A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c42.s17.8

v3.c42.s17.8

The creation of this new alignment was facilitated by dividing the book into a rather large number of chapters as compared with the corresponding parts of the saṃhitās of Caraka, Suśruta and Vāgbhaṭa, which often describe groups of diseases, sometimes rather distantly related, in one single chapter. Examples illustrating Mādhava's procedure are the separate chapters on dāha (a syndrome characterized by a burning sensation; 19), 18 nāḍīvraṇa (fistulas; 45), 19 upadaṃśa (affections of the male member; 47), 20 visarpa (erysipelas; 52), 21 asṛgdara (menorrhagia and metrorrhagia, as well as fluor; 61), 22 and stanaroga (diseases of the mammary glands; 66). 23 The reverse procedure is also adopted; the *Mādhavanidāna* contains a small number of new clusters: nidrā (excessive sleepiness) and tandrā (lassitude) occur in the same chapter (17) as mūrchā (fainting) and saṃnyāsa (prolonged loss of consciousness); 24 ānāha (obstructive abdominal swelling) is described along with udāvarta (a group of disorders arising from restraint of the natural urges; 27). 25