A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.351

v1.c23.351

The extraction of a śalya consisting of a malpresenting foetus is the most difficult (of all kinds of removal of a śalya), because it has to be carried out manually in the region of the female genitals, liver, spleen, intestines and uterus. All the manipulations have to be performed with one hand only, while avoiding injury to the foetus and the pregnant woman. These manipulations consist of pushing upwards (utkarṣaṇa), pulling downwards (apakarṣaṇa), version (sthānāpavartana), cutting up (utkartana), incision (bhedana), excision (chedana), pressure (pīḍana), straightening (rjūkaraṇa), and tearing apart (dāraṇa). Therefore, after due permission from the king, 152 all these procedures should be carried out with the utmost care (15.3).