Hindu Medicine c7.183

c7.183

Meanwhile a spy, Root of the Ear (karṇamūla), who has stolen into the enemy’s capital, disguised as a mendicant ascetic, has returned from King Jīva’s realm, which is already besieged by the army of diseases. He brings news that King Jīva has retired to the innermost fortress of the body, having entered the Lotus-Citadel (puṇḍarīkapura) of the heart through the gate of mind (manas). The king’s chancellor and political adviser, Intelligence (vijñāna), had advised him to seek this innermost sanctuary and to approach its secluded inhabitant, the Lady Loving Devotion (bhakti). She, through her wholehearted dedication to Śiva, the Highest God, might, by Śiva’s grace, be able to help the king to gain the elixir of immortality; this elixir is the very seed of the supreme god, mercury, which cures all diseases.