Ashtangasamgraha 50

English (machine translation) 50

Language: English

50.1

Now we shall explain the chapter entitled 'The Regimen of Virilification'; / thus spoke Ātreya and the other great seers.

A man devoted to sense-pleasures should always seek virilification; / satisfaction, nourishment, and virtuous offspring reside therein; / [it is that] which causes lineage of offspring and brings immediate sexual excitation;

50.3

by which, exceptionally strong like a horse, he approaches women without hindrance, / by which he becomes exceedingly dear to women, and by which he is nourished— / that is virilification; for it is supreme in bestowing vital essence to the body.

50.4

For a woman endowed with female virtues is the essence of the living world; / virtuous women bring forth men who are, as it were, made of virtues.

50.5

For these housewives, the deities of the home, cause the increase of the family line; / for a home that is bereft of them does not shine, even if it is splendid.

50.6

Nor do they shine, looking as though overtaken by old age, / without union with a man; for that is the supreme attraction for women.

50.7

For one who constantly resorts to virilification and desires to indulge in pleasure at will, / neither the body nor pleasure in sexual enjoyment suffers decline.

50.8

Like a shade-less tree, foul-flowered, devoid of fruit, / standing alone and with only a single branch, so is a man without offspring.

50.9

For one who has not seen sons and grandsons, who stands at the end of the thread of his family line, / who is excluded from the pleasures of worldly life, what sort of life is that indeed?

50.10

For one without a son has no connection; everyone else is perpetually a stranger; / and upon his passing, his house sinks, leaderless, even though established; / therefore, recipes of virilification that increase semen should be practiced.

50.11

For a healthy man of prime age who uses virilification, / daily sexual intercourse in all seasons is not forbidden.

50.12

Semen, however, goes to depletion through worry and old age, through diseases, through emaciation caused by labor, / through fasting, and through excessive indulgence in women.

50.13

From depletion of semen, from fear, grief, lack of trust, lack of practice, / from excessive excitement, extreme obesity, accumulation of waste products, and fatigue;

50.14

from lack of skill in women, perception of defects, sorcery, / severe disease of the penis, anger, and hearing about unrighteousness, / the capacity to approach women does not arise, even for one who is satiated.

50.15

For not all men possess strength by nature, nor are all share-holders in offspring; / some of large bodies are strong, yet weak with women.

50.16

And there are those of small physique who are strong with women and have many children; / some men, like sparrows, approach women frequently;

50.17

some, like elephants, ejaculate [abundantly] but do not copulate frequently; / some are mounted with efforts, while some are bulls by their very nature.

50.18

Therefore I will proclaim formulations that bestow strength to the weak, / provide comfortable enjoyment, and further increase strength for the strong.

50.19

Now, for those who are unctuous and cleansed, evacuating enemas along with unctuous enemas, / combined with ghee, oil, meat juice, milk, sugar, and honey,

50.20

The knower of formulations should first administer [them] to those who partake of milk and meat broth; / then aphrodisiac formulations that bestow semen, offspring, and strength:

50.21

Roots of śara, ikṣu, kuśa, kāśa, vidārī, and vīraṇa, / and of kaṇṭakārī, jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, balā,

50.22

the two medās, the two kākolīs, the two sūpyaparṇīs, śatāvarī, / aśvagandhā, atibalā, ātmaguptā, punarnavā,

50.23

vīrā, payasyā, jīvantī, ṛddhi, rāsnā, trikaṇṭaka, / madhuka, and śāliparṇī—in separate portions of three palas,

50.24

and one āḍhaka of māṣa: he should boil these in two droṇas of water. / With that decoction, reduced to one āḍhaka, he should cook an āḍhaka of ghee,

50.25

having added an āḍhaka each of the juices of vidārī, dhātrī, and sugarcane, / milk four times the quantity of ghee, and should throw in these paste ingredients:

50.26

vīrā, svaguptā, the two kākolīs, yaṣṭī, phalgu, the two pippalīs, / drākṣā, vidārī, dates, the madhukas, [and] śatāvarī.

