatment, and toxicity. Thirteen plant categories were created according to their nature, origin, environment and the parts used, such as root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit, or the whole plant.

Title rin chen dngul chu sbyor sde phyogs bsdebs Author Mipham (’Ju mi pham, bla sman o’rgyan bstan ’dzin, sde dge drun yid guru ’phel, kon sprul yon tan rgya mtsho) Reprint Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA), Dharamsala 1986 Pages 442 Electronic Version to be completed Comments Collected works on Mercury Formulations (Rasasiddhisastra) reproduced from rare manuscripts and sde dge woodblocks from the library of Late Dr. Jamyang Tashi, Dr. Tenzin Chodrak, and Dr. Lobsang Tashi. A compilation of texts on the formulation of the Tibetan precious pill Tsodru Dashel (rin chen dnul chu btso bkru zla sel).

19th Century

Title rgyud bzhi’i brda bkrol rnam rgyal a ru ra’i phreng ba’i mdzes rgyan Author Lungrig Tendar (lung rigs bstan dar) of Mongolia (1835-1915) Reprint mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing 1986 Pages 521 Electronic Version to be completed Comments Lungrig Tendar belongs to the most famous traditional physicians of Mongolia. He is respected for his unique style of introducing Buddhist debate methods into medical contexts. This is his commentary on the Gyushi, which follows exactly the chapter outline of the Gyushi, but applies his own methods of analysis. The book also has some plates with sketches of surgical and medicinal instruments.

Title man ngag rin chen ’byung gnas Full Title gso rig gi bstan bcos mtha’ dag gi snying po rnams phyogs gcig tu bsdus pa man ngag rin chen ’byung gnas Author Jampal Thinle (’jam dpal chos kyi bstan ’dzin ’phrin las, 1789-1838) Reprint Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Zi ling, 1997 Pages 1, 2, 3, 18, 918 (1997 version) Electronic Version 891 KB Comments Jampal Thinle’s work is still of great interest to medical students of pharmacology. He explains Tibetan remedies and their ingredient according to disease categories. All remedies are indexed at the end of the book.

Title bod kyi gso ba rig pa’i dkar chag mu tig phreng ba Full Title bod kyi mkhas pa rim byon gyi gso rig gsung ’bum dkar chag mu tig phreng ba Author Lama Kyab (bla ma skyabs) Reprint kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang; Lanzhou 1997 Pages 284 Electronic Version 357 KB Comments This work comprises a catalogue of authors and their medical works. The list is arranged alphabetically according to authors.