The Compendium of Caraka 6.1
English (machine translation) 6.1
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Contents
6.1.1.1
First quarter in the chapter on Rasāyana.
Cikitsita ('treated'), vyādhihara ('remover of disease'), pathya ('wholesome'), sādhana ('means'), auṣadha ('medicament'),
prāyaścitta ('expiation'), praśamana ('alleviator'), prakṛtisthāpana ('restorer of normal state'), and hita ('beneficial')—
these should be known as synonyms for medicine; and that medicine is twofold:
one promotes vigor in the healthy, the other dispels disease in the sick.
Non-medicine is also twofold: noxious and persistently noxious.
That which promotes vigor in the healthy is mostly aphrodisiac and rasāyana;
the second kind is generally held to alleviate diseases.
The word 'mostly' conveys a specific emphasis, for both in fact accomplish both purposes.
Long life, memory, intellect, health, youthful age,
excellence of radiance, complexion, and voice, supreme strength of body and senses,
efficacy of speech, reverence, and beauty are obtained by a man from rasāyana;
for rasāyana is the means for obtaining excellent bodily tissues beginning with rasa.
That which produces continuity of progeny, produces instantaneous exhilaration,
by which one, immensely strong like a stallion, approaches women uninhibited,
becomes exceedingly attractive to women, by which one is nourished,
by which one's semen, even in old age, is seen to be inexhaustible and fruitful,
by which one becomes possessed of abundant offspring, reverenced and esteemed among people,
like a tree with many branches, like a great caitya tree,
by which one attains the root of lineage here and immortality hereafter,
fame, prosperity, strength, and nourishment—that indeed is vājīkaraṇa.
This medicine promoting vigor in the healthy has thus been declared to be twofold.
That which destroys disease will be explained in the section on therapeutics (Cikitsita).
Such is the scope of therapeutics: the medicine for disorders,
and first the regimen of rasāyana and vājīkaraṇa.
What is contrary to medicine should be known as non-medicine;
that is to be avoided, but the medicine that is to be used, I shall proclaim.
The sages recognize a twofold application of rasāyanas:
entering an enclosure (kuṭīprāveśika) and exposed to wind and sun (vātātapika).
First, the procedure of entering an enclosure will be taught:
6.1.1.2
In a secure, auspicious city where supplies are easily obtained, inhabited by kings, physicians, twice-born men,
and virtuous persons of meritorious deeds,
in the northeastern direction and on good ground, one should have an enclosure constructed,
endowed with breadth and height, having three concentric chambers, small windows,
thick walls, comfortable in all seasons, well-lighted, pleasing to the mind,
inaccessible to unwholesome sounds and the like, devoid of women,
equipped with desirable utensils, and attended by ready physicians, medicines, and twice-born men.
Then, during the northern course of the sun, in the bright fortnight, on an auspicious lunar day and constellation,
endowed with an auspicious muhūrta and karaṇa, having had one's head shaved,
having gathered the strength of resolve and memory, full of faith and composed in mind,
having cast away mental blemishes, contemplating goodwill toward living beings,
having first worshipped the deities and circumambulated twice-born men,
and having paid homage to the gods, cows, and brāhmaṇas, one should then enter that enclosure.
Cleansed therein by evacuative measures, happy, having regained strength once more,
one should employ rasāyana; I shall explain that cleansing:
Powders of harītakī, rock salt, āmalaka, jaggery,
vacā, viḍaṅga, turmeric, pippalī, and ginger
a person should drink with hot water, having undergone oleation and sudation.
To him whose body has been purified by that and who has undergone the restorative dietary regimen,
one should give barley gruel with ghee for three nights, or five days,
or seven days, until his feces of old accumulated waste are purified.
Knowing him to have a purified digestive tract, one should administer rasāyana,
knowing his age, constitution, and suitability, using whatever would be appropriate for whom.
Harītakī should be known to possess five tastes, to be hot, non-salty, auspicious,
carminative of the doṣas, light, and a promoter of digestion and assimilation;
promoting longevity, nourishing, fortunate, supreme in preserving youth,
alleviating all diseases, and bestowing strength upon the intellect and senses.
Obstinate skin diseases, abdominal lump, upward movement of vāyu, wasting, anemia, intoxication,
piles, disorders of the duodenum, chronic intermittent fever,
heart disease along with head disease, diarrhea, anorexia,
cough, urinary anomalies, flatulence, spleen enlargement, fresh abdominal enlargement,
6.1.1.3
salivation of kapha, loss of voice, discoloration, jaundice, worms,
swelling, tamaka asthma, vomiting, impotence, exhaustion of the limbs,
various obstructions of the channels, coating of the heart and chest,
and confusion of memory and intellect—these harītakī quickly overcomes.
(Those with indigestion, those consuming dry food, those emaciated by women, wine, or poison,
and those afflicted by hunger, thirst, or heat should not take abhayā.)
One should recognize those same virtues and those same actions in āmalakī as well,
which have been stated for harītakī, except for the difference in potency.
Therefore, by such actions, the pulp of harītakī and āmalakī
should be known by the physician to be like nectar.
The Himalaya, the best of mountains, is the supreme ground for medicinal plants;
therefore, one should gather the fruits born there, born in due season,
filled with juice and potency at the proper time in accordance with rule,
gratified by the sun, wind, shade, and water,
which are uneaten, unrotted, unblemished, and free from disease;
I shall proclaim the formulation of those fruits and their excellent action:
Ten-pala portions of the five pañcamūlas,
a thousand harītakī fruits, and three times as many fresh āmalakas;
vidārigandhā, bṛhatī, pṛśniparṇī, and nidigdhikā,
with śvadaṃṣṭrā as the fifth, should be known as the group beginning with vidārigandhā;
bilva, agnimantha, śyonāka, kāśmarya, and pāṭalā;
punarnavā, the two śūrpaparṇīs, balā, and eraṇḍa;
jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, medā, jīvantī, with śatāvarī;
and the roots of śara, ikṣu, darbha, kāśa, and śāli;
thus of these five pañcamūlas one should take
the portions as stated; all that is to be boiled in tenfold water.
