Ashtangasamgraha 13

English (machine translation) 13

Language: English

13.1

Now we shall expound the chapter on the compendium of the foremost [substances]. / Thus indeed spoke Ātreya and the other great sages. / Thus indeed spoke Ātreya and the other great sages. / Thus indeed spoke Ātreya and the other great sages. / Thus indeed spoke Ātreya and the other great sages.

13.2

Water is the best among things that refresh, arrest [discharges], and moisten;

bathing and liquor, among things that remove fatigue;

milk, among vitalizers;

meat, among nourishing substances;

meat-soup, among gladdening substances;

salt, among substances that produce relish for food;

tinduka fruit, among substances that cause aversion to food;

sour [food], among heart-pleasing substances;

rooster, among strengtheners;

[sesame] oil, among pacifiers of vāta and śleṣman;

ghee, among pacifiers of vāta and pitta;

honey, among pacifiers of śleṣman and pitta;

sudation, among softeners;

exercise, among things that produce firmness;

caustic alkali, among things destructive of virility;

unripe wood-apple, among things harmful to the voice;

sheep's ghee, among unwholesome things for the heart;

buffalo milk, among sleep-inducers;

partially formed curd, among things producing obstruction [of the channels];

sugarcane, among urine-inducers;

barley, among stool-inducers;

jāmbava, among vāta-inducers;

horse-gram, among inducers of acid dyspepsia;

black gram, fried cakes, and ewe's milk, among inducers of pitta and śleṣman;

durālabhā, among desiccators of pitta and śleṣman;

fasting, among fever-removers;

vāśā, among pacifiers of bleeding disorders;

kaṇṭakārikā, among destroyers of cough;

lac, among healers of fresh wounds;

habitual use of nāgabalā, among cures for chest wound and consumption;

puṣkaramūla, among relievers of hiccup, dyspnea, cough, pain in the flanks, and anorexia;

goat's milk, among consumption-removers, milk-promoters, styptics, and pacifiers;

water settled with a heated earthen clod, among relievers of excessive vomiting and thirst;

marking-nut and leadwort root, among pacifiers of dry hemorrhoids;

kutaja, among pacifiers of bleeding hemorrhoids;

puffed rice, among destroyers of vomiting;

barley-ash, among laxatives, digestives, and destroyers of hemorrhoids;

habitual use of buttermilk, among pacifiers of hemorrhoids, swelling, digestive-tract disorder, and mishaps due to ghee;

habitual use of carnivorous meat, among destroyers of hemorrhoids, consumption, and digestive-tract disorder;

mustā, among bowel-binding, digestive fire-kindling, and food-digesting substances;

ativiṣā, among bowel-binding, food-digesting substances, and removers of all doṣas;

bilva, among bowel-binding, fire-kindling substances, and pacifiers of vāta and kapha;

udīcya, among cooling substances, fire-kindlers, and relievers of vomiting and diarrhea;

kaṭvaṅga, among bowel-binding and fire-kindling substances;

bark of kutaja, among things that bind and desiccate śleṣman, pitta, and blood;

filaments of blue lotus and white lotus, along with anantā, among bowel-binding substances and pacifiers of bleeding disorders;

kāśmarya fruit, among styptics and pacifiers of bleeding disorders;

gandhapriyaṅgu, among relievers of excessive hemorrhage and pitta;

pṛśniparṇī, among styptic, fire-kindling, food-digesting, vāta-destroying, and aphrodisiac substances;

sālaparṇī, among aphrodisiacs and removers of all doṣas;

balā, among bowel-binding, tonic, and vāta-destroying substances;

pippalī-root, among kindlers of digestive fire, digestives, and relievers of abdominal distension; leadwort root, among kindlers of digestive fire, digestives, and removers of anal swelling and colic;

gokṣura, among relievers of dysuria and vāta;

turmeric, among destroyers of urinary disorders;

bloodletting, among removers of abscesses, erysipelas, boils, and scrofula;

habitual use of castor oil, among relievers of scrotal enlargement, abdominal swelling, and vāta pain;

