A History of Indian Medical Literature v4.c57.195

v4.c57.195

171 These are the five mahābhūtas. 172 I.e., lightning. Absent from Caraka's list. 173 The god of rain. Absent from Caraka's list. 174 The god of death. Absent from Caraka's list. 175 The lunar deity. 176 Absent from Caraka's list. See on Tvaṣṭar: L. van den Bosch (1984; with references). 177 Absent from Caraka's list. 178 The Carakasaṃhitā (Ci.3.311cd–312cd) prescribes the recitation of the Viṣṇusahasranā-mastotra. 179 These exorcists are mentioned as a separate class, for example, in the Jātakas and other Pali texts, where they appear as bhūtavejjas (see: R. Fick, 1974: 153; T.W. Rhys Davids and W. Stede, 1972). 180 I.e., fierce rituals. 181 The symptoms are called rūpa (Ci.4.7ab) and upadrava (Ci.7.9ab). Caraka mentions eleven symptoms (Ci.8.14–19); the Suśrutasaṃhitā agrees with the Bhelasaṃhitā in distinguishing forms with six and eleven symptoms (U.41.11–15). 182 The Kaśyapasaṃhitā (kuṣṭhacikitsita, p.116) distinguishes the same groups, composed of the same members (carmadala replaces carmakuṣṭha). Three varieties of kuṣṭha, mentioned by Caraka, are absent from Bhela's two series, namely alasaka, carmadala and visphoṭaka; they are replaced by sthūlaru, śvitra and viṣaja. Śvitra holds an ambiguous position in the Carakasaṃhitā (see Ci.7.173–176). The Nidāna chapter of the Bhelasaṃhitā makes mention of three doṣic groups of kuṣṭha; sidhma, dadru and maṇḍala arise from kapha, puṇḍarīka, ṛṣyajihva, kākaṇa and audumbara arise from pitta, kapāla kuṣṭha arises from vāta. 183 Ikṣumeha is said to arise from kapha and pitta (Ci.7.9) or kapha (Ni.6.10–11). The corresponding ikṣuvālikārasameha of the Carakasaṃhitā (Ni.4.10) is caused by kapha. 184 Udakameha is one of the varieties caused by kapha (Ni.6.7–8), as in the Carakasaṃhitā (Ni.4.10). 185 Sāndrameha is caused by a combination of kapha and pitta (Ni.6.11cd–13); the Carakasaṃhitā (Ni.4.10) regards it as arising from kapha. 186 Bhasmameha is not described in the Carakasaṃhitā, nor in the Suśrutasaṃhitā. Bhela refers to bhasmavarṇamehana at Sū.11.14, where it is said to be caused by a disorder of the semen. Bhela's bhasmameha may be identical with Caraka's kṣārameha according to P.V. Sharma (AVI 127). An objection to this view is the presence of kṣārameha in Bhela's list. 187 Lavaṇameha is said to arise from kapha and pitta (Ni.6.11cd–12). It is absent from the Carakasaṃhitā, but is described in the Nidānasthāna (Ni.6.10) as caused by kapha. 188 Nilameha arises from pitta (Ci.7.25), as in the Carakasaṃhitā (Ni.4.25). 189 The chapter on prameha of the Nidānasthāna (Ni.6) adds piṣṭameha and surāmeha. Madhumeha, sarpirmeha and vasāmeha are elsewhere referred to (madhumeha: Sū.8.17, I.5.8 and 9.12; sarpirmeha: I.3.6; vasāmeha: I.3.6). 190 The manas is located between palate and skull, the citta in the heart (Bhela Ci.8.2cd–4). 191 See, for example, Ci.2.37 (bhūtagrahas are referred to). 192 Exorcists (bhūtavaidya) are described in a Telugu text, Ayyalarāju Nārāyaṇāmātya's Haṃ-savimśati (see P. Hymavathi, 1993: 168, 275). 193 This use of the term mada is also found in the Suśrutasaṃhitā (U.62.5). The Carakasaṃhitā regards mada as a separate disease, distinct from unmāda (Sū.24).