Ashtangasamgraha 29

English (machine translation) 29

Language: English

29.1

Now we shall expound the chapter named 'Procedure of Nasal Medication'. / Thus spoke Ātreya and the other great sages. / Thus spoke Ātreya and the other great sages.

Medicine administered into the nose is nasya; / it also receives the designations nāvana and nastahkarma. / For the nose is the doorway to the head. / Medicine poured therein reaches the srotas-confluence [śṛṅgāṭaka], pervades the head, and draws out the entire pathogenic collection of doṣas residing above the collarbones from the supreme organ [the head] quickly—just as an internal stalk is drawn out from muñja reed—which has become stuck to the openings of the channels of the eyes, ears, throat, and other parts.

29.3

And that is of three kinds: purgative [virecana], nourishing [bṛṃhaṇa], and pacifying [śamana]. / Among them, purgation is to be employed in heaviness above the collarbones, swelling, coating, itching, stiffness, conjunctivitis, suppurative inflammation, excessive salivation, bad taste in the mouth, anorexia, hoarseness of voice, worms, coryza, epilepsy, loss of the sense of smell, glandular swellings, tumors, ringworm, urticarial eruptions, and the like arising from śleṣman, by means of an unctuous substance that is sharp or cooked with head-purgative ingredients, or by decoctions, powders, and fresh juices of them, or by those very [drugs] ground into a smooth paste with an appropriate liquid and stirred, together with honey, rock salt, fermented liquors, bile, and urine as individually prescribed. / There, the endogenous [disease] arises from the doṣas; / the exogenous is caused by weapons, auxiliary surgical instruments, stones, clubs, nails, teeth, horns, poison, marking-nut, and the like; / that too, being occupied by vāta and the others, acquires an endogenous nature.

29.4

There, an unctuous substance [is used] in the frightened, the impotent, the emaciated, and the delicate; / dried [substances] in throat diseases, sannipāta fever, excessive sleep, mental disorders, worms, those struck by poison, conjunctivitis, snakebite, and the unconscious; / in those very [conditions], when the doṣa is abundant and fast-acting, powder [is used], / for that, placed at the tip of the nose, becomes all the more swift in inducing an urge; / there, 'corrupted' means vitiated by a doṣa.

29.5

Nourishing [nasal medication is used] in sūryāvarta, hemi-crania, worm-induced head disease, constriction of the eyes, twitching, cataract, difficulty in waking, toothache, earache, tinnitus, dryness of the nose and mouth, impediment of speech, impairment of voice, torticollis, convulsive seizures, brachial palsy, loss of sleep, and the like arising from vāta, by unctuous and sweet substances, by unctuous matters prepared with them and prescribed according to suitability, by plant resins, and by the meat juice and blood of arid-zone animals.

29.6

Pacifying [nasal medication is used] in premature wrinkles, graying of hair, baldness, dandruff, red streaks in the eyes, facial pigmentation, dark blemishes, bleeding disorders, and the like, by unctuous substances prescribed individually, by fresh juices of medicines and the like, or with milk and water, or, when the doṣas are in equilibrium, with Aṇu oil.

29.7

There, the unctuous substance is of two kinds according to difference in dosage: / marśa / and pratimarśa. / A paste administered through the nose, whether purgative or pacifying, is named avapīḍa; but a purgative powder is called pradhamana. / The remaining is known as nāvana or avapīḍaka; / according to others, juice pressed and trickled from a medicament made into a paste is avapīḍa. / There, when it is sharp, it receives the specific designation 'head-purgative' [śirovirecana]. / Likewise others say that all nasal medication is purgative, / because of the common factor of immediately purging śleṣman.

29.8

Now the preparation of Aṇu oil is stated: / As for the preparation of Aṇu oil, one should cook oil with eight times [the quantity of water] and six times of milk, along with well-ground mañjiṣṭhā, madhuka, prapauṇḍarīka, jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, the two kākolīs, payasyā, sārivā, anantā, nīlotpala, añjana, rāsnā, grains of viḍaṅga, madhuparṇī, śrāvaṇī, medā, kākanāsā, sarala, sāla, bhadradāru, and candana; / or ghee, when the doṣas are dominated by pitta.

