Ashtangasamgraha 15

English (machine translation) 15

Language: English

15.1

Now we shall explain the chapter on the compendium of great decoctions (Mahākaṣāyasaṅgraha); so said Ātreya and the other great seers.

So said Ātreya and the other great seers.

So said Ātreya and the other great seers.

So said Ātreya and the other great seers.

15.2

Because medicines and diseases are infinite, decoctions are indeed infinite.

Those that are especially useful or of preeminent efficacy are designated as jīvanīya and so forth.

Forty-five great decoctions will be stated, each consisting of a combination of ten decoction-drugs,
solely for the understanding of those of dull intellect,
and to provide merely an illustration for the intelligent.

For the intelligent are able, by discerning the common qualities of sweetness, coldness, unctuousness, and so forth in the jīvantī group, to determine the status of being a jīvanīya even in milk, sugarcane, grape, walnut, tubers of vidārī, and the like, which possess those qualities.

However, following what is explicitly stated is preferable for a person of dull intellect.

And they are designated individually by fifty-four names.

Even though the very same substances recur so that there is an intermingling of substances among the decoctions, still there is no contradiction in designation,
because even a single substance accomplishes many actions.

There, in the pharmaceutical preparations, the tastes excluding salt are called kaṣāyas,
because they are their source,
for with salt, preparations such as extracts are impossible,
and because it is devoid of separate therapeutic utility, it would be useless.

Wind, when uncorrupted or corrupted, particularly of the body, […].

And one should continuously draw off blood.

Applying a poultice when it tends toward suppuration, and having incised it once suppurated, one should treat it like an ulcer.

He sees an indistinct form, or even a distinct one, without cause.

15.3

And on this it is said:

Jīvantī, the two kākolīs, the two medās, mudgaparṇī and māṣaparṇī,
ṛṣabhaka, jīvaka, and madhuka: this group is known as jīvanīya.
He is the creator, the sustainer, the omnipresent Viṣṇu, the destroyer, death, the end-maker.
And with these two groups and purgative substances, one should prepare clarified butter for drinking,
as well as non-unctuous and unctuous enemas;
and honey-śigru in drinks, food, and external pastes;
or one should use śilājatu according to the prescribed rules,
or guggulu; and according to the doṣa, one should manage it in all respects like a gulma.
An actual object near at hand he sees with difficulty, and he does not see a subtle object at a distance.

15.4

Vāṭyā, balā, payasyā, the two kākolīs, ikṣu, vājigandhā,
kṣīriṇī, rājakṣavaka, and bhāradvājī: this is the invigorating group (bṛṃhaṇīya).
His action, both normal and abnormal, has been stated in the understanding of the doṣas.
A karṣa each of trivṛt and trāyamāṇā,
and a pala of lentils boiled together in eight times as much water; one should drink the strained fluid infused with clarified butter.
By that, abscess, gulma, fever, burning sensation, colic, thirst, heart disease, dizziness, restlessness, fainting, bleeding disorder, jaundice, kuṣṭha, and erysipelas are pacified.
When the doṣa is situated circular, he sees as if circular patches.

15.5

Haimavatī, ciribilva, mustā, kuṣṭha, vacā, the two haridrās,
citraka, kaṭukā, and ativiṣā: this group is known as the scraping group (lekhanīya).
Its movement is fivefold individually, and here the abnormal [movement] is its activity.
When it has entered inside the visual organ, there is an inverted [perception] of short and long.

15.6

Arka, eraṇḍa, citrā, citraka, ciribilva, śaṅkhinī, saralā, / hemakṣīrī, kaṭukā, and vahnimukhī: this is the purgative [group]. / [Vāta disorders], though innumerable, were previously stated to be eighty for the sake of enumeration. / That [liquid], cooled and combined with a one-fourth part of honey and sugar, is equal to the previous [formula]. / And one should extract blood copiously with horns and the like according to proximity, / or puncture a vein in the middle of the arm. / And when it is suppurating, located in the internal viscera, and elevated externally, one should apply a warm poultice. / One sees sideways but not what is situated beside; this disease is known as timira.

