Ashtangasamgraha 41
English (machine translation) 41
- Language
- English
41.1
Now we shall explain the chapter named 'Diagnosis of Snake Poison'. / Thus spoke the great sages beginning with Ātreya.
41.2
Snakes are traditionally known to be of two kinds by the division into celestial and terrestrial: / Vāsuki, Takṣaka, Ananta, Sagara who dwells in the ocean,
41.3
as well as Nanda, Upananda, and others, possessing radiance equal to a blazing fire. / They are celestial: they thunder, they rain, they flash, and they illuminate.
41.4
They sustain the entire universe, and when enraged they can reduce it to ashes / with their gaze and breaths. Homage to them! There is no medical treatment for those bitten [by them].
41.5
Terrestrial [snakes] are broadly of three kinds: hooded (darvīkara), circular-spotted (maṇḍalin), / and striped (rājīmant). But in detail they are divided in manifold ways; / they are not mentioned here by distinction of species because it is without practical use.
41.6
Especially dry and pungent, sour and hot, sweet and cold / is the poison of the hooded and others respectively, aggravating vāta and the other [doṣas].
41.7
In youth, middle age, and old age, and in rain, cold, and heat [respectively], / their poisons become intense; those of mixed breed [are fierce] at the junctions of the seasons.
41.8
Snakes bearing wheel, plough, parasol, svastika, and goad [marks], / possessing hoods and swift movement, are known as darvīkaras.
41.9
Those that are coilless, covered with various circles, / tall, and slow-moving, are to be known as maṇḍalins; but rājīmants [are marked] with stripes, / smooth, and variegated crosswise and lengthwise with varied colors.
41.10
The monitor lizard's offspring, the gaudhera, is equal in poison to darvīkaras.
41.11
One should know crossbreeds (vyantara) as four-footed, born from the intermixture of those very [types]; / for they possess mixed characteristics and provoke all three doṣas simultaneously.
41.12
The divyaka, the ajagara (python), the sarpa, the patāka, the tree-dweller (vṛkṣaśāyika), / the śakalī, the puṣpaka, the kṣīrī, the lāsinī, the sārasāhika,
41.13
the varṣāhika, the jyotiratha, the parrot-beaked (śukavaktra), the balāhaka, / the elephant-eater (gajabhakṣa), and the plavodvāhī: these are the sixteen non-venomous snakes.
41.14
A female snake generally remains in season for the month of Jyeṣṭha; / from union with a snake in Āṣāḍha, [she produces] eggs in the month of Kārtika.
41.15
She brings forth two hundred and twenty-two [eggs]. Among them, / when an egg of the color of chrysoberyl bursts open, a male serpent is born;
41.16
from one variegated with long red stripes, a female; a hermaphrodite / from one resembling a śirīṣa flower. On the seventh day four fangs / arise in a snake, and poison [appears] in them on the fourteenth.
41.17
The lower-left [fang] is black, the one above it yellow, the lower-right / is red, and the upper is dusky; they contain one, two, three, and four drops of poison [respectively].
41.18
In these, respectively, a drop is the size of a mung bean; for this distinction / in poison belongs to hooded snakes, not to others. And one should know that forty other / fangs of a serpent are poisonless, plus four [more].
41.19
Their lifespan is one hundred and twenty years; those living five hundred years / are gonasa vipers, which arise from the nostrils of cows tormented by heat.
41.20
Among them, a male looks upward, has a large body, eyes, tongue, head, and voice, / and a prominent hood, and is bold; a female is the opposite of this.
41.21
A hermaphrodite is elongated, restless, delicate, dull in appearance, / slow in speed, sound, and anger, whitish, and holds its head sideways.
41.22
They are powerful during the day, the three watches of the night, and the twilights, respectively, / and bite at those very times; but a female snake bites at all times.
41.23
Brāhmaṇa [snakes] are wrathful, dark-blue and tawny, or white and red, / red-mouthed, tawny-eyed, and roam in clean places;
41.24
they are marked on the hood with a sacred thread and other marks of the twice-born, / smelling of bilva flowers, camphor, uśīra, lotus, or guggulu.
41.25
Kṣatriya [snakes] are proud, resolute, red-eyed, very irritable, / having the luster of ripe jambu fruit, date, grape, or broken collyrium;
41.26
they are marked on the hood with a crescent moon, śrīvatsa, conch, discus, or plough, / smelling of jātī, campaka, punnāga, leaves, or agallochum.
41.27
Vaiśya [snakes] have the appearance of a pigeon, or the radiance of a diamond or hessonite, / their bodies variegated with dots and circles, smoky, pale-red, or crimson, / equal in scent to a goat, costus, wikstroemia, milk, or clarified butter.
41.28
Śūdra [snakes] share the color of wheat, buffalo, elephant, or mud, / are covered with dots and lines, rough, and smell of liquor or blood.
