Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c23.28

c23.28

That is to say, the teacher and his pupil must first nurse each other in case of illness. A Bhikkhu who is neither a teacher nor a pupil should be waited upon by the Saṁgha itself. The patient is advised to conform to the following requirements to facilitate his nursing: he must do what is good for him, must know the limit of the quantity of food that is good for him, must take his medicine, must take his nurse who desires his good into his complete confidence and let him know all about his disease and his condition, whether he is getting better or worse or continues in the same condition or when his bodily pains are too much. Similarly, the nurse is required to have the following qualifications: he must be able to prescribe medicines, must know what diet is good and what is not good for his patient and serve it accordingly, must wait upon the sick out of a feeling of love and not a desire for gain, must not revolt from removing evacuations, saliva, or vomit and must be capable, lastly, from time to time, "of teaching, inciting, arousing, and gladdening the patient with religious discourse" [*Mahāv.*, viii, 26].