In English there is a word polymath (Greek: πολιμαθής), meaning an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Vidyasagar was a polymath. One of those versatile talents is that he was a famous homeopathic doctor. Today on the occasion of 'World Homeopathy Day' I will tell you the story of Doctor Vidyasagar.
He was not only a doctor, he also invented medicine for asthma. The drug can now be bought not only from stores but also from websites like flipkart or Tata 1mg.
He learned medicine by spending a lot of money on homeopathy books. The number of books was so much that he almost built a library. He distributed medicine to the poor for free. Vidyasagar even bought several human skeletons to learn about dissection. Vidyasagar also learned homeopathic medicine from Dr. Chandramohan Bose at Sukiya Street. He used to write the information of his treatment in the diary.
However, he did not practice medicine as a hobby. He could not bear the pain of the poor. He started treatment to serve them.
Shankariprasad Bose wrote in his book 'Rassagar Vidyasagar' — "His suffering from many ailments himself, the pain of seeing others suffer made Pandit Vidyasagar the 'physician' Vidyasagar."
When there was a cholera outbreak in the city of Calcutta. At that time he would go alone or with a doctor friend wherever he heard that a cholera patient was being left untouched. There are no accounts of how many lives have been restored by his treatment. Not only Kolkata, but also reached remote villages.
Principal Khudiram Bose wrote - "Once the village of Burdwan was devastated by malaria. Vidyasagar treated various villages including Ulo, Dwarbasini, Kalyanpur for 6 months."
Vidyasagar was called not only for the treatment of the helpless but also where the big doctors of the city could not cure the disease.
Khudiram Bose writes in his memoirs - “I once had a stomach ache. In Brajen Bandyopadhyay, Pratap Majumdar's medicine did not seem right either. Vidyasagar Masaya came to see me and said - 'Will you stay? - Will you go?' Want to live or die? I smiled a little. He found books and gave me medicine. After eating 2/3 times, I recovered”.
Vidyasagar asked Khudiram Bose to learn homeopathic medicine. He paid a fard of 150 taka for books and medicines. 150 rupees of that era, Khudiram Bose was naturally very uncomfortable and embarrassed. Vidyasagar understood this and lent the money to his young colleague. Though annoyed at first, Khudiram Bose benefited for the rest of his life. He wrote - "But now I think what good he did. The bill of 20 rupees a year for my home in allopathic clinic is probably too much. I cure minor ailments at home only with homeopathy. My son Hiran who will be 25/26 years old, this last year took allopathic medicine for the first time".
Mahendralal Sarkar, the famous allopath doctor of that era, once considered homeopathy as 'bogus medicine'. He changed his mind and later practiced homeopathy. And Vidyasagar is also behind this change. According to the writings of Vidyasagar's brother Sambhuchandra Vidyaratna, he, Vidyasagar and Mahendralal Sarkar once got up from Bhavanipur in the same car. Vidyasagar had a heated argument with Sri Ramakrishna's doctor about the validity of homeopathy. The tone of that dispute reached such a pitch that Shambhuchandra was forced to say – “Sir, put me down, I am deafened by your arguments”. It was this Mahendralal who later gained fame in homeopathic medicine.
Khudiram Bose says in this context - "Mahendra is the one who gave chalk to the doctor in some kind of homeopathy." Lal Mitra once had a liver abscess. Doctor Mahendra listened and gave medicine. Then Mr. Vidyasagar came and saw the patient and did not allow Dr. Mahendra’s medicine. He himself cured his incurable disease by giving medicine”.
Once in 1878, Harprasad Shastri had severe malarial fever. At that time he was supposed to go to Canning College in Lucknow (this college is now University of Lucknow). But it is impossible to go directly from Calcutta to Lucknow in case of illness. He decided that he would stop at Vidyasagar's house on the way and recover in a few days. Karmatand between Jamtara and Madhupur stations. In 1873, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar bought a house surrounded by a garden in 1873. He named the house 'Nandan Kanan'. He left Calcutta for the last 18 years of his life and lived there mainly among the Santals. Harprasad Shastri arrived there in September 1878.
One afternoon he could not find Vidyasagar anywhere. While looking out of 'Nandan Kanan', he suddenly saw Vidyasagar walking along the path with a stone bowl in his hand and a sweaty body. When asked where he went, Vidyasagar said that a Santal teenager was bleeding continuously from his nose. His mother came running to call him. He went to that village a mile and a half away to give homeopathic medicine. Bleeding is reduced in one dose. "They don't take much medicine, so taking a little medicine is beneficial. Calcutta people take many medicines and less medicines do not work. They don't benefit unless given a lot of medicine.''
The history of his homeopathy-practice remains behind the identity of a social reformer and educator. It started in Calcutta but got its full form in Karmatand. The indigenous people of Karmatand found him in the role of Doctor Babu. He ran his unpaid dispensary in his drawing room.
Brother Shambhuchandra Vidyaratna used to go to Karmatand from time to time. He used to help his elder brother in work. It is also found in his writings that Vidyasagar used to see Santal patients from early morning to ten in the afternoon and gave medicines free of cost. He used to offer sago, batasa and sweets as food. Again, visiting patients from house to house continued from afternoon till night, for which he often had to walk more than three miles a day and Had to stay awake at night.
Once Rajnarayan Bose came to Deoghar. Vidyasagar is supposed to meet him on a special errand. The man who did not mince words for a day could not go. Because, to save a cholera-affected 64-year-old Ashwini Hembram, he is combining day and night. He told Rajnarayan that through a letter.
Vidyasagar used to write down the treatment details in a diary regularly in this Karmatand. Currently the diary is preserved in Rabindra Bharati University. Kshitiprasada was the son of Vidyasagar's granddaughter. Motimala Devi is the daughter of the elder son Narayanchandra. Motimala Devi and Jamini Mohan Chattopadhyay's son Kshitiprasad was married to Manjushree Devi. Manjushree Devi was the granddaughter of Satyendranath Tagore and the eldest daughter of Surendranath Tagore. This is how the families of Vidyasagar and Rabindranath met. Based on that, Vidyasagar's prescription and 96-page diary are now in Rabindra Bharati University.
According to the diary, Vidyasagar used to observe the symptoms of the patients with great importance and wrote them down. For example, the patient's name, date of treatment, symptoms, how often he was given any medicine and when the disease was cured. A total of 96 pages of diary. Written in black ink. There were other leaves that were damaged. The diary contains case-histories of various patients over a period of three years from 25 September 1880 to 13 September 1883. His wife Dinmoyi Devi, daughter-in-law Bhavasundari, daughter Sarathkumari, daughter Kumudini, granddaughter Mrinalini are among the patients. Apart from relatives there are many names like Harmohan, Mokshada Devi, Sureshchandra, Tarakanath Sanyal, Priyamohan, Sukhda Devi, Hemlata, Sarada, Radhakrishna etc.
Here are some illustrative examples –
Dinamayi Devi
Thin watery evacuations-cutting pains in the bowels-violent chills; Execessive heat and thirst.
15.10.80
acontium 1
Every 2 hours
Cured 16.10.80’
‘Bhabasundari
Copious, tenacious, yellowish discharge from the female genital organs.
26.1.81
aconitium 6, Thrice daily
1.2.81
sepea 30, Thrice daily
Cured 15.2.81.
‘‘Saratkumari Devi
Hiccup, Nausea in the Morning and After Meal Vomiting of Food Awakens from Sleep with a Start.
15.10.80.
Sulfur 30, night and morning.
No improvement.
Mokshada Devi
Cancer in the uterus of three years.
Standing-continuous fever-great disgust for all food-excessive burning in the uterine region-left leg very much solen and painful restlessness day and night.
Aceticum acidum 1, Arsenicum 30.''
The next generation of Vidyasagar is also carrying homeopathy treatment. Vidyasagar's younger brother Ishanchandra Banerjee. The year after Vidyasagar's death, Ishanchandra's son Pareshnath Bandyopadhyay, who later became famous as the physician 'P Banerjee (Mihijam)' was born. Pareshnath's son Prashant Banerjee was also a famous homeopathic physician. His house was just opposite Netaji Bhavan on Elgin Road. His son is Pratip Banerjee. He also practices in the same house. 150 years of practicing homeopathy were celebrated in the Banerjee family.
