A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c23.66

v1.c23.66

The chapter opens with the formation of rasa (the nutrient fluid) from the ingested food; this rasa is the extremely subtle essence (sāra) derived from the food; its seat is the heart 145 and it is of a saumya character (14.3). 146 The watery rasa gets coloured by tejas¹⁴⁷ in liver and spleen (14.4–5). The rajas¹⁴⁸ of females is derived from the same rasa; it begins to appear at the age of twelve, ceases at the age of fifty, and is of an āgneya (fiery) nature (14.6–7).