When reduced to a tenth part, one should take that strained decoction;
and all those harītakīs and all those āmalakas—
having pounded all those fruits freed of seeds with whisks
and mixed them into that decoction, one should add these powders:
of maṇḍūkaparṇī, pippalī, śaṅkhapuṣpī, and plava,
6.1.1.4
Taking four-pala parts each of mustā, viḍaṅga, candana, aguru, / madhuka, haridrā, vacā, and kanaka, / and likewise of small elā and tvac, / and a thousand [palas], plus one tulā, of powdered rock sugar; / one should add thereto two āḍhakas of oil and three of ghee. / All that should be cooked in an udumbara vessel over a gentle fire. / Knowing it to be a confection and unburnt, once cool, one should blend it with honey; / the measure of honey is half that of the unctuous substance. All that should sit integrated / in a ghee container. One should administer a dose of it at the appropriate time— / a dose that does not impede the morning meal, up to old age; / and here, when it is digested, ṣaṣṭika rice with milk is recommended as food. / The Vaikhānasa, the Vālakhilyas, and other ascetics, / having consumed this rasāyana, attained immeasurable lifespans. / Shedding their aged bodies, they attained foremost, youthful age; / freed from torpor, fatigue, and dyspnea, free from affliction, composed, / endowed with intellect, memory, and strength, those rich in austerity / practiced Brahma-like austerity and celibacy for a long duration with supreme devotion. / One desirous of Brahma-like longevity should use this rasāyana: / he attains long life, foremost youth, and desired pleasures. / Beloved of creatures, successful in purpose, having the brilliance of the sun and moon, / he retains what he has heard, and the mental nature of a ṛṣi arises in him; / he has the endurance of a mountain and a stride equal to the wind; / he becomes free from poison, and poison turns harmless in his body. / (Thus ends the second Brāhmarasāyana.) / Bilva, agnimantha, śyonāka, kāśmarya, pāṭali, balā, / the four parṇīs, pippalī, śvadaṃṣṭrā, the two bṛhatīs, / śṛṅgī, tāmalakī, drākṣā, jīvantī, puṣkara, aguru, / abhayā, amṛtā, ṛddhi, jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, śaṭī, / musta, punarnavā, medā, elā, candana, utpala, / vidārī, roots of vṛṣa, kākolī, and kākanāsikā— / one-pala measures of each of these, and five hundred āmalakas—
6.1.1.5
one should combine these and boil them together in a droṇa of water. / Knowing that these medicinal herbs have lost their essence, one extracts that decoction / and those āmalakas; and having removed the stones, after frying them / in twelve palas of oil and ghee, and adding half a tulā / of strained sugar crystals, the physician should cook it well into a confection. / And here, when cooked and cooled, he should add six palas of honey, / four palas of tugākṣīrī, and two palas of pippalī, / and he should deposit one pala each of tvac, elā, patra, and keśara. / This is called Cyavanaprāśa, the supreme rasāyana. / It is specifically taught as a cure for cough and dyspnea; / it promotes bodily growth in the emaciated, the chest-wounded, the aged, and children; / and it removes hoarseness, chest disease, heart disease, vātaśoṇita, / thirst, and the disorders situated in the urine and semen. / One should employ a dose of this that does not impede eating. / By the use of this, Cyavana, though very aged, became young once more. / Intellect, memory, radiance, freedom from disease, longevity, strength of the sense faculties, / great delight in women, supreme enhancement of the digestive fire, clarity of complexion, and natural downward movement of wind: / a person can obtain these through the use of this rasāyana even if aged, through kuṭīprāveśika method; / casting off all the appearance produced by old age, he bears the form of fresh youth. / Neither old age, nor debility, nor sickness, nor death / did they meet for thousands of years, those intent on rasāyana in ancient times. / Not only does one who consumes rasāyana according to rule attain long life here, / but he also reaches the auspicious state frequented by divine seers, and likewise the imperishable Brahman. / In this chapter on abhayā and āmalakī, six formulations / of proven rasāyanas have been proclaimed, by which life is sustained.
6.1.1_1
Now, therefore, we shall explain the quarter on rasāyana concerning abhayā and āmalakī.
6.1.1_2
Thus spoke the venerable Ātreya.
6.1.1_1_2
(Thus ends the Brāhmarasāyana.)
6.1.1_3
One should take a thousand āmalakas possessing the stated qualities, steam them thoroughly by the steam of milk according to the method for steaming flour, dry them in the shade, and powder them without seeds.
6.1.1_1_3
That [powder] is soaked with the fresh juice of a thousand āmalakas, mixed with an eighth-part of powder of sthirā, punarnavā, jīvantī, nāgabalā, brahmasuvarcalā, maṇḍūkaparṇī, śatāvarī, śaṅkhapuṣpī, pippalī, vacā, viḍaṅga, svayaṅguptā, amṛtā, candana, aguru, madhuka, madhūka flowers, utpala, padma, mālatī, yuvatī, and yūthikā, soaked again with the fresh juice of a thousand palas of nāgabalā, dried in the shade, formed into small ball shapes with twice the amount of ghee, or with honey and ghee, and placed in a clean, strong jar steeped in ghee beneath a heap of ashes underground for a fortnight, after protection rites have been performed by a knower of the Atharvaveda; and at the end of the fortnight, having taken it out, mixed it with an eighth-part of powder of gold, silver, copper, coral, and iron, and using it morning after morning according to the stated procedure, increasing by half a karṣa, having considered the strength of the digestive fire; and when it is digested, consuming ṣaṣṭika rice with milk and ghee, he attains the stated virtues.
6.1.1_4
And on this point there are [verses]—
6.1.1_1_4
This is the Brāhmarasāyana, resorted to by hosts of great seers; / the user becomes free from disease, long-lived, and endowed with great strength.
6.1.1_1_5
(Thus ends Cyavanaprāśa.)
6.1.1_5
Now, taking one thousand palas of seedless āmalakas and harītakīs, or āmalakas and bibhītakas, or harītakīs and bibhītakas, or āmalakas, harītakīs, and bibhītakas, wrapped in palāśa bark, coated with clay, and steamed in chaff fire, one should pound them in a mortar and eat them without taking any other food according to the stated procedure, mixed with curd, ghee, honey, sesamum paste, oil, and sugar. At the conclusion thereof, restoration is made by gruels and the like, with inunction and massage using ghee and barley flour; and this course of rasāyana administration may be extended to twice that length, having considered the strength of the digestive fire; the subsequent meal consists of ṣaṣṭika rice with soup or milk, accompanied by ghee; from then on, he may conduct himself as he pleases, eating whatever he desires.
