Jivasutra (Jīvasūtra)

The Sūtra of Living Medicine [Jīvasūtra] resides here.
In the language of India: Jīvasūtra.
In the language of Tibet: Sman 'tsho ba'i mdo.
Chapter One.
Homage to the Omniscient One!
Having bowed down to that supreme physician who removes the affliction of defilements,
For intelligent persons, other than ṛṣis observing noble ascetic vows,
I shall set forth merely the principles of a meaningful life through this attained human body,
By means of proper conduct, precautions, and compatibility with the three [humours]—wind, bile, and phlegm.
From the three—desire, anger, and delusion—the three, wind, bile, and phlegm, arise.
Because the great ṛṣis have declared that they hold sway over all—including body, country, and season—and over well-being,
In brief accordance with their distinctions,
Here is briefly stated the intention regarding nature, signs, food, dwellings, and examination:
A man of wind has a rough and emaciated body, a restless mind, many words, and is cold.
A man of bile is reddish-yellow, sharp-witted, irascible, very warm, and has an odor.
A man of phlegm is white, sleek, gentle of speech, heavy, with little warmth, and sleeps little.

Those with combinations of two or three [humours] should also be recognized from that.
One should examine and recognize them progressively according to old age, adulthood, and childhood.
Cold and windy places are wind regions; hot and burning places are bile regions.
Moist and oily places are phlegm regions; mixed regions should be analyzed according to those.
Morning and twilight are phlegm time; dawn and afternoon are wind time.
One should know that midday and midnight are bile time.
Phlegm rises in spring; wind accumulates in early summer; bile rises in autumn.
Wind rises in late summer; bile accumulates; in early and late winter phlegm accumulates.
In autumn wind is pacified; in early winter bile is pacified; in late summer phlegm is pacified.
Having explained body, region, and season, the distinctions of the six tastes are briefly shown:
All sweets are cooling; they produce phlegm, and if they dispel wind and bile,
Clarified butter, molasses, thorny burdock, puncture vine, wheat, and walnuts are warming.
Muka, honey, meat from arid land, barley, and old molasses
Dispel phlegm; asparagus and ramnye do not generate phlegm and are neutral.
Pungents are warming; they generate bile, and if they dispel wind and phlegm,
Animal bile dispels bile, while black pepper also generates wind.
All sours are warming; they generate bile, and if they dispel phlegm and wind,
Myrobalan and Nepal pomegranate dispel bile.
Sweet apples are cooling, and buttermilk diluted with water does not produce bile.
Bitters are cooling; they generate wind, and if they dispel phlegm and bile,
Sweet flag and tinospora are warming, and if properly combined, also dispel wind.
All astringents are cooling; they generate wind, and if they dispel phlegm and bile,
Chebulic myrobalan harms none of the three faults and is neutral.
Moderate alcohol dispels phlegm and wind, but if taken in excess, it produces bile.
Salts are warming; they dispel wind, and if they generate phlegm and bile,
Rock salt and lche myang tsha do not cause harm through bile.
Sweet, astringent, and salt—these three are heavy down to the lowest respectively;
Sour, pungent, and bitter—these three likewise become progressively lighter.
Bitter, astringent, and salt—these three are rough down to the lowest respectively;
Sweet, sour, and pungent—these three likewise become progressively gentle.

