Hārīta's Compendium of Medicine 1.7
English (machine translation) 1.7
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Contents
1.7.1
Now, the strength and weakness of region and time. / I shall now set forth the strength and weakness of region and time, / homologation, the constitution of the body, and the differentiation of digestive fires.
1.7.2
Region is to be understood as threefold: wetlands, arid lands, / and common lands; these are to be known particularly by the wise.
1.7.3
Where there are abundant auspicious rivers, enriched with charming water, lakes and ponds, soil abundant with green grass, / lovely with rice paddies of green kuśa-grass and water, where people long for the brilliance of the sun's rays;
1.7.4
where sugarcane, rich in heavy and sweet tastes, appears ever moist, with broths of rice and wheat producing various complexions; / where kapha and wind are aggravated in human beings due to the enjoyment of sweet tastes: that is a wetland region.
1.7.4.p1
Vast mountains, rough, harsh, and strewn with thorns,
mirages in every direction, trees with withered leaves,
1.7.5
earth filled with dust under exceedingly harsh sunbeams, / pools devoid of water, and an abundance of well water;
1.7.6
consequently, cows and buffaloes feed on tasteless crops, and dryness thoroughly arises in the bodily fluid and flesh; / again, where cold-season winds blow, rice crops and sugarcane do not thrive, and bile in the blood quickly becomes aggravated: [that is an arid region].
1.7.7
Or having a hundred qualities of both, not excessively dry, not unctuous, not predominantly rough, and surrounded by thorns, / filled with water, neither excessively cold nor hot, endowed with balanced natures: know this as the common [region].
1.7.8
Time is to be known as threefold: past, future, / and the third is the present; hear its characteristics as I speak.
1.7.9
Time drives the world, time drives the universe, / time impels everything; therefore it is designated as time.
1.7.10
All gods, seers, siddhas, and kinnaras are subject to time; / for time is the divine Lord, the Supreme Deity in visible form.
1.7.11
The creator, sustainer, and destroyer, that time is equal everywhere; / by time the universe is impelled; therefore it is designated as time.
1.7.12
That by which origination arises, by which every unit of time is fashioned, / time, endowed with existence, is the cause of the origination of the world.
1.7.13
That which observes deeds, being dominant in the present, / is also to be known as the instigator, time acting in accordance with circumstances.
1.7.14
That by which [everything] goes under the sway of death, by which what was created goes to dissolution, / is also to be understood as the destroyer: time intent upon reckonings.
1.7.15
Time creates creatures, time destroys living beings; / time sleeps, time wakes; for time is difficult to surpass.
1.7.16
In time the gods perish, in time the asuras and serpents; / kings and all living creatures—everything perishes in time.
1.7.17
Beyond the three times, it is to be known as adventitious, devoid of action, / yet subtle, omnipresent to all, more manifest and unmanifest, auspicious.
1.7.18
Likewise, these three times are recognized, namely rainy, cold, and hot; / and three others are also to be known: sunrise, midday, and sunset.
1.7.19
Rainy, autumn, early winter, late winter, spring, / and summer are to be known in succession; thus six seasons are remembered.
1.7.20
I shall explain them separately according to the distinctions of the sun's course, / understanding aggravation and pacification; two solstices are remembered by the wise.
1.7.21
One is the southern solstice, and the second is the northern solstice; / the rainy season, autumn, and early winter fall within the southern solstice.
1.7.22
Late winter, spring, and summer belong to the northern solstice; / when the sun's course is southern, then the earth has lunar properties.
1.7.23
The water produced is cold, and coldness arises there; / sweet, bitter, and especially astringent tastes are strong.
1.7.24
The homologation of living beings is incomparable, and medicinal plants possess potency; / mountains have moisture, and the directions are exceedingly cold.
1.7.25
The entire earth has dampness, hence it is moist and frothy; / how could one treat pitta? It becomes aggravated and dissolves.
1.7.26
Therefore, it is pacified by treatment through opposite measures; / when the sun's course is northern, then the sun is the lord of waters.
1.7.27
Therefore intense hot qualities arise that cause internal burning; / forests and groves are dried up by the webs of the sun's harsh rays.
1.7.28
The entire earth, the directions, and the tastes in drinks and foods are dried up; / sour, pungent, and alkaline tastes become strong and cause internal burning.
1.7.29
Therefore pitta is aggravated, commingled with blood; / the juice of medicinal plants is dried up, as is the milk of cows.
1.7.30
The strength of living creatures is slight, and kapha scarcely arises; / it is seen in spring, and it goes to pacification of its own accord.
1.7.31
Having understood this correctly, an intelligent physician should carry out all treatment.
1.7.32
The skies are crowded with water from dense rain-clouds, filled with the finest water everywhere, / the intermediate and cardinal directions bring heady breezes, and the earth is filled with delighted worms and insects.
1.7.33
The earth is bright green with dark-blue crops, canals are flooded with water and bowed down; / the excellent earth is adorned with indragopa insects and embellished with the ornament of mud.
1.7.34
The mountain has sprouting mango shoots, or the forest shines with sweet cooing; / bees and peacocks [rejoice at] the rumbling of the cloud, and all living beings gain strength.
1.7.34.p1
The peacock cries in the forest, and the lakes are filled with turbid water;
swans depart for Lake Mānasa, and lotus flowers wither;
1.7.35
the caves and chasms of the great mountains resound with thundering clouds, covered with dark crops; / thus shines the rainy season, aggravating wind, yet bringing prosperity.
1.7.36
There is a slight sprouting within the womb [of the earth], crops attain firmness; / the night has abundant crops, and autumn is repeatedly filled with water.
1.7.37
Rivers are swollen with water, and trees on the banks are uprooted, broken, and fallen; / water flows in every direction from channels and springs.
1.7.38
Clouds bear rain, trees are abundant, and thunder is deep; / thus endowed with qualities is the rainy season according to those skilled in seasons.
1.7.39
Therefore wind and kapha become severely aggravated in men; / knowing this, the best of physicians should undertake treatment in it:
1.7.40
Sudation, massage, a wholesome regimen, and dwelling where there is no draught are commended, / delighting in fair women is praised, as is the gradual exertion of physical exercise.
1.7.41
Pungent, sour, alkaline, and well-flavored substances that dispel wind and kapha should be consumed; / here the non-unctuous enema procedure dispels diseases of kapha and wind.
1.7.41.p1
The clouds have a brilliance resembling sunstones, discharging little rain and making little sound;
The waters are adorned with flocks of geese and clusters of water-born flowers, and the lotus-ponds are beautiful;
1.7.42
The moonlight is delightful, spotlessly bright with the moon's intense yet gentle rays; / variegated and possessing the good taste of waters cooked by the heat, the lotus pond becomes pure.
1.7.43
There, regarding what is cool and relating to age, suitability is seen for one whose pitta and blood are aroused; / and here cool wholesome regimen is prescribed for man, though arising somehow from the three [doṣas].
1.7.44
Boiled milk and sugar are wholesome; resorting to moonlight at night, / delight with a dark young maiden is praised, and pure curd in the morning.
1.7.45
Exhausted by the joy of embracing a desirable woman, with hair cooled by the head-hairs [or: cooling on his head], / he should make use of sandalwood and the like; aggravation is observed in autumn; / such pacification is taught for the autumn aggravation of pitta.
1.7.46
The wind is very cold and mild, and the day's duration is short in this season; / the lord of the day possesses little heat, and the quarters of the sky are covered in mist.
1.7.47
The fields of śāli rice are extensive, and the earth is radiant with green grain: / endowed with such qualities is the winter season (hemanta).
1.7.48
There, the doṣas vāta and kapha are seen to be severely aggravated. / Resorting to fire is wholesome, as is the use of pungent, alkaline, and sour tastes.
1.7.49
Delight with a fair maiden is commended, and exercise is praised; / thus the doṣas arising from kapha and vāta are thoroughly pacified.
1.7.50
Because of the confinement of cold in a strong person, the wind becomes powerful in winter; / having little fuel, impelled by the wind, it cooks the bodily tissues.
1.7.51
Therefore, in this cold season one should consume sweet, sour, and salty tastes. / If the night is long, then one is hungry even in the early morning;
1.7.52
considering the improper, one should afterwards practise what has been prescribed.
1.7.53
[Chewing twigs of] arka, nyagrodha, khadira, karañja, kakubha, and so forth, / and having eaten in the morning what is sweet, astringent, pungent, and bitter.
1.7.53.p1
The late-winter wind is intense, and the crops are somewhat sprouted;
this earth becomes yellow with ripening crops.
1.7.54
However the cold may be, or whatever the particularity of symptoms, / disorders of vāta and kapha arise in late winter (śiśira).
1.7.54.p1
One should especially resort to delight with a fair maiden and red garments,
and mostly to bitter, pungent, salty, and sour tastes.
1.7.55
Where one has sudation and vigorous massage properly performed every day, / diseases of vāta and kapha are destroyed; where could there be their aggravation?
1.7.56
The forests resound with the calling of joyful cuckoos; adorned with kiṃśuka flowers betokening the god of love; / the mountains are tinted by the fragrance of blossoms, eager with the humming of intoxicated bees;
1.7.57
agitated by the arrows of the crocodile-bannered god, this entire world is full of joy; / the Malaya breeze is endowed with heat: such is the spring season, causing kapha.
1.7.58
Taking pleasure in destroying the aggravation born of kapha involves the use of emesis, errhines, and dry substances;
1.7.59
various joys of sexual pleasure, exertion warding off kapha, / and one whose mind is rested when exhausted by the exertion of exercise.
1.7.60
Pungent, alkaline, and sour tastes should be used, drying up what arises from kapha. / The man who is thus engaged in this regimen quickly becomes happy.
1.7.61
The world is intensely pierced by long days and filled with rows of flames; / mirages appear in every quarter, and the dust is exceedingly hot.
1.7.62
The south-western wind is dry; the trees have shed their leaves; / the forests are filled with scorched grass; the quarters are encompassed by forest fires.
1.7.63
Such is the characteristic mark of summer; pitta and blood are aroused. / Therefore the physician should undertake therapeutic counteraction that brings pacification.
1.7.64
Water sports and sleeping by day are means of pleasure; / delight with a dark young maiden is commended, as are lotus filaments and the coolness of bowers;
1.7.65
breeze from a fan made with dark lotus stalks and leaves, dispelling fatigue; / the fragrant flower of ketakī, along with cooling sandalwood and uśīra;
1.7.66
a cooling paste applied properly, and resting in a water-spray chamber: / a person who is thus engaged in this regimen attains comfort in summer.
1.7.4-2
Thus ends the fourth chapter, titled 'Seasonal Regimen', spoken by Ātreya.