A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c46.131

v3.c46.131

⁷⁹ The ingested food passes through āmāśaya, pacyamānāśaya and pakvāśaya; the (digestive) fire is located above the pakvāśaya (55). The rasa derived from the food passes through the nāḍī of the navel and goes to all parts of the body, impelled by vāyu (56). The umbilical region has the form of a tortoise (kūrma); the eight limbs of this tortoise are connected with the eight mahānāḍīs; four among these are in the region of the back, four in the region of the chest (kroḍa) (57). Two of the nāḍīs in the back and two in the chest run upwards, the other four downwards; the nāḍīs running upwards split into two branches (pallava) in the region of the throat; one of these splits again into five smaller branches (58). The branches go to the eyes, nostrils, tongue, lips and ears; one nāḍī, coming from the back, is called ākuñcanakarī (59).