15.7

Honey, madhuka, pṛśniparṇī, kaṭphala, lodhra, priyaṅgu, dhātakī, / ambaṣṭhakī, samaṅgā, and mocarasa: this is the reuniting [group]. / Moving through empty channels and copiously filling them, / by that one looks upward but not downward, as if covered by a thin cloth, / and the vision becomes colored according to the [doṣa's] hue and gradually deteriorates.

15.8

From the combination of hiṅgu, marica, amlavetasa, dīpyaka, and the seed of bhallātaka / along with the pañcakola, this group is declared to be appetizing. / Located there in the colon, aggravated [vāta causes] colic, distension, and rumbling of the intestines. / The waste product, causing cataract, covers the visual pupil.

15.9

Aindrī, atirasā, payasyā, ṛṣyaproktā, sthirā, balā, atibalā, / hayagandhā, rohiṇī, and ṛṣabha: this is the strengthening decad. / And in the lower body it causes various severe secondary complications. / Or one should consume gruel prepared with their roots, along with a soup of barley, kola, and kulattha. / And after ten days, one should cleanse [the patient] according to strength with tilvaka ghee or trāyamāṇā ghee. / One repeatedly sees [images] as moving, turbid, reddish-hued, and clear.

15.10

Candana, tuṅga, payasyā, sitālatā, madhuka, padmaka, and uśīra, / together with mañjiṣṭhā and sārivā: this is declared to be the complexion-enhancing group. / [It produces] throat obstruction, eructations, and diseases above the navel. / And one must endeavor so that it does not reach suppuration. / Because of its swift burning heat, it is designated an abscess. / But when it is suppurated, recovery depends on providence; and an abscess is more fast-acting than all diseases. / And when a urinary disorder is present, one should attend to the treatment of urinary disorders. / When it has become kāca, the eye is reddish and sees a face without a nose.

15.11

Haṃsapadī, the two kinds of bṛhatī, mṛdvīkā, sārivā, roots of ikṣu, / kaiḍarya, madhuka, kṛṣṇā, together with vidārī are throat-clearing agents. / In the blood [it causes] intense pain, numbness, heat, redness, and discoloration. / One should bring the suppurating [breast abscess] to maturation by means of food according to desire, / but one must not poultice it again; / for the breast, when poulticed, because of the softness of its flesh, quickly suppurates, decomposes, and bursts. / And avoiding the milk-carrying veins, the nipple, and the black circle, one should operate on a suppurated breast abscess with a knife. / And in all stages—unripe, partially digested, suppurated, and ulcerated—one should milk out the breast. / The symptoms and treatment of abscesses of the teeth and the like will also be described in their appropriate sections. / Thus ends the treatment of abscess. / Advanced kāca makes the vision appear as if covered by dust and smoke.

15.12

Vṛkṣāmla, badara, dāḍima, kuvala, āmra, āmrātaka, likuca, karamarda, / with mātuluṅga and amlavetasa: know this group to be cardiotonic. / When situated in the flesh and fat, [it causes] nodular tumors abundant in pricking pain, rough, and dizziness. / Then one should administer an evacuating enema with decoctions and pastes that destroy vāta; and after an evacuating enema, having fed [the patient] with meat soup, one should administer an unctuous enema with yaṣṭīmadhuka oil. / And one should apply sudation, pastes, and warm poultices. / And having opened a suppurated one, one should treat it like an ulcer. / In vāta, however, that cataract contracts the veins of the eye; / the pupil enters deeply inwards; this is remembered as deep-seated vision.

15.13

Nāgara, cavikā, citraka, viḍaṅga, mūrvā, amṛtā, vacā, and mustā, / along with pippalī and paṭola: this is celebrated as the satiety-destroying group. / Situated in bone, [it causes] intense pain in the thighs, joints, and bones, and loss of strength. / And when suppurated, [it should be treated] like a pitta ulcer. / One sees [objects] appearing like peacock and francolin feathers, and mostly blue.

15.14

Kuṭaja fruit, bilva, citraka, mahauṣadha, prativiṣā, vacā, cavikā, / dhanvayavāsa, pathyā, and dāruharidrā: this group destroys hemorrhoids. / [It causes] premature discharge of semen, retention, or its morbid alteration. / And one should drink the decoction of yellow deodar with urine. / And one should carry out all treatments as for a kapha nodule, avoiding softening compression. / And when suppurated and incised, [it should be treated] like a śleṣman ulcer. / That born of blood is like an increase of pitta; / and here one should repeatedly remove blood. / And halos around the sun and moon, firebrands, rays of light, and rainbows [are seen].

