A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.146

Language: English

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are the trunk (antarādhi), lower extremities (sakthi), upper extremities (bāhu), and head; the subdivisions are the minor parts (pratyaṅga); the yardstick is (the breadth of) the patient’s own finger (aṅgula); the total length of the (male) human body is 120 aṅgula³⁴⁷ (35.12);³⁴⁸ the human male attains complete bodily maturity in his twenty-fifth, the female in her sixteenth year (35.13); those whose bodily measurements are in conformity with the standards are long-lived and acquire great wealth (vitta); the life expectancy and material welfare are moderate, respectively inferior, in those with medium or inferior proportions (35.14–15); the physical and mental characteristics of persons with a sattvasāra, śukrasāra, majjasāra, asthisāra, medaḥsāra, māṃsasāra, raktasāra, and tvaksāra; their life-expectancy and welfare (saubhāgya) decrease in the mentioned order (35.16);³⁴⁹ the classification of diseases into curable ones (sādhya), palliable ones (yāpya), and those to be rejected (for treatment) (pratyākhyeya); their classification into aupasargika, prākkevala and anyalakṣaṇa; an aupasargika disease is added to an already existing disease, has the same basis (mūla) as the primary one, and is called upadrava (complication); a prākkevala disease is devoid of prodromes and complications; an anyalakṣaṇa disease forecasts a future disease and consists of prodromes;

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an aupasargika disease needs a type of treatment that is not in disagreement with the primary one, or the complication should be treated first; a prākkevala disease should be treated on its own merits; an anyalakṣaṇa disease should be treated like the particular disease in this early stage of its development (35.18);³⁵⁰ any disease should be treated according to the doṣa(s) involved (35.19); treatment according to the seasons (35.20–22); the definition of correct treatment (35.23); the four types of digestive fire: unaffected by the doṣas (doṣānabhipanna) or affected by these; it is viṣama (irregular) when affected by vāta, tīkṣṇa (sharp) when affected by pitta, manda (sluggish) when affected by kapha; the characteristic features of these types and those of an excessively (burning) digestive fire (atyagni) (35.24);³⁵¹ a viṣama fire gives rise to vāta diseases, a tīkṣṇa fire to pitta diseases, a manda fire to kapha diseases (35.25); the treatment of disorders of the digestive fire (35.26); the divine nature of the digestive fire, its subtlety and invisibility; its is stirred up and protected by prāṇa, apāna and samāna (35.27–28); the stages of life (vayas) are youth (bālya), adulthood (madhya) and old age (vṛddha);³⁵² youth extends up to the sixteenth year of life; the young are classified into those drinking milk only (kṣīrapa), those both drinking milk and taking solid food (kṣīrannāda) and those taking solid food only (annāda);

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the first group consists of infants up to the end of the first year of life, the second group of those in their second year, the third of those who are older; adulthood is divided into four stages: growth (vṛddhi), up to twenty years, young adulthood (yauvana), up to thirty years, maturity (sampūrṇatā), up to forty years, and gradual deterioration (parihāni), up to seventy years; the signs of old age are described (35.29);³⁵³ the dosages of medicines should be increased progressively with the advance of age, but when deterioration is present, the dosages to be prescribed are the same as those in the first stage of life (35.30); kapha increases in the young, pitta in the adult, vāta in the elderly; this should be taken into consideration before beginning treatment; cauterization, treatment with caustics and purgatives should be general be avoided in the young and the elderly, but, when necessary, applied in a mild form (35.31–32); the general physique is obese (sthūla), lean (kṛśa), or average (madhya); this general physical type and a patient’s bodily strength (bala) or weakness are factors influencing treatment (35.33–36); characteristics of sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa individuals in relation to treatment (35.37–38); sātmya is defined; several types are mentioned: deśa-, kāla-, jāti-, ṛtu-, roga-, vyāyāma-, udaka-, divāsvapna-(day-sleep), rasasātmya, etc. (35.39–40);³⁵⁴ constitutions and drugs are topics to be discussed later on (35.41);

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the three types of country: ānūpa, jāṅgala and sādhāraṇa; their description and some rules concerning one’s residence (35.42–45);³⁵⁵ features which characterize easily curable (sukhasādhya) diseases, incurable ones and those which are difficult to cure (35.46–47); therapeutic procedures should be tried one after another and never simultaneously (35.48–49).