The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c8.112

c8.112

¹ *Nid.*, XI, 8,9: *hanvasthikakṣākṣakabāhusandhimanyāgaleṣūpacitam tu medas|granthim sthiram vṛttam athāyatam vā snigdham kaphaś cālparujam karoti||8|| tam granthibhistvāmalakāsthimātrair matsyāṇḍajālapratimais 1athānyaih| ananyavarṇair upacīyamānam cayaprakarṣād apacīm vadanti||9||* *snigdha*, literally "greasy" is the opposite of *sthira*, "hard", and designates evidently the adenopathies tending towards fluctuosity. The etymology given by Suśruta has a play on the word *upacīyamana* and the use of *caya* helps to show that *apaci* is considered as a derivative of the root *ci*, "to gather"; but habitually this root with the preposition *apa* signifies "to diminish"; it is with *upa* that it signifies "to grow".