Hārīta's Compendium of Medicine 1.9
English (machine translation) 1.9
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Contents
1.9.1
en: Now therefore I shall explain the tastes and their qualities and faults, / merely by knowing which one will become a knower of the qualities of the tastes.
1.9.2
en: Sweet, astringent, bitter, sour, alkaline, and pungent: these are named the six tastes. / They declare two each to provoke vāta and kapha, and likewise two to produce pitta.
1.9.3
en: The alkaline and astringent provoke wind; the sweet and bitter provoke kapha; / the pungent and sour cause disorders of pitta; the pungent and sour are declared to pacify vāta.
1.9.4
en: Sweet together with bitter destroys pitta; pungent and astringent pacify kapha; / they say each of these pacifies the other, mutually augmenting the doṣas within.
1.9.4.p1
en: Sweet and pungent bring forth the pre-eminence of each other; the sour devoid of salt is stated
1.9.4.p2
en: to follow its distinct taste.
1.9.5
en: Likewise, unchanged and combined with bitter [tastes], the astringent taste becomes light; very sweet, it is excellent and indeed produces benefit.
1.9.6
en: Pungent, bitter, and astringent provoke wind; / pungent, sour, and salty provoke pitta; sweet, sour, and salty provoke kapha.
1.9.7
en: But in [disorders of] wind, pungent, bitter, and astringent must not be given; / in pitta, pungent, sour, and salty [must not be given]; in kapha, sweet, sour, and salty [must not be given].
1.9.8
en: One should employ sweet, sour, and salty tastes in vāta; bitter, sweet, and astringent / in pitta; and bitter, pungent, and astringent tastes in kapha.
1.9.8.p1
en: That which is sweet removes fatigue and desiccation, creates strength, bestows virility, and gives nourishment;
en: it produces delight in the tongue, and then, after that, increase of phlegm;
1.9.9
en: it subdues the pittas, pacifies fatigue, is an aphrodisiac, and is beneficial for men; / sweet [taste] will be the destroyer of wasted conditions, trauma, anaemia, and eye diseases.
1.9.9.p1
en: That which is bitter destroys kapha and wind, and removes defects such as leprosy;
en: it is cold, removes all pain, takes away dizziness, is appetising, and does not cause excessive moisture;
1.9.10
en: it destroys tongue blisters, is beneficial for the wasted and wounded, / brings cheer to the face, is declared pre-eminent, and tastes like neem and the like.
1.9.10.p1
en: Causing the eyes to water, burning the mouth, conveying heat to the ear,
en: it produces disgust, distorts the mouth, and provokes bile and blood;
1.9.11
en: it blazes up the digestive fires for a moment and causes burning; when digested, it is not beneficial; / it destroys vātas and burns up kapha; pungent is exceedingly fierce.
1.9.12
en: It produces moisture in the tongue, causes blinking of the eyes, always creates revulsion, and removes wind diseases; / it causes itching, leprosy, wounds, and pain, and is not beneficial for one who has swelling; the sour is said to pacify wind, and it causes provocation of blood.
1.9.13
en: It completely grips the tongue in the throat, is binding in diarrhoea, pacifies phlegm disease, and removes asthma and cough; / it completely takes away hiccup and colic, and is a purifier of wounds; this excellent one named astringent is said to possess superior qualities.
1.9.14
en: The alkaline produces moisture in the mouth, is unpalatable, hot, and burning; it removes colic, phlegm, and anorexia, and dries thirst and dysuria; / it produces undigested food and then kindles the digestive fire; it is declared excellent, for it is a great taste suitable in all respects.
1.9.6-2
en: Thus ends the sixth chapter, titled "The Description of the Six Tastes."