The Compendium of Caraka 1.23: trayoviṃśo 'adhyāyaḥ/

Now we shall explain the chapter on over-nourishment.

Thus declared the venerable Ātreya.

Whoever over-nourishes himself with unctuous, sweet, heavy, and slimy items, / with fresh grains, fresh wines, and meat of marshy and aquatic animals,

with cow's milk products, jaggery preparations, and flour dishes in excessive quantity, / averse to exertion, indulging in the pleasures of daytime sleep, bed, and sitting—

in him arise diseases originating from over-nourishment: / prameha, carbuncles, urticaria, itching, anaemia, fevers,

skin diseases, disorders of āma, dysuria, anorexia, / drowsiness, impotence, excessive obesity, indolence, heaviness of the limbs,

coating of the senses and channels, delusion of the intellect, somnolence, / and swellings—diseases of such kind and others arise swiftly in one who does not counteract them.

In that condition, therapeutically induced emesis is commended, as well as purgation, bloodletting, / exercise, fasting, smoking, and sudations,

the licking of abhayā with honey, the habitual consumption of dry food, / and whatever powder pastes have been prescribed to eliminate itching and urticaria.

One should boil triphalā, āragvadha, pāṭhā, saptaparṇa with vatsaka, / musta, madana, and nimba in water, and drink it.

Administered in proper dose and season, for one who uses it habitually, it surely / destroys meha and other diseases arising from over-nourishment.

Musta, āragvadha, pāṭhā, triphalā, devadāru, / śvadaṃṣṭrā, khadira, nimba, the two kinds of haridrā, and bark of vatsaka—

a man who drinks their decoction every morning according to the doṣa / is completely liberated from all diseases caused by over-nourishment.

And when these are employed in formulations for unction-powders, dry-rubbing, and baths, / and combined with fats, skin disorders are pacified.

Kuṣṭha, gomedaka, asafoetida, bones of the krauñca crane, tryūṣaṇa, vacā, / vṛṣaka, ela, śvadaṃṣṭrā, kharāhvā, and aśmabhedaka—

this, taken with buttermilk, curd-scum, or sour jujube juice, / removes dysuria and prameha.

Through the use of buttermilk with abhayā, through that of triphalā, / and through the use of ariṣṭas, meha and other diseases are pacified.

Tryūṣaṇa, triphalā, honey, worm-destroyer, ajamodaka, / parched grain flour, and oil, bathed in iron water—this churned drink is wholesome.

Vyoṣa, viḍaṅga, śigru, triphalā, kaṭurohiṇī, / the two bṛhatīs, the two haridrās, pāṭhā, ativiṣā, sthirā,

asafoetida, roots of kebuka, yavānī, coriander, citraka, / black salt, cumin, and hapuṣā—one should powder these.

Equal parts by measure of the powder, oil, ghee, and honey, / with sixteen times as much roasted grain flour: one should drink this nourishing potion.

From the use of this, diseases arising from over-nourishment subside: / pramehas, bewildered wind, skin diseases, haemorrhoids, and jaundice.

enlargement of the spleen, anaemia, swelling, dysuria, anorexia, / heart disease, consumption, cough, dyspnoea, galagraha,

parasites, disorders of the grahaṇī, leukoderma, and extreme obesity; / and the digestive fire of men is kindled, and memory and intellect increase.

One who exercises constantly, eats only when previous food is digested, and feeds on barley and wheat, / is freed from the disorders caused by over-nourishment, except for [extreme] obesity.

Lightening therapy has been stated as the remedy for diseases arising from over-nourishment; / and next, diseases born of under-nourishment will be described, along with their remedies.

Wasting of the body, digestive fire, strength, complexion, ojas, semen, and muscle tissue, / fever, persistent cough, pain in the flanks, anorexia,

weakness of hearing, insanity, delirium, distress in the heart, / retention of faeces and urine, colic located in the shanks, thighs, and sacrum,

pain in the small joints, bones, and large joints, and whatever other vataja diseases there are, / such as upward-moving wind and the rest—all these arise from under-nourishment.

Nourishing therapy has been declared again by the wise as their remedy; / whatever is effective immediately or through repeated use is desired.

For one who is emaciated suddenly is indeed nourished immediately by a nourishing potion; / but one emaciated for a long time does not thrive without habitual nourishment.

Attending to the measure and timing of medicine according to the body, digestive fire, and doṣa, / one should administer medicine without haste to a person who has been weak for a long time.

Beneficial for him are meat broths, milks, and ghees, / baths, enemas, unctions, and whatever is nourishing.

For those afflicted with fever and cough, the emaciated, those suffering from dysuria, / the thirsty, and those with upward-moving wind, beneficial nourishing potions will be described:

With equal parts of sugar, pippalī, oil, ghee, and honey, / and twice as much roasted grain flour: an aphrodisiac mantha is praised for them.

Roasted grain flour, wine, honey, and sugar: one should drink this nourishing potion / which normalises the movement of wind, faeces, urine, kapha, and pitta.

Inspissated sugarcane juice, roasted grain flour, ghee, curd scum, and sour gruel: / one should drink this nourishing potion that cures dysuria and relieves upward movement of wind.

A mantha prepared with dates, dried grapes, vṛkṣāmla, tamarind, pomegranates, / parūṣaka fruits, and together with āmalakī, relieves disorders caused by wine.

Sweet or sour, made with water, unctuous or non-unctuous: / a mantha is immediately nourishing, bestowing stability, complexion, and strength.

Here is a verse:

The diseases that arise from over-nourishment, and the diseases that arise from under-nourishment, / have been proclaimed along with their remedies in this chapter on nourishing.

Thus ends the twenty-third chapter, entitled “On Nourishing,” in the Sūtrasthāna of the treatise composed by Agniveśa and redacted by Caraka. //23