Cakradatta (Cikitsasangraha) 25: Adhikāra 25

Fasting, sudation, bitter, appetising, and pungent remedies, / purgation, intake of fats, and enemas are prescribed in rheumatism. // 1

One should not give an unctuous enema with Saindhavādya; an alkaline enema is recommended. / In rheumatism, food and drink prepared with pañcakola are desired. // 2

Dry sudation should be administered using bags of sand. / Śaṭī, dry ginger, abhayā, ugrā, devāhva, ativiṣā, and amṛtā: // 3

[their] decoction is a digestive for rheumatism; [the diet should consist of] dry food. / A paste of śaṭī and dry ginger combined with a decoction of varṣābhū, // 4

a person should drink for seven days to digest rheumatism. / With daśamūla, amṛtā, castor, rāsnā, dry ginger, and devadāru, / a decoction taken with castor oil destroys heavy vāta associated with āma. // 5

Or, one should drink oil produced from castor with a decoction of daśamūla or ginger-water / in pain of the lower abdomen, bladder, and hips. // 6

Rāsnā, guḍūcī, castor, devadāru, and dry ginger / one should drink in generalised vāta associated with āma located in the joints, bones, and marrow. // 7

One suffering from pain in the calves, thighs, back, sacrum, and flanks / should drink a decoction of rāsnā, amṛtā, āragvadha, devadāru, / trikaṇṭaka, castor, and punarnavā mixed with powder of dry ginger. // 8

A decoction of dry ginger and gokṣuraka, consumed every morning, / is digestive in vāta associated with āma and in hip pain, and destroys discomfort. // 9

In rheumatism, one should drink the extract of daśamūla mixed with pippalī, / or eat abhayā and dry ginger, or guḍūcī with dry ginger. // 10

A man afflicted with the pain of rheumatism, or tormented by sciatica and enlargement of the scrotum, / should regularly consume harītakī combined with castor oil according to the rules. // 11

One should always drink a karṣa of dry ginger powder with fermented sour gruel; / it is an excellent alleviator of rheumatism and destroys kapha and vāta. // 12

And one should drink powder of pañcakola with hot water; / it destroys weak digestive fire, colic, abdominal lump, āma, kapha, and anorexia. // 13

Powder made from amṛtā, dry ginger, gokṣura, muṇḍī, and varuṇa, / drunk with curd whey or sour fermented gruel, is renowned as a destroyer of rheumatism. // 14

Two parts of rock salt, and likewise of ajowan; / three parts of ajamodā, and five parts of dry ginger; // 15

and twelve [parts] of fine harītakī, ground into a smooth powder, / drunk with curd whey, sour gruel, buttermilk, clarified butter, or hot water, // 16

conquers rheumatism, abdominal lump, and diseases arising from the heart and bladder; / it destroys [enlargement of] the spleen, pain and so forth, abdominal swelling, and diseases arising in the rectum, // 17

constipation, diseases of the abdomen, and indeed those located in the hands and feet. / This powder, known as Vaiśvānara, is a carminative of vāta. // 18

Alambuṣā, gokṣura, guḍūcī, vṛddhadāraka, / pippalī, trivṛt, mustā, varuṇa together with punarnavā, // 19

triphalā, and dry ginger one should make into fine powders. / [Taken] with curd whey, sour gruel, buttermilk, milk, or meat broth, / it quickly destroys rheumatism and oedema located in the joints. // 20

Equal parts of dill, viḍaṅga, rock salt, and black pepper: / this powder, drunk with hot water, is supreme for kindling the digestive fire. // 21

Asafoetida, cavya, black salt, dry ginger, pippalī, cumin, and pauṣkara / in progressively increasing parts: this powder, when drunk, conquers vāta and āma. // 22

Citraka, pippalī-root, ajowan, and kāravī, / viḍaṅga, ajamodā, cumin, and devadāru; // 23

cavya, cardamom, rock salt, kuṣṭha, rāsnā, gokṣura, and coriander; / triphalā, mustaka, the three pungents, cinnamon bark, uśīra, and barley alkali; // 24

tālīsapatra and tejapatra: one should make fine powders [of these]. / Equal in measure to all these powders, however, is guggulu; // 25

having pounded it thoroughly with clarified butter, one should store it in an unctuous vessel. / Then one should administer a dose, even for one following an unrestricted diet. // 26

Known as 'Yogarāja', this formulation is like nectar. / It destroys rheumatism, gout and the like, and even worms and malignant ulcers; // 27

it destroys splenomegaly, abdominal lumps, abdominal diseases, flatulence, and haemorrhoids, / and produces a kindled digestive fire, increase of vital energy, and strength. / It conquers vāta diseases, even those located in the joints and marrow. // 28

Three palas of the well-powdered decoction [extract] of triphalā, / one pala of sulphur, and likewise one pala of guggulu; // 29

taking a kuḍava of castor oil, with care, / a physician skilled in cooking should cook everything in a sturdy vessel made of iron. // 30

It destroys vāta as well as pitta and kapha, limping, and lameness; / it destroys very intractable dyspnoea and the five types of cough; // 31

skin diseases, gout, abdominal lumps, colic, and abdominal diseases; / it conquers rheumatism, even when abandoned by physicians. // 32

Through habitual use of this, old age and grey hair are destroyed. / One should eat sixty-day rice served with clarified butter, oil, and meat broth. // 33

Known as 'Siṃhanāda', destroying the pride of the elephant of diseases, / causing an increase of digestive fire in men, it was spoken by Daṇḍapāṇi. // 34

Alambuṣā, gokṣura, triphalā, dry ginger, and amṛtā / in parts increasing successively, and an amount of powder of śyāmā equal to all that: // 35

one should drink it with curd whey, liquor, buttermilk, sour fermented gruel, or hot water. / When drunk, it conquers rheumatism, gout accompanied by oedema / located in the joints of the sacrum, knees, and thighs, and destroys fever and anorexia. // 36

One part of pathyā, bibhītaka, and āmalakī in the order of triphalā; / drunk as a powder combined in equal portions with pathyā, dry ginger, and ajowan, // 37

with buttermilk, hot water, or else fermented sour gruel, / it quickly destroys rheumatism, oedema, and also weakness of the digestive fire. // 38

Ajamodā, black pepper, pippalī, / viḍaṅga, devadāru, citraka, dill, / rock salt, and pippalī-root: / the parts of this group of nine should be one pala each; // 39

dry ginger should be ten palas, / there should be the same number of palas of vṛddhadāraka, / and five palas of pathyā: / one should make all of them together into a powder. // 40

For one eating pills made with an equal quantity of jaggery / or drinking the powder with hot water, / all diseases arising from vāta associated with āma, / even the very difficult ones, are destroyed. // 41

Visūcikā, pratitūnī, / tūnī, heart disease, severe sciatica, / splitting pain in the hips, bladder, and rectum, / and intense [pain] in the bones and shanks,

as well as oedema in the body joints, / and whatever other [diseases] arise from āmavāta, / all go to destruction, / like darkness dispelled by the rays of the sun. // 42–43

11. One should cook one prastha of clarified butter with a decoction and paste of dry ginger, / along with four times that [quantity of milk] or with water alone. // 44

It pacifies vāta and kapha, strongly stimulates the digestive fire, / is called Nāgara-ghṛta, and destroys lumbago and colic due to āma. // 45

12. One prastha of clarified butter [cooked] over a mild fire with a decoction of guḍūcī / and a paste of dry ginger is excellent for removing vātarakta. // 46

When administered, it quickly destroys āmavāta, āḍhyavāta, and the like, / parasitic worms, malignant ulcers, / haemorrhoids, and abdominal lump with colic. // 47

13. Asafoetida, the three pungents, chāvya, and rock salt— / having made pastes of one pala each of these, one should cook a prastha of clarified butter, // 48

adding one āḍhaka of fermented gruel. That clarified butter cures abdominal disease; / it destroys colic, constipation, abdominal distension, āmavāta, stiffness of the lumbar region, / and disorder of the malabsorption syndrome, and is an excellent stimulant of a sluggish digestive fire. // 49

14. For nourishment, [and] in retention of dry feces and urine, it should be prepared with milk; / and for stimulating the digestive fire, it is taught by the wise that it should be prepared with curd-whey. // 50

Clarified butter prepared with a paste of dry ginger and four times as much sauvīraka vinegar / produces digestive fire, is supreme, and is excellent at removing āmavāta. // 51

15. One hundred palas of garlic, a kuḍava of sesame, / asafoetida, the three pungents, the two alkalis, and the five salts, // 52

dill, kuṣṭha, long pepper root, leadwort, / ajamodā, ajwain, and coriander—the wise physician // 53

should make a fine powder of one pala each of these. / He should keep this in a strong ghee-vessel for sixteen days, // 54

adding a mānī of oil and half a prastha of fermented rice-water. / One should eat one karṣa of it, and drink water or wine afterwards. // 55

It is praised in āmavāta, as well as in vāta located in the whole body or one limb, / in epilepsy, weak digestive fire, cough, dyspnoea, artificial poisons, / insanity, paralysis due to vāta, colic, and parasitic infestations. // 56

16. In one āḍhaka of a decoction of prasāraṇī, one prastha each of jaggery and garlic, / cooked with a fourth part of powder of the five pungents, destroys āmavāta. // 57

17. In a jar containing one hundred [palas] of thick, well-prepared liquor, / one should throw in half that amount of cleaned and crushed garlic; // 58

one akṣa each of powdered long pepper, long pepper root, cumin, kuṣṭha, leadwort, / dry ginger, black pepper, and chāvya. // 59

After seven days, it should be drunk; it destroys vāta diseases and āma, / relieves worms, skin disease, phthisis, abdominal distension, abdominal lump, haemorrhoids, spleen enlargement, and urinary disorders, / stimulates the digestive fire, and destroys anaemia. // 60

18. Having thoroughly washed one prastha of husked white mustard-seed cake in water, / adding a prastha of rice-scum, one should let it stand for three days // 61

in a heap of grain. Then, having powdered them, one should add one pala each of: / alambuṣā, small caltrops, dill, punarnavā, // 62

prasāraṇī, bark of varuṇa, dry ginger, and madana. / Knowing it to be well-cooked, it is prepared mixed with rice, // 63

seasoned with mustard oil, combined with asafoetida and rock salt. / Eaten along with salt, it overcomes āma and high fever, // 64

arising from one [doṣa], two [doṣas], curable [types], or from all three doṣas; / vāta in the hips and thighs, abdominal distension, [vāta] in the knees, and [pain] affecting the sacrum; / this gruel cures udāvarta, and produces strength, complexion, and digestive fire. // 65

19. Peeled and dried, / fresh garlic cloves and similar ingredients: / in the cold season, three hundred palas / of their finely pulverized powder // 66

with one hundred [palas] of pungent oil, and with the three pungents, asafoetida, coriander, / viḍaṅga, ajwain, turmeric, chavikā, pippalīmūla, fresh ginger, / the two kinds of cumin, vṛścīra, tulasī, arjaka, horse-radish tree, // 67

daśamūla, kapikacchū, bhṛṅgarāja, and the three salts, / powdered into palas, submerged together in fermented gruel: // 68

one should place this in an unctuous vessel and set it again in a heap of grain. / Having taken it out after seven nights, by means of drinks, snacks, and meals, // 69

this sidhmaleyā should be administered, especially in vāta associated with āma. / Those who are broken, disabled, injured, trembling, crawling on seats (paraplegic), // 70

having destroyed sciatica, loss of digestive power, colic, abdominal lumps, and abdominal diseases, / wrinkles, grey hair, and baldness, will have pure senses. // 71

20. One afflicted with āmavāta should avoid curd, fish, jaggery, milk, potakī, black gram flour, / and anything heavy and producing channel-blockage. // 72