Ashtangasamgraha 20

English (machine translation) 20

Language: English

20.1

Now we shall explain the chapter named 'The Classification of the Doṣas'.
Thus said Ātreya and the other great seers:
Vāyu is from the wind and space elements;
pitta is fiery;
śleṣman is from water and earth.
There, the colon, pelvis, thighs, feet, bones, ears, and the organ of touch are the seats of vāta;
and among these, especially the colon.
The navel, stomach, sweat, lymph, blood, eyes, and the organ of touch are the seats of pitta;
among these, especially the navel.
The chest, throat, head, trachea, joints, stomach, fluid tissue, fat, nose, and tongue are the seats of śleṣman;
here too, especially the chest.
In this manner, by the triad of doṣas residing in the lower, middle, and upper [regions], the body is made stable like a house by three pillars.
And for this reason, because of making the body stable, the doṣas are called pillars;
because of sustaining [the body], they are [called] bodily tissues;
because of causing pollution and being the waste product of food, they are waste products;
and because of their nature to vitiate, they are doṣas.
Thus said Ātreya and the other great seers.
Thus said Ātreya and the other great seers.

20.2

These each divide into five:
namely, vāyu through the divisions of prāṇa, udāna, vyāna, samāna, and apāna.
Among these, prāṇa resides in the head, moves in the throat and chest, and performs the functions of supporting the intellect, senses, heart, mind, and channels, spitting, sneezing, belching, breathing in and out, and the entry of food.
Udāna resides in the chest, moves in the throat, nose, and navel, and performs the functions of initiating speech, effort, enthusiasm, strength, color, nourishing the channels, and awakening the intellect, resolution, memory, and mind.
Vyāna resides in the heart, moves throughout the whole body, has a swifter motion, and performs the functions of moving, extending, contracting, lifting up, throwing down, blinking, opening the eyes, yawning, tasting food, cleansing the channels, and causing the flow of sweat and blood; it deposits semen in the vagina, and having separated the nutrient essence from the waste of food, it gradually nourishes the bodily tissues with it.
Samāna stays near the internal digestive fire, kindles it, carries the doṣas, waste products, semen, menstrual fluid, and water of the colon and stomach, moves in the channels, and leaning on it, performs the functions of holding, digesting, and separating food, and moving waste downwards.
Apāna, however, resides in the pelvic region, moves in the urinary bladder, pelvis, penis, testicles, groins, and thighs, and performs the function of expelling feces, urine, semen, menstrual fluid, and the fetus.
Never, however, oleation [at this stage].
Or cooked with crab broth and milk.

20.3

Pitta [is divided] by the differences of pācaka, rañjaka, sādhaka, ālocaka, and bhrājaka.
There, that which is between the stomach and colon, though composed of the five great elements, because of the predominance of the fire quality has its watery quality diminished, and consequently has cast off its liquid nature, and with the help of auxiliary causes such as vāyu, moisture, and the like, through the actions of burning, digesting, etc., has obtained the designation of 'fire', digests food, separates the essence and waste, and favors the remaining seats of pitta while residing right there—that is called pācaka.
Residing in the stomach, because of coloring the chyle, it is rañjaka.
Residing in the heart, because of accomplishing desired aims through intellect, intelligence, self-regard, and enthusiasm, it is sādhaka.
Residing in the visual organ, because of observing forms, it is ālocaka.
Residing in the skin, because of illuminating the skin, it is bhrājaka;
it digests oleation, sprinkling, plasters, and the like, and makes the complexion radiant.
There, one should administer the juices of madana, indrayava, paṭola, neem, madhuka, and sugarcane in emesis;
grapes, trivṛt, the three fruits, and trāyamāṇā in purgation.
[A preparation] of mañjiṣṭhā, madhuka, kālānusārī, sārivā, lodhra, lākṣā, and trapauṇḍarīka destroys inflammation of the eye and red streaks.
The paste of raisins and sandalwood, strained with rice water, with honey, relieves tearing and burning sensation.
A decoction of lodhra and yellow amaranth flowers removes pain.