29.9

Or else, one should decoct candana, agaru, patra, bark of dārvī, madhuka, the two balās, bilva, utpala, padmakesara, prapauṇḍarīka, viḍaṅga, uśīra, hrībera, wild cinnamon bark, mustā, sāribā, the two bṛhatīs, the two aṃśumatīs, jīvantī, devadāru, surabhi, and śatāvarī in a hundred times [their weight of] rainwater until a tenth part remains; then one should prepare an equal part of oil with a tenth part of that decoction; / and at the tenth cooking here, one should also add goat's milk equal to the oil. / This Aṇu oil also, even more than the former, produces strength in the sense organs, is beneficial for hair, beneficial for the skin, beneficial for the throat, pleasing, nourishing, and destroys the three doṣas.

29.10

Those unfit for nasal medication (nasya), however, are: one who has eaten a meal; who has consumed unctuous substances, liquor, poison, or water, or wishes to consume them; who has bathed the head or wishes to bathe; who has bled from vein puncture or the like; who is urged to urinate or defecate; who has suffered trauma; who has undergone emesis, purgation, or enema treatment; a pregnant woman; a puerperal woman; one suffering from acute coryza, dyspnea, or cough; and also during unseasonal cloudy days.

There, in one who has eaten a meal, the doṣa provoked by nasal medication, blocking the upper channels, may produce vomiting, dyspnea, cough, and coryza.

In those who have consumed or wish to consume unctuous substances and the like, it produces ophthalmia, nasal and mouth discharges, cataract, and head diseases.

In one who has bathed the head, it produces pain in the head, eyes, and ears, throat diseases, chronic rhinitis, lockjaw, stiffness of the nape, facial paralysis, and head tremor.

In one who wishes to bathe, it produces numbness and dullness of the head, anorexia, and chronic rhinitis.

In one who has lost blood, it produces emaciation, anorexia, and weakness of the digestive fire.

In those urged to urinate or defecate, it severely produces disorders arising from the suppression of natural urges.

In one who has suffered trauma, it produces more acute pain.

In those who have undergone emesis and the like, it produces dyspnea, cough, impairment of voice and sense organs, heaviness of the head, itching, and parasitic doṣas.

In a pregnant woman, it produces aversion to food, fever, fainting, and hemicrania, and the offspring will have facial blemishes, defective sense organs, or be afflicted with insanity or epilepsy.

In a puerperal woman, it produces the disorders mentioned for one who has lost blood.

In acute coryza, due to obstruction of channels, it produces malignant coryza, loss of hair, parasites, itching, and eczema.

In those with dyspnea and cough, there is aggravation of the disease.

At an improper time on a cloudy day, suddenly due to cold, it produces head pain, trembling, numbness, itching and suppuration of the palate and eyes, stiffness of the nape, throat diseases, coryza, and scabs on the scalp.

Discharging blood and pus, with the signs of pitta, arises from blood.

29.11

In these cases, considering the respective seat and the aggravation of the doṣa, one should administer oleation, sudation, applications to the head and face, irrigation, sharp nasal pressing, herbal smoking, gargling, and the like.

Particularly, a pregnant woman, when non-unctuous nasal treatment [has caused harm], should drink milk boiled with punarnavā, kākolī, and kapikacchu,

or with balā, vidārī, aṃśumatī, and medā.

Clarified butter boiled with these very drugs, and unctuous preparations processed with vāta-alleviating drugs, should be employed for head-enema (śirobasti) and filling the ear.

And all food and drink should be nourishing.

Even in cases such as those who have eaten a meal, one must attend to a patient suffering from an urgent disease.

Moreover:

Having the appearance of the scum of clarified butter, smelling like fish-wash water, soft, spreading, with black pus—these arise from pitta and blood.

29.12

The measure of marśa-nasya: a drop is that amount which falls from two joints of the index finger when dipped and raised.

These—ten, eight, and six drops—are the superior, medium, and inferior doses.

For decoctions and the like, [the doses are] eight, six, and four [drops].

For blowing powder (pradhamana), however, it is administered by a tube six aṅgulas long with two openings, blown by breath from the mouth, reaching down to the throat, and applied repeatedly according to the requirement of the doṣa.

There, due to the absence of the stated signs of vitiation, [there is] absence of agitation, the color of the tongue, smoothness, freedom from pain, absence of discharge, having a greyish-black border, the middle of the lip being level, or the middle being slightly elevated.

29.13

Now, the person fit for nasal medication—with uninhibited natural urges, the inside and outside of the mouth washed, the head oleated and fomented, not excessively hungry, the channels purified by the use of habitual smoking, lying on a well-spread, draft-free bed, with head face up and feet slightly raised, hands and feet extended—should be repeatedly fomented above the collarbones by the warmth of the hands.

Then, the medicament to be administered, placed in a shell or vessel made of gold, silver, copper, or the like, heated by warm water to a third [part], with his head slightly hanging back, holding down a fourfold cloth covering the eyes with the thumb and little finger of the left hand, raising the tip of the nose with the middle finger, and alternately closing each nostril with the index and ring fingers, one should pour [the medicine] continuously into the other nasal channel with the right hand using a tube or a cotton swab.

And according to the difference in the receptacle, there is a difference in the discharge.

29.14

In diseases of vāta, pitta, and kapha, [it should be administered] respectively in the afternoon, midday, and forenoon;

in excessive salivation, numbness, delirium, teeth chattering, groaning, difficult opening of the eyes, foul odor of the mouth, tinnitus, thirst, facial paralysis, head disease, dyspnea, cough, and insomnia, at night;

in healthy routines, in the cold season at midday, in autumn and spring in the forenoon, in summer in the afternoon, in the rainy season when the sun is visible;

and for one undergoing the five purification procedures (pañcakarman), only after the enema treatment.

Slightly putrid-smelling and yellowish in appearance.

29.15

It should not be given in deficient or excessive quantity, all at once, excessively hot or cold, to one whose head is excessively raised or lowered, or whose limbs are contracted.

There, a deficient [dose], having excited the doṣa, does not eliminate it;

it may produce heaviness, anorexia, cough, excessive salivation, chronic rhinitis, vomiting, and throat diseases.

An excessive [dose] causes the disorders of excessive administration.

Given all at once, it produces excessive oleation, head diseases, coryza, moistness of the nose, and obstruction of breathing.

Excessively hot, it produces burning sensation, suppuration, fever, bleeding, head pain, weakness of vision, fainting, and dizziness.

Excessively cold, it produces the disorders of a deficient [dose].

In one whose head is excessively raised, not reaching the head properly, it causes those same [disorders].

In one whose head is excessively lowered, because it travels too far, it causes fainting, dullness, itching, burning sensation, and fever.

In one whose body is contracted, not pervading the vessels properly, it produces provocation of doṣas, pain, or stiffness.

And if during the administration of nasal medication, fainting should occur due to the force of the medicine or unsuitability, then one should sprinkle [the body] with cold water, excluding the head.

And while nasal medication is being instilled, one should not indulge in anger, laughter, speech, movement, or sniffing.

For thus arises the possibility of head pain, coryza, cough, cataract, baldness, graying of hair, facial blemishes, black freckles, and pimples.

29.16

Immediately after the nasal drops have been administered, one should comfortably massage the ears, forehead, hair-margins, cheeks, neck, shoulders, palms, and soles.

And one should gently sniff inward.

Without swallowing, one should spit out the medicine to the left and right sides.

For if swallowed along with kapha, it would depress the digestive fire,

and increase the doṣa.

By spitting toward one side [or the other], all the vessels are thoroughly permeated by the medicine.

One should foment him repeatedly, and until the medicine is observed, he must not blow his nose or spit. Then in the very same manner, one should instill the second portion, and likewise the third, according to the strength of the doṣa and other factors.

In the case of a purgative avapīḍa, however, one should consider the strength of the doṣa and instill an unctuous substance afterward.

When the nasal application is finished, one should have him lie awake, facing upward, for the duration of one hundred spoken words.

Then, to pacify whatever residues of agitated doṣa remain, one should administer a purgative or suitable [medicinal] smoke, and have him hold mouthfuls of hot water [in his throat].

Then one should instruct him in the regimen prescribed for oleation,

and he should avoid the excessive drinking of fluids.

