Hārīta's Compendium of Medicine 2.9
English (machine translation) 2.9
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Contents
2.9.1
Ātreya said: / Now, O best of physicians, the messenger's prognostic signs for those seized by disease, / auspicious or inauspicious, are set forth in brief.
2.9.2
A messenger goes to the physician's house for the benefit of the patient; / examination of him should be made, by which the disease is discerned.
2.9.2.p1
Lame, blind, mute, deaf, afflicted with pain, or a child,
a woman, mutilated, thirsty, exhausted by age,
2.9.3
weary, tormented by hunger, dizzy, and wretched— / such a messenger, those who know the Vedas declare, is not praised here.
2.9.4
Wearing astringent-dyed, black, or wet garments, or with his head covered by cloth, / or having eyes flooded with tears, with [unkempt] hair, or having a shaven head,
2.9.5
with monkey-like eyes and hair bristling upright, dwarfish, deformed, or with his nose cut off— / wise kings of sages do not praise such messengers for destroying men's disease.
2.9.6
One who is harsh, wrathful, holding a noose in his hand, censuring the physician, and shrouded in dullness— / the steadfast say these are not praiseworthy messengers; they aggravate the disorder.
2.9.7
One who holds wood in his hand, raises a noose in his hand, and weeps with miserable words like an invalid, / with streaming eyes, though eager to depart—such a messenger, afflicted by disease, causing ill, must be shunned.
2.9.8
One who holds a rope in his hand, raises a noose in his hand, and swiftly dishonours the southern direction, / who talks excessively, fiercely, full of rage, and having approached, speaks [in this manner]—such a messenger [is ill-omened].
2.9.9
Leaning on a staff in his hand, he stands on a crooked foot; / therefore, one who speaks agitatedly is not praiseworthy in medical works.
2.9.10
He walks rapidly along the road; entering and rising, he becomes bewildered; / stretching out his feet he enters; he places his hand on his head;
2.9.11
he breaks iron, wood, or elsewhere snaps straw; / he touches these, touches his nose, or touches his breast again;
2.9.12
he scratches the ground with his foot, or draws a line, / or falls asleep—that messenger causes misfortune.
2.9.13
He who is clad in white cloth, has full hands, and whose mouth is filled with betel is praised; / a twice-born, a youth of good character and superior intelligence who calls [the physician] brings happiness.
2.9.13.p1
He whose face is like a bud of flowers at all times,
like a blossoming lotus free of fatigue, like lotus filaments and flowers,
2.9.14
bearing excellent cloth in his palm, flowers, betel nut, and perfume / held in the palm of his hand—such a messenger truly brings happiness.
2.9.14.p1
Having arrived from the north, east, or west, or relying upon the north-east, calm,
having seen the physician, he smiles and speaks skillfully, neither too softly nor too loudly:
2.9.15
"Arise, show favour!"—uttering this auspicious phrase like a gentle breeze; / for the wise, their own goal is eminent happiness, making medicine; obtaining a physician is for the sick.
2.9.16
Approaching the eastern direction, composed, with a gentle voice / he speaks to the physician; it leads to gain and brings ease to the sick.
2.9.17
And he who, even after arriving and sitting down, recites a verse / or a wise saying with a gentle voice, he too leads to gain and pacification.
2.9.18
He who salutes the physician and asks after his welfare, / or gives fruit or a flower, brings ease to the sick.
2.9.19
Those messengers for whom there is ease, happiness, and success know this: / what need of many words here? A messenger brings ease to man.
2.9.20
A hermaphrodite is not beneficial; therefore, one should avoid such a one. / A physician who knows thus attains success, happiness, and prosperity.
2.9.20.p1
Thus ends the description of the examination of the messenger,
2.9.8-2
the eighth chapter in the Second Section of the later [compendium] of Hārīta, spoken by Ātreya.