garlic, among removers of abdominal swelling and vāta;

asafetida resin, among cutting, digesting, downward-propelling substances, and pacifiers of vāta and kapha;

amlavetasa, among purgatives, kindlers of fire, downward-propelling substances, and pacifiers of vāta and kapha;

camel's milk, among destroyers of abdominal enlargement and swelling;

iron powder, among destroyers of anemia;

khadira, among destroyers of skin diseases;

viḍaṅga, among destroyers of parasitic worms;

rāsnā, among removers of vāta;

castor root, among aphrodisiacs and removers of vāta;

guggulu, among removers of fat and vāta;

amṛtā, among bowel-binding, fire-kindling substances, and pacifiers of vāta, śleṣman, blood, and constipation;

madanaphala, among substances useful for emesis, non-unctuous enemas, and unctuous enemas;

trivṛt, among easy purgatives;

caturaṅgula, among gentle purgatives;

spurge milk, among sharp purgatives;

pratyakpuṣpī, among head-cleansers;

triphalā, among destroyers of ocular cataract;

guggulu, among substances beneficial for wounds;

śirīṣa, among destroyers of poisons;

āmalaka, among age-sustainers;

harītakī, among wholesome substances;

habitual use of milk and ghee, among rasāyana rejuvenators;

habitual intake of parched barley-meal with equal parts ghee, among aphrodisiacs and removers of upward vāta;

volition and crocodile semen, among aphrodisiacs.
There, pitta situated in the heart, impelled by strong vāta,
causes tears to flow from the inner canthus, at the junction of the eyelid and the white.
By that, the eye becomes painless, red, and swollen; that is watery discharge.

13.3

Dejection is the foremost among non-aphrodisiacs;

habitual use of oil gargles, among things causing strength of the teeth and relish [for food];

sandalwood and udumbara, among cooling pastes that pacify burning sensation;

rāsnā and agarwood, among unguents that remove coldness;

lāmajjaka and uśīra, among unguents that remove burning sensation, skin disorders, and perspiration;

kuṣṭha, among substances used in massage and poultices that relieve vāta;

licorice, among substances beneficial to the eyes, aphrodisiac, hair-promoting, voice-promoting, strengthening, purgative, and healing;

eating during indigestion, among vitiators of the digestive organ;

eating foods of incompatible potency, among producers of deplorable diseases;

heavy food, among causes of difficult digestion;

eating in excessive quantity, among causes of the disorders of unripe food (āma);

eating according to one's digestive power, among kindlers of the digestive fire;

diet and regimen suited to one's constitution, among practices to be adopted;

sedentary sitting, lying, and eating in one place, among destroyers of comfort;

irregular eating, among causes of irregularity of the digestive fire;

eating at the proper time, among causes of health;

appetizing food, among inducers of relish;

suppression of natural urges, among causes of unhealthiness;

satiation, among qualities of food;

fasting, among curtailers of lifespan;

eating measured food and gavedhukā food, among emaciating agents;

uddālaka food, among desiccating agents; liquor, among producers of cheerfulness;

intemperate drinking of liquor, among destroyers of intellect, courage, and memory;

excessive indulgence in women, among causes of emaciation;

suppression of the urge of semen, among causes of impotence; foot massage, among inducers of appetite for food;

sight of a slaughterhouse, among inducers of aversion to food.
Vitiating kapha, skin, blood, and flesh, and lodged within,
one should formulate these very medicines in food and drink, in boluses, poultices, and sudations, combined with oil, oil-yielding fruits, and sours,
and one should drink the clear supernatant of wine enriched with black salt.

