A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c8.66

v1.c8.66

The remaining part of the chapter is devoted to threefold classifications: the three subordinate supports (of life) (upastambha), consisting of diet (āhāra), sleep (svapna) and celibacy (brahmacarya); 150 the three types of strength (bala): dependent on one’s constitution (sahaja), on time (kālaja) and one’s way of life (yuktikṛta); the three basic causes (āyatana) of diseases: unsuitable contact of the senses with their objects (asātmendriyārthasaṃyoga), behaviour based on errors in judgment (prajñāparādha), 151 and abnormal seasonal variations (pariṇāma); the three categories of diseases: endogenous (nija), exogenous (āgantu) 152 and mental (mānasa); the three pathways (mārga) of diseases: 153 the branches (śākhā), the vulnerable points (marman) together with the joints, and the viscera (koṣṭha), also called the peripheral (bāhya), middlemost (madhyama) and central (ābhyantara) pathway; 154 the three types of physicians: fraudulent ones (chadmacara), those imitating a physician’s behaviour (siddhasādhita, pratirūpaka), and the genuine ones; the three types of treatment: spiritual (daivavyapāśraya), rational (yuktivyapāśraya) and psychological (sattvāvajaya); 155 the three types of somatic therapy: internal purification (antaḥparimārjana), external purification (bahihparimārjana) 156 and surgical intervention (śastrapranidhāna) 157 (11.34–55).