15.15

Khadira, āmalaka, aruṣkara, niśā, abhayā, saptaparṇa, and karavīra, / and caturaṅgula, viḍaṅga, and young sprouts of jātī destroy cutaneous disease. / Located there, seated in the tendons, it causes sciatica, extension spasms, and hunchback posture. / Or similarly with errhine substances. / And having thus fomented it, avoiding the scrotal raphe, having incised it with a bistoury, and removing the fat, one should smear it with iron sulphate, rock salt, and honey, and suture it. / Then one should prepare an oil with jasmine buds, realgar, cardamom, and bhallātaka for massage. / And until the healing of the wound, [one should employ] oleation and sudation. / The vision caused by pitta is called drasvā; it sees [objects as] drasvā; / it is known as pitta-scorched vision, yellow, and seeing [everything] with a yellow appearance.

15.16

Nalada, kṛtamāla, candana, sarṣapa, ghana, nimba, kuṭaja, and madhuka, / with dāruharidrā and naktamāla destroy itching. / And [it causes] painful initiation of extension and flexion. / Then, below the raphe, having punctured it with a rice-pointed trocar as in ascites, one should drain it with a cannula. / Then one should apply a sthagikā bandage, / and cleansing and healing [measures] to the wound. / And [the visual field appears] covered as if with conches, the moon, kunda blossoms, and water lilies.

15.17

Akṣīva, black pepper, kebuka, viḍaṅga, gaṇḍīra, kiṇihi, nirguṇḍī,
śvadaṃṣṭrā, viṣā, and ākhuparṇī quickly destroy parasites.
[They cause] stiffness, convulsion, numbness, contraction of joints, and trembling.
One should boil one hundred palas of punarnavā, and ten palas each of the daśamūla, payasyā, aśvagandhā, śatāvarī, and castor root in a vahe of water until reduced to one-eighth. / Having strained and cooled this decoction, one should cook it together with thirty palas of jaggery, one prastha of castor oil, two prasthas of ghee, two prasthas of milk, and two palas each of paste made of raisins, ginger, pippalī, pippalī root, yavānī, yavakṣāra, citraka, madhuka, and rock salt. / Known as Sukumāra, it can be used according to desire in food or drink without any hardship from restrictions by delicate persons, lords, women, those deficient in semen, the childless, and those with weak or irregular digestive fire; it dispels misfortune, produces radiance, gives strength, nourishes, preserves youth, and is a supreme medicine for scrotal enlargement, abscesses, spleen disorders, abdominal swelling, udāvarta, swelling, abdominal enlargement, hemorrhoids, diseases of the penis and vagina, and the great vāta-disorders. / One should cook one tulā of castor root, one āḍhaka of barley, and half a kuḍava of ginger in one droṇa of water until reduced to one-fourth. / With that and twice the amount of milk, one should cook one prastha of castor oil. / And here one should add, ground into paste, one kuḍava of castor root again and one pala of dry ginger. / This castor-root oil is equal [in effect] to the previous one. / And here it is said: // And the pupil becomes white-hued; it is seen in liṅganāśa.

15.18

Mañjiṣṭhā, śleṣmātaka, turmeric, suvahā, śirīṣa, pālindī,
together with cardamom, a paste of sandalwood, and sinduvāra destroy poison.
Then it convulses the limbs; this disease is known as ākṣepaka (convulsion).
Having first administered enema therapy, one should then cauterize at the groin / with fire by means of a crescent-shaped [iron] to obstruct the path of vāta.
Like a drop of water trembling upon the petal of a lotus.

15.19

The roots of śāli, kuśa, kāśa, ṣaṣṭika, vīraṇa, darbha, ikṣuvālikā, and ikṣu, / as well as of gundrā and utkaṭa, are sufficient for promoting breast milk.
Penetrating the channels and afflicting the heart, head, and temples.
Lifting it with a needle, one should cut it transversely and burn it at the root of the affliction.
Having whiteness resembling a conch shell, kunda flower, white lotus, or crystal.