Since wind, bile, and phlegm all resemble and arise from their own natures,
If body, place, season, food, and conduct share the same condition, illness will arise;
By properly combining suitable things, wind, bile, and phlegm will not arise and benefit will come.
Therefore, the proper way regarding what is suitable and unsuitable is explained here:
For wind, sweet, unctuous, heavy, and warm are suitable; rough, light, and cool are unsuitable.
For bile, bitter, sweet, and cool are suitable; pungent, sour, and hot are unsuitable.
For phlegm, unctuous, heavy, and cool are unsuitable; rough and hot conduct are suitable.
Therefore, in order to adopt suitable things for one's own body, season, place, and diet:
The two months of spring are the time when phlegm is produced, and illness arises;
Therefore, draw out phlegm, administer purgatives and emetics, and drink hot water.
Eat roasted meat of wheat and barley, honey, and the like—rough, astringent, and light.
Drink mead, grape wine, ginger water, honey water, and molasses wine.
Greasy and heavy substances such as butter and fat, sugar, sour foods, and raw, pungent foods,
Sweets, soft and sour things: avoid sleeping during the day when coolness and lightness prevail.
Wash the body with hot water, massage, take exercise, and walk as appropriate.
As for dwelling, stay in a moderately warm shade that is neither too hot nor too cold.
The two months of early summer are a time of depletion; abandon sexual intercourse and strenuous activity.
Do not fatigue yourself; eat flour-porridge, rice, milk, fresh butter, and meat.
Eat a little molasses and fat; drink light alcohol in small amounts.
Drinking boiled and cooled milk mixed with sugar, and buttermilk, is beneficial.
Avoid salt, sour things, black pepper, and other pungent and sour things.
Wash the body with lukewarm water, listen to melodious music, and wear ornaments.
Touch cooling things; taking a seated nap during the day is beneficial.
As for dwelling, stay in a cool place that is not warm and lacks strong, chilly drafts.
In the two months of late summer, bile accumulates and wind arises;
Because the outside is hot and the inside of the body is cold, the three humours are stirred up.
Therefore, to dispel wind illness, massage the body, apply oils, and wash with boiled herbal water.
To remove wind illness, administer sesame oil enemas, and apply compresses and steam baths.
As for diet, combine things moderately without being excessively hot, sweet, or sour.
Eat porridge that generates stomach warmth, butter, fat, and honey occasionally.
Eat roasted barley flour,

Cooked rice mixed with melted butter, warm food, and meat.
Drink a little wine, and avoid plain water and ravines with water.
Do not sit or walk in dampness; do not let the body be wetted by rain.
Avoid forceful exertion, exhaustion, weariness, and apprehension,
Discomfort day and night, daytime sleep, and vigorous sexual intercourse.
As for dwelling, spread mats and stay in a cool place without dampness or rising winds.
The two autumn months are the time when bile arises, and illness surges;
Therefore, administer cooling and sweet purgatives, and draw blood moderately by bloodletting.
Constantly consume medicines that are bitter, sweet, and cooling.
The water at this time is non-toxic and clean; washing in it and drinking it is beneficial.
As for food, consume and drink rice, barley, peas, honey, sugar, meat, and so on,
Sweet, bitter, and light, along with fresh butter and milk.
Do not drink heavy, strong-tasting wine, and do not become intoxicated;
Do not eat animal fat and sesame oil; do not walk or sit in the mist and dew.
Rely on warm food and regions, and delightful companions.
Wash the body with lukewarm water, and wear spotless clothes.
Adorn the body with ornaments and fragrant scents, and avoid nighttime and daytime discomfort.
As for dwelling, stay in a cool place that is not hot and not struck by cold breezes.
During the four months of early and late winter, the exterior is cold and the interior hot, causing phlegm to accumulate.
Wear warm clothing, take precautions against dampness and cold winds, and bask in the sun.
As for food, eat fatty meat, bone broth, butter, fat, and rich foods to satisfaction.
Consume large amounts of sweet, sour, salty, and warming foods, as well as fresh grains.
Drink moderate amounts of various wines; light manual work is easy to perform.
Exercise, walk, train the body, and from time to time apply sesame oil to the head and body and massage.
After that, wash with water boiled with medicines such as myrobalan.
As for dwelling, stay in a warm heating chamber equipped with fire and thick bedding.
In the hot season of early summer and the wind season of late summer, do not administer purgatives;
In the cold of early and late winter and for the aged, avoid emetics and bloodletting.
During the two winter months and early summer, do not use steam baths and compresses,

Even if oppressed by disease, it will be relieved.
Even so, act in harmony with body and disease.
Having explained the Sūtra of Living through compatibility with the three—wind, bile, and phlegm—
Here are further teachings for those who exercise caution in their conduct to live long:
Whatever nihilistic talk there may be, avoid the three: Dharma, reason, and others.
Reflect morning and night on past actions, and be extremely careful to repeat good and discard evil permanently.
Whatever you do, avoid agitation, weakness, and great desire.
Do not be overbearing due to pride and youth, nor be timid due to low knowledge.
Abandon evil companions and rely on spiritual teachers; give generously and practice the ten virtues.
Be honest, gentle, modest, harmless to others, and loving toward people.
Regard deities and kings with devotion; listen to commands and act in accord with their wishes.
Even if princes and wounds are small, do not despise them, but take great care.
Do not deceive through deceptive conduct; protect the laws and local customs.
Do not speak of others' faults; do not compete in speculations, desires, or violent practices.
Do not walk ahead of monks, preceptors, and parents; show them reverence.
Listen attentively to religious ascetics, ṛṣis, and marvelous creatures; do not play with snakes.
Do not sleep near large unidentified trees, near stūpas, at crossroads, in empty caves,
In slaughterhouses where many living beings have been killed, or in charnel grounds.
Do not bathe or rinse in sacred lakes and auspicious springs;
Do not cut large sacred trees of rocks and monasteries, nor break boulders.
Do not step on the shadows of stūpas, victory banners, or offering vessels, nor on maṇḍalas;
Do not step on corpses, sacrificial cakes, spirit-traps, homa pits, or ash pits.
When the sky is hazy, at midday, and at twilight,
Do not eat, do not drink, do not read texts, and avoid sexual intercourse and work.
Do not look for a long time at subtle rays of light such as the sun.
Do not sleep at temple gates, nor establish dwellings at mountain spurs or gorge rims.
Do not associate with those of extreme, miraculous knowledge, and do not listen to women's talk.
Do not engage in intercourse with old women, and do not exhaust yourself through athletic intercourse, speech, or walking.
Avoid loud and prolonged laughter, and avoid violent weeping.
Do not sit constantly, and do not stand for a long time.

walk moderately according to one's capacity. / Sneezing, coughing, semen, tears, nasal mucus, flatus, feces, and urine— / do not suppress them; do not hold them back; hunger, thirst, sickness, and heavy sleepiness, eliminate them quickly. / During intercourse, hiccups, coughing, and the like, do not twist the body or neck. / When yawning, cover the mouth; when sneezing or speaking, do not open the mouth too wide. / Do not let fingernails grow long; clip them, and do not scratch back and forth with them. / Do not strike the head and body with hands; do not violently shake the head; / without purpose do not draw on the ground, do not clap the hands, and do not bite the lips. / When unable, do not put on an air of competence; do not dwell on grief. / In spring, early summer, and autumn, using cattle butter and sesame oil as appropriate for the season, / always anoint the head and the soles of the feet, and at intervals anoint the body as well. / Except in autumn and spring, at other times occasionally drop sesame oil into the nose and ears. / With barberry extract and antimony, occasionally anoint the eyes as well. / Constantly maintain bodily hygiene, and wear amulets, mantras, and precious jewels. / Do not expose oneself to cold drafts, the odor of human corpses, and smoke. / Do not wash the head and body with hot water; when purgatives and emetics have been administered, / or when stricken by a cold or indigestion, do not wash the head and body or apply oils. / When dawn breaks, sit squatting and contemplate what is to be done today. / Having arisen, chew the tooth-cleaning stick, cleanse oral impurities, and wash hands and face. / After that, the supreme medicine, myrobalan (arura), consumed constantly, is nectar (amṛta). / Not sheep's butter, but fresh butter and clarified butter harden old age and prolong life. / If one consumes such medicines that benefit the body and life, / having adorned oneself very handsomely with ointments, ornaments, and garments, worship also the deities. / Then, speaking pleasantly and smiling to recipients of veneration and attendants, / generate diligent perseverance in the master's business and in the welfare of oneself and others. / Throughout the four seasons, eat food in moderation when warm, and drink beverages to satisfaction; / porridge, warm broth, and the like, everything that is oily, heavy, and hot, eat first; / rice and the like, which are cool and light, eat later; do not swallow dry flour without a companion dish. / Do not eat carelessly to extreme fullness, and do not drink alcohol to intoxication. / After being satisfied with rice, do not eat roasted flour dough;