50.27

When it is boiled and strained, he should combine it with a separate prastha of powder / of sugar and tugā, and a kuḍava of pippalī,

50.28

a prakuñca of black pepper, smooth tvac, elā, and saffron / measured at half a pala each, and two kuḍavas of honey.

50.29

Then, eating meat broth and milk, he should eat only a pala each day. / By that he mounts like a stallion, and is sexually excited like a sparrow.

50.30

An āḍhaka of seeds of māṣa and ātmaguptā, and a prasṛta measure / of medā, aśvagandhā, ṛddhi, varī, vīrā, yaṣṭī, and the two jīvakas:

50.31

he should boil them down in a śūrpa of water; with that [decoction] reduced to a quarter, he should cook / with two prasthas of vidārī juice and sugarcane juice, and an equal quantity [two prasthas]

50.32

of all [combined] with milk, and a prastha of fresh ghee; and here, when cooked, / he should add four palas each of sugar, honey, and sitākhyā [sugar candy],

50.33

and a pala of kaṇā. Licking that one-pala portion beforehand, before meals, / he behaves violently like a donkey toward unsatisfied young women.

50.34

And milk from a newly calved cow boiled with medā and the rest, taken in karṣa portions, / with sugar, honey, and ghee, is supreme in increasing semen.

50.35

A milk pudding prepared with that milk, along with fruits of māṣa and kaṇḍūkarī, / with ghee, honey, and sugar, is aphrodisiac and induces ejaculation.

50.36

Cooked in the decoction of śvadaṃṣṭrā and vidārī, with milk four times [as much] / and abundant in ghee, a milk-pudding of māṣa and ṣaṣṭika rice is aphrodisiac.

50.37

Madhūlikā, māṣaparṇī, sitā, śṛṅgāṭaka, barley, / svaguptā root, yaṣṭyāhvā, vidārī, and ikṣuraka in equal parts,

50.38

together with priyāla, made into a powder, [mixed with] separately six times as much honey and ghee: / licking a picu of this in the morning without touching the earth with his feet, / he obtains strength and vigor, and approaches women like a sparrow.

50.39

Svaguptā, kṣīrakākolī, vidārī, the two jīvakas, / hulled and roasted sesame seeds, flooded with sugar, ghee, and honey— / having licked a prasṛta of that powder, he visits a hundred passionate women.

50.40

A prasṛta of māṣa powder processed with the fresh juice of dhātrī, / or of vidārī powder, licking it liquefied with honey and ghee / with a drink of milk after it, he can approach women ten times like a sparrow.

50.41

Powder of vidārī processed repeatedly with its own fresh juice, / licked with honey and ghee: he visits ten passionate women.

50.42

Kṛṣṇā and powder of dhātrī fruit processed with its own fresh juice, / licked with sugar, honey, and ghee, followed by drinking milk: / that man, even at eighty years of age, is sexually excited like a youth.

50.43

A karṣa of madhuka powder combined with ghee and honey, / which a man licks followed by a drink of milk: he becomes constantly potent.

50.44

He who stirs paste of kulīraśṛṅgī and drinks it with milk, / eating sugar, ghee, and milk-rice, acts like a bull among women.

50.45

Extract of wild māṣa, milk, honey, sugarcane juice, ghee, / and a decoction of the two medās and the pair of jīvakas, combined into one, / drunk, makes a man able to visit a hundred passionate women.

50.46

One should cook half an āḍhaka of milk with four bhallātaka nuts; / drunk, it produces virility even for an extremely aged person.

50.47

A man drinking seed powder of svayaṅguptā and ikṣuraka with sugar / and milk warm from the udder acts like a donkey; / one should likewise administer powder of uccaṭā and of śatāvarī.

50.48

Milk boiled with sūpyaparṇī, the two kākolīs, jīvaka, and ṛṣabhaka, / or with laghupañcamūla along with the two kākolīs, / is exceedingly aphrodisiac; by habitual use of it, even an old man acts like a youth.