15.20

Pāṭhā, ginger, deodar, mustā, amṛtā, sārivā, indrayava, mūrvā, / kaṭukā, and kirātatikta: this group purifies breast milk.
Then he breathes with difficulty, being rigid with drooping, half-closed eyes.
Through kāca, the vision becomes red or black, and sees things as such; / in liṅganāśa also, vision is of that kind, lustreless, with eyesight destroyed.

15.21

Medā, the two kākolīs, vṛkṣaruhā, jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, and kuliṅga, / together with jaṭilā and the two parṇīs, are a semen-producing group.
Because the affliction begins from the little finger and the ring finger, spreading everywhere.
From cataracts and the like, his sight may suddenly become clear or confused; / in timira, a variegated coloration arises in the rest of the vision.

15.22

By kuṣṭha, elavāluka, kaṭphala, kāṇḍekṣu, sugarcane, cuttlefish bone, uśīra, / vasuka, and ikṣuraka, together with the exudate of kadamba, semen is purified.
When covered, he repeatedly experiences health and repeatedly illness.
He is 'mongoose-blind' (nakulāndha); in that state he sees variegated things by day, but not at night.

15.23

Grapes, the two kākolīs, madhuparṇī, madhuka, jīvaka, vidārī, / along with medā, jīvantī, and śāliparṇī, assist oleation.
And that which arises from trauma is indeed most difficult to treat.
The doṣas veil vision; that other disease is 'doṣa-blindness' (doṣāndha).

15.24

Moringa, punarnavā, vṛścīva, kulattha, māṣa, and badara, / along with barley, sesame, arka, and urupūga, should be known as assisting sudation.
It pervades the entire body, and the collarbones are pulled tight.
Being dissolved and adhering, they yield distinct vision by day here.

15.25

Parched grain, mango, badara, pomegranate, barley, ṣaṣṭika, citron, uśīra, / and tender leaves of jambu and mango, as well as good clay, arrest vomiting.
It causes yawning, gnashing of the teeth, and vomiting of kapha.
Combined with the three doṣas and blood, the heat rises up, then to the eyes; / with burning sensation and heat, the cornea is clouded and vision is turbid by day.

15.26

Ginger, dhanvayavāsa, vāsaka, bālaka, parpaṭaka, sandalwood, guḍūcī, / bhūnimba, mustā, paṭolī, and coriander destroy thirst.
This is internal extension (antarāyāma), and external extension (bāhyāyāma) is of that kind.

15.27

The two bṛhatīs, vṛkṣaruhā, puṣkaramūla, harītakī, pippalī, and śṛṅgī, / along with śaṭī, durālabhā, and badara seed, destroy hiccup.
If the chest is convulsed there and the neck is twisted.
Accompanied by moisture and itching, turbid, it is known as corrupted by acid.

15.28

Śyāmā, anantā, padmā, kaṭvaṅga, lotus filaments, lodhra, / dhātakī flowers, samaṅgā, mocarasa, and mango seed [cause] retention of feces.
They call bāhyāyāma 'bow-trembling' (dhanuṣkampa), and it has violent paroxysms.
They make vision smoky, turbid, smoky-sighted; it is dhūmara.

15.29

Jambu, sallakī, madhuka, blue water lily, kacchurā, sesame seeds, / roasted clay, payasyā, and śālmalī alter the color of feces.
The doṣas convulse the entire body from foot to head.
Radiant like the sun and the like, when vāta and the others reside in the eyes.

15.30

Jambu, mango, udumbara, vaṭa, kapītana, plakṣa, pippala, aśmanta, / bhallāta, and somavalka are prescribed for retention of urine.
When the fit passes, there is recovery in all convulsions.
Having the color of cat's-eye gem, immobile, as if normal, painless; / this is the secondary liṅganāśa, which should be avoided here.

15.31

Lotus, nalinī, white water lily, madhuka, saugandhika, flowers of the dhātakī creeper, / along with utpala, śatapatra, and puṇḍarīka, alter the color of urine.
Vāta, aggravated and seated at the base of the jaw, causes the jaws to drop down.

