Hindu Medicine c7.191

c7.191

However, the enemies are not at a loss in plotting to counter this blow and weaken Jīva’s fortress in preparation for a final victorious assault. Unsalutary Diet (apathyatā) is dispatched to seduce King Jīva into indulging himself in an irregular and excessive diet; by so doing, they hope to open a breach through which Bulimia (bhasmāgni) might enter the body and work destruction. Bulimia, Ravenousness, a disordered appetite, is regarded as a morbid increase of the digestive fire (agni) in the upper intestine; there, instead of properly “cooking” the food—that is, digesting it—the excessive heat of the internal fire burns it to ashes (bhasman).