The Compendium of Caraka 2.8

English (machine translation) 2.8

Language: English

2.8.1

Now we shall explain the etiology of epilepsy.

2.8.3

Here, indeed, there are four kinds of epilepsy caused by vāta, pitta, kapha, and a combination of all three.

They manifest quickly in living beings of the following kind; namely: in those whose minds are impaired by rajas and tamas; whose doshas are agitated, irregular, and abundant; who consume articles of food that are contaminated with dirt, corrupted, impure, and unsuitable, according to an improper rule of intake; who also practice improper application of technical procedures; and who perform other irregular physical activities; or, through excessive depletion, the doshas become aggravated in those whose minds are impaired by rajas and tamas, approach the heart—the supreme seat of the inner self—and settle upon it, as well as upon the seats of the sense faculties.

2.8.4_1

And while situated there, when, stirred by desire, anger, fear, greed, delusion, joy, grief, anxiety, agitation, and the like, they suddenly fill the heart and the seats of the sense faculties, then the person succumbs to epilepsy.

2.8.5

Epilepsy is described as a transient entrance into darkness accompanied by repulsive movements, resulting from the derangement of memory, intellect, and mental constitution.

2.8.6

Its premonitory symptoms are these; namely: twitching of the eyebrows; constant distortion of the eyes; hearing sounds that are not present; dripping of saliva and nasal secretion; lack of desire for food; anorexia; indigestion; tightness in the cardiac region; rumbling in the abdomen; weakness; aching in the bones; body aches; delusion; vision of darkness; fainting; frequent dizziness; and in dreams, intoxication, dancing, piercing, pain, trembling, falling, and the like.

2.8.7

Immediately after that comes the manifestation of epilepsy.

2.8.8

In that regard, this is the diagnosis of the specific varieties of epilepsy; namely: one should recognize a person having epilepsy caused by vāta when he has frequent seizures, regains consciousness in a moment, has bulging eyes, babbles without coherence, vomits foam, has an excessively distended neck, has a twisted head, has unevenly bent fingers, has restless hands and feet, has reddish, rough, and dusky nails, eyes, face, and skin, sees unstable, fleeting, harsh, and dry shapes, finds suitability in the opposite of vāta-provoking factors, and finds unsuitability in vāta-provoking factors.

2.8.8_2

One should recognize a person having epilepsy caused by pitta when he has frequent seizures, regains consciousness in a moment, groans, strikes the ground, has greenish, yellowish, and coppery nails, eyes, face, and skin, sees forms that are smeared with blood, fierce, terrible, blazing, and angry, finds unsuitability in pitta-provoking factors, and finds suitability in the opposite.

2.8.8_3

One should recognize a person having epilepsy caused by śleṣman when he has seizures after a long interval, regains consciousness after a long time, falls, shows not very distorted movements, vomits saliva, has white nails, eyes, face, and skin, sees white, heavy, and unctuous shapes, finds unsuitability in śleṣman-provoking factors, and finds suitability in the opposite.

2.8.8_4

One should recognize epilepsy having all symptoms combined as born of all three doshas; they declare that to be incurable.

2.8.8_5

Thus the four varieties of epilepsy have been explained.

2.8.9

In them an exogenous succession indeed sometimes occurs; we shall explain it later. Its specific diagnosis is an excess of symptoms beyond those mentioned, and anything that does not correspond to the symptoms of the doshas.

2.8.10

Beneficial for epileptics are sharp evacuations and pacifying therapies according to their respective dosha, as well as mantras and the like when there is an exogenous combination.

2.8.11

For at the destruction of Dakṣa's sacrifice, as embodied beings fled in various directions, through bodily agitations such as charging, crossing over, running, jumping, and leaping, gulma formerly arose; from the consumption of sacrificial offerings [arose] pramehas and kuṣṭhas; from fright, terror, and grief [arose] insanities; from contact with various spirits and impurities [arose] epilepsies; fever indeed originated from the forehead of Maheśvara; from its burning heat [arose] blood-bile; and from the excessive sexual indulgence of the king of constellations [arose] consumption.

2.8.12

And here are [verses]:

2.8.12_1

Epilepsy is indeed caused by vāta, by pitta, and by kapha; / the fourth is caused by all three doshas combined, and such a case is to be rejected.

2.8.13

Wise physicians, attentively collected, treat the curable ones / with sharp evacuations and also with pacifying therapies according to each dosha.

2.8.14

When there is an exogenous succession upon a disease caused by a dosha, / then discerning physicians prescribe a combined line of treatment.

