A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c49.s6.19

v3.c49.s6.19

Chapter six (91 verses) deals with the eight uparasas, their varieties, properties, purification and essences (sattva). The eight uparasas are: tālaka, tuvarī, gandha (sulphur), kaṅkuṣṭha, kunaṭī (= manaḥśilā), gairika, añjana and kāsīsa (1). Two varieties of tālaka are distinguished: dalākhya and aśmasamjñaka (2),⁶⁴ two varieties of saurāṣṭrī (= tuvarī): pītikā and phullikā (11cd–13),⁶⁵ three varieties of manaḥśilā: śyāmā, raktā⁶⁶ and khaṇḍikā (17–18), five varieties of añjana: sauvīra, rasāñjana, sroto’ñjana, puṣpāñjana and nīlāñjana (23),⁶⁷ four varieties of gandhaka (sulphur): śveta, pīta or amlasāraka, rakta or śukaṭuṇḍa, and kṛṣṇa (29cd–32),⁶⁸ four varieties of kaṅkuṣṭha: nalika, reṇuka, the excrements of a female elephant that has just brought forth (sadyahprasūta), and the nāla (umbilical cord) of a horse (54–58ab),⁶⁹ two varieties of kāsīsa: saikata and puṣpākhya (63–65ab),⁷⁰ and two varieties of gairika: pāṣāṇagairika and svarṇagairika (70–71ab).⁷¹ The same chapter is concerned with navasāra or cullikā (74–75), biḍa (76ab), three varieties of vārāṭikā, differing in weight (76cd–80), agnijāra (81–82), girisindūra (83–84), two varieties of cinnabar (darada): śukaṭuṇḍa or carmāra and haṃsapāda (85–89ab), and, finally, mṛddāraśṛṅgaka (89cd–90).