50.49

Kṣīriṇī, śvadaṃṣṭrā, treacle, sugar, honey, / milk of a cow that has calved once, and fresh ghee: this is supreme for obtaining male offspring.

50.50

A man who drinks cold milk prepared with the fruit, root, bark, and shoots of aśvattha / along with sugar, becomes sexually excited like a sparrow.

50.51

Milk prepared with payasyā, accompanied by ghee and honey, generates semen.

50.52

Ghee cooked in juice of śatāvarī and paste with milk ten times [the quantity], / with pippalī, honey, and sugar, is an excellent aphrodisiac.

50.53

A prastha of śatāvarī juice, four prasthas of milk, / a prastha of ghee, a śukti portion of drākṣā, māṃsī, parūṣaka,

50.54

jīvaka, ṛṣabha, yaṣṭyāhvā, balā, medā, kaśeruka, / priyāla seeds, and the pair of kākolīs: one should cook these together.

50.55

When cooked and strained, one should throw into it candy sugar in a portion of a kuḍava. / Having eaten that with a drink of milk from a cow that has calved once after it, he acts like a bull among women, / and overcomes vāta-blood, pitta-blood, chest injury, and wasting.

50.56

With jīvaka, kṣīrakākolī, sthirā, haṃsapadī, ghana, / śaṭhī, segments of ikṣu, yaṣṭī, and water-lily stalks in karṣa amounts, one should cook

50.57

a prastha of ghee in ten times [as much] milk. That produces strength and nourishment, / causes sterile women to bear sons, and increases and purifies semen.

50.58

One should boil five palas of svayaṃguptā root in an āḍhaka of water; / when reduced to a quarter, having powdered them, he should add kuḍava portions separately:

50.59

svaguptā root, wheat, māṣa, ikṣuraka, pippalī, / along with priyāla fruits and honey, half a prastha of fresh ghee,

50.60

and a quarter of a tulā of candy sugar; from that he should then make round sweets. / Having eaten a single round sweet, he visits sixty women.

50.61

Having boiled pala portions of bṛhatī, vyāghrī, pṛśniparṇī, and trikaṇṭaka / with two āḍhakas of water, when the liquid is reduced to a quarter,

50.62

one should throw in five palas of kṣīrakākolī, a pala of māgadhikā, / and a kuḍava each of svaguptā fruits and roots, māṣa, sugarcane juice,

50.63

vidārī, and honey, / and two [kuḍavas] each of mudga and sesame; then he should cook cakes in ghee. / Having eaten one of them, he visits a hundred women.

50.64

Pastries prepared with powder of svaguptā root and warm milk, / cooked in ghee with sugar and honey, bestow a hundredfold surges of vigor.

50.65

Flours of māṣa, ātmaguptā, wheat, and ṣaṣṭika rice, / and the powders of sugar, vidārī, and ikṣuraka,

50.66

combined with milk and ghee, should be cooked as cakes in ghee; / taken with milk as an after-drink, they rapidly produce supreme virility.

50.67

Flour of māṣa, sesame, rice, and vidārī with rock salt, / steeped in the juice of puṇḍraka sugarcane and wild boar's fat, / fried as funnel cakes, eating [which], a man may mount sixty women.

50.68

Of palatable, unctuous, sweet fruits, / seeds of ātmaguptā, rice, māṣa, sesame, ghee,

50.69

mudga, and also wheat—one kuḍava of each, / dehulled, powdered, stirred into milk, and kneaded: / eating the cooked pancake, [a man] is aroused among women like a stallion.

50.70

A cooked pudding made with sugar, māṣa, wheat, tugākṣīrī, milk, and ghee / should be eaten, followed by a drink of rooster soup.

50.71

In the same manner, one may drink peacock, partridge, or swan meat soup; / by this, powerful and stirred up like a horse, he presents his penis.

50.72

Having ground wild boar meat and added black pepper and rock salt, / one should make jujube-sized pills and roll them in heated ghee.

50.73

When they are firm from frying, they should be dropped into rooster soup / rich in ghee, fragrant with spices, and flavored with curd and pomegranate.

50.74

One should prepare that soup in such a way that it does not break the pills. / Drinking it and eating them, strong, he can mount [women] like a donkey; / in the same way, one may also prepare other nourishing meats.

50.75

Sprouted, cleaned, and dehusked māṣa with ajahā fruits, / added into buffalo meat soup rich in ghee and flavored with curd and pomegranate,

50.76

should be suitably cooked with coriander, cumin, and dry ginger. / That soup, drunk and eaten, makes semen inexhaustible.

50.77

He who eats the eggs of swans, peacocks, or chickens fried in heated ghee, / followed by an after-drink of liquor, is satisfied and satisfies women.

50.78

Fresh fish meat or small śapharī fish well-fried / in hot ghee, he who eats them suffers no depletion among women.

50.79

Rohita fish fried in ghee, prepared in goat broth / flavored with sour fruits, drunk with the broth, should be used by one desirous of offspring.

50.80

One should cook ghee and māṣa with goat testicles in buffalo meat soup sour with fruit / or sweet; that strained broth should be fried in ghee.

50.81

Lightly salted and seasoned with coriander, cumin, and dry ginger, / that supreme soup, when drunk, is aphrodisiac, strength-giving, and nourishing.

50.82

Likewise, sparrows in partridge soup, partridges in chicken soup, / peacocks in swan soup, or swans in peacock soup should be prepared.

50.83

Having eaten sparrow meat to satiety, he who drinks milk afterwards / satisfies women who have been restrained for a long time.

50.84

One should eat chicken spit-roasted, rich in ghee, cooled, with honey, / and drink milk immediately thereafter, if one desires inexhaustible semen.

50.85

He who eats goat testicles cooked with milk and ghee, / seasoned with long pepper and salt, may approach a hundred passionate women.

50.86

He who eats sesame seeds repeatedly soaked in cow's milk prepared with goat testicles, / mixed with sugar, approaches a hundred women as never before.

50.87

He who, having eaten ṣaṣṭika rice rich in ghee with māṣa soup, / drinks milk, stays awake the entire night, full of vigor.

50.88

Seeds of ātmaguptā, māṣa, dates, śatāvarī, / water chestnuts, and raisins—one prasṛta of each—should be cooked,

50.89

in one prastha of milk and one prastha of water, reduced to the milk alone. / Strained through a clean cloth, it should be combined with three prasṛtas

50.90

of sugar, tugākṣīrī, and fresh ghee. / He who drinks this mixed with honey, while eating ṣaṣṭika rice, / even if overwhelmed by old age, becomes surrounded by sons.

50.91

Grapes, wild dates, pith of the date palm, ajahā fruit, / payasyā, abhīru, māṣa, and licorice should be cooked,

50.92

one pala of each, in one āḍhaka of water, and with that reduced to a quarter, / one prastha of milk should be cooked; with the residue of milk, accompanied by ghee, / one should eat ṣaṣṭika rice with sugar and ghee; this recipe produces semen in the highest degree.

50.93

Jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, medā, jīvantī, the two kinds of śrāvaṇī, / date, licorice, grape, vidārī, dry ginger,

50.94

water chestnuts, and long pepper, [cooked with] fresh ghee, milk, and water, / reduced to the ghee alone, mixed with sugar and honey,

50.95

should be used according to one's strength, together with cooked ṣaṣṭika rice. / It is aphrodisiac, bestows strength, improves complexion, is beneficial for the voice, and nourishes the body.

50.96

A cow that has calved once or has a mature calf, free from disease, with horns pointing upward, possessing four teats, / having thick, sweet, abundant milk, and endowed with beauty and gentle disposition,

50.97

well-nourished on sugarcane, māṣaparṇī, or arjuna— / her milk, with sugar, honey, and ghee, promotes male offspring and bestows sexual pleasure.

50.98

This milk, cooked separately with semen-promoting, vitalizing, / nourishing, strength-increasing, and youth-sustaining [herbs],

50.99

combined with wheat flour, with ghee, honey, and sugar, / should be used alternately by one who desires inexhaustible semen.

50.100

Medā, payasyā, jīvantī, vidārī, kaṇṭakārī, / māṣa, gokṣura, kṣīrikā, wheat, and ṣaṣṭika rice,

50.101

one karṣa each, cooked in that [cow's] milk mixed with half its volume of water, totaling one āḍhaka: / one should remove it when only the milk remains; strained and drunk with honey, ghee, / and sugar, even an old man becomes like a youth.

50.102

That milk boiled with heated disks of gold, / when prepared, promotes the birth of a son, is aphrodisiac, [taken] with sugar, ghee, and honey. / This same distinct procedure applies to silver, iron, copper, and lead.

50.103

Thirty powdered long pepper fruits, fried in one prakuñca of sesame oil and ghee, / with sugar and honey, stirred into milk, should be drunk; / and eating ṣaṣṭika rice with milk and ghee, he becomes like a stallion.

50.104

Eating ṣaṣṭika rice bright as moonbeams, with milk and rich in ghee, / accompanied by sugar and honey, a man acts like a bull.

50.105

Cooked ṣaṣṭika rice eaten with curd cream and ghee, / with cardamom, tugākṣīrī, black pepper, honey, and abundant sugar, produces semen.

50.106

Having applied an unguent of adhyaṇḍā, ārṣabhī, and seeds of svayaṅguptā / to his feet, a man is not deprived of his vigor during the night.

50.107

Root of varṣābhū, mṛdvīkā, and fruits of svayaṅguptā— / this foot-salve is prepared; he should not, however, touch the ground with his feet.

50.108

A youth who regularly eats ghee and milk, is free of disease, has daily [sexual] capacity, / and is constantly inclined toward erotic thoughts, becomes potent like a bull among women.

50.109

Fruit of ātmaguptā, black gram, wheat, red rice and sixty-day rice, / sugar-cane, ikṣuraka, milk, honey, grapes, sugar candy,

50.110

uccaṭā, roots of reed, vidārī along with śatāvarī, / the life-giving herbs, dates, and plantain and coconut fruits—

50.111

for one who constantly consumes foods, drinks, linctuses, and ghees made from these, / sexual excitement among women increases.

50.112

Enemas with life-giving herbs, ghee, milk, honey, oil, and sugar-syrup, / for one who subsists on meat-juice and milk, swiftly make him potent like a bull.

50.113

One desiring a son should administer the enemas taught in the successful formulations of enemas / that bestow strength, semen, and offspring, as well as whatever is recommended for one wishing for a son.

50.114

Whatever is sweet, unctuous, nourishing, strength-promoting, / and gladdens the mind, all that is called aphrodisiac.

50.115

Therefore, conditioned by such substances, he should approach a woman, / aroused by his own impulse and exhilarated by the woman's qualities.

50.116

For even individually, desirable sense-objects produce supreme exhilaration and delight; / how much more so when they are assembled together in a woman's body?

50.117

According to the diverse tastes of people and through the fate of women, / beauty and other qualities flourish upon reaching this or that particular man.

50.118

Therefore, the excellent woman who seems to enter a man's heart, / who is of similar nature, and who possesses charm, cleanliness, beauty, and virtues;

50.119

who bears, with limbs that serve as snares, loveliness as if embodied; / who, as she speaks, drenches his limbs as if with nectar;

50.120

who, when looking, seems to drink, and when touching, seems to anoint; / who is an everlasting festival, whose mind shares the same desires;

50.121

who brings longing to his heart even when constantly present; / separated from whom, he considers the universe entirely devoid of women and joyless;

50.122

who is bold in the combat of lovemaking, calm, and full of modest shame; / approaching whom, though many times, he approaches as if for the first time;

50.123

who is changeless in conduct, yet seemingly fashioned out of passions; / devoted entirely to complying with her lover—she is deemed the supreme aphrodisiac among women.

