The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c8.114

c8.114

The *Atharvaveda* (VII, 76, 2) localises them, as Suśruta, in the neck and in the armpits³ (*upakakṣyā* "which are under the wings", the translation of Whitney: "along the sides", faithfully follows the commentary and definitely gives the same sense), but he also places them in a region of the body, which is completely enigmatic, the *vijāman* intrepreted by the commentary, without mentioning the authority followed, as the region of genital organs (*guhya-pradeśa*). Probability would lead one to think of the inguinal regions, curiously omitted as the possible seat of *apaci* in Suśruta and it can only be a twin-organ, the exact sense being "twin". Two incantations against adenopathies distinguish a black adenopath, mother of the neighbouring adenopathies: "Of the red adenopathies, the black one is the mother, have we heard"⁴ and in VI, 83, 3, adenopathy is called “mother of the black one” (rāmāyaṇī). The notion of a nodule, different from others, accompanied by others only as we have just seen in Suśruta, is apparently based on the observation that in a case of adenopathy with multiple cells, one of these, more developed and generally older, is the first to turn itself into an abcess. A little before the rupture of the thinned skin, it takes on a purplish-blue tinge, gangrenous. In this really appears a blackish tumefaction in the centre of others, which are simply red. Suśruta specified that the nodules accompanying the principal one have the same colour. This difference with the Atharvaveda is easily explained by the fact that in the beginning it is as described by Suśruta, whereas the Atharvaveda considers it (in its incantations) in the period when they run or are about to do so.¹