The Compendium of Caraka 1.9

English (machine translation) 1.9

Language: English

1.9.1

Now we shall explain the minor chapter on the four pillars [of medicine].

1.9.3

The physician, the substances, the attendant, and the patient: these four pillars, / possessing their qualities, are to be known as the cause for the alleviation of disorders.

1.9.4

Disorder is disequilibrium of the tissues; equilibrium is called their normal state; / health is designated as happiness, and disorder is indeed suffering.

1.9.5

When tissue morbidity occurs, the purposeful application of the four commendable [factors], beginning with the physician, / aimed at the equilibrium of the tissues, is designated as treatment.

1.9.6

Thorough clarity regarding scriptural learning, having repeatedly witnessed practical action, / dexterity, and purity: this is to be known as the tetrad of qualities in a physician.

1.9.7

Abundance, suitability for the purpose, multiple modes of preparation, / and potency: this tetrad of qualities is stated for medicinal substances.

1.9.8

Knowledge of nursing care, dexterity, affection for the master, / and purity: this tetrad of qualities belongs to an attendant.

1.9.9

Memory, obedience to instructions, fearlessness, and moreover, / the ability to describe ailments: these are recorded as the qualities of a patient.

1.9.10

The four pillars endowed with sixteen qualities are the cause of success; / but here the physician—the knower, the director, the administrator—is the primary [factor].

1.9.11

For just as the vessel, fuel, and fire are the cook's instruments in cooking, / and the field, army, and weapons are the conqueror's in victory,

1.9.12

so too the patient and the other [two] are designated as the pillars serving as instruments in the success / of the physician; therefore, in treatment, the physician is the primary cause.

1.9.13

Just as clay, the rod, the wheel, and cord cannot produce results without a potter, / so the triad of pillars cannot bring about any benefit without the physician.

1.9.14

The fact that very severe disorders vanish like a city of the Gandharvas, / and that other [disorders], waiting only for a prompt remedy, grow worse—

in this case, even when the triad of pillars is present, the knowing and ignorant physicians are the decisive cause. / Better that an ignorant person sacrifice his own life than initiate medical treatment.

1.9.16

Just as a blind person gropes with his hands, terrified out of ignorance, / or as a boat is driven by the wind, so the ignorant physician proceeds in his actions.

1.9.17

A pretender to medicine, having by chance cured a patient of predetermined lifespan who came to him, / swiftly kills hundreds of those whose lifespans are not predetermined.

1.9.18

Therefore, a physician endowed with the fourfold [qualifications]—scriptural knowledge, understanding of the meaning, practical application, and witnessed experience— / is called a rescuer of vital breaths.

1.9.19

He who possesses fourfold knowledge of the cause, symptoms, alleviation, / and non-recurrence of diseases is the best of physicians, worthy of kings.

1.9.20

Weapons, scriptures, and water depend upon their recipient / for their operation toward good or bad qualities; therefore, one should purify one's intellect for the purpose of treatment.

1.9.21

He who possesses these six qualities—learning, discernment, deep understanding, memory, dedication, and practical action— / finds nothing curable beyond his reach.

1.9.22

Learning, intellect, witnessed experience, practice, success, and reliance [on a teacher]: / even a single one of these is sufficient to establish the title of 'physician'.

1.9.23

He, however, who possesses all these auspicious qualities beginning with learning, / truly merits the title of 'physician' and bestows happiness upon living beings.

1.9.24

The treatise is a light for illumination, one's own intellect is vision; / a physician well endowed with both does not err when treating.

1.9.25

Because three of the pillars in treatment depend upon the physician, / therefore the physician should exert effort toward perfection in his own qualities.

1.9.26

Friendliness and compassion toward the sick, affection toward the curable, and indifference / toward those who are approaching their natural end: such is the fourfold conduct of a physician.

1.9.27

Here are the two verses:
Medicine has four pillars, and each pillar has four qualities; / the physician is the foremost among the pillars, because of whom and with what qualities the physician acts.

1.9.28

The kinds of knowledge, the divine intellect, and the fourfold conduct of physicians: / all of this has been illuminated in the minor chapter on the four pillars.

1.9.28_1

Thus ends the ninth chapter, named 'Minor Chapter on the Four Pillars', in the Ślokasthāna of the treatise composed by Agniveśa and redacted by Caraka. //9

Linked texts (1)

Carakasaṃhitā — Agniveśa (Āyurveda) & Caraka, Sanskrit