6.1.1_1_6
By this regimen, the seers regained youth, lived for many hundreds of years free from afflictions, became endowed with supreme strength of body, intellect, and sense faculties, and practiced austerity with utmost dedication.
6.1.1_2_2
(Thus ends the fourth Āmalakarasāyana.)
6.1.1_6
Having prepared a jar of ghee in a decoction of harītakī, āmalakī, bibhītaka, and the five pañcamūlas, along with a paste of pippalī, madhuka, madhūka, kākolī, kṣīrakākolī, ātmaguptā, jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, and kṣīraśuklā, together with juice of vidārī and eight times as much milk, one taking a dose commensurate with the strength of one's digestive fire, and upon its digestion eating śāli or ṣaṣṭika rice with milk and ghee followed by a drink of warm water, free from the fear of old age, disease, evil, and sorcery, obtaining matchless strength of body, sense faculties, and intellect, and unhindered in all undertakings, attains the highest span of life.
6.1.1_1_7
Variant reading: "one should employ it after observing the strength of the digestive fire, and upon its digestion...". (Thus ends the fifth harītakī formulation.)
6.1.1_7
Having mixed āmalakī powder that has absorbed one hundred times [its volume of] fresh juice of āmalakī and is combined with one-fourth part of iron powder, with milk-ghee prepared with harītakī, āmalakī, bibhītaka, haridrā, sthirā, balā, viḍaṅga, amṛtavallī, viśvabheṣaja, madhuka, pippalī, and somavalka, and also with honey and sugar, one should consume a palmful each morning according to the stated procedure; in the evening, one should eat food of śāli or ṣaṣṭika rice with mudga soup or with milk, along with ghee. From three years' use of this, one's age remains free from decay for a hundred years, what was heard is retained, all diseases subside, poison becomes harmless in the body, the body becomes as firm as stone, and one becomes unassailable by bhūtas.
6.1.1_1_8
Variant reading: "-vācā-" [for "-bācā-" / "-bāla-"].
6.1.1_8
And on this point there is:
6.1.1_1_9
Just as ambrosia is to the immortals, just as nectar is to the serpent-dwellers of Bhogavatī,
so formerly was the procedure of rasāyana to the great seers.
6.1.1_1_10
Here is a summary verse:
6.1.1_1_11
Thus ends the first quarter on rasāyana, named Abhayāmalakīya, in the chapter on rasāyana in the Cikitsāsthāna, in the treatise composed by Agniveśa and redacted by Caraka. //1
6.1.2
Now we shall expound the quarter on rasāyana dealing with the desire for vital breath.
Great strength, foremost purity of complexion, and a voice resembling the rumble of a gathering cloud,
and abundant, steadfast offspring belong to a man who consumes this formulation.
These have been declared as tenfold methods of administration;
one knowing the nature of diseases and constitutional suitability should prescribe those applications.
There is no kapha-born disease, nor is there any constipation,
that bhallātaka does not quickly destroy, increasing intellect and digestive fire.
6.1.2_2
Thus spoke the venerable Ātreya.
6.1.2_3
"Desiring vital breath, listen to this procedure of rasāyana being declared, which is like another ambrosia beneficial to the sons of Aditi, possessing unthinkable and wondrous efficacy, promoting longevity and health, arresting aging, dispelling sleep, drowsiness, exhaustion, fatigue, indolence, and weakness, balancing vāta, kapha, and pitta, bestowing firmness, removing uncompacted flesh, kindling the internal digestive fire, and granting the best luster, complexion, and voice.
6.1.2_1
By this, Cyavana and other great seers regained their youth and became most beloved of women, with firm, even, and well-divided flesh, well-knit and steadfast bodies, well-clarified senses, strength, and complexion, unhindered prowess everywhere, and enduring hardship.
6.1.2_2_2
All bodily doṣas arise from rustic diet in those who consume sour, salty, pungent, alkaline, dried vegetables, meat, sesamum, sesamum paste, and flour dishes; who consume sprouted grains, new awned grains, legumes, mutually contradictory, unwholesome, dry, alkaline, and channel-clogging foods; who consume sodden, heavy, putrid, and stale food; who mostly eat irregular meals or overeat; who indulge constantly in day-sleep, women, and alcohol; whose bodies are agitated by irregular and excessive exercise; and who abound in fear, anger, grief, greed, delusion, and weariness. For due to this cause, the flesh becomes loose, the joints are loosened, the blood burns, fat exudes in no small measure, marrow does not unite in the bones, semen does not flow forth, and ojas undergoes depletion. Such a one wastes away, sinks, becomes overcome with sleep, drowsiness, and indolence, sighs without enthusiasm, becomes incapable of bodily and mental actions, loses memory, intellect, and luster, becomes a vessel of diseases, and does not reach the full span of life.
6.1.2_3_2
Therefore, observing these defects, abandoning all the unwholesome food and conduct as described, one is fit to employ rasāyanas." Having spoken thus, the venerable Punarvasu Ātreya said:
6.1.2_4
Variant readings: "māṣa-" [for "māṃsa-"]; "ato nimittāddhi" [for "atonimittaṃ hi"].
6.1.2_5
One should prepare an āḍhaka of ghee with the fresh juice of āmalakīs grown in good soil, gathered in season, undamaged in smell, color, and taste, and full of juice, size, and potency, along with one-fourth part paste of punarnavā; next, with fresh juice of vidārī along with a paste of jīvantī; next, with four times as much milk and a decoction of balā and atibalā along with a paste of śatāvarī. Following this order, one should cook it a hundred times or a thousand times, and combine it with one-fourth part sugar and honey, placing it in a clean, strong golden, silver, or earthen jar seasoned with ghee. One should take it every morning according to the stated procedure, commensurate with one's digestive fire; and upon its digestion, one should eat śāli or ṣaṣṭika rice with milk and ghee.
