Paryayaratnamala or Ratnamala by Madhavakara is a famous
ancient Ayurveda dictionary. This medical lexicon in ancient India incorporates
numerous words of common parlance about medical plants and drugs. It has also
appended to itself a section on homonyms as well as another on ‘mana’ measures,
including definition of certain technical terms of frequent occurrence.
The author Madhavakara was the son of Indu Kasa, the
celebrated author of Raghviniscaya, popularly known as Nidana. Ganganatha is of
the opinion that since Nidana was translated into Persian at the time of
Harun-al-Rashid in the 8th century AD, Madhava must have flourished
during the 7th century AD or earlier. Joley conservatively places
the time period of Madhavakara in the 9th or 8th century
AD.
In Paryaya Ratnamala synonyms are presented in shlokas,
ardh ashlokas, padas and padardhas.
The homonyms are presented in three ways:
- Words having a single additional meaning each, indicated by the particle api.
- Words having two meanings each.
- Words having many meaning each.
The style of presentation of Paryayaratnamala is most
concise and direct, almost of the sutra style. Shloka or anustubha is the meter
used throughout the book.
Very often Ratnamala of Madhavakara is descriptive of the characteristics
or peculiar features of a plant; drug varieties of a plant or drug, if there are
any have also been briefly indicated.
Paryayaratnamala has been often quoted by Sarvananda
Vandyagaditya in this commentary on Amara. Both the work and its author have
been referred to by Medini (13th century AD), Rayamukta (15th
century AD) and Bhanuji Dikshita (17th century AD).
Notes taken from Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume III page 93-94 - IHRF