Hārīta's Compendium of Medicine 4

English (machine translation) 4

Language: English

4.1 — 21 parts
4.2 — 1 part
4.3 — 10 parts
4.4 — 5 parts
4.5 — 4 parts
4.6 — 6 parts
4.7 — 8 parts

4.1.p2

A fourth part of a mustard seed is an aṇu.

4.1.1

Four prasthas make an āḍhaka. / Four āḍhakas make a droṇa.

4.1.2

The measure of dry medicaments should be double. / For all fresh [substances], the rule of the balance should be understood:

4.1.2.p1

A pala consists of seven hundred and sixty-eight barley corns.

4.1.3

Four āḍhakas make a kaṃsa. / Two palas make a prasṛti.

4.1.4

For whey, oil, sour gruel, milk-scum, jaggery, white sugar, / honey, wine, raisins, dates, and guggulu,

4.1.5

and for garlic and salts, the measure is stated as half-and-half. / The term 'karṣa' is declared to be the measure of a biḍālapadika.

4.1.6

A pala is known as an audumbara by the measure of a fig fruit. / Four palas are the measure of a bilva; two palas are called an añjali.

4.1.7

A kuḍava is two añjalis, to be described [further], O wise one.

4.1.8

Four finger-breadths wide and four finger-breadths high, / made of wood or clay: that one should designate as a kuḍava.

4.1.9

Four kuḍavas make a prastha; four prasthas likewise an āḍhaka; / four āḍhakas make a droṇa: such is the reckoning of measures declared.

4.1.10

One should administer emetics and purgatives in the measure of a karṣa; / a nourishing drink in the measure of a pala; powder in the measure of a karṣa;

4.1.11

alkaline caustic in half a pala; chebulic myrobalan in a karṣa; / garlic paste in a pala; and guggulu in a pala;

4.1.12

and the wise physician should administer elephant-foot yam paste in a pala. / Other powders and calcined metals should be given in the measure of a karṣa.

4.1.13

Ascertaining the body's strength accurately as superior, inferior, or medium, / the wise [physician] should methodically administer electuary, powder, and decoction.

4.1.13.p1

Thus, in the Hārītottara spoken by Ātreya, in the fourth section on general principles, [the chapter] named 'The Rule of Weights and Measures',

4.3.1

Ātreya said: / The cooking of oils is declared to be of four kinds; hear, O son: / hard, unctuous, medium, and another is considered desiccating.

4.3.2

Milk, sour gruel, decoction, or curd dries up; / there is no moisture of the medicaments, and it is frothless and clear;

4.3.3

resembling the juice of Indian madder, it arrives at the hard cooking. / That is known to destroy vāta and is beneficial for massage and inunction.

4.3.4

The medium-cooked [oil] is frothy, liquid, and rolls into a ball;
one should designate [oil] that is neither excessively frothy nor frothless as medium-cooked.

4.3.5

It is praised in enema and in drinking, and it destroys all three humours, O best of physicians.
That which is frothy, moon-bright, and whose liquid resembles healthy [secretion]—

4.3.6

that is called smooth-cooked (cikkaṇaka), and is always beneficial for nasal errhine.

4.3.7

That which is smoky, overburnt, and has a burnt odour and taste
is to be known as aggravating wind and causing desiccation; it must be avoided in all procedures.

4.3.8

The hard-cooked is [used] for massage, the smooth-cooked in an enema,
and the medium-cooked in an enema and in drinking; that which causes desiccation is to be avoided.

4.3.9

Medicated oil is prepared in a fortnight, and clarified butter in seven days;
one should prepare a decoction diligently in just a single watch (prahara).

4.3.9.p1

Thus, in the Hārītottara spoken by Ātreya, in the fourth section, the sūtrasthāna, [this is] the rule for cooking medicated oils,

4.4.1

Ātreya said:
Having made a bamboo tube measuring four finger-breadths according to its characteristics, one should perform the enema procedure with it.

4.4.2

Neither when the weather is too hot nor cold, nor when [the patient] has eaten,
nor when sleepy, distressed by urine, distressed by faeces, nor suffering pain—

4.4.3

having dismissed [these], one should administer an evacuation enema (nirūha) procedure to him.

4.4.3.p1

First having had him pass urine and faeces, washed the rectum, and laid him down on a bed that is not too soft,

4.4.3.p2

having flexed the left foot on the left side and the right foot on the right side, resting it upon the shank,

4.4.3.p3

the wise [physician] should insert the tube to a depth of two finger-breadths inside the rectum.

4.4.3.p4

Then, pressing the enema bag slowly and gradually, he should administer the evacuation enema with two palas of medicated oil.

