Ashtangasamgraha 44

English (machine translation) 44

Language: English

44.1

Now we shall explain the chapter named "Treatment of Spiders." / Thus spoke Ātreya and the other great seers.

44.2

When Vasiṣṭha was enraged at Viśvāmitra, drops of sweat born from his forehead / that fell upon cut grass are traditionally remembered as spiders (lūtā).

44.3

Others say that spiders are the sparks that flew forth / from the bodies of the asuras being burned in the Khāṇḍava forest.

Others say that poisonous eruptions that appear from the fermentation / of contaminated food that has been eaten are spiders; bearing the characteristics of insects / according to their own nature, they are designated as spiders and insects.

44.5

Among them, the most terrible spiders are also divided into three classes / by their sharp, medium, or mild nature; if untreated, they kill swiftly / in seven days, ten days, and a fortnight respectively.

44.6

Kapilā, agnimukhī, pītā, padmā, mūtrā, sitā, and asitā: / these seven fiery, sweat-born spiders produce disorders of pitta.

44.7

Pāṇḍurā, raktapadikā, bhṛṅgā, piṅgā, trimaṇḍalā, / pūti, and vīrā: these seven lunar, egg-born spiders produce disorders of śleṣman.

44.8

Kumudā, alaviṣā, raktā, citrā, santā, nimecikā, / and kasanā: these seven aerial, soil-sprouted spiders produce diseases of vāyu.

44.9

Kākāṇḍī, eṇapadī, lājā, vaidehī, jālinī, / mālāguṇā, and suvarṇā: these seven mixed spiders are spontaneously generated.

44.10

Spreading swiftly through the limbs like blazing fire, / caused by a combination of all three doṣas, they are incurable; the others are curable with difficulty.

44.11

They bite in the bright fortnight, the dark fortnight, and always at the junction of both.

44.12

Generally, their bite resembles a ringworm patch: / white, black, reddish, yellow, or greyish-black, soft or elevated,

44.13

black or greyish-black in the centre, covered with a network around the edges, / spreading like erysipelas, accompanied by swelling, burning, and great pain,

44.14

accompanied by fever, rapid suppuration, exudation, sloughing, and cracking; / whatever limb it touches with its exudate, it causes an ulcer there too.

44.15

Through eight means—breath, fangs, feces, urine, semen, saliva, claws, and menstrual fluid— / these spiders vomit poison, especially from the mouth.

44.16

From breath, the bite suddenly swells, with fever and a burning sensation; / but that produced by the fangs is fiercer: discoloured, hardened, and firm,

44.17

having deep swelling, and accompanied by piercing pain and burning; / from feces, it is foul-smelling, with burning, itching, and tingling,

44.18

and suppurates quickly, and when suppurated is pale, resembling a pīlu fruit; / from urine, it has red edges, is black in the centre, and sloughs away,

44.19

resembles a whirlpool, is swollen, putrid, spreads, and burns; / from semen, it takes the shape of a nodule, is hard, and causes acute pain;

44.20

from saliva, it has a shallow base, little pain, is urticarial, itchy, and soft; / from a claw, it is accompanied by smarting, papules, itching, and a sensation of smoking, / having the colour of the interior of a kiṃśuka blossom and edged with a garland of points from [spattered] particles.

44.21

Spiders bite above the navel; insects bite above and below; / and clothing or other articles spoiled by them, when in contact with the body, produce disease.

44.22

For half a day, the bite arising from spider venom is not perceived at all.

44.23

Then, on the first day, it feels like the prick of a needle, / with an indistinct colour, unsteady, accompanied by slight itching and pain.

44.24

On the second day, it is very elevated at the borders and studded with pustules, / of distinct colour, depressed in the centre, itchy, and resembling a nodular swelling.

44.25

On the third day, it is accompanied by fever, causes horripilation, has a red circular patch, / has the form of a shallow saucer, has abundant pricking pain, and discharges from the hair follicles.

44.26

On the fourth day, the swelling is large, producing burning heat, dyspnea, and dizziness.

44.27

On the fifth day, it causes diverse disorders born of poison provocation; / on the sixth, it pervades the vital spots; on the seventh, it destroys life.

44.28

Such is the venom of the extremely acute ones; one should classify the others accordingly.

44.29

The poison of all of them subsides after twenty-one nights.

44.30

A bite of the nature of pitta has burning, thirst, vesicles, fever, and heat; / one of śleṣman is swollen, hard, pale, itchy, and of little pain; / one of vāta is rough, greyish-black, and causes pain such as cracking of the joints.

44.31

And one should diagnose the aggravation of doṣas through the signs stated for recognizing snakebites.

44.32

Almost all spiders involve all three doṣas, with a predominance of pitta and kapha.