20.4

Śleṣman has the divisions of avalambaka, kledaka, bodhaka, tarpaka, and śleṣaka.

Among them, situated in the chest, by its own potency along with the potency of food, it supports the trika, the heart, and the remaining seats of śleṣman while remaining right there through the function of water; hence it is called avalambaka [“the supporter”].

Situated in the stomach, because it moistens the mass of food, it is kledaka [“the moistener”].

Situated on the tongue, because it properly perceives taste, it is bodhaka [“the perceiver”].

Situated in the head, because it nourishes the sense organs such as the eyes, it is tarpaka [“the nourisher”].

Situated in the joints, because it unites the bone-joints, it is śleṣaka [“the uniter”].

Oil prepared with sārivā, vidārī, balā, madhuka, utpala, drākṣā, aṭarūṣaka, jīvaka, and candana, together with meat broth of wild animals and milk, cures through nasal instillation all diseases arising above the clavicle that are dominated by vāta and pitta.

20.5

In this manner, vāta, pitta, and śleṣman, though pervading the entire body, dwell predominantly unvitiated in these locations.

The cause of their increase will be explained in the [chapters on] etiologies.

And in general, the characteristics of increase and decrease have been stated in the preceding chapter.

For increase is twofold, differentiated into accumulation and aggravation.

There, [qualities such as] unctuousness, accompanied by the cold quality, produce the accumulation of vāta;
accompanied by the cold quality, [dryness, etc., produce] aggravation; accompanied by the hot quality, unctuousness, etc., produce pacification.
Accompanied by the cold quality, sharpness, etc., produce the accumulation of pitta; accompanied by the hot quality, aggravation; accompanied by the cold quality, slowness, etc., produce pacification.
Accompanied by the cold quality, unctuousness, etc., produce the accumulation of kapha; accompanied by the hot quality, aggravation; but likewise, dryness, etc., produce pacification.

And from the excess of either vāta or pitta, the procedure for abhiṣyanda is according to each [doṣa].

20.6

Accumulation is increase within one's own seat alone, aversion to the causes of increase, / and desire for contrary qualities; but aggravation is taking to improper channels.

20.7

Manifestation of their own symptoms, indisposition, and the onset of disease [characterize aggravation]; / equilibrium of one staying in its own seat, the absence of disorders, is pacification. / This harmless powder-collyrium removes burning sensation, heat, redness, and lacrimation.

20.8

A doṣa in the body, even when unprovoked, produces a disorder in the whole [body], in half, or in a single part under the power of vāyu, / just as a cloud [produces] rain in the sky.

20.9

Now, the aggravated [doṣas] such as vāta afflict the body with various disorders.

The eighty disorders of vāyu that are most manifest are as follows:
cracking of the nails, rhagades, foot pain, foot drop, numbness of the feet, vātakhuḍa, stiffness of the ankles, cramps in the calves, sciatica, cracking pain in the knees, dislocation of the knee, weakness of the thighs, thigh stiffness, lameness, prolapse of the rectum, rectal pain, retraction of the testicles, priapism, stiffness of the groin, pain in the pelvis, diarrhea, udāvarta, limping, hunchback, dwarfism, stiffness of the sacrum, stiffness of the back, crushing pain in the flanks, constriction of the abdomen, cardiac confusion, palpitation, friction in the chest, constriction of the chest, pricking pain in the chest, wasting of the arms, stiffness of the neck, torticollis, hoarseness of the throat, lockjaw, cracking of the palate and lips, cracking of the teeth, looseness of the teeth, muteness, slurred speech, delirium, astringent taste in the mouth, dry mouth, loss of taste, loss of smell, earache, hearing non-existent sounds, hard hearing, deafness, stiffness of the eyelids, ptosis of the eyelids, cataract, eye pain, squint, distortion of the eyebrows, cracking pain in the temples, cracking pain in the forehead, headache, cracking of the scalp, facial paralysis, monoplegia, hemiplegia/quadriplegia, convulsions, stiffening tetanus, exhaustion, dizziness, tremors, yawning, fatigue, depression, dryness, roughness, darkish-red complexion, sleeplessness, and instability of the mind.