Then again on the third day, one should instill the nasal drops;

or every day, morning and evening, or at both times, in cases of hiccough, loss of voice, stiff neck, convulsive seizures, and when the head is afflicted by disorders of vāta.

Following this procedure, one should administer it for five, seven, or nine days, or until proper effects are obtained.

And when they have ripened, the pus comes out as if water through drainage conduits;

and it is thin, broken, slimy, hanging down, and grayish-black.

29.17

There, when the head is properly oleated or purged, ease of inhalation, exhalation, sneezing, sleep, and awakening occurs, as well as clarity of the head, face, and sense organs,

and pacification of the aforementioned diseases.

In cases of inadequate or excessive administration, however, their respective vāta and kapha disorders arise; these one should treat appropriately,

as well as the other previously mentioned disorders.

29.18

Pratimarśa [nasal therapy], however, may be employed even in the emaciated, the injured, the thirsty, those suffering from dryness of the mouth, the aged, children, the timid, and the delicate, and even in unseasonable rain and cloudy weather.

It should not, however, be used in cases of chronic catarrh, high doṣa accumulation, worms in the head, those who have drunk liquor, or those with weak hearing.

For in their case, because the doṣas are excited, even that much causes aggravation of the doṣas.

There are fifteen times for it, along with their respective benefits:

When administered in the morning and at the conclusion of a meal, clarity of the channels, lightness of the head, and clarity of mind occur.

At the conclusion of defecation, urination, head-massage, collyrium, and gargling, there is clarity of vision.

At the end of tooth-brushing, firmness of the teeth and pleasant breath.

At the end of journeying, exercise, and sexual intercourse, destruction of fatigue, exhaustion, perspiration, and stiffness.

At the end of day-sleeping, removal of residual drowsiness and heaviness, and clarity of mind.

At the end of excessive laughter, pacification of vāta.

At the end of vomiting, elimination of śleṣman adhering to the channels.

At the end of the day, clarity of the channels, and ease of sleep and waking occur.

And here it is said:

29.19

The measurement of pratimarśa is held to be two drops, / or one drop, by which aggravation does not occur in one whose [doṣas] are not aggravated.

And here the discharge is mixed with marrow, bloody, and unctuous.

29.20

Or where the unctuous substance is not visibly observed when spat out. / Nasal drops should not be given to one under seven years of age, nor to one past eighty years.

29.21

Medicinal smoke is not [given] to one under eighteen, nor a gargle to one under five; / purification is not for one under ten, nor for one past seventy.

29.22

Pratimarśa, however, like the enema, is commendable from birth to death; / and because of daily use, it produces the same benefits as regular marśa.

Similarly, an elongated, four-cornered, round, or three-cornered wound;

but consumptions are deformed in shape and difficult to treat;

and they are mostly exogenous;

and those caused by doṣas rupture spontaneously, but are not made by a physician.

29.23

Nor is there here any restriction, nor fear of complications as with marśa. / Oil alone is commended for nasal therapy for daily practice, / since the head is the abode of śleṣman, and for a healthy person, other unctuous substances are not [desirable].

29.24

Acting quickly versus acting slowly, superiority versus inferiority of virtues— / if there were no distinction between marśa and pratimarśa, / then who would resort to marśa, with its restrictions and dangers?

In firm persons, because of their stable and abundant flesh, an applied instrument does not strike vessels, ligaments, and so forth.

In those endowed with vitality, there is no languor from pain, restrictions of diet and conduct, and so on.

In those endowed with mental fortitude, there is no agony even from harsh procedural methods.

In those with self-control, through well-regulated diet and conduct following instructions, nothing goes amiss, because in those whose digestive fire is blazing, the body is not overly moist.

And in those whose bodies are naturally not prone to moisture, and in regions and seasons of the same quality, because of the absence of discharge and foul smell, healing occurs quickly without complications by means of purified flesh.

29.25

Just as the drinking of pure oleaginous substance and culinary oleation are designated, / and residence in a hut or exposed to wind and sun, / and the retaining enema and small-dose enema, so also should one point out these two.

29.25_1

Thus ends the twenty-ninth chapter.

Commentaries (1)

Śaśilekhā — Indu, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit