A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c15.24

v1.c15.24

In the heart are established, like the spokes (ara) in the nave (nābhi) of a wheel, the ten dhamanīs,65 prāṇa and apāna,66 manas, buddhi, cetanā, and the mahābhūtas.67 In the head are located, as the rays of the sun, the senses and the channels carrying the (impressions of) the senses and the prāṇas. The bladder, situated in the midst of sthūlaguda (rectum), muṣkasevanī (the raphe of the perineum) and the tubes (nāḍī) transporting semen and urine, is the container (ādhāra) for the urine and the resort (pratiṣṭhā) of all the channels transporting the watery element, as the sea is the resort for all the rivers. The body is pervaded, like the sky by the rays of the sun, by numerous channels, known as marman, which are rooted in these (three vital organs). The latter should therefore be duly protected from external injury and the doṣas (9.4–5).