44.33

In fatal [spider bites] there are confusion of the heart, dyspnoea, hiccup, head-seizure, / white, black, yellow, and red eruptions, and the arising of swelling,

44.34

trembling, vomiting, burning sensation, thirst, blindness, crookedness of the nose, / blackish discoloration of the lips, mouth, and teeth, breaking pain in the back and neck, / and blood resembling the colour of ripe jambu fruit flows from the bite.

44.35

Then, immediately, one should excise the bite of one bitten by a spider with a sharp instrument, / and burn it with a jambu-shaped cautery iron or similar tools; but one should not burn [a bite] dominated by pitta.

44.36

A bite that is rough, with bristling hair, located on a vital spot, joint, or the like, / or spreading in all directions, one should neither cut nor burn.

44.37

One should smear the burnt [site] with antidotes mixed with honey and rock salt, / and then sprinkle it with cold decoctions prepared from latex-bearing trees.

44.38

One should extract blood from everywhere with horns or similar means, or through a vein; / after blood has flowed, pouring over [the site] with ghee, milk, and the like is beneficial.

44.39

Prapauṇḍarīka, hrībera, sārivā, uśīra, jīvaka, / lodhra, candana, jīvantī, mañjiṣṭhā, sarja, vañjula,

44.40

lotus stalk, lotus root, algae, white water lily, blue water lily, red ochre, / nyagrodha, udumbara, aśvattha, nicula, plakṣa, vetasa,

44.41

samaṅgā, pāṭalī, gundrā, kākolī, śataparvikā, / śirīṣa, dhātakī, mūrvā, vidārī, padma, kiṃśuka,

44.42

śṛṅgāṭaka, kośavatī, vāyasī, somarājī, / madhuka, aṃśumatī, and mūrvā, gathered as available: / this paste, kept overnight and mixed with ghee, is commended on a pitta-type ulcer.

44.43

The two varieties of śyāmā, niśā, mustā, nakha, rāsnā, mahāsahā, / vāsā, pattaṅga, suvahā, nākulī, girikarṇikā,

44.44

sarpagandhā, yavaphalā, nirguṇḍī, aśmantaka, sthirā, / śukākhyā, mahiṣakrāntā, kuṣṭha, indrayava, saffron,

44.45

karavīra, agaru, nata, sugandhā, sinduvāra, / āsphoṭā, and gundrā are beneficial as a paste in kapha-type poison.

44.46

Bimbī, vidula, bandhūka, kovidāra, palāśa, / suvahā, ariṣṭaka, brāhmī, guḍūcī, viśvā, sairyaka,

44.47

siddhārthaka, devadāru, viḍaṅga, indravāruṇī, / śatāvarī, lāṅgalikī, rājavṛkṣa, punarnavā,

44.48

jīvantī, vāyasī, bhārṅgī, kataka, indrayava, arjuna, / misi, vyāghrapadī, siṃhapucchī, maṇḍalaparṇikā,

44.49

śvadaṃṣṭrā, kolabṛhatī, revatī, śvetapuṣpikā, / prapunnāṭa, and kuravaka [form] a paste in vāta-type poison.

44.50

And bodhi, śleṣmātaka, and akṣa are commended everywhere.

44.51

When the doṣas are aggravated, in strong persons, or in severe poison, one should cause emesis / with kākaṇḍakī, kośavatī, lodhra, indrayava, rock salt,

44.52

leaves of paṭola, marica, karaghāṭa, priyaṅgu, / kṛṣṇā, śukanasā, nīpa, nimba, and saptāhvayaṣṭi.

44.53

And one should induce purgation with triphalā, trivṛt, trikaṭu, and rock salt, / along with dantī, pūga, mṛdvīkā, and viḍaṅga; or one should cook / a prastha of ghee with half a pala of each of these, along with an equal quantity of brāhmī juice.

44.54

Milk or water boiled with pañcamūla, combined with purifying medicines / pasted appropriately, one should administer separately as purgation.

44.55

With pippalī, pippalī-root, dried ginger, indrayava, rock salt, / pāṭhā, ajamodā, yaṣṭyāhva, mustā, mustard, and deodar,

44.56

prepared along with the lesser pañcamūla and sarala, / a gruel mixed with ghee should be employed in the post-purification dietary regimen as a destroyer of poison.

44.57

In tympanites, hiccup, dyspnoea, breaking pain in the back and neck, / contracture, stiffness, trembling, colic, hemicrania,

44.58

and other vāta diseases such as piercing pain in the joints and facial paralysis, / one should cook eraṇḍa, vilva, sarala, cirivilva, arka, pāṭalī,

44.59

śigru, pāṭhā, kuśa, vṛṣa, and vidula in water, / along with the lesser pañcamūla; in that [decoction], one should cook the scum of ghee,

44.60

with twice the quantity of water, equal quantity of cow's milk, and pasted yaṣṭī, niśā, nata, / surāhva, vella, sarala, śatāhvā, lodhra, red ochre,

44.61

payasyā, kuṣṭha, gāṅgeyī, kṛṣṇā, madana, and rock salt. / When the enema has returned, [the patient] should eat with meat soups prepared with pañcamūla.

