The Bower Manuscript 12

English (machine translation) 12

Language: English

12.305

It prolongs life, confers strength, cures cough and asthma, / and removes all diseases: this balā-oil should be administered. // 286 // Balā-oil, 7 verses.
The truthful twin deities the Aśvins, physicians worshipped by the gods, / proclaimed this supreme oil that promotes nourishment, // 287
that soothes all diseases, is fit for a king, and resembles nectar. / Celebrated under the name Amṛta, this oil gives strength to mortals. // 288
One should gather licorice grown in fertile soil after performing auspicious rites, / in the Puṣya constellation, self-restrained, having briefly had brahmins pronounce blessings. // 289
The wise man should extract four pātra measures of its fresh juice. / Prapauṇḍarīka, amṛtā, lotus roots, śatāvarī, // 290
śṛṅgāṭaka, āmalakī, udumbara, kaśeruka, / and separately the bark of each of the milk-bearing trees, // 291
roots of kuśa, kāśa, and sugarcane, as well as of śara and vīraṇa, / roots of gundrā and naḍikā, kroñcā, adas, // 292
vadarī, vidārī, vetasa, and vāsā, / nimba, śālmali, dates, coconuts, priyaṅgu, // 293
paṭola, kuṭaja, grapes, sandalwood together with lotus stalks, / kakubha, aśvakarṇa, lāmajjaka, dhanañjaya, // 294
and whatever bitter, sweet, and cooling herbs are available, / in portions of four palas each, should be boiled in two droṇas of water. // 295
When the liquid is reduced to one-eighth, he should cook it with the following pastes: / balā, nāgabalā, jīvā, ātmaguptā, kaśerukā, // 296
nata, rasa, spṛkkā, fine cardamom, cinnamon, / jīvaka, ṛṣabhaka, the two medās, licorice, blue lotus, // 297
saffron that gives complexion, aloe-wood, cassia leaves, / vidārī, kṣīrakākolī, vīrā, śārivā, // 298
śatāvarī, priyaṅgu, guḍūcī, lotus stamens, / lāmajjaka, sandalwood, and fruits of rājādana; // 299
pearls, coral, conch-shell, moonstone, lapis lazuli, / crystal, silver, gold, and other gems and pearls; // 300
and one pala each of licorice, mañjiṣṭhā, and the two aṃśumatīs. / Having finely ground these, he should slowly cook them over a gentle fire: // 301
four pātras of sesame oil, eight times as much milk as sesame oil, / and half as much sour gruel as milk the physician should add. // 302
It may be boiled a hundred or even a thousand times. / This is the mark of its being properly prepared: // 303
it is stirred with the hand alone when the sun has risen. / Having had the twice-born pronounce blessings, self-restrained and performing auspicious rites, // 304
he should apply this Amṛta oil, worshipped by the gods, / by means of non-retention and cleansing enemas, drinks, errhines, and massages. // 305

12.307

It soothes all diseases and imparts strength to the sense faculties. / For those beset with burning sensation and morbid thirst, it is the best, auspicious ointment. // 306
It brings about youthfulness in the aged and bodily growth in children; / it produces beauty and favor among women, and abundant offspring. // 307

12.309

Women also conceive offspring through the use of Amṛta; / for the eighty diseases born of the wind humour, and those born of blood and of the bile humour, // 308
those born of the phlegm humour, and all those arising from a combination of the three humours, it cures completely. / By its use as an errhine, vision like that of Garuḍa is attained, as also from massage. // 309

12.314

It dispels sin, destroys misfortune, and increases fortune alone. / By the use of this oil, the great seer Cyavana, as they say, // 310
regained youthfulness, freed from old age and disease. / And the venerable great seer Mārkaṇḍeya, desiring long life, // 311
employing this oil, obtained a long lifespan. // Amṛtataila, 25 verses.
One āḍhaka of juice from leafless and tender radishes, // 312
and one āḍhaka each of curd, sour gruel, and milk, / combined with an āḍhaka of sesame oil, he should cook over a gentle fire // 313
with a paste of rāsnā, balā, gokṣura, rock-salt, śigru, sweet flag, / citraka, dry ginger, long pepper, and gajapippalī, // 314

12.319

bhallātaka, and prativiṣā. / They praise this oil of radishes as beneficial to mortals // 315
in stiffness of the thighs, pain in the hips, sciatica, and apoplexy. / A barren woman also conceives, and it removes misfortune. // 316
Enlargement of the scrotum, testicular colic, and stiffness or laxity of the joints— / drinking radish-oil controls these diseases, // 317
just as a goad, raised by a skilled rider, restrains a rutting elephant. // 318 // Radish-oil, 6 verses.
Of curd, fermented sour rice-water, water boiled with meat, sugarcane juice, radish juice, / sesame oil, and jujube decoction, one should take one prastha measure each. // 319

12.p6

He should take equal portions of rāsnā, balā, aśvagandhā, licorice, ginger, and deodar, / with syonāka as the seventh. // 320
This recipe, like nectar itself, should be cooked slowly over a fire of cow dung. / Taken off [the fire], it should be preserved and used as appropriate. // 321
They say this may be taken with food, administered as an errhine, and given in enemas; / it should be given in abdominal enlargements due to the humours, and as an ointment in rheumatic disorders of the limbs. // 322
In sciatica, phantom tumor due to the wind humour, disorders of the female genital tract, and downwards-directed wind humour, / this is suitable in colic, and is likewise prescribed in enlargement of the spleen. // 323
This rejuvenator, composed by Vāḍvali, is called Radish-oil; / and for men troubled by impaired virility,

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Bower Manuscript — Sanskrit