41.29
Brāhmaṇas and the others roam in the morning, midday, and afternoon [respectively]; / at sunset, the Śūdras [roam]. Brāhmaṇas bite from the front; / Kṣatriyas, staying on the right side; Vaiśyas, from the left;
41.30
Śūdras bite from behind. The Brāhmaṇa [snakes] provoke the three doṣas beginning with wind, / and the three beginning with Kṣatriyas provoke the three [doṣas] respectively.
41.31
The odor of the bite is to be known through their body odor respectively.
41.32
They feed respectively on air, mice, frogs, and everything.
41.33
For food, out of fear, from touch of a foot, from excess of venom, out of wrath, / from an evil disposition, out of enmity, or by the command of gods, sages, or Yama: / snakes bite [for these reasons]; among these, the excess of poison is said to increase in succession.
41.34
Having learned the cause from the possessed person, one should treat it accordingly.
41.35
The crossbreed, due to its wicked nature, lies blocking the road.
41.36
Where only moistening with saliva is seen on the body, / and no fang mark has been made, one should designate that as 'struck by the snout' (tuṇḍāhata).
41.37
One or two fang marks without blood are called vyālīḍha; / two fang marks with blood are vyālupta; but if there are three,
41.38
flowing with uninterrupted blood due to the cutting of flesh, it is daṣṭaka; / when there are four fang marks of the same kind, it is daṣṭanipīḍita.
41.39
Among these, the first two are venomless, and the last should be stated to be incurable.
41.40
Snake poison, without reaching the blood, does not corrupt the body; / but once it reaches the blood, even a minute amount expands like a drop of oil.
41.41
In a timid person, wind agitated by fear upon contact with a snake's body / sometimes causes swelling; but that is [merely] 'struck by a snake's limb' (sarpāṅgābhihata).
41.42
When pierced by something in impenetrable darkness, through suspicion of having been bitten, / agitation from poison, fever, vomiting, fainting, or burning sensation may occur, / or exhaustion, delusion, and diarrhea; that is called 'suspicion-poison' (śaṅkāviṣa).
41.43
Every poisonous bite has swelling and pain,
pricks, is somewhat knotted, itches, and burns intensely;
a non-poisonous one is opposite to this.
41.44
Among them, the bite of hooded snakes (phaṇin)
is raised like a tortoise's back, rough, and marked with tiny fang marks;
41.45
its disorders are: dark discoloration of the face, nails, urine, eyes, feces, and skin;
cold fever, joint pain, loss of sleep, and excessive yawning;
41.46
rigidity of the nape of the neck, distension of the veins, rigidity of the back, hips, bones, and speech;
heaviness of the head, anorexia, cough, dyspnea, and lockjaw;
41.47
colic and twisting pain in the abdomen, drying up and obstruction of the receptacles of waste;
doubtful speech, motionless stupor, and unconsciousness as if dead;
41.48
eruption of frothy saliva, hiccup, rattling in the throat,
frequent dry belching, and various other disorders born of vāta.
41.49
The bite of viperine snakes (maṇḍalin) has heat and burning pain, is yellowish-red,
spreads broadly, and sloughs off with burning, sensation of heat, exudation, and rotting;
41.50
its disorders are: yellowness of the mouth, teeth, and so forth, thirst, fatigue, dizziness,
burning sensation, fainting, fever, bitter taste in the mouth, and yellow vision;
41.51
bleeding from the upper and lower [orifices], desire for cold, smoking sensation, intoxication,
rapid spread through the whole body, and various disorders born of pitta.
41.52
The bite of striped snakes (rājīmat) is unctuous, causing a firm and slimy swelling,
with thick blood, cold, and pale; its disorders are: headache,
41.53
anorexia, vomiting, lethargy, nausea, sweet taste in the mouth,
rattling sound in the throat, suppurative inflammation, itching in the eyes, cold fever,
41.54
difficulty breathing out, sleepiness, cough, whiteness of nails and other parts,
stiffness and heaviness of the limbs, discharge from the nose, eyes, and mouth,
horripilation, darkness before the eyes, dyspnea, and other disorders arising from kapha.
41.55
In a bite by an indeterminate snake (vyantara) there are mixed symptoms.
One bitten by a male snake looks upward,
advances the right foot, and raises the upper body;
41.56
he is resolute, with mild venom impulses at night. But [one bitten] by a female is the opposite:
he has a weak voice, suffers from diarrhea, trembles, is fearful, and feverish.
41.57
One bitten by a hermaphrodite snake has an oblique gaze, is irresolute, fond of coitus,
and excessively talkative. [In a bite] by an old snake, the pains are slow to appear and dull;
41.58
by a young snake, they are swift and sharp. If bitten by a male child-snake, the patient has pain in the right eye,
but in the left eye if by a female child-snake; if by a pregnant snake, he has a black tongue and black eyes,
41.59
yawning, anger, is afflicted with a sublingual swelling, has swollen lips, a white face,
a heavy belly, and headache; but one bitten by a snake that has newly delivered passes
blood in urine, is afflicted with dysuria and colic, and feels as if pierced with needles.
