A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.423

v1.c23.423

Its subjects are: the two groups of poisonous substances: sthāvara and jaṅgama (of animal origin); the sources (adhiṣṭhāna) of the first group are ten, those of the second group sixteen in number (2.3); the ten sources of sthāvara poisons are: roots, leaves, fruits, flowers, barks, milky juices (kṣīra), piths (sāra), gums and resins (niryāsa), inorganic substances (dhātu), and bulbs and tubers (kanda) (2.4); the poisonous roots, eight in number, are those of klītaka, aśvamāra, guñjā, sugandha, gargaraka,28 karaghāṭa, vidyucchikā, and vijayā; the five plants with poisonous leaves are viṣapattrikā, lambā, (a)varadāru, karambha, and mahākarambha; the twelve plants with poisonous fruits are kumudvatī, veṇukā, karambha, mahākarambha, karkoṭaka, reṇuka, khadyotaka, carmarī, ibhagandhā, sarpaghātin, nandana, and sārapāka; the five plants with poisonous flowers are vetra, kadamba, vallīja, karambha and mahākarambha; the seven plants with a poisonous bark, pith or gum are antrapācaka, kartarīya, saurīyaka, karaghāṭa, karambha, nandana, and nārācaka;29 the three plants with a poisonous milky juice are kumudaghnī, snuhī and jālakṣīrī; the two mineral poisons are phenāśman and haritāla; the thirteen plants with poisonous bulbs or tubers are kālakūṭa,30 vatsanābha, sarṣapa, pālaka, kardamaka, vairāṭaka, mustaka, śṛṅgīviṣa, prapuṇḍarīka, mūlaka, hālāhala,31 mahāviṣa, and karkaṭaka;32 the total number of sthāvara poisons are fifty-five (2.5); the general symptoms caused by each of the first nine types of sthāvara poisons (2.7–10); after some time, all these poisons prove to be fatal (2.11ab);33 the poisons of bulbs and tubers have a strong action; the symptoms caused by each of the thirteen plants belonging to this group (2.11cd–18ab); the ten properties they have in common: rūkṣa, uṣṇa, tīkṣṇa, sūkṣma, āśu, vyavāyin, vikāśin, viśada, laghu, and apākin (indigestible) (2.18cd–20ab);34 the effects of these properties (2.20cd–23);35 any poison, whether sthāvara, jaṅgama or kṛtrima (artificial), which is instantaneously fatal, should be known as possessing the ten (mentioned) properties (2.24); any poison, not fully eliminated from the body, present within the system for a long time (jīrṇa), enfeebled by the action of antidotes, desiccated by the action of fire, wind or sun, or naturally lacking part of the properties of a poison, is designated as dūṣīviṣa;³⁶ dūṣīviṣa ceases to be fatal owing to the weakness of its potency, and is, covered by kapha, retained for a long time (2.25–26);³⁷ the general symptoms caused by dūṣīviṣa (2.27);³⁸ the actions on the doṣas and dhātus of dūṣīviṣa when lodged in āmāśaya, pakvāśaya or one or more of the dhātus (2.28–29ab);³⁹ the symptoms flare up by exposure to cold, wind and bad weather (durdina) (2.29cd);⁴⁰ the prodromes of poisoning by dūṣīviṣa (2.30ab); the symptoms and disorders caused by dūṣīviṣa (2.30cd–32);⁴¹ the derivation of the term dūṣīviṣa (2.33);⁴² the signs characteristic of the seven stages (vega) of poisoning by a sthāvara substance (2.34–39);⁴³ treatment during each of these stages (2.40–43);⁴⁴ general measures in cases of poisoning (2.44–46); the preparation of ajeyaghṛta, which counteracts all poisons (2.47–49); the antidote (agada) called dūṣīviṣāri; the preliminary treatment of the patient and the preparation of this drug (2.50–52); complications that may arise in poisoning; their treatment (2.53–54); (the disorders caused by) dūṣīviṣa are curable in self-possessed patients and when they are of recent origin; cases of more than one year's standing are generally palliable, but become incurable when the patient has become weak and leads an unhealthy life (2.55).