Particularly in agnivisarpa, one should drink Mahātiktaka [ghee].

In granthivisarpa, observing the association of raktapitta, one should first employ [therapies] beginning with fasting and ending with purgation, as well as pacifying measures.

After that, treatment alleviating vāta and śleṣman [should be applied].

If it is still not relieved in this manner, an enema of the supernatant of ghee or milk, prepared with madhuka and combined with powder of śatāhvā, [should be given].

20.10

The disorders of pitta, further, are: localized burning, scorching heat, general burning, distress with heat, heartburn, internal burning, burning of the skin, burning of the shoulders, feeling of smoke, sour belching, excessive body heat, excessive sweating, foul body odor, weakness of the limbs, moistening of the blood, moistening of the flesh, cracking of the skin and flesh, peeling of the skin, red urticarial spots, red vesicles, red circular patches, raktapitta, greenishness, yellowishness, black spots on the face, shingles, jaundice, bitter taste in the mouth, mouth smelling of blood, foul breath, excessive thirst, lack of satisfaction, stomatitis, pharyngitis, conjunctivitis, proctitis, inflammation of the penis, bleeding, entering into darkness, and green and yellow coloration of the eyes, urine, and feces.

And paste [should be applied] with those mentioned for vātakaphavisarpa, or affusion with oil or water prepared with those very [herbs].

Or one should apply a paste of dried radish, or bark of naktamāla,
or with bibhītaka, or of vijayā, akṣa, nāgabalā, agnimantha, bhūrja-nodes, and bamboo leaves.

20.11

The disorders of śleṣman, however, are: feeling of repletion, drowsiness, excessive sleep, stiffness with coldness, heaviness of the body, indolence, sweetness in the mouth, excessive salivation, vomiting of mucus, excess of waste products, loss of strength, coating of the heart, coating of the throat, occlusion of the channels, goiter, excessive obesity, coldness of digestive fire, urticaria, whitish appearance, and whitish coloration of the eyes, urine, and feces.

When the swelling persists for a long time, however, one should administer triphalā,
or honey and pippalī,
or mustā, barley-groats, and bhallātaka,
or sīdhu, honey, and sugar,
or wine mixed with the juice of mātuluṅga,
or girijatu, or [medicines] splitting an abdominal swelling,
or pressing with heated iron, stone, etc.;
and when located above the clavicle, sharp errhines and emesis;
and after purgation, a non-unctuous enema according to the manifestation of the doṣas.

20.12

Among them, a severe heat spreading all over the body is dāha (burning sensation).

Oṣa is [a burning sensation] accompanied by sweating and restlessness.

Ploṣa is a localized burning sensation, devoid of sweating, as if from the flame of a fire.

Dava is a burning sensation in the mouth, lips, and palate.

Davathu is a burning sensation in the eyes and other sense organs.

Vidāha is a diverse burning heat in the hands, feet, and the roots of the shoulders.

Antardāha is a burning sensation in the visceral cavity.

Dhūmaka is a sensation of smoking in the head, neck, throat, and palate.

Amlaka is an eructation accompanied by internal burning and pain in the cardiac region.

Kleda of blood consists of blackness, foul odor, and thinness.

And [kleda] of flesh consists of blackness and foul odor.

Carmakotha is thickening of the outer skin.

Tṛpti is an absence of desire for food due to heaviness of the visceral cavity.

Others, however, say that lack of pleasure in food, which is like satiation, is tṛpti [or] arocaka (anorexia).

Tandrā (drowsiness) is the non-perception of sense objects, as if of one overcome by sleep.

Staimitya (numbness/stiffness), however, is read by others as pramīlaka.

Upalepa is [a sensation] as if smeared.

An excess of that is praticaya, an over-filling.

Śaitya (chilliness) is extreme sluggishness of the digestive fire.