6.1.2_1_2
From the use of this, one's age remains free from decay for a hundred years, what was heard is retained, all diseases subside, one's vigor with women is unhindered, and one becomes endowed with offspring.
6.1.2_6
And on this point there are two verses:
6.1.2_1_3
One possesses a large body with the strength of the essence of mountains, firm faculties and exceedingly powerful sense faculties,
unassailable by others, of exceedingly lovely appearance, and endowed with praise, worship, happiness, and peace of mind.
6.1.2_1_4
(Thus ends the Āmalaka Ghee.)
6.1.2_7
One thousand āmalakas combined with one thousand pippalīs should sit covered with an alkaline water of young palāśa. That [mixture], having absorbed the alkaline water, dried in the shade, seedless, and reduced to powder, should be mixed with four times as much honey and ghee and combined with one-fourth part sugar powder; placed in a ghee container, one should keep it underground for six months.
6.1.2_1_5
After that period, one should eat a dose commensurate with the strength of the digestive fire; the intake is in the morning, not in the afternoon, and the dietary regimen is observed according to constitutional suitability.
6.1.2_2_3
From the use of this, one's age remains free from decay for a hundred years, [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_3_3
(Thus ends the Āmalaka Electuary.)
6.1.2_8
One āḍhaka of powder of āmalakī, soaked for twenty-one nights in fresh juice of āmalakī, mixed together with two āḍhakas of honey and ghee, with one eighth part of pippalī, and combined with one fourth part of powdered sugar, kept in a vessel of ghee, should be placed in a heap of ashes during the rainy season; at the end of the rainy season, eating wholesome and suitable food, one should administer it; from the use of this, one's lifespan remains free from decay for a hundred years, [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_1_6
(Thus ends the Powder of Āmalakī.)
6.1.2_9
One āḍhaka of viḍaṅga grain powder, one āḍhaka of pippalī grain powder, one and a half āḍhakas of rock sugar, combined with six āḍhakas of ghee, oil, and honey, kept in a vessel of ghee, placed in a heap of ashes during the rainy season—thus all is identical to the previous [formulation], up to the benediction.
6.1.2_1_7
(Thus ends the Viḍaṅga Electuary.)
6.1.2_10
One should steam a thousand āmalakīs possessing the qualities previously described in a fresh palāśa trough having a lid, which does not emit steam, over fires of wild cow-dung; when they are well-steamed and cooled, their stones removed, and crushed, one should combine them with an āḍhaka of powder of pippalī, an āḍhaka of powder of viḍaṅga grains, one and a half āḍhakas of sugar, and two āḍhakas each of oil, honey, and ghee, and place [the mixture] in a clean, strong jar smeared with ghee for twenty-one nights; thereafter is the administration; from the use of this, one's lifespan remains free from decay for a hundred years, [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_1_8
(Thus ends the other Āmalaka Electuary.)
6.1.2_11
In a desert tract strewn with kuśa grass, having unctuous, black, sweet soil, or soil of golden colour, devoid of the defects of poison, wild beasts, wind, water, and fire, in a place free from cultivation, ant-hills, cremation grounds, sanctuaries, saline soil, and human dwellings, visited in accordance with the seasons by pleasant wind, water, and sun—[from plants] grown there, uninjured, free from parasites, neither young nor decrepit, endowed with potency, whose old leaves have fallen off, and new leaves have not yet emerged, in the month of Tapas or Tapasya, being pure, disciplined, having performed the worship of deities, having caused twice-born men to recite blessings, at an auspicious moment […], one should dig up roots of nāgabalā; having washed them thoroughly, one should stir a lump of bark of the size of an āamra or of an akṣa, finely pounded, with milk, and administer it in the morning; or one should drink them powdered with milk, or consume them mixed with honey and ghee; and when it is digested, one should eat śāli or ṣaṣṭika rice with milk and ghee.
6.1.2_1_9
From its administration for one year, one's age remains free from decay for a hundred years, [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_2_4
& Variant reading: 'asañjātaphalāni' (fruits not yet emerged). && Gaṅgādhara, however, reads 'bale muhūrte' and explains it as 'balavati sumuhūrte' (at a strong, auspicious moment). &&& Variant reading: 'payasā sasarpiṣkaṃ' (with milk accompanied by ghee). (Thus ends the Nāgabalā Rejuvenative.)
6.1.2_12
The fresh juices of balā, atibalā, candana, aguru, dhava, tiniśa, khadira, śiṃśapā, and asana, and the ten drugs ending with punarnavā, are explained according to the method of nāgabalā.
6.1.2_1_10
In the absence of fresh juices, however, this is the rule for fresh juices: one āḍhaka of powder standing in one āḍhaka of water for a day and night, rubbed and strained, is to be used like fresh juice.
6.1.2_2_5
& Variant reading: 'daśa yā vayaḥ sthāpanā vyākhyātāstāsāṃ svarasā nāgabalāvat' (the fresh juices of the ten that are explained as age-stabilisers are like nāgabalā).
6.1.2_13
Uninjured, disease-free bhallātakas, filled with taste, size, and potency, resembling ripe rose apples, having gathered them in the month of Śuci or Śukra, one should deposit them in a heap of barley or a heap of māṣa; having kept them for four months, one should begin to administer them in the month of Sahas or Sahasya, one's body prepared with cold, unctuous, and sweet [substances].
6.1.2_1_11
First, having crushed ten bhallātakas, one should boil them thoroughly with eight times their volume of water; their decoction reduced to an eighth part and strained, one should drink with milk, having anointed the inside of the mouth with ghee.
6.1.2_2_6
By increasing and decreasing by one bhallātaka each, they are to be administered from ten bhallātakas up to thirty; beyond this there is no increase.
6.1.2_3_4
According to the rule of administration, the regimen of bhallātaka has a limit of one thousand only.
6.1.2_4_2
And when it is digested, the aftercare is eating śāli or ṣaṣṭika rice with milk accompanied by ghee; and at the end of the regimen, the aftercare is with milk alone for twice that period.
6.1.2_5_2
From the use of this, one's age remains free from decay for a hundred years, [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_6_2
(Thus ends Bhallātaka Milk.)
6.1.2_14
Having filled a dough-steaming vessel with crushed bhallātakas, having mounted it on top of a strong jar smeared with unctuous substance and buried in the earth up to its neck, having covered it with a lid and coated it with black clay, one should steam it with fires of cow-dung; whatever juice of theirs falls into the jar, one should consume it, combined with one eighth part of honey and twice as much ghee; from the use of this, one's age remains free from decay for a hundred years, [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_1_12
(Thus ends Bhallātaka Honey-Electuary.)
6.1.2_15
One pātra of bhallātaka oil with milk, with paste of madhuka to the measure of an akṣa, one should cook a hundred times; [and the rest is] identical to the previous [formulation].
6.1.2_1_13
(Thus ends Bhallātaka Oil.)
6.1.2_16
Bhallātaka ghee, bhallātaka milk, bhallātaka honey-electuary, bhallātaka jaggery, bhallātaka soup, bhallātaka oil, bhallātaka sesamum paste, bhallātaka parched grain flour, bhallātaka salt, bhallātaka soothing drink—thus the tenfold regimen of bhallātaka has been stated.
6.1.2_1_14
& Yogīndranātha Sena, however, reads the text as: 'evaṃ guḍabhallātakaṃ, bhallātakayūṣo, bhallātakasarpiḥ, bhallātakapalalaṃ' and so forth.
6.1.2_17
And on this there are [verses]—
6.1.2_1_15
Bhallātakas are sharp, burning, and equal to fire;
they become like nectar when administered according to rule.
6.1.2_1_16
(Thus ends the regimen of Bhallātaka.)
6.1.2_18
In ancient times, the great sages beginning with Cyavana, desirous of vital breath and decrepit,
6.1.2_1_17
became possessed of immeasurable lifespan through these auspicious rejuvenatives;
6.1.2_19
having gathered at will sacred asceticism, celibacy, and meditation on the supreme self,
6.1.2_1_18
having long lives, they went to heaven.
6.1.2_2_7
& Variant reading: 'jñānaṃ' (knowledge).
6.1.2_20
Therefore, for the sake of extending lifespan, by those desirous of vital breath and seeking happiness,
6.1.2_1_19
the regimen of rejuvenatives should be resorted to according to rule, with a well-composed mind.
6.1.2_21
Here is a summary verse—
6.1.2_1_20
Thirty-seven perfected combinations of rejuvenatives
have been taught by the great sage seeking the welfare of beings in the [quarter on] Desirous of Vital Breath.
6.1.2_2_8
Thus, in the treatise composed by Agniveśa, redacted by Caraka, in the section on therapeutics, in the chapter on rejuvenatives, the second quarter of rejuvenatives named Desirous of Vital Breath [is completed]. //2
6.1.3.1
Now we shall expound the quarter of rejuvenatives entitled 'Hand-Harvested'.
Having used it, the self-controlled were freed from fear of fatigue, disease, and old age;
by its power, possessed of great strength, they practiced asceticism as long as they wished.
Brahmā created this rejuvenative lasting a thousand years,
which relieves old age and disease, and confers strength upon the intellect and sense faculties.
(Thus ends the iron-and-āmalakī rejuvenative of Brahmā.)
By asceticism, celibacy, meditation, and tranquility,
by the proper use of rejuvenatives, and by an appropriate lifespan,
the great sages of old endured; for no rejuvenative succeeds
for the rustic, for those engaged in other pursuits, or for those whose minds are not self-controlled.
Subsisting on milk for a year, one should dwell always among cows,
meditating mentally on the Sāvitrī, celibate, with restrained senses.
At the end of the year, on the full-moon day of Pauṣa, Māgha, or Phālguna,
having fasted for three days of the bright fortnight, one should enter an āmalakī grove.
Having climbed a tree rich with large fruits, grasping a fruit on a branch
with one's hand, one should remain reciting the sacred syllable until the arrival of the nectar of immortality.
For at that moment the nectar of immortality surely dwells in the āmalakī for an instant;
[the fruits] become sweet like sugar and honey, oily, and soft
owing to union with the nectar of immortality. As many of them as one may eat,
for that many thousands of years one will live, restored to youth.
Having reached full repletion with them, he becomes like an immortal,
and Fortune, the Vedas, and embodied Speech attend upon him of their own accord.
(Thus ends the pure āmalakī rejuvenative.)
In the decoction of triphalā, in cow's urine, in salt-water,
and successively in the alkali of ingudī and the alkali of kiṃśuka,
one should quench sheets of sharp iron brought to the color of fire,
four finger-breadths long and as thin as the height of a sesamum seed.
Knowing them to have become dark like collyrium, one should reduce them to fine powder.
Those powders, mixed with honey and the juice of āmalakī,
resembling an electuary and kept in a pot seasoned with ghee,
should be placed for one year in a mound of barley grains.
The wise man should stir it every month, mixing it thoroughly everywhere.
6.1.3.2
At the conclusion of the year, its administration is with honey and ghee
every morning, taking account of strength; and when it is digested, wholesome food [is taken].
This very procedure is proclaimed for [all] metallic preparations.
Neither by trauma nor by illnesses, neither by old age nor by death
can he be overcome; he possesses the vitality of an elephant and always has exceedingly strong sense faculties.
Wise, renowned, successful in speech, retaining what he has heard, and possessing great wealth
becomes the man who uses this iron rejuvenative for a year.
By this very procedure, an established administration of gold and of silver,
which brings about extension of lifespan and cures all diseases, [is accomplished].
(Thus ends the rejuvenative of iron and other metals.)
Aindrī, matsyākhyaka, brāhmī, vacā, brahmasuvarcalā,
pippalī, rock salt, gold, śaṅkhapuṣpī, viṣa, and ghee:
of these, three barleycorn-weight portions each, except for gold, ghee, and viṣa;
of gold there should be two barleycorns, and of sesamum seed [weight] of viṣa,
and one pala of ghee should be added; one should administer it all together.
After it is digested, food mixed with plenty of ghee and honey is recommended.
This allays old age and disease, is supreme in producing memory and intellect,
promotes lifespan, is nourishing, auspicious, and clarifies voice and complexion.