after hot things, do not drink cold drinks. / If gruel is drunk moderately, it nourishes the body and is beneficial to the elderly within the home. / If any one of the six tastes is consumed excessively, illness arises; combine them moderately. / After being full, avoid intercourse, sprinting, running horses, and the like. / If wild greens and fruits are consumed in excess, illness arises; exposure to frost causes harm. / During the mid-summer month, excessive eating of wild greens becomes a sickness. / If a sick person is led through sweat-baths quickly, illness will flare up and tumors will occur. / Eating liver without Sichuan pepper slightly harms the heart. / The supreme foods, honey and aged butter, if eaten in equal parts, are harmful like poison. / Even if taken in unequal measures, if one drinks alcohol after eating them, it causes harm. / Uncurdled curd and warm curd just after curdling excite all diseases. / Avoid waterfowl in the summer; the supreme green, garlic (ke'u), is a medicine for the mid-summer month. / When one has taken medicine, stag's meat is harmful; melon mixed with curd turns into an infectious fever. / Roasted onion is incompatible with honey; if eaten together, death results. / If garlic or beef are eaten together, tumors will develop. / In early winter, eating Chinese pepper harms the heart, and if excessive, even blinds the eyes. / Eating butter and fat together is incompatible; eating marrow excessively causes tooth disease. / If buckwheat is eaten in large amounts, wind and body itchiness arise; / avoid drinking water at night, washing it down with beer, wilted radish, and dried meat. / Fish, pungent spices, butter, and fat are incompatible; do not place them even in the same vessel. / Eating fish and milk together in large amounts harms one internally with scales. / Fruits, alcohol, and the like, sour things, cabbage, and raw radish, / old mustard—none of these agree with milk; eating them in large quantities is harmful. / Drinking cold water after warm milk and black broad beans cause harm. / Eating food during an eclipse of the moon by a wolf causes sores on the teeth. / Eating beef and horse meat together brings eczema to the body. / Eating beef and pork together turns into intestinal worms. / Eating fish and chicken meat together causes tumors. / Eating the albumen of chicken egg with garlic causes breathing discomfort. / Eating chicken meat and hare meat together causes slight diarrhea. / Mushrooms cooked in mustard oil

harm the body if eaten. / The seed of inula (manu) and a little honey are not compatible. / Radish and molasses are incompatible; curd and pheasant meat are incompatible. / Thus, through habituation to compatible foods, constant moderation, / youth, ease of digestion, or eating small amounts, harm is avoided or mixed safely. / Having eaten compatible food and carried out afternoon tasks, go to sleep peacefully at nightfall. / Thus, if one is diligent and mindful, a human life is certain to reach its full span. / From birth until ten years old, do not demean the child, but let them be at ease. / From then until twenty, during those ten years, one should study and acquire skills. / From then until fifty-five, during the thirty-five years of the prime of life, / having engaged in worldly affairs of wealth and fame, / from fifty-five onward, in order to accomplish the path of the Dharma for one's mother, / arouse diligence in virtue, train in hearing and wisdom, and abide with body and mind at ease. / Whoever is able to do so renders their acquired human body meaningful, joyful, and virtuous. / Sent to physicians by the master, the noble Nāgārjunagarbha, / the Verses of the Discourse on Medical Sustenance (Bhaiṣajyajīvasūtra) are completed.