A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c10.1

v1.c10.1

Chapter one, called rasavimāna,¹ deals with: the subjects of the Vimānasthāna (1.3); the roles of the tastes in substances and of the doṣas in disorders (vikāra); the connections between tastes and doṣas; the analysis of the roles played by tastes and doṣas in complex substances and disorders, in which their effects agree with their properties and actions (1.4–9); cases, where this analysis cannot be carried out, because the effects disagree with the properties and actions of the tastes and doṣas involved; substances and disorders of this type exhibit a specific action proper to aggregates (samudāyaprabhāva), due to their being vikṛtiviṣamasamaveta; this specific action (prabhāva) is of various types: rasa-, dravya-, doṣa- and vikāraprabhāva; these concepts are discussed and many examples are given (1.10–18);² sātmya (individual suitability), a concept linked to prabhāva (1.19–20);³ the eight factors involved in diet (āhāravidhi-viśeṣāyatana): the nature (prakṛti, svabhāva) of an article of food or a drug, its processing (karaṇa, abhisamskāra),⁴ the combination (samyoga) of substances, their quantity (rāśi), place (deśa),⁵ and time (kāla), rules concerning diet (upayogasamsthā), and the consumer (upayoktar) (1.21–22);⁶ rules concerning diet (1.23–25).