A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c9.15

v1.c9.15

The subjects dealt with are: the aetiology and onset of śoṣa; its four causes: inconsiderate behaviour (sāhasa),85 suppression of natural urges (saṃdhāraṇa), deficiency of the rasa (nutrient fluid) staying in the heart, deficiency of the semen, and an unbalanced diet (viśamāśana) (6.3–11);86 śoṣa, the most troublesome of all diseases, is also called rājayakṣman (kingly consumption),87 because the venerable Soma, the king of the asterisms (uḍurāja), was afflicted by it in ancient times88 (6.12);89 the prodromes (6.13);90 the eleven symptoms (6.14);91 curable and incurable forms of the disease (6.15–16).92