Udarda is excessive exudation (abhiṣyanda) of the chest.

According to some, udarda is cold with trembling.

Others, however, say:

Or having incised it with a knife, one should cleanse it thoroughly.

Or having repeatedly removed the scorched blood, one should foment it again and again.

In this manner, one should proceed alternately against raktapitta and against vāta and śleṣman.

For one whose head has been purged, an unctuous enema with milk and ghee, and smoking [are prescribed].

20.13

From contact with cold water, especially in cold weather,
there occurs a red, itchy swelling; that is udarda (urticaria), arising from kapha.

And one should prepare an oil with dārvī, viḍaṅga, and kampillaka, which heals glandular swellings and ulcers.

20.14

The major disorders, however, will be taught each in its own place.

The minor disorders, on the other hand, receive a name having as prefix the very limb that they invade,

as in tearing pain of the nails, temples, and forehead, [disorders] accompanied by internal burning, smearing of the throat and cardiac region, and so forth.

For their essential nature is taught precisely in that way.

Indeed, from the moistening (prakleda) of the blood, moistening of the skin, flesh, veins, and tendons occurs.

And one should drink a decoction of ghanā, paṭola, and picumanda;

or of mustā, uśīra, āmalaka, and sārivā;

or of candana and utpala;

or of the paṭolādi group;

or mixed with ghee, of dārvī bark, tiktā, paṭola, yaṣṭyāhvā, ariṣṭa, masūra, triphalā, and trāyamāṇā;

and that which relieves pain, as stated for śuṣkākṣipāka (dry eye-inflammation).

20.15

In all these and in other disorders that are unmentioned because they are innumerable, these very intrinsic signs of the doṣas pervade the entire body and are invariable,

as are their actions and therapeutic measures.

Among them, the intrinsic signs have been specified in the chapter on desire for long life (Āyuṣkāmīya).

"Milk boiled with trāyamāṇā when pitta is aggravated."

And here it is said:

20.16

The actions of vāyu, however, are: prolapse, dilation, obstruction, exhaustion, splitting pain, pricking pain, horripilation, thirst, twisting, body-aches, trembling, aching, cramping, breaking pain, colic, wasting, numbness, roughness, porosity, contraction, and twitching, as well as an astringent taste and a dusky-red or reddish coloration.

Those of pitta are: burning sensation, heat, suppuration, sweating, moistening, putrefaction, exudation, redness, as well as a pungent and sour taste, and any coloration excluding white and reddish.

Those of śleṣman are: itching, stability, heaviness, smearing, unctuousness, coldness, binding, and tardiness of action, as well as a sweet and salty taste, and a white coloration.

And that which is not associated with the nose and arises from raktapitta,

likewise copper rubbed with cow's urine on iron and fumigated with ghee;

20.17

Kapilabala, however, specified their distinctive characteristics according to taste:

"Pitta is pungent, sour, and salty; kapha is sweet, sour, and salty;
vāyu is seen to be astringent, bitter, and pungent by inference."

For the doṣa, obstructed by that, cooks the skin, blood, and flesh.

Conch shell rubbed on copper with breast milk and fumigated with barley smeared with ghee and leaves of śamī relieves friction and pain.

20.18

Suśruta, on the other hand, recites:

"Pitta when inflamed goes to sourness; śleṣman, to saltiness."

Therefore, attentive, one should properly observe these forms and actions of vāyu and the others by means of scripture, direct perception, and inference;

and immediately thereafter, having taken the region, season, dosage, and so forth as authoritative criteria, one should promptly proceed with treatment.

And here it is said:

Curd cream mixed with pippalī and rock salt, rubbed on copper, relieves swelling, friction, lacrimation, and pain.

20.19

Hereafter the doṣas will be stated according to the divisions of increase and decrease.

Know them singly as three; in their combinations (saṃsarga) as threefold, but nine in that respect;

20.20

three only through equal increase; six through the predominance of one;

thirteen in their total combinations (samasta); but six through the predominance of two or of one.

