A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.438.1

v1.c23.438.1

The subjects dealt with are:¹² the measurements of the eyeball¹³ (nayanabubuda); it is two aṅgula in depth (bāhulya),¹⁴ or as deep as the udara of one’s own thumb;¹⁵ it is two aṅgula and a half on all sides (sarvataḥ)¹⁶ (1.10); the eyeball is perfectly globular (suvṛtta), resembles the teat of a cow, and originates from all the (mahā)bhūtas; the muscular tissue (pala) derives from earth, the blood from fire, the black portion from air (vāta), the white portion from water, and the channels for the tears (aśrumārga) from ākāśa (1.11–12ab); the black circular portion (kṛṣṇamaṇḍala) is said to measure one-third of the height (āyāma)¹⁷ of the eyeball; the pupil (dṛṣṭi) is said to measure one-seventh of the black portion (1.12cd–13);¹⁸ the eye consists of maṇḍalas, sandhis and paṭalas, which are five, six and six in number respectively (1.14);¹⁹ the maṇḍalas (circular structures) are successively, when moving from the periphery towards the central part:²⁰ pakṣmamaṇḍala (the eyelashes), vartmamaṇḍala (the eyelids), śvetamaṇḍala (the white part),²¹ kṛṣṇamaṇḍala (the black part),²² and dṛṣṭimaṇḍala²³ (1.15);²⁴ the sandhis (junctures) are found between eyelashes and eyelids, eyelids and white part, white part and black part, black part and pupil, at the kanīnaka (inner canthus), and at the apāṅga (outer canthus) (1.16); two paṭalas (layers) are present in the eyelids; the other four in the eye itself are the seats of a very serious disease, called timira (1.17);