A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s15.5

v3.c42.s15.5

The chapter on kānjika (I.11) gives details on this fluid according to the kind of grain used for its preparation (yava, godhūma, yugandhara). 221 The chapter on grain lists eighteen varieties of rice, the names of which differ considerably from those met with in the Carakasamhitā, Suśrutasamhitā and Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasamhitā (I.15.1–2); the group called kṣudradhānya consists of kaṇḍu, kapikacchurā, 222 kodrava, markaṭī, 223 and śyāmāka (I.15.14). 224 Four categories of vegetables are distinguished: pattra (leaves), puṣpa (flowers), phala (fruits), and kanda (roots, rhizomes, bulbs) (I.16.1). Three kinds of honey are distinguished: bhrāmara, sāragha and kṣaudra, produced by bees making their nests in trees, shrubs and in the cavities of trees respectively (I.18). Alcoholic drinks are divided into four types: gauḍī, produced from guḍa (treacle), mādhvī, produced from honey, paiṣṭī, produced from grain, and niryāsā, produced from the juice of plants; twelve varieties are distinguished: three varieties of gauḍī: sīdhu, gauḍī and matsyaṇḍī, three varieties of mādhvī: mādhvīka, madhuka and mādhva, three varieties of paiṣṭī: paiṣṭī, ariṣṭa and jāta, three types of niryāsā, produced from the juice of grapes and the plants tāḍa and māḍa (I.9.1–4). Animals are divided into the following categories: śūlin (tusked animals), 225 śṛṅgin (animals with horns), nakhin (animals with claws), 226 śvāpada (animals of prey), pakṣin (birds), matsya (fishes), and sarīsṛpa (creeping animals) (I.20.1); other categories are: jalecara (a group of aquatic animals), jalādhāra (another group of aquatic animals), grāmanivāsin (domestic animals), and araṇyanivāsin (wild animals) (I.20.2), and: ānūpa, jāṅgala, and sādhāraṇa (I.20.2).