44.62

Errhine [is indicated] in heaviness, swelling, excessive salivation, and lockjaw: / girikarṇī, phalasāra, bandhūka, kiṇihī, sitā,

44.63

ṣaḍgranthā, garlic, vyoṣa, bṛhatī, vella, rock salt, / fruit of apāmārga, bhārṅgī, nākulī, sarpagandhikā,

44.64

śyāmā, yavaphalā, and seeds of phaṇijjaka and śirīṣa, / ground with the juice of vārtāka, are a supreme errhine that dispels poison.

44.65

And for one whose head has been purged, an errhine of the scum of ghee should follow.

44.66

When obstruction of the eyes, swelling, itching, and excessive sleep occur: / vacā, manohvā, trikaṭu, triphalā, lodhra, red ochre,

44.67

conch, blue water lily, copper, gold, coral, / jīvantī, garlic, kuṣṭha, kataka, mārkava, nata,

44.68

prapauṇḍarīka, madhuka, seed of karañja, rock salt, / the two niśās, phaṇijjaka, blue vitriol, antimony, rasāñjana, / and flower of meṣaśṛṅgī, ground with cow's urine, form a collyrium.

44.69

Sprouts of surasā, vyoṣa, vilva root, surāhva, / and turmeric, [ground with] goat's urine, is a collyrium that destroys spider and insect [poisons].

44.70

Śirīṣa, padmaka, uśīra, pāṭalī, sinduvāra, / shoots of latex-bearing trees, nata, udīcya, sārivā, kuṣṭha, candana,

44.71

ground with the fresh juice of śelu: this antidote is exceedingly beneficial / as an errhine, collyrium, drink, paste, and wash in spider bites.

44.72

Payasyā, honey, mṛdvīkā, śvadaṃṣṭrā, kṣīramoraṭā, / gojī, vidārī, yaṣṭyāhva, and madhuka have the same properties;

44.73

likewise śirīṣa flower, the fruit born of candralekhā, / surālā, kaṭabhī, jātī, and white girikarṇikā;

44.74

and in the same way one should employ tagara, kuṣṭha, nāgabalā, and balā.

44.75

The two turmerics, nāgadantī, śābara lodhra, / śirīṣa flower, tagara, sahadevā, śatāvarī,

44.76

punarnavā, nāgabalā, sarpagandhā, kuṭannaṭa, / gavādanī, dantaśaṭha, somavalka, and indurājī: / this antidote, mixed with honey, accomplishes all purposes in all poisons.

44.77

Sarpākṣī, candana, vakra, mṛgākṣī, gandhanākulī, / elā, and mahāsugandhā, pasted with goat's urine: / for smearing and drinking in spider bites, there is no antidote equal to this.

44.78

With root of kaṭabhī, tagara, samaṅgā, devadāru, / the two bṛhatīs, gāṅgeyī, rocanā, and candana,

44.79

ghee prepared with four times as much milk is beneficial for drinking and anointing / in the exceedingly dreadful poison of spiders, centipedes, and insects.

44.80

When burning sensation, swelling, and the like have subsided, one should cause the slough to fall from the wound.

44.81

Safflower blossom, godanta, svarṇakṣīrī, pigeon droppings, / trivṛt, rock salt, and dantī likewise cause the falling of the slough.

44.82

Turmeric, guggulu, ferment, bamboo manna, pigeon droppings; / and likewise rocksalt, kuṣṭha, dantī, kaṭukā, daugdhikā, / root of rājakrośātakī, or ferment produced from churned buttermilk; [these cause sloughing].

44.83

At the time of the sloughing of the core, one should strengthen [the patient] with poison-destroying remedies.

44.84

In the mating season of spiders, as many drops of semen / as fall upon the body, that many cores arise at the same time.

44.85

Godanta, dantī, trivṛtā, the two turmerics, rocksalt, sesame seeds, / licorice, neem leaves, and ghee cleanse the wound.

44.86

Clarified butter prepared with priyaṅgu, viḍaṅga, catechu, neem, kampillaka, mustā, / resin, cardamom, dhātakī, and iron destroys wounds.

44.87

The barks of śirīṣa, kaṭabhī, śelu, the milky-sapped trees, and arjuna, / applied as paste, powder, or wash, destroy insect and spider wounds.

44.88

Śatāhvā, lodhra, ferrous sulfate, dāruharidrā, jambu pits, rocanā, / harītakī, and betel nut: this powder heals wounds.

44.89

Lac, the two turmerics, madder, orpiment, realgar, / ghee, and honey: this paste is supreme for purifying the skin.

44.90

One should perform the restoration of hair as described in the treatment of wounds.

44.91

And every task of oleation should be performed with ghee alone; / oil serves to increase poison, just as dry grass increases fire.

44.91_1

Thus ends the forty-fourth chapter.

Commentaries (1)

Śaśilekhā — Indu, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit