Cakradatta (Cikitsasangraha) 43: Adhikāra 43

First, one should perform softening (vimlāpana); second, blood-letting; / third, poulticing; and fourth, the incision procedure; // 1

fifth is cleansing, and sixth is regarded as healing. / These stages are declared for an ulcer; the seventh removes abnormal features. // 2

Mātuluṅga, agnimantha, bhadradāru, mahauṣadha, / ahiṃsrā, and rāsnā: a paste [of these] removes vāta-oedema. // 3

An oily paste of śākhoṭaka bark ground with kāñjika / destroys blood-induced oedema, just as Garuḍa destroys serpents. // 4

Dūrvā, root of nala, madhuka, and candana, / as well as all cooling groups: a paste [of these] removes pitta-oedema. // 5

A paste made with barks of nyagrodha, udumbara, aśvattha, plakṣa, and vetasa, / mixed with clarified butter, is considered an extinguisher of oedema. // 6

In [oedema] that is traumatic and born of blood, this very same sequence of treatment [applies]. / Ajagandhā, aśvagandhā, kālā together with saralā, // 7

ekeśikā, and ajaśṛṅgī: a paste [of these] removes kapha-oedema. / With punarnavā, śigru, dāru, daśamūla, and mahauṣadha, // 8

a lukewarm paste is prescribed for oedema caused by kapha and vāta. / One should not apply a paste at night, nor [reapply] what has been applied and fallen off; // 9

nor [apply] what is stale, nor retain it while it is drying out; / one should neglect a poultice that is drying out with regard to pressing. // 10

Nor should one plaster over the opening, so that the doṣa drains out. / Hard oedemas of mild pain [should be treated] with unctuous substances that remove vāta and kapha: // 11

having anointed them and fomented them with a bamboo pipe, then gently / one should rub them with the palm or the thumb in order to soften them. // 12

A discerning physician should perform blood-letting at the very beginning / when an oedema is large and fixed, and when an ulcer is painful. // 13

Even that oedema which does not subside through pastes, fomentations, affusions, and lightening therapy / quickly reaches destruction through blood-letting. // 14

All treatments on the one side, and blood-letting on the other: / for blood becomes excessively sour; if it is not present, neither is pain. // 15

If an oedema treated in this way does not subside, / incision of it, once ripened by poultices, is said to be beneficial. // 16

A ball of roasted grain flour mixed with oil, clarified butter, or both, / pleasantly warm, is praised as a poultice for ripening an oedema. // 17

A ball of roasted grain flour with sesame, linseed, and sour curd, / with yeast, kuṣṭha, and salt, is praised for poulticing. // 18

For children, the elderly, the intolerant, the emaciated, the timid, and women, / and when a severe, ripened oedema arises over a vital point, / one should plaster ox-tooth rubbed in water to the size of a bindu. // 19

And in an extremely hard oedema, ripening and burst-causing [is achieved] / by application of the ashes of sloughed snake-skin mixed with mustard oil. // 20

The accumulation of a cervical gland subsides; its aggravation bursts open swiftly / [with] cirabilva, agnika, dantī, citraka, hayamāraka, // 21

and the dung of pigeons, kanka-vultures, and vultures as a tearing agent; / or whichever are caustic substances—or caustic alkali is an excellent tearing agent. // 22

Bark and roots of mucilaginous substances, however, are compressing agents, / as well as flours of barley, wheat, and māṣa, in brief. // 23

Then washing [is done with] a decoction made from leaves of paṭolī and nimba / when it is unpurified; and when it is purified, [with one] produced from the bark of nyagrodha and others. // 24

The two pañcamūlas [should be used] in vāta, the nyagrodhādi [group] in paittika [conditions], / and the āragvadhādi [group] is to be employed in kapha-born [conditions] in all operations. // 25

Sesame paste with salt, the two haridrās, trivṛt, clarified butter, / madhuka, and nimba leaves: this paste is a cleanser of ulcers. // 26

Nimba leaf, sesame, dantī, trivṛt, rock salt, and honey:

this paste that alleviates corrupted ulcers is the lion of cleansers. // 27

Or śārivā root alone cleanses all ulcers. / Paṭola, sesame, that called yaṣṭī, trivṛt, dantī, that called niśā, // 28

and nimba leaves, applied as a paste with salt, cleanse ulcers. / Triphalā, khadira, dārvī, nyagrodha and others, balā, kuśa, // 29

and leaves of nimba and kolaka: this decoction is beneficial for cleansing. / By this, in those whose putrid flesh does not heal the flesh-site, // 30

a healing paste of sesame combined with madhuka should be made; / but combined with nimba leaves and honey, it is regarded as cleansing. // 31

Combined with the former two or with clarified butter, it also causes healing. / A paste made of nimba leaves and sesame with honey is a wound-cleanser; / combined with clarified butter, it is a healer; this same rule also applies to a barley paste. // 32

A wick combined with nimba leaves, clarified butter, honey, dārvī, and madhuka, / or a paste of sesame seeds, cleanses and heals an ulcer. // 33

A paste of saptadala latex / pacifies a corrupted ulcer by application; / śarapuṅkhā combined with honey / is declared to heal all ulcers. // 34

One should apply a human skull / or that [human] bone [ground] with urine: / this heals wounds / that are incurable even by a hundred recipes. // 35

One should cleanse narrow-mouthed ulcers situated on vital points and joints with a wick [made] / with abhayā, trivṛt, dantī, lāṅgalī, honey, and rock salt. // 36

Suṣavī leaves, pattūra, karṇamoṭa, and kuṭheraka: / these individually, applied as a paste, heal deep ulcers. // 37

Or with powders of the five barks together with pearl-oyster shell powder, / or with dhātakī powder and lodhra, those ulcers likewise heal. // 38

For those ulcers with burning sensation and pain in which vāta is predominant, / sesame seeds roasted and extinguished in milk, // 39

ground with that very milk, the physician should apply as a paste. / Those [ulcers] affected by vāta and the like, discharging and severely painful, he should fumigate // 40

with barley, clarified butter, bhūrja, madana, śrīveṣṭaka, and that called surā; / fumigated with śrīvāsa, guggulu, aguru, and resin of śāla, // 41

ulcers attain hardness and severe pains disappear. // 42

Sesame, milk, sugar, honey, oil, madhuka, and candana / extinguish an ulcer's oedema, pain, burning sensation, and blood by [their] paste. // 43

The physician should properly apply applications and other measures that pacify pitta-abscess and erysipelas to a wound caused by fire-burn. // 44

An application of the root of mahārāṣṭrī, dusting with burnt and powdered [material], / and powder made from the thatch of an old house are considered beneficial for a burn wound. // 45

Clarified butter [boiled with] a paste of jīvaka and then / mixed with beeswax and sarjarasa takes away / the suffering of one burned by fire in half a moment by anointing. // 46

Antardagdhakuṭhāraka destroys a wound born of fire by application; / so too powder made from the dried bark of aśvattha by dusting [it]; / all [burn-wounds] are destroyed by oil cooked with earthworms through anointing; / and likewise water-sand ground with cotton from the silk-cotton tree by application. // 47

The physician should irrigate an acutely inflicted, painful wound / with clarified butter [mixed] with a paste of yaṣṭīmadhuka, slightly warm. // 48

Recognising an exogenous wound, the physician should administer clarified butter combined with honey / and cooling treatment that destroys the heat of pitta and blood. // 49

Betel nut alone, finely ground with cow's clarified butter, / constantly pacifies an exogenously arisen wound by application; of this there is no doubt. // 50

Or, irrigated with the juice arisen from the leaves of apāmārga, / the blood actively flowing in fresh wounds is immediately arrested. // 51

Filled with camphor, bound, and [applied] with clarified butter, / a fresh weapon-wound in men heals up, devoid of pain and suppuration. // 52

Śarapuṅkhā, kākajaṅghā, the dung of a newly-delivered buffalo cow, / and lajjā individually destroy a fresh wound. // 53

Powder prepared from dog's tongue promotes healing of fresh wounds; / oil from an oil-press is considered pre-eminent for healing in a lacerated or punctured wound. // 54

Having caused [the patient] to consume barley-alkali, one should place a bolus of the root of śṛṅgālakoli over the wound; / an embedded foreign body will come out. // 55

Or by an application of the root of lāṅgalī, and likewise from the root of gavākṣī. / To restrain the heat of an injury that has spread at that moment, // 56

Astringent, cold, sweet, and unctuous applications and the like are beneficial. / When blood is situated in the stomach, emesis is declared wholesome; // 57

And when it is situated in the large intestine, purgation should be administered without doubt. / A decoction prepared from bamboo bark, eraṇḍa, śvadaṃṣṭrā, and aśmabhid, // 58

Drunk with asafoetida and rock-salt, drains blood situated in the alimentary tract. / And with the un-unctuous soup of barley, jujube, and kulattha, // 59

One should eat food or drink thick gruel combined with rock-salt. / Where blood flows excessively, which is generally observed, // 60

And vāta is provoked due to loss of blood, causing severe pain, / then drinking unctuous substances, irrigation, unctuous plaster, and poultice, // 61

And an unctuous enema prepared with vāta-pacifying medicaments should be administered. / Thus is declared the seven-day regimen beneficial for a fresh wound. // 62

Beyond seven days, one should perform the treatment as for an endogenous wound. / The juice of karañja, ariṣṭa, and nirguṇḍī destroys wound-worms. // 63

By filling with the split-leaves of kalāya and the stone of koṣāmra, / irrigation with the decoction of the surasādi group, or application of its fresh juice, // 64

Nimba, sampāka, jātī, arka, saptaparṇa, and aśvamāraka / combined with cow's urine destroy worms through irrigation, plastering, and washing. // 65

Or having washed, one should remove worms from wounds with a lump of meat, / or one should apply an application with garlic that destroys worms. // 66

Those large wounds that have moisture, suppuration, discharge, and foul smell, / accompanied by pain and accompanied by oedema, / go to pacification through the decoction of triphalā drunk mixed with guggulu. // 67

Guggulu combined with the powder of triphalā and made into pills / is unrestrained [by strict dietary rules], destroys constipation, and purifies and heals wounds. // 68

Amṛtāguggulu is praised, and vajraka oil is beneficial. / Powder of viḍaṅga, triphalā, and tryūṣaṇa equal to guggulu, // 69

Made into pills with clarified butter, or eaten by one who observes a wholesome diet, / cures vicious wounds, cervical lymphadenitis, urinary disorders, skin diseases, and sinus wounds. // 70

The powder of equal parts of amṛtā, paṭola root, / triphalā, trikaṭu, and krimighna, / with an amount of guggulu equal to the whole: // 71

One should eat [a pill] measuring an akṣa every day / to conquer wounds, vātarakta, / abdominal lumps, abdominal diseases, oedema diseases, and the like. // 72

Clarified butter prepared with equal parts of the leaves of jātī, nimba, and paṭola, kaṭukā, dārvī, turmeric, śārivā, / mañjiṣṭhā, abhayā, blue vitriol, beeswax, madhuka, and seeds of karañja: / by this, narrow-mouthed wounds located in vital spots, discharging, / deep, painful, and with sinuses dry up and heal. // 73

Gaurī, turmeric, mañjiṣṭhā, māṃsī, and madhuka, / prapauṇḍarīka, hrībera, bhadramusta, along with sandalwood, // 74

Jātī, nimba, paṭola, karañja, kaṭurohiṇī, / beeswax, together with madhuka, and likewise mahāmedā: // 75

One should cook a prastha of clarified butter with the decoction of the five barks. / This Gauraghṛta of great potency purifies all wounds. // 76

Exogenous, congenital, and chronic wounds, / and even an irregular sinus, it quickly purifies. // 77

Gaurādya oil and jātikādya oil are prepared in this manner. / Oil [is indicated] in a narrow-mouthed, vicious, and deep wound. // 78

The leaves and fruits of karañja and varuṇa, / and the leaves of jasmine, and likewise of paṭola and nimba, // 79

The two turmerics, beeswax, madhuka, tiktarohiṇī, / mañjiṣṭhā, sandalwood, uśīra, blue lotus, the two śārivās, and trivṛt: / with one-karṣa parts of these, one should cook a prastha of clarified butter. // 80

Karañjādya [ghṛta] is praised here for pacifying vicious wounds, / as well as purifying sinuses and fresh incised wounds. // 81

Clarified butter boiled with prapauṇḍarīka, mañjiṣṭhā, madhuka, uśīra, and padmaka, / along with turmeric and milk, heals wounds. // 82

One should cook a wound-healing clarified butter with kaṭurohiṇī, beeswax, turmeric, yaṣṭīmadhuka, fruits and sprouts of karañja, / and leaves of paṭola, jasmine, and nimba. // 83

Oil thoroughly cooked with a paste of red lead, kuṣṭha, aconite, asafoetida, garlic, citraka, / the root of bāṇa, and lāṅgalikā, / whose foam is dispersed by blowing accompanied by the prāsāda-mantra, / pacifies vicious wounds; [this is] Viparītamalla. // 84

Sword wounds, large cervical lymphadenitis, major venereal chancre, / sinus ulcers, ulcers, eczema, skin disease, and scabies— / these are destroyed by the oil named Viparītamalla, / for one who sleeps, sits, and eats as he pleases.

One should boil one hundred palas of kuṭhāraka in water [measuring] a drona; / with that reduced to a quarter, one should cook a prastha of oil,

with pastes of kuṭhāra, apāmārga, proṣṭhikā, together with mākṣika.

Prapauṇḍarīka, madhuka, both kinds of kākolī, and sandalwood: / oil prepared with equal parts of these is supreme for healing wounds.

Or oil prepared with the fresh juice of dūrvā and with kampillaka / and paste of the bark of dārvī is foremost for healing wounds.

By whichever procedure oil [is prepared], one should prepare clarified butter by the very same procedure; / knowing [the condition] to have a predominance of blood and pitta, one should cook only clarified butter.

Having ground mañjiṣṭhā, sandalwood, and mūrvā, one should cook clarified butter; / this is desired as the healer for all burns caused by fire.

Mustard oil prepared with the decoction and paste of pāṭalī / destroys pain, discharge, burning sensation, and blisters of burn-wounds.

Sandalwood, shoot of the banyan tree, mañjiṣṭhā, and madhuka, / prapauṇḍarīka, mūrvā, pataṅga, and dhātakī—

with these, oil along with clarified butter and milk should be cooked; / it is desired for wounds caused by fire, supreme for healing through inunction.

Realgar, orpiment, mañjiṣṭhā, along with lac and the two kinds of turmeric: / this plaster, combined with clarified butter and honey, is supreme for purifying the skin.

Iron dust with green vitriol and triphalā flowers: / all of this as a plaster produces blackness on newly formed skin.

With kālīyaka, latā, bone of mango, iron, kālā, and mercury, / an application along with cow dung juice is supreme for restoring the natural colour.

With the ash of the skin, hair, hooves, horns, and bones of quadrupeds, / the surface, smeared with oil and dusted [with this powder], becomes hairy again. / Or the physician should conquer a nodule of an ulcer like a nodular growth, or with caustic alkali.