This is a supreme producer of ojas, the perfected rejuvenative of Indra;
neither sorcery, nor misfortune, nor poison, nor sickness prevails over him.
Vitiligo along with kuṣṭha, abdominal enlargements, abdominal lumps, spleen disease, chronic irregular fever,
and diseases that rob intellect, memory, and knowledge, as well as exceptionally strong vāta disorders, are allayed by it.
(Thus ends the rejuvenative of Indra.)
The fresh juice of maṇḍūkaparṇī should be used; powder of yaṣṭīmadhuka with milk;
the juice of guḍūcī with its roots and flowers; and indeed the paste of śaṅkhapuṣpī should be used.
These rejuvenatives bestow long life, destroy sickness, and promote strength, digestive fire, complexion, and voice;
they are promoters of intellect, and śaṅkhapuṣpī in particular is an intellect-promoter.
(Thus ends the intellect-promoting rejuvenatives.)
Five, eight, seven, or ten pippalīs with honey and ghee,
one seeking the qualities of a rejuvenative should use for one year.
6.1.3.3
Eating three [pippalīs] each in the forenoon and before a meal,
pippalīs soaked in kiṃśukakṣāra and fried in ghee,
mixed with honey, should be used by one desiring the qualities of a rejuvenative
to conquer cough, consumption, wasting, dyspnea, hiccup, throat diseases,
hemorrhoids, disorders of the duodenal tract, jaundice, irregular fever,
hoarseness, chronic rhinitis, swelling, abdominal lumps, and vātabalāsaka.
(Thus ends the pippalī rejuvenative.)
By gradual increase over ten days, adding ten pippalīs a day,
one should increase them with milk, and reduce them again in the very same way.
When each [dose] is digested, one should eat sixty-day rice with milk and ghee.
This rejuvenative regimen consists of a thousand pippalīs.
Ground into a paste, they are to be consumed by the strong; boiled as a decoction, by men of medium strength;
and made into a powder, by those of lesser strength, according to dosas and disorders.
The ten-pippalī [course] is the best; the six[-pippalī course] is declared intermediate;
that course which has an extent of three is the least, and it is for the weak.
Nourishing, beneficial to the voice, life-promoting, destroying splenic enlargement and abdominal swelling,
arresting aging, promoting intellect is the rejuvenative of pippalīs.
(Thus ends the gradually increasing pippalī rejuvenative.)
At the end of digestion, one abhayā; before a meal, two bibhītakas;
and after eating, four āmalakīs with honey and ghee:
using this rejuvenative of triphalā for one year,
one will live a full hundred years, ageless and free from disease.
(Thus ends the triphalā rejuvenative.)
One should coat a new iron vessel with the paste of triphalā;
one should drink that coating, kept for a day and night, diluted in honey-water.
When it is digested, food with plenty of unctuous substance is recommended.
From practicing this for a year, one will live a hundred years, ageless and free from pain.
(Thus ends another triphalā rejuvenative.)
Combined with madhuka, tugākṣīrī, pippalī, honey, ghee,
and sugar, triphalā is an accomplished rejuvenative.
6.1.3.4
(Thus ends another triphalā rejuvenative.)
With all base metals, gold, vacā, honey, and ghee,
and with viḍaṅga, pippalī, and salt, triphalā,
used for a year, bestows intellect, memory, and strength;
it grants longevity, is auspicious, and destroys old age and disease.
(Thus ends another triphalā rejuvenative.)
Not sour, astringent, and pungent in post-digestive effect is śilājatu;
neither excessively hot nor cold, its origin is from four minerals:
from gold, silver, copper, and from excellent black iron.
It is a rejuvenative when [taken] according to rule, aphrodisiac, and curative of disease.
Thoroughly soaked in decoctions that destroy vāta, pitta, and kapha,
either with all together or each one individually, it attains supreme potency.
Thrown in and taken out, it should be thrown into the warm liquid again;
by this procedure its soaking lasts for seven days.
In conjunction with powdered metals according to the method stated earlier,
that, drunk with milk, will grant a long life accompanied by happiness,
allaying old age and disease, eminently producing bodily firmness,
bestowing intellect and memory, auspicious; living on milk, one should use it.
Its administration is of three types, designated as superior, middling, and inferior:
seven weeks, three [weeks], and one week.
Its dose is considered threefold: a pala, half a pala, and a karṣa.
Hereafter I shall explain the distinctions of its origin along with the method.
When heated by the sun, mountain ores of gold and the like exude
a soft, smooth, clear excretion resembling lac; that is śilājatu.
That which is sweet and bitter, resembling a hibiscus flower,
pungent in post-digestive effect, and cool is the exudation of gold.
6.1.3.5
That of silver is pungent, white, cool, and digests sweet.
That of copper resembles a peacock's neck, is bitter, hot, and digests pungent.
That, however, which looks like guggulu, is bitter with salt,
pungent in post-digestive effect, and cool, is from iron, and is the best of all.
All have the smell of cow urine and are suited for all procedures,
but for the administration of rejuvenatives, the last is superior.
In vāta-pitta, śleṣma-pitta, kapha, and in all three respectively,
the excretions arising from the minerals gold and the like are particularly praised.
During regimens of śilājatu, one must avoid foods causing burning and heavy foods;
at all times, however, one must completely avoid horsegram.
For they, being exceedingly incompatible, are observed in the world
to be the foremost splitters of stone; therefore, their use is prohibited.
Milk, buttermilk, meat soups, pulses, water, urine, and various decoctions
are commended for stirring śilājatu; they should be used after examining the purpose.
There is no curable disease on earth which that called stone cannot forcefully conquer;
administered according to rule at appropriate times, it also grants abundant energy to the healthy.
6.1.3_2
Thus spoke the venerable Ātreya:
6.1.3_3
One should take an āḍhaka of hand-harvested āmalakī fruits possessing the aforementioned qualities, their seeds removed, dried, and powdered, repeatedly soaked in their own juice twenty-one times in the month of Māgha or Phālguna, and dried and powdered again. Then one should prepare an āḍhaka in total of the drugs promoting longevity, bulk-promoting, milk-producing, semen-producing, and age-stabilizing that are stated in the chapter on the six hundred evacuatives, along with finely chopped heartwoods of candana, aguru, dhava, tiniśa, khadira, śiṃśapā, and asana, and abhayā, bibhītaka, pippalī, vacā, cavya, citraka, and viḍaṅga, boiling them in ten times their amount of water. When that liquid is reduced to an āḍhaka and well strained, one should add that āmalakī powder and cook it over a fire of cow dung or a fire of bamboo chips and reed stalks until the liquid is drawn off. Having taken it off without scorching, one should spread it out in iron vessels and dry it. When it is thoroughly dried, one should grind it smooth on a grindstone upon a black-antelope skin, store it properly in an iron pot, and administer that powder mixed with an eighth part of iron powder, together with honey and ghee, after taking into account the strength of the digestive fire.
6.1.3_4
And here are [the verses]:
6.1.3_1
This rejuvenative was formerly [used by] Vasiṣṭha, Kaśyapa, Aṅgiras,
Jamadagni, Bharadvāja, Bhṛgu, and others like them.
6.1.3_1_2
(Thus ends the śilājatu rejuvenative.)
6.1.3_5
Here is a summary verse:
6.1.3_1_3
In the quarter on the Hand-Harvested, sixteen accomplished
formulations of rejuvenatives have been declared by the great seer.
6.1.3_2_2
Thus, in the treatise composed by Agniveśa, redacted by Caraka, in the Cikitsāsthāna, in the chapter on rejuvenatives, the third quarter of rejuvenatives, entitled 'Hand-Harvested', is concluded. 3.
6.1.3_3_2
And this chapter on rejuvenatives is complete. 1.
6.1.4.1
Now we shall explain the quarter on rejuvenatives regarding the origin of Āyurveda.
By the power of these herbs, for you who abide in your proper duties,
all good without exception will be attained.
Indeed, these herbs that grow in [proper] regions can be used
by forest dwellers and householders who are self-restrained and disciplined.
As for those which are of milder potency owing to the qualities of their soil
and moderate cultivation, their procedure should be known as the very same.
For those who are unable to seek them out or use them, yet desire well-being,
this other procedure of rejuvenatives is praised:
Take the ten strength-promoting, life-promoting, and bulk-promoting [herbs],
and those that maintain youth; and khadira, asana,
dates, madhūka, mustā, utpala,
mṛdvīkā, viḍaṅga, vacā, citraka,
śatāvarī, payasyā, pippalī, joṅgaka,
ṛddhi, nāgabalā, dvāradā, dhava,
triphalā and kaṇṭakārī, vidārī, sandalwood,
sugarcane, roots of śara, śrīparṇī, tiniśa,
and palāśa alkali—the juices of these should be taken separately,
and one-pala portions of each of them, with four times as much cow’s milk,
two pātras of sesamum oil, and two of cow's ghee.
All that should be cooked together, and one should remove the well-prepared unctuous substance.
To it, one āḍhaka of powder of āmalakī soaked one hundred times
in its own juice alone should be added, along with one āḍhaka of fresh honey,
one pātra of powdered sugar, and one prastha
of tugākṣīrī together with pippalī; and that, thoroughly combined, should be placed
in a very clean earthenware jar that has been soaked with ghee for half a month.
Thereafter, one should administer a dose commensurate with one’s digestive fire,
having thrown in a sixteenth part of powders of gold, copper, coral,
iron, quartz, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch, and silver;
and having abandoned exertion and sexual intercourse,
one should eat ṣaṣṭika rice with milk and ghee after each meal is digested.
6.1.4.2
It pacifies all diseases, is aphrodisiac, supreme for longevity,
bestows strength of mind, memory, body, digestive fire, intellect, and senses,
is supremely invigorating, produces complexion and voice,
allays poison and ill fortune, and bestows mastery over all speech.
Accomplishment of goals, fresh youth, affection of people, and renown in the world—
all this is attained by those who properly employ this holy rejuvenative of generous potency.
(Thus ends another rejuvenative declared by Indra.)
For those who are capable, free from disease, wise, self-controlled,
possessing leisure and attendants, entering an enclosure is wholesome.
For those who are otherwise, however, the procedure exposed to sun and wind is prescribed;
of the two, the former procedure is superior, but it is very difficult to perform.
If diseases should arise from a failure in the procedure of rejuvenatives,
one should discontinue the rejuvenative and administer medicine appropriate to them.
One who speaks the truth, is free from anger, abstains from liquor and sexual intercourse,
non-violent, free from overexertion, tranquil, speaking kindly,
devoted to japa and cleanliness, steadfast, constantly generous, ascetic,
devoted to worshipping the gods, cows, brahmins, teachers, elders, and the aged,
ever devoted to non-cruelty, ever compassionate,
equal in waking and sleep, constantly consuming milk and ghee,
knowing the measure of place and time, knowing proper application, free from egotism,
proper in conduct, not corrupt, with senses directed inward to the self,
reverent toward elders, believers, and self-controlled persons,
and devoted to textbooks of dharma: such a man one should know as a constant rejuvenative.
He who, endowed with all these qualities assembled together, employs a rejuvenative,
attains all the qualities of a rejuvenative as described.
(Thus ends the rejuvenative of conduct.)
Without expelling, at least in a general way, bodily and mental flaws,
a person is never joined with the qualities of a rejuvenative.
For regimens meant for the extension of lifespan and the eradication of old age and disease
succeed only for those whose minds and bodies are purified, and who are self-restrained.
All this should not be spoken to those ruined in soul,
to those free from ailment, to non-twice-born men, and to those in whom there is no desire to serve.
6.1.4.3
Whatever formulations of rejuvenatives and aphrodisiacs are recognized,
and whatever medicine there is for disorders—all that depends upon the physician.
Therefore, the wise person should worship the master of life, who is intelligent
and has crossed over the Veda, with utmost devotion, as the lord of the gods worshipped the Aśvins.
The Aśvins are traditionally remembered as the physicians of the gods and bearers of the sacrifice;
for the head of the sacrifice was severed, and by the two of them it was put back together.
The teeth of Pūṣan were shattered, and the eyes of Bhaga were lost,
and the stiffness of the arm of the Wielder of the Thunderbolt was treated by those two alone.