And one should not apply collyrium with them more than three times.

Now, the collyriums:

20.21

One by equals, six by excessive ones, through the differentiation of degrees;

thus twenty-five through increased [doṣas], and just as many through decreased ones.

20.22

Six through the single increase, equality, and decrease of each; and those again are six

through the decrease of one and the increase of a pair, as well as the reverse.

20.23

Sixty-two divisions are specified; the sixty-third is the cause of health,

following simultaneous increase, equality, and decrease in the states of the patient.

And having ground it each time it has dried, one should apply it again as a paste.

This pill-collyrium (piṇḍāñjana), prepared over seven sets of seven days, removes all eye-inflammation, lacrimation, friction, swelling, redness, and enlargement of the eyelids.

A concentrated extract (rasakriyā) prepared with aśmantaka, amlavetasa, parūṣaka, kola, and dāḍima destroys swollen, mildly swollen, and suppurating eye-tumors (pūyālasa).

If the swelling persists even in this manner, bloodletting again and head-purging [should be performed].

20.24

For the sextet is taught as being more difficult to understand through disorders.

When vāyu, increased while pitta is in its normal state and kapha is decreased,

takes [pitta] from its seat and spreads wherever it may in the limbs,
and one should look to the treatment of pilla-disease;

20.25

then splitting pain and burning sensation [arise], both unsteady here and there
in parts of the limbs, and there would likewise be loss of strength and exhaustion.

20.26

When mighty vāyu, pitta being decreased, draws along kapha
that is in its normal state, it then produces pain accompanied by coldness, rigidity, and heaviness.
And for those that have become affected by pilla-disease, it is taught generally:

20.27

When increased pitta, kapha being decreased, obstructs vāta
that is in its normal state, then burning sensation and colic arise in him.

For one who has undergone the preparatory procedure, venesection, then purgation [should be performed].

For one who has undergone purgation, one should scrape the eyelids.

If uncleansed after scraping once, one should have it scraped again and have leeches applied.

20.28

When, upon the decrease of vāta, increased pitta obstructs kapha that remains in its natural state, / it produces fever accompanied by drowsiness and heaviness.
Always, evening and morning, washing [the eyes] with a decoction of tuvarikā fruits, the three katu [trikatu], and rocanā combined with honey, and after applying collyrium, [washing] with an astringent decoction of leaves of astringent trees.

20.29

When, upon the decrease of pitta, increased kapha obstructs vāta that remains in its natural state, / it produces chill, heaviness, and fever.

20.30

When, upon the decrease of vāta, increased śleṣman obstructs pitta that remains in its natural state, / it produces sluggishness of the digestive fire and stiffness of the head,

20.31

sleep, drowsiness, stickiness [in the body], heart disease, heaviness of the limbs, / spitting of pitta and kapha, and yellowness of nails and the like.
While boiling the fresh juice of palāśa branches, one should add powder of bṛhatī and uśīra; when it has thickened and cooled, it serves as a collyrium; / or [a collyrium prepared] with vacā and devadāru ground with the juice of surasā; / or with the three pungents [vyoṣa] and rasāñjana ground with cow's bile.

20.32

Those disorders that have been described individually for the increase and decrease of the doṣas, / one should apply those very same [principles] appropriately to the remaining combinations as well.
Having coated the inside of a copper vessel with a paste of paripelava, kāsīsa, the two kinds of turmeric, mustard, priyaṅgu, tagara, and pippalī, one should keep it upside down for seven days in a jar of sauvīraka vinegar; then one should make pills or a powder.

20.33

Through association with plasma, blood, and the other tissues, and likewise through variations in decrease, equilibrium, and increase, / and by gradations of comparative and superlative degree, these doṣas become endless; one should recognize them with an attentive mind according to their respective natures.
Or the powder itself, steeped in rainwater, / or that very [powder] flooded with it, serves as an eye-drop [āścyotana]. / And here it is said:

20.33_1

Thus ends the twentieth chapter.

Commentaries (1)

Śaśilekhā — Indu, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit