Two rare Ayurvedic manuscripts, Dravyaratnākara Nighaṇṭu and Dravyanamākara Nighaṇṭu, treasures of traditional Indian medicine, have been resurrected, offering a promise to bridge India’s ancient wisdom with modern research frameworks.

A Mumbai-based Ayurveda expert and a renowned manuscriptologist, Dr. Sadanand D. Kamat, edited and translated the manuscripts that were released on Wednesday during an event organised by Raja Ramdeo Anandilal Podar (RRAP) Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Mumbai.

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Dr Kamat, known for his expertise on key Ayurvedic texts like Saraswati Nighaṇṭu, Bhāvaprakāsha Nighaṇṭu, and Dhanvantari Nighaṇṭu, showcases his profound scholarship and dedication to preserving India’s rich Ayurvedic legacy.

“These texts are not just historical artefacts – they are living knowledge systems that can transform contemporary healthcare approaches when studied and applied thoughtfully,” said Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), an independent body under the Ministry of Ayush.

Dravyaratnākara Nighaṇṭu, authored by Mudgala Paṇḍita in 1480 AD, was a widely referenced text in Maharashtra until the 19th century. It documents numerous novel medicinal substances obtained from plant, mineral, and animal origins. The eighteen chapters of this previously unpublished medical lexicon provides an exhaustive list of drug synonyms along with a detailed description of medicinal properties and the therapeutic action observed in relieving the patient’s symptoms.

Meanwhile, Dravyanamākara Nighaṇṭu, serves as an appendix to a more foundational text in Ayurveda, Dhanvantari Nighaṇṭu which was attributed to Dhanvantari, the legendary physician and deity in Hinduism. This recently revived literature renders insights into a more complex but vital area of ayurveda, i.e. homonyms (words or names that are similar or identical, potentially causing confusion between medicinal substances and plant species) of drug and plant names. Additionally this text also expands on how these drugs can be applied for treating human diseases and conditions, an important area known as medical pharmacology in modern terminology.

He emphasized that reviving these ancient texts will inspire scholarly exploration and foster deeper engagement with India’s classical medical literature among students, researchers, academicians, and Ayurveda practitioners.