A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c25.826

v1.c25.826

The first part of this chapter deals with: the characteristics of the type of country and soil most suitable to the collection of medicinal substances (bhūmiparīkṣā) (8.2);⁸⁶ the characteristics of areas with a predominance of one of the five mahābhūtas;⁸⁷ areas with a predominance of water and earth produce substances suitable to purgation and bṛmhaṇa; emetics are found in areas with a predominance of fire, air and ākāśa; areas possessing qualities of all five mahābhūtas produce substances acting in both ways; appeasing (śamana) drugs are found in areas with a predominance of ākāśa (8.3);⁸⁸ the characteristics of plants suitable to be collected;⁸⁹ the seasons for the collection of particular plant parts (8.4);⁹⁰ a divergent opinion on this subject: saumya plants are to be collected in saumya seasons, āgneya plants in āgneya seasons (8.5);⁹¹ the way medicinal plants ought to be collected; ritual prescriptions; the preservation of the drugs (8.6);⁹² preparations with milk should not be preserved for longer than a year;⁹³ preparations containing pippalī, viḍaṅga, guḍa, honey or ghee should be used when old⁹⁴ (8.7).