Gautama, Pushya A and Menon, Sangeetha
(2025)
Are Plants Conscious? Vegetal ‘Being’ in the Caraka Saṁhitā.
Journal of Dharma Studies.
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| Abstract: |
This study discusses notions of plant consciousness within the classical Ayurveda text, the Caraka Saṁhitā (CS) and its ideas on vegetal ‘being’. Drawing extensively from Cakrapāṇidatta’s commentarial gloss on the CS, the Āyurvedadīpikā, it begins by pointing to two frequently conflicting conceptualizations and positions ascribed to plants within the text: (a) plants as material agents of therapy and (b) plants as sentient and conscious ‘beings’. Then, drawing upon the CS’s suggestion that the property of consciousness can be inferred from sentience, the paper investigates Cakrapāṇidatta’s position that plants are not only sentient but also capable of some degree of self-awareness. It then proceeds to ask whether plants may be considered as possessing ‘minds’, situating this discussion within the broader epistemic framework of the CS’s theory of sparśa. In conclusion, the study discusses the implications and challenges of such notions of plant being in view of the text’s overwhelming dependence on a herbal pharmacopeia. |
| Item Type: |
Journal Paper
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| Subjects: |
School of Humanities > Consciousness Studies |
| Divisions: |
Schools > Humanities |
| Date Deposited: |
30 Sep 2025 08:33 |
| Last Modified: |
30 Sep 2025 08:33 |
| Official URL: |
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42240-0... |
| Related URLs: |
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| Funders: |
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| Projects: |
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| DOI: |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s42240-025-00231-1 |
| URI: |
http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/2996 |
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