A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.334

v1.c23.334

Its subjects are: the aetiology of kuṣṭha (9.3);¹⁰³ articles of diet, dietary habits and patterns of behaviour which are harmful to patients suffering from kuṣṭha (9.4); articles of diet and some medicinal preparations which are beneficial (9.5);¹⁰⁴ the general management of kuṣṭha in the prodromal stage and in those stages where the first to the fourth elements of the body are affected; kuṣṭha is incurable when the fifth element has become involved (9.6); medicated ghees and oils to be prescribed in kuṣṭha with a predominance of vāta, pitta or kapha; tuvaraka¹⁰⁵ or bhallātaka oil may be used in kuṣṭha of all types (9.7); the preparation of mahātiktakaghṛta¹⁰⁶ and its indications (9.8); the preparation of tiktakaghṛta¹⁰⁷ and its indications (9.9); after oleation and sudation of the patient with one of these ghees (i.e., mahātiktaka or tiktaka), the physician should perform phlebotomy and open one up to five sirās; the raised (utsanna), round patches (maṇḍala) (of kuṣṭha) should be scraped or scarified many times; subsequently, a paste should be applied;¹⁰⁸ seven different pastes are described (9.10–11ab);¹⁰⁹ recipes for preparations to be applied locally in cases of dadru (9.12–14) and śvitra¹¹⁰ (9.15–22);¹¹¹ various preparations against kilāsa and śvitra (9.23–29ab); the preparation, uses and indications of nīlaghṛta (9.29cd–33)¹¹² and mahānīlaghṛta (9.34–38);¹¹³ some prescriptions against śvitra and other disorders (9.39–40); procedures which remove the doṣas in cases of kuṣṭha, and prevent that the disease becomes incurable; the intervals for repeating these procedures (9.41–43); various prescriptions against kuṣṭha (9.44–50); medicinal preparations which are useful in threatening loss of body parts or when living organisms are present in the lesions; in general, the inflamed and ulcerating lesions of kuṣṭha should be treated in the same way as duṣṭavraṇa¹¹⁴ (9.51–53); the recipes of vajrakataila¹¹⁵ and mahāvajrakataila, useful against kuṣṭha, duṣṭavraṇa, and some other disorders (9.54–64ab); a useful oil (9.64cd–66ab); some preparations with khadira (9.66cd–67ab); some other preparations (9.67cd–68ab); the usefulness of daily purgation (9.68c-f); further recipes (9.69–71); general recommendations for kuṣṭha patients (9.72).