2.8.15

A physician who knows the distinctions among all diseases and is skilled in all medicines / destroys all illnesses and does not fall into confusion.

2.8.16

Thus has this supreme section on etiology been explained in its entirety. / A disease is also observed to serve as the etiology of [another] disease.

2.8.17

Namely: from the burning heat of fever, blood-bile is provoked; / from blood-bile, fever arises, and from both of them wasting also arises.

2.8.18

From enlargement of the spleen [arises] abdominal disease, and from abdominal disease indeed swelling; / from hemorrhoids arises painful abdominal disease, and gulma also arises.

2.8.19

From coryza cough may arise; from cough depletion arises; / depletion is also observed to be the cause of the disease wasting.

2.8.20

Earlier they are purely diseases, later they perform the function of a cause; / they are seen to perform both functions, and likewise to perform only one function.

2.8.21

For a certain disease, having become the cause of another disease, subsides, / while another does not subside and also performs the function of a cause.

2.8.22

Thus the most intractable admixtures of diseases are seen in men, / owing to the impurity of treatment and likewise to their arising from one another.

2.8.23

A treatment that pacifies a disease but provokes another / is not pure; but that [treatment] is pure which pacifies and does not aggravate.

2.8.24

A single cause can be for many diseases, and likewise only one for one; / there may be many for a single disease, and also many for many.

2.8.25

Fever, giddiness, delirium, and the like are seen to arise from dry causes; / and from a single dry cause only fever alone arises.

2.8.26

A single fever can arise from many causes such as dry things and the like; / and from dry things and the like, fever and other diseases indeed arise.

2.8.27

A single symptom is observed for many diseases, and likewise for a single one; / there may be many symptoms for a single disease, and many for many.

2.8.28

Fever is considered a single symptom for diseases having irregular onset and roots; / and for fever alone, burning heat alone is declared to be the symptom.

2.8.29

A single fever is described by symptoms having irregular onset and roots; / and by these symptoms illnesses such as fever, dyspnoea, and hiccup exist.

2.8.30

A single remedy is observed for many diseases, and likewise for one; / there may be many for a single disease, and very many for many.

2.8.31

The remedial action for diseases arising from the stomach is reducing therapy; / and reducing therapy is declared to be the single remedy for fever alone.

2.8.32

Likewise, light food and the like are remedies for fever alone; / and these very measures are remedies for fever, dyspnoea, hiccup, and the like.

2.8.33

The easily curable is cured with easy measures in a short time; / but the difficult to cure is cured with great effort after a long time.

2.8.34

The incurable termed manageable does not attain complete resolution; / the other incurable, which is to be rejected, surpasses all treatments.

2.8.35

An incurable disease does not become curable, but a curable one becomes incurable; / through faults in the [four] pillars of treatment or through fate, diseases change their nature.

2.8.36

A wise man should observe the states of increase, maintenance, and decrease of diseases, / and also the most subtle states of the body, digestive fire, strength, and mind.

2.8.37

For a discerning physician, having repeatedly recognized the specific stages of a disease, / attains the quadruple excellence in each of those stages.

2.8.38

Doshas that have spread obliquely generally afflict the patient for a long time; / with respect to them, one who knows the body, digestive fire, and strength should not rush to treat.

2.8.39

He should either diminish them through therapies or bring them easily into the gut; / knowing them to have entered the gut, the wise physician should evacuate them by the nearest route.

2.8.40

And the symptoms of diseases that were stated in the summary for the sake of diagnosis / are indeed diseases at that time, but here they are intended as symptoms, not illnesses.

2.8.41

Disease and normal state—everything, in short, is twofold; / it is subject to its cause, and in the absence of the cause it does not persist.

2.8.42

Here are the summary verses:

2.8.42_1

Causes, premonitory symptoms, symptoms, and therapeutic suitability, / pathogenesis, prior origin, and just an outline of therapeutics,

2.8.43

The curability and incurability of the eight disorders beginning with fever, / and separately, one by one, the causes, symptoms, and remedies have been told.

2.8.44

The synonyms for causes and for the diagnostic signs of diseases— / this much is taught in summary in the section on etiology.

2.8.44_1

Thus, in the treatise composed by Agniveśa and redacted by Caraka, in the section on etiology, the eighth chapter, entitled 'The Etiology of Epilepsy', [is concluded].

2.8.44_2

The section on etiology is completed.

Commentaries (1)

Jalpakalpataru — Gaṅgādhara Kaviratna 1860, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Carakasaṃhitā — Agniveśa (Āyurveda) & Caraka, Sanskrit