15.32

Vṛkṣādanī, śvadaṃṣṭrā, darbha, itkaṭa, vasuka, vaśira, kuśa, and kāśa, / along with gundrā and pāṣāṇabheda, induce purgation of urine.
That is jaw-drop (hanusraṃsa); by it chewing and speaking become difficult.
Thus twelve afflictions of the pupil are stated, [out of] twenty-seven.

15.33

Grapes, āmalakī, punarnavā, vṛścīva, durālabhā, harītakī, and pippalī, / along with śṛṅgī, tāmalakī, and kaṇṭakārī, destroy cough.
That is stiffness of the tongue (jihvāstambha); by it there is inability regarding food, drink, and speech.

15.34

Caṇḍā, amlavetasa, śaṭī, tāmalakī, surasā, hiṅgu, jīvantī,
puṣkaramūla, elā, and aguru: this group is for pacifying dyspnea.
From terror, facial contraction, sneezing, and drawing a stiff bow;

15.35

Drākṣā, pīlu, parūṣaka, mañjiṣṭhā, sārivā, amṛtā, pāṭhā,
and triphalā: this group is taught for the pacification of fever.
Vāta, having become aggravated by various vāta-increasing factors, settles in the upper body.

15.36

Pomegranate, phalgu, parūṣaka, priyāla, barley, ṣaṣṭika-rice, sugarcane, and jujube fruit,
together with drākṣā and dates, should be known to relieve exhaustion.
Then the head of this person shakes; there is impediment of speech and fixity of the eyes.

15.37

Padmaka, lājas, uśīra, madhuka, utpala, sārivā, white sandal, udīcya,
kāśmarya fruit, and sandalwood: this group is declared to destroy burning sensation.
Loss of the sense of smell, loss of memory, and fright during sleep arise.

15.38

Nata, dried ginger, aguru, vacā, coriander, bhūtīka, pippalī, and the two vyāghrīs,
syonāka, and agnimantha quickly pacify coldness.
Severe pains arise above the collarbones, or in half of the body, or below.

15.39

Tinduka, priyāla, bījaka, saptacchada, khadira, kadara, badara,
arimeda, vājikarṇa, and kakubha pacify urticaria.
Taking recourse to blood, wind affects the veins supporting the head.

15.40

Kākolī, elā, sevya, the two nidigdhikās, śāliparṇī, pṛśniparṇī,
sandalwood, madhuka, and castor quickly destroy body-ache.
Wind, seizing half of the body and drying up the veins and ligaments,

15.41

Dīpyaka, black pepper, cumin, gaṇḍīra, with ajagandhā and pañcakola
pacify colic pain; and the first daśamūla pacifies swelling.
His entire half of the body becomes functionless and devoid of sensation.

15.42

Honey, madhuka, lājas, red ochre, phalinī, mocarasa, earth, and potsherds
arrest blood; and lodhra with sugar arrests blood.
Likewise, all-body disease [occurs] when wind has settled in the whole body.

15.43

Śaileya, elavālu, kaṭphala, mocarasa, aśoka, padmaka, and śirīṣa,
along with tuṅga, kadamba, and vidula, arrest pain.
When associated with another [doṣa], it is difficult to treat; when caused by trauma, it should be avoided.

15.44

Kaiḍarya, hiṅgu, coraka, palaṅkaṣā, aśoka, rohiṇī, vayasthā,
pūtyarimeda, jaṭilā, golomī, and vacā restore consciousness.
Vindictive wind, destroying all voluntary movements like a staff, causes daṇḍaka, which is incurable.

15.45

Aindrī, dūrvā, amoghā, viṣvaksenā, vyathā, śivā, ariṣṭā,
brāhmī along with vāṭyapuṣpī, and śatavīryā stabilize the fetus.
It generates apavāhuka, which deprives the arms of movement.

15.46

Amṛtā, pathyā, dhātrī, jīvantī, combined with śreyasī and sthirā,
maṇḍūkaparṇī, atirasā, and punarnavā preserve youth.
That which robs the arm of activity is known as viśvācī.

15.47

Thus these formulations have been cited for the eradication of various diseases;
one should prepare them appropriately according to the disease and patient.
Then a living being becomes limping (khañja); when both thighs are affected, he is crippled (paṅgu).

15.47_1

Thus ends the fifteenth chapter.

Commentaries (1)

Śaśilekhā — Indu, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit