Memoirs of Vaidyas The Lives and Practices of Traditional Medical Doctors in Kerala, India (7)* TSUTOMU YAMASHITA** Kyoto Gakuen University, Kyoto, Japan P. RAM MANOHAR AVP Research Foundation, Coimbatore, India Abstract This article presents an English translation of an interview with a practition- er of traditional Indian medicine (Āyurveda), A. S. M*** N*** (1930 ~ ), in Kerala, India. The interviewee’s specialized field is traditional poison-healing (Viṣavaidya). The contents of the interview are: 1. History of the Family (1.1 Family Members, 1.2 Teachers, 1.3 Joint Family, 1.4 Elephant, 1.5 Father, 1.6 Tradition of the Veda), 2. Traditional Poison-healing (Viṣavaidya) (2.1 Textual Tradition, 2.2 Kōkkara Nampūtiriʼs Reformation, 2.3 Speciality of Treatments and Medicines in Kerala, 2.4 Treatment Methods, 2.5 Modern Medicine and Āyurveda, 2.6 Signs of Death, 2.7 Prevision, 2.8 Treatment fee, 2.9 Hydropho- bia, 2.10 Mantra, 2.11 Features of Messengers (dūtalakṣaṇa), 2.12 Amtakalā and Viṣakalā), 3. Treatments for Elephants, and Bibliography. Key words Ayurveda, Traditional Indian Medicine, Poison-healing, Kerala * We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Vaidya A. S. M*** N*** for accepting our interview and allowing the translation to be published. ** Author for correspondence. Address: 1-1 Nanjo Otani, Sogabe-chou, Kameoka-shi, Kyoto-fu, 621-8555 Japan. E-mail:
[email protected]. eJournal of Indian Medicine Volume 6 (2013), 45–90 46 TSUTOMU YAMASHITA & P. RAM MANOHAR Introduction We would like to introduce here an English translation of one of our interviews. The interviewee, A.