41.60
Blood, muscle, and the rest were previously spoken of as the seven substrata of the venom impulses.
41.61
Then, in one bitten by a hooded snake (darvīkara), the vitiated blood becomes dark,
whereby darkness appears in the face and elsewhere, and insects seem to crawl [over the body].
41.62
In the second impulse, nodules form; in the third, heaviness of the head,
loss of sight, and exudation from the bite; in the fourth, spitting and vomiting,
41.63
looseness of the joints, and drowsiness; in the fifth, splitting pain in the knuckles,
burning sensation, and hiccup; in the sixth, heart pain and heaviness of the body,
41.64
fainting, toxic inflammation, and diarrhea; reaching the semen in the seventh,
there is breaking pain of the shoulders, back, and hips, and cessation of all bodily actions.
41.65
Next, in one bitten by a viperine snake (maṇḍalin), the vitiated blood turns yellow,
whereby the limbs become yellow, and there is burning sensation; in the second, swelling appears;
41.66
in the third, exudation from the bite, sweating, and thirst arise;
in the fourth, he is afflicted with fever; in the fifth, a burning sensation pervades all limbs.
41.67
In one bitten by a striped snake (rājila), the vitiated blood turns pale,
whereby the limbs turn pale; and in the second, there is heaviness;
41.68
in the third, exudation from the bite, and discharge from the nose, eyes, and mouth;
in the fourth, heaviness of the head; and in the fifth, stiffness of the nape of the neck,
speech arrest, and cold fever; the remaining two should be stated as before.
41.69
One should administer treatment during the five impulses, but not beyond that.
41.70
Snakes that have plunged into water, are exhausted from mating, frightened, conquered by a mongoose,
afflicted by cold, wind, sun, disease, hunger, thirst, or fatigue,
41.71
that have quickly migrated to another region, have cast off their venomous slough,
that roam through forests with kuśa grass, medicinal plants, and thorns,
and live in a land inhabited by sorcerers, are considered to have little venom.
41.72
Those found in a cremation ground, shrine tree, anthill, sacrificial site, temple,
crossroads, water place, dilapidated gardens, or tree hollow;
41.73
on a latex-bearing tree, neem tree, near a mountain stream, or in a mountain cavern;
and those bearing marks of a discus, thunderbolt, mace, spear, trident, or matted hair,
41.74
and those with red mouth and eyes, are like virulent-venom serpents (āśīviṣa);
for them there is no limitation of time, nor orderly sequence in the venom impulses;
41.75
nor can they be forcefully turned back by the power of mantras and rites.
Devoted to offerings, obeisances, incantations, and pacification,
someone bitten by them may survive, though disfigured or disabled.
41.76
In a cremation ground, pyre, shrine tree, and the like; on the fifth lunar day, junction of fortnights,
eighth day, ninth day, twilight, midnight, and during the daytime;
41.77
under the asterisms Yāmya, Āgneya, Maghā, Āśleṣā, Viśākhā, Pūrvanairṛta,
and in the muhūrta named Nairṛta, and one bitten in vulnerable spots (marman)—one should abandon him.
41.78
One whose face and eyes turn white as soon as bitten, whose hair falls out,
whose tongue is stiff, who repeatedly faints, and whose breath is cold, does not live.
41.79
A living person who develops hiccup, dyspnea, vomiting, and cough
simultaneously as soon as bitten, and who has cardiac pain, does not live.
41.80
Trembling, severe pain, drooping of the neck, redness of the eyes,
fainting, constriction of the throat, and vomiting are the servants of the king of the dead (Yama).
41.81
The bite resembles a rose-apple, is raised like a tortoise's back,
and blood flows from all bodily orifices, but not from the bite;
41.82
the hairs do not bristle with cold applications, the swelling is reddish-black,
there is penile erection, and the mouth is crooked—one should abandon him.
41.83
One who vomits foam, is unconscious, has dark feet, hands, and face,
depression of the nose, breaking pain in the body, diarrhea, and loose joints;
41.84
for one who has drunk poison, been bitten, or struck by a poisoned arrow,
these symptoms occur when the end of life has arrived.
41.85
No consciousness returns through sharp nasal therapies, no blood comes from an incision,
and no wheal appears when struck with a stick, in one who has gone to Yama's presence.
41.86
Otherwise, like [one rescuing goods from] a burning house, the physician
should quickly pacify the poison with haste, guarding the vital breaths that have reached the throat.
41.86_1
| Thus ends the forty-first chapter.
Commentaries (1)
- Śaśilekhā — Indu, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit