A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c25.228

v1.c25.228

These three measures are of an external (bāhya) or internal (ābhyantara) kind. External apakarṣaṇa (removal) is carried out, in a number of diseases, by means of sharp instruments, blunt instruments, or the hands, internal apakarṣaṇa by means of emesis, purgation, etc. 432 Prakṛtivighāta is the same as saṃśamana; 433 the items belonging to the external kind are enumerated; 434 the internal kind is defined. 435 Nidānatyāga (avoidance of aetiological factors) consists of the abstinence from particular foods and activities, dependent on the doṣa involved. Surgical treatment may be followed by treatment with drugs, but a disease that is curable by surgical intervention ought not to be treated with drugs (12.4).