50.124

Kinds of inunction, abrasive pastes, showers, perfumes, garlands, colorful garments, and ornaments; / and a soft, pleasing, and spacious bed strewn with the pollen of abundant fragrant flowers;

50.125

wise, skilled in the arts, submissive, well-bred, pleasant-speaking, delighting companions, / distinct only in body because of oneness in trust, mind, nature, and action;

50.126

pleasant edges of forests echoed by cuckoos; beautiful, constantly flowing streams; / liquor that especially induces intoxication and delight, pleasing to the heart, clear, and fragrant;

50.127

betel-leaf as pale as the cheeks of a Śaka woman, beautiful with its accompaniments, / an adornment for the lotus-faces of women, as if it were the embodied weapon of the Mind-born god;

50.128

a mansion bright as a mass of foam rising from the Ocean of Milk churned by the Himalaya, / and moonbeams whiter than nectar—these produce supreme virility.

50.129

When a man is tired from a previously employed coital posture, changing to another position, / and massage by hands pleasant to the touch, produces a passion as if never felt before.

50.130

With a mind wet with intense passion born of practice in the varied actions taught in the section on practical application [of the Kāmasūtra], / his bodily tissues nourished by the use of aphrodisiacs, he forcefully wins over the minds of women.

50.131

Therefore, constantly desiring to be beloved among women, even when passion is aroused by aphrodisiac recipes, / a lover, having assessed mental strength, suitability, place, and time, should engage in the actions of the sixty-four arts.

50.132

Even when accompanied by the sound of moving anklets, the clinking of bracelets mixed with the thud of fists, / and the doubled chime of the girdle, the height of passion does not immediately subside.

50.133

The fulfillment of all desires, first love, special tales of erotics and music, / laughter full of soft sighs, accompanied by flirtation, and song with broken syllables and coquetry;

50.134

the graceful body revealed under a pretext, the movement and glance of beloveds, / a mango shoot, flowers and fruit according to season, lightning-lit thunders;

50.135

the cooing of women accompanied by the sound of birds, bees, and thunder, the tinkling of ornaments, / and the timely cleansing of one's own body—these bear the yoke of the Mind-born god.

50.136

When, with channels purified and the body clean, a man consumes an aphrodisiac food in measured quantity and at the proper time, / he becomes exceedingly potent like a bull; it is nourishing and bestows strength to the body.

50.137

Therefore, purification alone should first be performed in accordance with one's strength; aphrodisiac recipes / do not succeed when administered in an impure body, just as dyes do not take on dirty cloth.

50.138

When this diverse instruction has been given in accordance with the subject matter to be stated, / that which is proper to do must indeed be done; even if there is danger to life, nothing improper [should be done].

50.139

This is the nature of a treatise, that it is described in terms of comprehensive scope; / the defect of omission certainly attaches to a great work that is not comprehensive.

50.140

If a treatise were adorned with ineffective, incomplete recipes and failed to explain the subject matters, / how could it attain the status of a treatise?

50.141

Although the eggs of geese, peacocks, and roosters are exceedingly spermatogenic, / how else would compassionate sages mention them in recipes?

50.142

Or how could all these recipes that kindle the fire of passion, / give rise to corrupt intentions, and increase worldly existence be proclaimed [by sages]?

50.143

Who deserves to transgress the path made by ancient teachers / who saw the three times, were divine, and were free from mental afflictions and faults?

50.144

When a subject has been undertaken, everything is stated in all manners, thoroughly explained; / for a complete compendium of all matters cannot be obtained by partial statement.

50.145

And likewise, the milk of a donkey, the flesh of a horse and of elephants, / and the water of the wine-ocean have been mentioned, even though useless.

50.146

Even today, because of the compilation of the meanings of numerous treatises, / whatever knowledge is not understood from this Compendium is extremely difficult to obtain.