Now I will tell the story of his discovery of medicine -
The kitchen of the rented house where Vidyasagar lived with his father as a child was dark. There was no sunlight. Next to the kitchen was a garbage dump, full of excrement and worms. The stench was there, but what was more awkward was that Vidyasagar had to sit with a glass of water during the meal. Otherwise there would be no way to eat rice. Worms came in groups towards the dish. By pouring water from a glass, Vidyasagar would float or dislodge the swarm of worms. And in the kitchen cockroach was very productive. One day while eating, Vidyasagar saw an cockroach in the curry. Didn't tell anyone that. If everyone knows, no one will eat. If you throw the cockroach next to the plate, it will be seen by others. What can be done? So that others would not have difficulty in eating, so that no one would feel anything, he ate the cockroach along with the curry.
Even in the future this cockroach did not leave behind him. Vidyasagar discovered one of the homeopathic medicines because of cockroach. Vidyasagar had asthma. The disease increased in winter. So in winter he used to drink hot tea both morning and afternoon. One day, a few hours after drinking tea, he felt that his asthma had completely subsided. He realized that there was something with the tea that caused his asthma to subside. He called the servant and asked, "Did you give ginger juice with the tea?" The servant said that he did not mix anything, just made it like the other day. However, in a hurry, he made tea without washing the kettle that day. Vidyasagar examined the kettle and saw that there were two cockroaches lying inside.
Vidyasagar hypothesized that this cockroach contained something that could relieve asthma. Decided to make medicine and test it. Using Homeopathic method of making medicine, after boiling several cockroaches in excess water, it is diluted in alcohol to make medicine. First, he tried it himself and saw that the medicine really works. Later, without telling, he tested others and got success. Bhubankrishna Mitra wrote in his memoirs, "He administered this medicine to many patients without informing them. After success, Blatta orientalis prepared by him began to be used." The scientific name of Oriental cockroach is Blatta orientalis, so the medicine is named Blatta orientalis. Pandit Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar is named as the first practitioner of this medicine in 'Materia medica'. Here are two page images of Una Edicion Aumentada Manual De Bolsillo De Materia Medica Homeopatica (Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory: Comprising of the ...) by William Boericke in Spanish and English. The name of Vidyasagar was mentioned in the Indian Journal of Zoology (Volume 6) published in 1978.
In the year 2018 a detailed Physicochemical study of the homoeopathic drug, Blatta orientalis was done by scientists Bibaswan Biswas, Shyaga Jhansi, Ramchander Potu, Satish Patel, M Nagaraju, EN Sundaram from Drug Standardisation Unit, Hyderabad, Telangana and Renu Arya, AK Khurana, Raj K Manchanda from Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, New Delhi. Some of the information from that report is summarized here.
The reported chemical constituents of haemolymph of Blatta orientalis are triazoles, thiophenes, secondary sulphonamide, vinyl halides, sulphinic acid, secondary amide, bromo compounds, cyclopeptane, aldehyde/ketones group and methylene groups. Considering its medicinal effect as potential anti-asthmatic drug in Homoeopathy, the present study was carried out to standardise the raw drug and homoeopathic formulation (mother tincture) of Blatta orientalis. The physicochemical data presented in this research article may also be used as pharmacopoeial standard to ensure the quality of commercial samples.
Results: The study indicates that the values of the preliminary parameters of this drug are quite different from the ranges reported for plant drugs. TLC study confirms the complexity of the composition of the prepared drug.
Conclusion: The physicochemical data of the drug, B. orientalis, may serve as pharmacopoeial standard for authentication, quality assurance and quality control process of the commercially available drug.
If you ever visit a homeopathic doctor's chamber and see a picture of Samuel Hahnemann hanging, be sure to ask the doctor to have a picture of Dr. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, the discoverer of Blatta Orientalis.
Arindam Bhowmik
midnapore.in
(Published on 10 April 2023, World Homeopathy Day)
