The Compendium of Caraka 1.19: ūnaviṃśo 'adhyāyaḥ/

Now we shall expound the chapter on the eight abdominal diseases.

Thus spoke the venerable Ātreya.

Here, indeed, are eight abdominal diseases, eight types of urinary retention, eight milk disorders, eight semen disorders; seven types of kuṣṭha, seven carbuncles, seven types of visarpa; six diarrheas, six upward movements of vāyu; five abdominal swellings, five spleen disorders, five coughs, five dyspneas, five hiccups, five thirsts, five vomitings, five causes of food aversion, five head diseases, five heart diseases, five pallor diseases, five psychoses; four epilepsies, four eye diseases, four ear diseases, four coryzas, four mouth diseases, four disorders of the digestive seat, four intoxications, four faints, four wastings, four impotences; three swellings, three kilāsas, three types of bleeding disease; two fevers, two wounds, two spasms, two sciatica conditions, two jaundices, two kinds of āma, two kinds of vātarakta, two kinds of hemorrhoids; one thigh stiffness, one comatose collapse, one great disease; twenty species of parasites, twenty pramehas, twenty gynecological disorders: thus forty-eight disease topics are enumerated in this summary.

We shall explain these in detail according to their enumeration: / The ‘eight abdominal diseases’ are: those caused by vāta, pitta, kapha, and sannipāta, spleen-enlargement, intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation, and ascites. / The ‘eight types of urinary retention’ are: those arising from vāta, pitta, kapha, and sannipāta, and from calculus, gravel, semen, and blood. / The ‘eight milk disorders’ are: discoloration, foul odor, bad taste, sliminess, frothiness, dryness, heaviness, and excessive unctuousness. / The ‘eight semen disorders’ are: thin, dry, frothy, non-white, putrid, excessively slimy, mixed with other tissue elements, and sedimenting. (1)

The ‘seven types of kuṣṭha’ are: kapāla, udumbara, maṇḍala, ṛṣyajihva, puṇḍarīka, sidhma, and kākaṇa. / The ‘seven carbuncles’ are: śarāvikā, kacchapikā, jālinī, sarṣapī, alajī, vinatā, and abscess. / The ‘seven types of visarpa’ are: those named vāta, pitta, kapha, agni, kardamaka, granthi, and sannipāta. (2)

The ‘six diarrheas’ are: those arising from vāta, pitta, kapha, and sannipāta, and from fear and grief. / The ‘six upward movements of vāyu’ are: those arising from [suppression of] flatus, urine, feces, semen, vomiting, and sneezing. (3)

The ‘five abdominal swellings’ are: those arising from vāta, pitta, kapha, sannipāta, and blood. / The ‘five spleen disorders’ are explained like the abdominal swellings. / The ‘five coughs’ are: those arising from vāta, pitta, kapha, chest injury, and wasting. / The ‘five dyspneas’ are: mahā, ūrdhva, chinna, tamaka, and kṣudra. / The ‘five hiccups’ are: mahatī, gambhīrā, vyapetā, kṣudrā, and annajā. / The ‘five thirsts’ are: those of the nature of vāta, pitta, āma, wasting, and complications. / The ‘five vomitings’ are: arising from contact with repugnant things, and from the excitation of vāta, pitta, kapha, and sannipāta. / The ‘five causes of food aversion’ are: vāta, pitta, kapha, sannipāta, and psychological revulsion. / The ‘five head diseases’, summing up the previous exposition, are: those arising from vāta, pitta, kapha, sannipāta, and parasites. / The ‘five heart diseases’ are explained like the head diseases. / The ‘five pallor diseases’ are: those arising from vāta, pitta, kapha, sannipāta, and the eating of earth. / The ‘five psychoses’ are: those caused by vāta, pitta, kapha, sannipāta, and exogenous factors. (4)

The ‘four epilepsies’ are: caused by vāta, pitta, kapha, and sannipāta. / The four eye diseases, four ear diseases, four coryzas, four mouth diseases, four disorders of the digestive seat, four intoxications, and four faints are explained like epilepsy. / The ‘four wastings’ are: those arising from overexertion, suppression of urges, tissue depletion, and irregular eating. / The ‘four impotences’ are: from injury to the seed, from penile dysfunction, from old age, and from loss of semen. (5)