13.4

Improper application [is foremost] among the entrances to disease;

intercourse with a menstruating woman among the entrances of misfortune;

celibacy among prolongers of life;

intercourse with another's wife among shorteners of life;

undertaking beyond one's strength among obstructions to the vital breath;

despondency among increasers of disease;

joy among gladdeners;

grief among emaciators;

reassurance among strengtheners;

satisfaction among nourishers;

nourishment among sleep-inducers;

sleep among causes of torpor;

habitual use of all six tastes among strengtheners;

habitual use of a single taste among causes of weakness, anorexia, or the aggravation of one or another doṣa;

an obstructed fetus among things to be surgically extracted;

fire among pacifiers of āma, stiffness, cold, colic, and cramps;

undigested food among things to be evacuated;

a child among those fit for mild medicines;

an aged person among manageable [cases];

a pregnant woman among those who should avoid strong medicines, sexual intercourse, and physical exercise;

contentment of mind among sustainers of pregnancy;

discontent of mind among producers of suffering;

a conjunction of all three doṣas among difficult-to-cure [conditions];

āma-poison among incurable [conditions];

fever among acute diseases;

leprosy and skin diseases among chronic diseases;

consumption among clusters of diseases;

urinary disorders among recurring conditions;

leeches among blunt and accessory instruments;

the enema among surgical instruments and apparatuses;

the Himālaya among lands of medicinal herbs;
soma among medicinal herbs;

desert country among regions conducive to health;

marshy country among harmful regions;

obedience to instructions among the virtues of a patient;

disobedience to instructions among fatal prognostics;

the physician among the limbs of medical treatment;

success among the qualities of a physician;

an atheist among persons to be avoided;

greed among causes of misery;

self-control among benefactors;

reasoning guided by the treatise among successful means;

practical experience among removers of doubt;

incompetence among producers of fear;

discussion with peers among increasers of intellect;

the teacher among the causes of acquiring the treatise;

Āyurveda among nectars;

hatred for a good physician among causes of abandonment of life;

the word of the virtuous among things to be followed;

vāyu among causes that impart life and consciousness;

renunciation of everything among happinesses.

Here, the determination [as foremost] is made from each individually and from combinations in the case of: water, fire, earth, the clarification from a fried clod of earth, buttermilk habituation, bloodletting, castor oil habituation, camel's milk, emetic nut, liquor, convulsions, single taste, and pregnant women;

whereas in the case of puṣkaramūla and others, it is from combinations alone.

Those that are pale, deep yellow, or green, and in these paleness is pronounced.

One should drink cold decoction of the five grasses, puncture-vine, asparagus, vidārī, and nutgrass, mixed with honey and sugar;

and likewise the root of kāṇḍekṣuraka;

or lotus, water lily, vidārī, and water chestnut;

or a paste of cucumber seed, safflower, melon seed, vṛṣaka, and saffron with grape juice—this destroys all urinary retentions;

or licorice, tree turmeric, and melon seeds with rice wash water;

or tree turmeric with honey in gooseberry juice;

or a paste of raisins with water kept overnight.

With a broad base, movable, unctuous, matching the skin color, soft, slimy,

large, not suppurating, itching, painless—that is an upanāha [swelling].

13.5

And here it is said:

One hundred and fifty-five foremost [things]

have been declared; one should know this to be sufficient

for deciding what is wholesome and unwholesome.

And there is looseness of the bodily tissues and loss of the qualities of vital essence.

And one should drink cardamoms with wine, or with gooseberry juice mixed with honey, or with banana stem juice or kaiḍaryaka juice, or śitivāraka seed with buttermilk;

or coral powder with rice-water;

or cold decoction of dhava, kutaja, karañja, amṛtā, kebhuka, cardamom, aragvadha, and saptacchada, mixed with honey;

or gruel prepared with them;

or fresh juice of kaṇṭakārikā with honey;

or the three pungents, cardamom, puncture-vine, and bones of a sarus crane with honey and urine;

or alkali of pāṭalī filtered many times, combined with oil;

or clear wine infused with alkali water of sesame, pāṭalī, coral tree, and barley ash, combined with powder of cinnamon, cardamom, and uṣaka;

or one should eat separately the alkali of sesame and others, with a bite of jaggery;

and oil prepared with sharp and hot substances for drinking and massage.

13.5_1

Thus ends the thirteenth chapter.

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit