A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.419

Language: English

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The subjects dealt with are: the five types of fumigation and smoking: prāyogika (for regular use in the healthy), snaihika (oleaginous), vairecanika (evacuative), kāsaghna (antitussive), and vāmanīya (emetic) (40.3); ⁴²² the preparation of the wick (varti) for these fumigations; the materials and drugs to be employed (40.4); ⁴²³ the materials for the pipe (dhūmanetra) for fumigation and smoking; the measurements of the pipe, dependent on the type of fumigation; 424 the vraṇanetra (used for fumigating a sore), its length and girth, the width of the orifice (40.5); the ways of inhaling and exhaling the smoke through mouth and nose, dependent on the type of fumigation (40.6–9); 425 special rules regarding the wick in the various types of fumigation (40.10); contra-indications for fumigation and smoking (40.11); 426 disorders resulting from smoking at improper hours (40.12); 427 the twelve occasions on which the first three types of inhaling smoke may be practised; the occasions most suitable to the use of the snaihika, vairecanika and prāyogika types (40.13); 428 the effects on the doṣas of these three types (40.14); the beneficial effects of fumigation and smoking (40.15); 429 the disorders warded off (40.16); 430 the features of adequate, inadequate and excessive application (40.17); 431 rules regarding the number of times the smoke should be inhaled in the prāyogika type;

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the treatment with the snaihika type should be continued until tears begin to flow, the vairecanika type until the doṣas are eliminated; rules regarding the vāmanīya and kāsaghna types (40.18); 432 the fumigation of sores (40.19); an errhine (nasya) is a (powdered) drug or a medicated fatty substance (sneha), administered through the nostrils; it is of two main types: śirovirecana (evacuative with regard to the head) and snehana (oleating); five varieties are distinguished: nasya, śirovirecana, pratimārśa, avapīḍa, and pradhamana; nasya and śirovirecana are the most important varieties; pratimārśa is a special form of nasya; avapīḍa and pradhamana are special forms of śirovirecana; the term nasya covers all five varieties (40.21); 433 the preparation of a nasya and a śirovirecana, their indications, and the times of their administration (40.22–24); 434 the technique of administering a śirovirecana errhine and the rules to be observed by the patient (40.25–27); 435 the administration of a snehana errhine, which should not be retained and swallowed, but spit out; the minimum dose is eight drops, the intermediate dose a śukti, 436 the maximum dose a pāṇiśukti 437 (40.28–30); after-treatment; things to be avoided by the patient (40.31); the signs of adequate, deficient and excessive administration of a snehana errhine (40.32–35); the proper doses of a śirovirecana errhine are four, six or eight drops, dependent on the strength of the patient;

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the signs of adequate, deficient and excessive treatment (40.36–41); an errhine (nasya) should be used on alternate days or every third day, either for a week or three weeks, or as long as necessary (40.42); a patient overwhelmed by vāta should be treated with a nasya twice daily (40.43); 438 rules for the preparation, the administration, and the indications of an avapīḍa (40.44); 439 śirovirecana in particular groups of patients (40.45); powdered drugs (cūrṇa) should be used for pradhamana; indications for this treatment (40.46); 440 contra-indications for the treatment with errhines (40.47); 441 disorders due to an improper administration of errhines; these disorders are caused by aggravation (utkleśa) or decrease (kṣaya) of the doṣas; the treatment of the disorders (40.48–50); the fourteen occasions suitable to the use of a pratimārśa (40.51); the beneficial effects on each of these occasions (40.52); the correct dose of medicated oil for a pratimārśa is that which, when snuffed, just reaches the oral cavity (40.53); beneficial effects of the treatment with an errhine (40.54–55); oil should be used as the vehiculum of an errhine in disorders caused by a combination of kapha and vāta, fat (vasā) in vāta disorders, ghee in pitta disorders, bone marrow in disorders by a combination of pitta and vāta; oil, however, may be used in all cases since it does not disagree with the seat of kapha involved (i.e., the head) (40.56–57);

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gargles (kavala)⁴⁴² are of four types: snehin (oleating), prasādin (soothing), śodhin (purifying), and ropaṇa (promoting the healing of sores) (40.58); these should be used in disorders due to vāta, pitta, or kapha, and when sores are present in the oral cavity (40.59–60); the preparation of a gargle; the preparation of the patient (49.61); when the quantity of fluid can easily be moved about in the mouth it is called a kavala; when this is difficult, it is called a gaṇḍūṣa (50.62); both should be kept in the mouth until the cheeks are full of doṣas, and both nostrils and eyes begin to secrete a watery fluid; it should then be expelled and a fresh dose taken again (40.63); the fluids that may be employed (40.64); the signs of proper, deficient and excessive treatment (50.65–67); the treatment of a burning sensation in the mouth due to over-dosage (40.68); the remedy called pratisāraṇa⁴⁴³ may be prepared with a kalka (paste), rasakriyā (inspissated juice), with honey as the vehiculum, and with a cūrṇa (powdered drug) (40.69); it is used in diseases of the mouth and should be applied with the tip of a finger; the signs of deficient and excessive treatment are like those of a kavala; pratisāraṇa cures the same diseases as kavala; a particular dietary regimen should be observed during the treatment (40.70–71).