And the cold-rayed moon, seized by royal consumption,
was treated, and Chandra, fallen from Soma, was made happy once again by the two.
Bhārgava Cyavana, lustful and grown old, had undergone transformation
and was stripped of complexion and voice; he was made young again by the two.
By these and many other deeds, the two best of physicians
became exceedingly worthy of worship by the great-souled [gods] headed by Indra.
Portions, hymns, mantras, and various offerings of oblations,
as well as tawny-colored animal offerings, are prepared for the two of them by the twice-born.
And at the morning pressing, Śakra drinks the soma together with the two Aśvins;
and at the Sautrāmaṇī, the Blessed One rejoices with the Aśvins.
Indra, Agni, and the Aśvins are praised above all by the twice-born;
for in the Vedic words, other deities are not praised in such a manner.
If the Aśvins are thus worshipped as physicians by the unaging, immortal,
steadfast gods together with their overlord, with self-restraint,
how much more should physicians be worshipped with utmost devotion by mortals,
who are subject to death, disease, and old age, mostly filled with misery, and seeking happiness?
A twice-born man of good character, intelligent, attentive, who has mastered the scriptures,
should be worshipped by living beings like a guru, for he is remembered as the master of life.
Upon the completion of learning, the physician's second birth is spoken of;
for one obtains the title of 'physician' [by education], not by previous birth.
6.1.4.4
At the completion of study, either the divine nature or that of the ṛṣis
surely enters [him] through knowledge; therefore, the physician is traditionally called twice-born.
No wise person desiring non-transitory life
should covet [his wealth], revile him, or act unfavorably toward the master of life.
When treated, whether having promised or not having promised,
whatever man does not make an offering to the physician has no atonement here.
A physician also, striving, should indeed protect from afflictions
all sick persons like his own sons, desiring unsurpassable virtue.
For the sake of virtue and for the sake of wealth and desire, Āyurveda was proclaimed
by the great ṛṣis dedicated to virtue, who desired the imperishable abode.
Not for the sake of wealth, nor even for the sake of desire, but out of compassion for living beings—
he who engages in medicine [for this reason] surpasses all.
Those who, on the other hand, trade in medicine as merchandise for livelihood
abandon a heap of gold and attend upon a heap of dust.
Cutting the nooses of Yama for those being dragged by severe diseases
to the abode of Yama, he who bestows life—
no giver of virtue and wealth equal to him is found here;
for no gift is superior to the gift of life.
Thinking that compassion for living beings is the highest virtue, he who conducts himself
by medicine achieves his aim and enjoys absolute happiness.
Whatever the lord of the immortals spoke concerning the origin of Āyurveda
to the accomplished celibates, all that has been fully revealed.
6.1.4_2
Thus spoke the venerable Ātreya:
6.1.4_3
The ṛṣis, settled and wandering, subsisting on rustic herbs and food, prosperous, became slow in action and generally not very healthy.
6.1.4_1
Being incapable of all their duties, considering the fault of their own condition to be caused by living in villages, the great ṛṣis—headed by Bhṛgu, Aṅgiras, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Kaśyapa, Agastya, Pulastya, Vāmadeva, Asita, Gautama, and others—went to their former abode: free from the defects of villages, auspicious, holy, noble, intellect-promoting, unapproachable by the unrighteous, the source of the Gaṅgā, frequented by gods, gandharvas, and kinnaras, full of various gems, of inconceivable and wondrous power, frequented by brahmarṣis, siddhas, and cāraṇas, the source of divine sacred waters and herbs, exceedingly protective, the Himavat guarded by the lord of the immortals.
6.1.4_2_2
["Settled" (śālīnāḥ) means those who are fit for entering an abode; having built a house, those who stay in one place. "Wandering" (yāyāvarāḥ) means those whose habit is to move repeatedly. "Prosperous" (sāṃpannikāḥ) means those who are indeed endowed with wealth and the like—thus Yogīndranātha Sena.]
6.1.4_4
To them the thousand-eyed Indra, preceptor of the immortals, said: "Welcome to the brahmarṣis, knowers of the Absolute, whose wealth is knowledge and austerity!
6.1.4_1_2
Do you not have exhaustion, loss of radiance, loss of voice, loss of complexion, and unhappiness with unfortunate consequences caused by living in villages? For living in villages is the root of inauspicious things; hence, grace has been extended to creatures by you performers of merit, [and now] it is time to look after your own bodies, and this is the time for the teaching of Āyurveda to the brahmarṣis. For the sake of favoring myself and creatures, the Aśvins gave Āyurveda to me, Prajāpati to the Aśvins, and Brahmā to Prajāpati. Considering that creatures have short lifespans, full of old age and disease, unhappy, with unfortunate consequences, having little accumulation of austerity, self-restraint, rules, charitable giving, and Vedic study on account of their shortness [of life]—you deserve to hear from me, then retain and make known, this most holy, life-extending, old age- and disease-allaying, invigorating, immortal, auspicious, protective, noble [knowledge], out of grace for creatures, out of friendliness and compassion toward the knowledge of the ṛṣis and the Veda, and as an unsurpassable, holy, noble, imperishable, sacred act of your own."
6.1.4_2_3
[Variant: "by those who have not protected their own bodies, and this is the time"]
6.1.4_5
Having heard that speech of the lord of the gods, all the ṛṣis praised that best of immortals with ṛg-verses, and, delighted, acclaimed his word.
6.1.4_6
Then Indra, having transmitted that nectar of Āyurveda to the ṛṣis, said: "All this should be practiced, and this is the auspicious time for rejuvenatives, and the divine herbs arising from the Himavat have attained their potency. Namely: aindrī, brāhmī, payasyā, kṣīrapuṣpī, śrāvaṇī, mahāśrāvaṇī, śatāvarī, vidārī, jīvantī, punarnavā, nāgabalā, sthirā, vacā, chatrā, aticchatrā, medā, mahāmedā, and the other life-giving herbs, properly prepared, taken with milk for six months, bring about supreme lifespan, youthful age, freedom from disease, perfection of voice and complexion, nourishment, intellect, memory, supreme strength, and other desired states."
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Linked texts (1)
- Carakasaṃhitā — Agniveśa (Āyurveda) & Caraka, Sanskrit