A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c9.13

v1.c9.13

The subjects dealt with are: the seven constituents of the body which, when they are subject to pathological changes (vikṛti), lead to kuṣṭha: the three doṣas and four elements of the body (dūṣya, dhātu): tvac (the layers of the skin), māṃsa (muscular tissue), śoṇita (blood) and lasīkā (serious fluid) (5.3);76 seven, eighteen or innumerable varieties of kuṣṭha can be distinguished, which differ in several respects, but only seven of these will be described (5.4);77 these varieties are characterized by the predominance of one, two or three doṣas: vāta predominates in kapālakuṣṭha, pitta in audumbara, kapha in maṇḍalakuṣṭha; vāta and pitta predominate in ṛṣyajihva, pitta and kapha in puṇḍarīka, 78 kapha and vāta in sidhmakuṣṭha, all three doṣas in kākaṇaka (5.5);79 the aetiology and samprāpti of all kinds of kuṣṭha (5.6);80 their prodromes (5.7);81 descriptions of the seven (mahā)kuṣṭhas (5.8); their curability, etc., and their complications (5.9–11).82