4.4.3.p5

Immediately after the evacuation enema, having slowly laid him supine, raised [his legs], and then contracted [them],

4.4.3.p6

he should tap the buttocks five times with his hands.

4.4.3.p7

Then, having made him comfortable, in an instant he stimulates the stomach and the seat of waste matter.

4.4.4

It dispels wind and humoral disorders of the bladder and abdomen.
The learned know that as the nirūha enema and the basti procedure.

4.4.4.p1

Thus, in the Hārītottara spoken by Ātreya, in the fourth section, the sūtrasthāna, [this is] the rule for the nirūha enema procedure,

4.5.p1

Sudation is taught to be of seven kinds: clod-sudation, steam-sudation, flame-sudation, pot-sudation,
water-sudation, fruit-sudation, and sand-sudation.

4.5.1

One should never perform sudation without medicated oil;
one should apply medicated oil before sudation, and it will be efficacious.

In intense fever, burning sensation and desiccation, and likewise when afflicted by diarrhoea,
when suffering from fainting, vertigo, and burning sensation, and in poisoning, one should not administer sudation.

4.5.3

In those afflicted by colic, swelling, and wind, and in those afflicted by cold and phlegm—
for these people sudation is praised, bestowing comfort.

4.5.3.p1

Thus, in the Hārītottara spoken by Ātreya, in the fourth section, the sūtrasthāna, [this is] the rule for sudation, the fourth chapter.

4.6.1

Blood-letting is of four kinds:
by venesection, and likewise by gourds,
by smooth horns, and by leeches the wise physician should draw blood.

4.6.2

In the forenoon and in the afternoon, neither when it is excessively hot nor excessively cold,
the physician should let the blood of one who has drunk gruel.

4.6.3

In all head diseases, and in the middle fold of the nostril,
the excellent physician should always carefully let blood.

4.6.3.p1

In the middle of the forehead, leaving [a space of] two finger-breadths above the eyebrows, one should open the vein.

4.6.3.p2

Between the elbows of the arms one should bind the vein.

4.6.3.p3

At the wrist-joint, leaving [a space of] four finger-breadths from the base of the thumb, one should bind the vein.

4.6.3.p4

Leaving four finger-breadths [from] the sides of the navel, one should bind the vein.

4.6.3.p5

At the foot, one should bind the vein at the ankle.

4.6.4

The rest has not been stated for fear of making the text too extensive;
blood-letting by means of gourds and horns should be known by all.

4.6.5

Blood that is blackish, frothy, and dark arises from wind disorder;
that which possesses all characteristics is to be known as arisen from all three humours.

4.6.5.p1

Thus, in the Hārītottara spoken by Ātreya, in the fourth section, the sūtrasthāna, [this is] the rule for blood-letting,

4.6.5-2

the fifth chapter.

4.7.1

Ātreya said:
Leeches are taught to be of four kinds: Indrāyudhā, Rohiṇī, Kālikā, and Dhūmrā.

4.7.2

That which is blue in colour, red on the flanks, sharp-mouthed, and enters stone fissures in deep, clean water,
causes complications such as abscess, abdominal swelling, burning sensation, swelling, fainting, and poisoning.

4.7.3

That which is blue in colour, yellow on the flanks, sharp-snouted (śaṅkumukhī), and enters lotus stalks,
causes complications such as abscess, erysipelas, and swelling.

4.7.4

The black Kālikā [leech], dwelling far off in fish ponds, must be rejected.

4.7.5

The Dhūmrā, coloured like a pigeon or a buffalo, yellow-bellied, crescent-mouthed, enters mud and turbid water;
it is suitable for blood-letting and free of complications.

4.7.6

Having washed the place [of application] with sour gruel, smeared it with fresh butter, and washed it with warm water,
one should then apply the leech there.

4.7.6.p1

After the leech is full of blood, it drops off.

4.7.6.p2

One should wash its mouth with salt or urine,

4.7.6.p3

or gently milk it like a cow's teat.

4.7.7

Having smeared its mouth again with fresh butter, it may be reused.
When the vitiated blood has come out, having washed the bite with sour gruel, anointed it with clarified butter and honey, one should bind it with a cloth.

4.7.7.p1

Thus, in the Hārītottara spoken by Ātreya, in the fourth section, the sūtrasthāna, [this is] the rule for leech application,

4.7.6-2

the sixth chapter.

4.7.6-2.p1

Thus ends the sūtrasthāna.

Linked texts (1)

Hārītasaṃhitā — Hārīta, Sanskrit

Hārīta's Compendium of Medicine 4

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