The ‘three swellings’ are: caused by vāta, pitta, and kapha. / The ‘three kilāsas’ are: red, copper-colored, and white. / The ‘three types of bleeding disease’ are: upward, downward, and in both directions. (6)

The ‘two fevers’ are: desiring warmth and arising from cold, and desiring cold and arising from warmth. / The ‘two wounds’ are: endogenous and exogenous. / The ‘two spasms’ are: external and internal. / The ‘two sciatica conditions’ are: from vāta, and from vāta and kapha. / The ‘two jaundices’ are: seated in the gastrointestinal tract, and seated in the peripheral tissues. / The ‘two kinds of āma’ are: alasaka and visūcikā. / The ‘two kinds of vātarakta’ are: deep and superficial. / The ‘two kinds of hemorrhoids’ are: dry and bleeding. (7)

The ‘one thigh stiffness’ is: arising from āma and the three doṣas. / The ‘one comatose collapse’ is: consisting of the three doṣas, having its seat in mind and body. / The ‘one great disease’ is: obstinate misbelief. (8)

The ‘twenty species of parasites’ are: lice and pipīlikās—these two types arising from external impurities; keśāda, lomāda, lomadvīpa, saurasa, audumbara, and jantumātṛ—these six arising from blood; antrāda, udarāveṣṭa, hṛdayāda, curu, darbhapuṣpa, saugandhika, and mahāguda—these seven arising from kapha; kakeruka, makeruka, leliha, saśūlaka, and sausurāda—these five arising from feces. / The ‘twenty pramehas’ are: udakameha, ikṣubālikārasameha, sāndrameha, sāndraprasādameha, śuklameha, śukrameha, śītameha, śanairmeha, sikatāmeha, and lālāmeha—these ten caused by kapha; kṣārameha, kālameha, nīlameha, lohitameha, mañjiṣṭhāmeha, and haridrāmeha—these six caused by pitta; and vasāmeha, majjāmeha, hastimeha, and madhumeha—these four caused by vāta: thus there are twenty pramehas. / The ‘twenty gynecological disorders’ are: vātika, paittika, ślaiṣmika, and sānnipātika—these four arising from the doṣas; the remaining sixteen are specified by designation of the combinations of doṣas and tissues, namely: raktayoni, arajaskā, acaraṇā, aticaraṇā, prākcaraṇā, upaplutā, pariplutā, udāvartinī, karṇinī, putraghnī, antarmukhī, sūcīmukhī, śuṣkā, vāminī, ṣaṇḍhayoni, and mahāyoni: thus there are twenty gynecological disorders. (9)

And this entire enumeration has been explained in detail according to the enumeration.

All innate disorders without exception arise from nowhere other than vāta, pitta, and kapha. For just as a bird, even flying around all day, does not go beyond its own shadow, so all disorders caused by imbalance of the body's own elements do not go beyond vāta, pitta, and kapha.

Moreover, after closely considering the distinctions of location, form, and constitution of vāta, pitta, and kapha, the wise teach all those disorders as having those as their nature.

And on this there are [two verses]: / The many groups of disorders in the body that arise from imbalance of its own elements— / they are not separate from pitta, kapha, and vāta; but exogenous [disorders] are distinct from them.

An exogenous [disorder] follows upon an innate disorder, and likewise an innate one upon an exogenous one when aggravated; / having thoroughly understood the secondary association and the primary constitution there, one should then begin treatment.

Here are two verses: / Three sets of twenty, three sets of single [disorders], and three sets of three have been spoken of, / and eight sets of two, ten sets of four, and twelve sets of five;

and four groups of eight, two sets of six, and three sets of seven / have been expounded in the chapter on diseases entitled “The Eight Abdominal Diseases” [Aṣṭodarīya].

Thus ends the nineteenth chapter, entitled “The Eight Abdominal Diseases,” in the Sūtrasthāna of the compendium composed by Agniveśa and redacted by Caraka.