50.147

Thus, in accordance with the promise, this knowledge of the treasure of the eight branches has been composed in sequence; / for one practicing it, like the Noble Truths, the attainment of one's own goals and the goals of others comes to pass.

50.148

Thus this literature of Āyurveda, poured forth from the mouth of the Grandfather [Brahmā], / produces life, health, virtue, wealth, pleasure, honor, and renown.

50.149

[This work is] adorned with the terms of textual devices as gold is with fine gems, / like crossings for physicians across thirty-six difficult passages of meaning;

50.150

namely: topic, application, statement of reason, meaning of a word, / partial application, general statement, specific instruction, completion of a sentence, purpose,

50.151

authoritative instruction, statement of cause, analogical extension, presumption, conclusion, / context, categorical statement, non-categorical statement, exception, contrary,

50.152

prima facie view, correct conclusion, concession, explanation, doubt, / backward reference, forward reference, technical designation, inference, combination,

50.153

illustration, etymology, command, and option, / counter-rebuttal, citing an objection, and possibility: these are the textual devices (tantrayukti).

50.154

As the rays of the sun are to a lake of sleeping lotuses, / as the light of a lamp is to a house, so are textual devices to a treatise.

50.155

Even when studying treatises, one who is not skilled in textual devices / does not grasp the meaning of the treatise, just as one [gains no] wealth when fortune is depleted.

50.156

Textual devices, which elucidate the syntactical connection of the sentence, grant desired success; / they refute statements deployed by false disputants;

50.157

they illuminate what is hidden, inverted, or spoken concisely; / having gathered the essence of the ocean of textual reasoning, they are thus established.

50.158

Because it is established by tradition and because its results are directly perceived, / this treatise should be applied like a mantra by those skilled in the knowledge of the text.

50.159

Recalling this imperishable [knowledge] for the world, Pitāmaha / fashioned it as an armor not made of iron, for protection against untimely death.

50.160

Well understood, this [Āyurveda] is nectar, the source of comfort for both the healthy and the sick, / securing all desired ends of human life without remainder.

50.161

Even though it produces light in this way, this treatise / brings no illumination to the blind, just like the orb of the sun.

50.162

Good fortune is assured among physicians who follow Āyurveda; / among others—whose actions are like weapons, poison, and fire—the opposite occurs.

50.163

Even applied weapons and the like might leave a patient with some life remaining, / but not a medicine administered through delusion without reflection.

50.164

A wise man should always conduct treatment after truly examining / the twelve factors—the doṣas, drugs, and the rest—and not merely through standard formulations alone.

50.165

Given haphazardly without properly knowing dosage and the rest, / a formulation destroys the sick person, like a [toxic] mixture of ghee and honey.

50.166

Seeing that poison can act as nectar and ghee and the like can act as fatal poisons, / that wicked person who treats without understanding the true nature of the treatise [destroys life].

50.167

And well-sung is this great verse of a certain great-souled one: / "Physicians who have not studied the meaning of the treatise, and fools who hold power— / these indeed wander the earth as untimely deaths."

50.168

Those fools who entice the patient with diverse, flashy manipulations— / from them one must always protect oneself, for life is extremely hard to obtain.

50.169

Delivering one person whose lifespan is predetermined, as if by a wood-borer's random mark, / they kill hundreds of people whose lifespan is not fixed, through their conceit as physicians.

50.170

If an unlearned, pitiless, cruel quack treats / a person afflicted with disease, despondent, whose life and comfort must be gained by effort,

50.171

a person falls into hell even by merely conversing / with that sinful messenger of death, evil-minded and devoid of virtue.

50.172

Having rendered the meaning of the treatises unprincipled, living merely off the name of the scripture, / [these quacks] behaving like hunters roam the kingdoms through the negligence of kings.

50.173

One should avoid those corrupters of scripture, who resemble the noose of Death, / and attend upon the best physicians, who are full of tranquility, specialized discernment, and knowledge.

50.174

Wholesome foods and drinks, medicine that eradicates disease, / rejuvenatives, and aphrodisiacs are obtained by resorting to a physician.

