A History of Indian Medical Literature v2.c33.279

v2.c33.279

264 The application of śūka(s) was one of the means employed to increase the size of the penis. The identity of śūka is not clear; Gayadāsa and Dalhaṇa explain śūka as sajantujalamala, i.e., impurities of water together with the small animals living in it; Śrīkaṇṭhadatta (ad Mādhavanidāna 48.1) describes (jala)śūka as a poisonous small animal, provided with bristles (śūka), arising from the impure matter in water; Śivadāsa (ad A.H.U.18.56) says that it is a particular small invertebrate animal (kīṭa), called jalasūā in the vernacular, which clings to grasses growing in water. Jalaśūka is also one of the names for the aquatic plant called śaivāla. Vātsyāyana's Kāmasūtra is referred to on the subject of śūka (see Gayadāsa and Dalhaṇa).