A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.161

v1.c23.161

Others again reject this claim and regard potency (vīrya) as pre-eminent, adducing as an argument that it is the power (vaśa) of potency which brings about the actions of drugs (karmaniṣpatti);³⁹⁴ this potency is of two kinds: hot (uṣṇa) and cold (śīta), in conformity with the agnīṣomīyatva³⁹⁵ of the universe; some acknowledge the existence of eight kinds of vīrya: cold, hot, oleaginous (snigdha), dry (rūkṣa), clear (viśada), mucilaginous (picchila), mild (mṛdu), and sharp (tīkṣṇa);³⁹⁶ vīrya, due to the superiority (utkarṣa) of its inherent power, overcomes rasa;³⁹⁷ this is illustrated by a series of specific examples (40.5)³⁹⁸ and some rules of a more general nature (40.6–8).