50.175

Just as kingdoms without a king and houses without a master [are ruined], / so the [other] limbs [of medicine]—beginning with the patient—are pitiable when unsupervised by a physician.

50.176

Therefore, with respect, a wise person should always honor the master of life (prāṇācārya), / who is compassionate and self-controlled, as the king of the gods honors the two Aśvins.

50.177

For the severed head of the sacrifice was rejoined by the two Aśvins; / the knocked-out teeth of Pūṣan and the eyes of Bhaga [were restored];

50.178

the Moon afflicted by consumption was treated by those two alone; / and the thunderbolt-bearer [Indra] when he fell from Soma and suffered severe paralysis of the arm;

50.179

and Cyavana, descendant of Bhṛgu, lustful, having grown old and decrepit, / was made young again by those two, endowed with virility, complexion, and strength.

50.180

Through these and many other deeds, the two supreme physicians / became exceedingly worthy of worship by Indra and other great souls.

50.181

Together with the two Aśvins, Indra drinks Soma in the morning, / and at the Sautrāmaṇī sacrifice the blessed lord rejoices with the two Aśvins.

50.182

A share is allotted to the two Aśvins in sacrifices even by the Brahmins; / the two Aśvins, Agni, and Indra are pre-eminently praised in the Vedas.

50.183

Because they are physicians, the two Aśvins are thus honored even by the gods, / who are unaging, immortal, always happy, and thus respected.

50.184

How much more, then, should physicians be honored by mortals, / who are seized by disease, death, and old age, mostly full of suffering, and seeking happiness, according to their utmost ability?

50.185

One of good conduct, intelligent, attentive, twice-born, and master of the Veda— / he is to be honored by living beings like a father, for he is called a master of life.

50.186

Upon completion of his learning, the second birth of physicians is declared; / for a physician does not acquire the title 'physician' merely by prior birth.

50.187

Upon completion of his learning, either the spirit of the ṛṣis or the spirit of Brahmā certainly / enters the physician on account of knowledge; therefore a physician is called twice-born.

50.188

A wise man who desires imperishable life should not disparage, / nor revile, nor act against the master of life.

50.189

The physician too, striving diligently, should protect all patients / from afflictions as if they were his own children, remembering knowledge and duty.

50.190

Those, however, who make treatment an article of trade for the sake of livelihood / abandon a pile of gold and worship a pile of dust.

50.191

The person who cuts through the dreadful snares called diseases, which drag one near to death, / and gives life—there is no giver equal to him.

50.192

For no gift is superior to the gift of life; / therefore, one should treat poor ascetics with one's own resources.

50.193

For such a noble-minded physician who strives for the welfare of living beings, / the deities of success are constantly present nearby.

50.194

In some cases virtue, in some a friend, in some wealth, in some fame, / and in some practical experience—thus treatment is never fruitless.

50.195

Therefore a physician should always attend upon the afflicted with respect; / disregard for them destroys his own life along with his fame.

50.196

Friendliness toward all, compassion for the sick, joy toward people free of disease,
indifference in one's mind toward those who do harm—this fully establishes the physician's good conduct.

50.197

Even with an interested mind, that physician who destroys
diseases that destroy life—to whom could he be compared?

50.198

How much more so [a physician who acts] with a disinterested mind, tender with compassion, showing equal regard for the wretched and the eminent,
constantly enacting the weighty conduct of a Bodhisattva, who quells a host of diseases even though they conflict intensely with one another!

50.199

Burning sensation, colic, thirst, flatulence, hunger with emaciation, and loss of appetite—
what ordinary person could conquer diseases that continually obstruct one another?

50.200

Flatus, indigestion, seizure, insanity, and intoxication—closely resembling one another in appearance—
who could recognize them or treat them, given that their courses of treatment are widely divergent?

First 200 of 214 passages. Read on

Commentaries (1)

Śaśilekhā — Indu, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha — Vāgbhaṭa, Sanskrit