Lectures On Organon Of Medicine Volume 3
Published by Hpathy Medical Publishers, Jaipur India
First Edition November 2020
ISBN 978-81-97265-4-0
(304 Pages) Price Rs. 595
Dr. M. K. Sahani
Imagine the practice of medicine during the medieval era, where nothing was available related to the storehouse of clinical data. There were no regulatory provisions on how one might practice. One was starting from new experience with every attempt to combat disease. It is just like an unreal story. There were not even systematic thoughts about what is disease and health.
Collection of information in the form of personal observations and communication of other’s experiences, was the beginning of the steps towards the systematization of clinical information. It lead to the making of a storehouse of collected data in the form of Materia Medica.
It was only with very few such medical records that civilization entered into the post-medieval era. Hippocrates’s experiences at the beginning of this systematization of stored data and regulatory provision were the first steps in this direction.
At the same time ignorance, as well as egotism, played their own role in defying all attempts for uniformity in the practice of medical practice. The entire history is filled with controversial data that brought more confusion than solutions. Following regulations and defying them, runs parallel to each other. This is still observed in the present most advanced and informed era of data transfer systems and highly advanced information management systems.
We observe the availability of all such regulatory provisions, required for the practice of medicine, in our magnum opus Organon of medicine, compiled by a revolutionary figure in the history of medicine. Dr Hahnemann’s contribution represents the total transformation of the way medicine was practiced. However, his work has still not been fully understood and followed by the larger community of homeopathic practitioners.
Some dare to call themselves followers of this saintly figure but their understanding is far from the what is contained in his principles and practice of medicine. It is not that there were none to teach and guide us. Right from the appearance of Organon of Medicine, several stalwarts came out with explanatory notes and commentaries. There is a wide range of such commentaries available today, yet it seems difficult to make any practical use of them.
Homeopaths from every era after Dr. Hahnemann have been engaged in explaining the gems of information in his vast and most systematic presentation on
the practice of medicine. However, we observe that even today wide gaps prevail in the understanding of the information contained in this book.
I now come to Dr. Manish Bhatia’s series, “Lectures On Organon Of Medicine”, the final one being Volume 3. Through this work, an effort has been made to make the words of Hahnemann easy to understand and follow. The author has explained most of the aphorisms in present-day language, with examples from clinical cases and making correlations with ideas from modern science wherever possible.
Special and distinct features include:
- Translation errors in the 6th edition of Organon of Medicine corrected with the help of German
- The meaning of difficult words in each aphorism
- Each aphorism is explained in detail, with the elaboration of all important words and phrases.
- The language is very easy and in a conversational tone, which makes the study of Organon both understandable and interesting for the
- Clinical case examples are discussed with relevant aphorisms for a deeper understanding of theoretical
- Old terms from English and German, including old disease terminology are explained using modern-day
- Many concepts and examples in Organon are scientifically
With the multi-dimensional experience gained by Dr Manish through his vast treasure house of Hpathy.com and his engagement in academic activities as teaching faculty, editing of a journal, development of courses and providing lectures at educational seminars, he has been able to provide clarity in the presentation of the Organon.
The book under review is the third volume of the series. This book opens new dimensions for further exploration and practical applicability of the homoeopathic principles.
I congratulate and bless Dr. Manish Bhatia for presenting a new dimension of study in the subject of Organon of Medicine to the profession.
(Dr. M. K. Sahani)
I was able to consult the digital version of “Lectures on Organon of Medicine volumes 1, 2, 3 (English Edition) Kindle Format” proposed by Manish Bathia.
I clearly recognised, in the text of the English translations of the aphorisms of the 6th Organon, the original work (word for word up to the 276th aphorism) by Lois Hoffer, which she had shared in a Yahoo discussion group. At the time, she described her work as follows:
“creator and moderator of a Yahoo study group called “Hahnemaniacs”, for the study of the 6th Organon der Heilkunst by Samuel Hahnemann. Taking the original German Standardausgabe text, I create a unique type of nearly word-for-word interlinear translation, allowing even non-speakers to examine good English translations for accuracy. Each aphorism is then followed by an etymological and logical analysis of the text and its meaning in context.”
Lois HOFFER died on 8 February 2022 at the age of 61 in Nice, France.
I think Lois would have been happy to see her magnificent work of translation from the original German 6th Organon published. But she would have been bitter to find that her name had been entirely omitted from this work, which is improperly presented as being by one and the same author.
Dear Dynamis,
Lois was a great person and nobody can take away her immense contribution to the translation of Organon. I am sorry to know about her untimely demise.
However, the original notes for my volume 1 were written sometime in 2003-5 (i started teaching Organon in 2002). I don’t think Lois’ work was online back then.
I was not conversant with her work even in 2012 when i decided to publish my notes as a book. I took help of my two German friends Siegfried Letzel and Hans Weitbrecht to clear the Organon from translation errors. Both of them are scholars in their own right. We painfully went through every line of original German work and compared various translations before finalizing each lecture. Not just Organon, we referred to Chronic Diseases and even his case books and some manuscripts at Stuttgart. If you find similarities, it is because both the works are translating the same text and in both, native German speaking homeopaths were involved.
I am sure Lois would have been happy to see another soul tread a similar path with a same passion for Organon.