The Sushruta Samhita — trans. Bhishagratna

t They are S'ira-Marmas, to the lengrh of four fingers and of the Vaikalyakara class.

§ They are S'ira-Marmas, four fingers in length and of the Sadyo- Matan class,

p. 24

p. 1

An injury to any of the two Marmas lying at the junction of the head and neck (Griva) and known as Krikaitikat* (transverse process of the arch of the atlas) results in a free movement of the head. A hurt to any of the Marmas attached to the lower end of an ear (posterior extrensic ligament) and known as the Vidhurat Marma results in the loss of hearing. An injury to the Phana-Marmast attached to the interior channels of both the nostrils, results in the loss of the faculty of smell. An injury to the Apaknga-Marmas § (Anastomosis of the infra-orbital artery) situated below the tips of the eye-brows and about the external corners of the eyes, brings on blindness or defective vision. An injury to the Avarta-Marmas 11 situated above and below the eye-brows, brings on blindness and impaired vision. An injury to the Sankha-MarmasIT (meeting or suture of the temporal, frontal and sphenoid bones — Pterion)^ situated over the tips of the eye-brows and between the ears and the forehead, results in death within the day. The Marmas situated over the two temples (Sankha) and at the border of the hair (sculp) are called Utkshepa- Marma (meeting of the posterior and anterior temporal arteries)$. An extraction of a shaft (Salya) or of any t It is a S'nayu-Marma, and is of the Vaikalyakara class.

* They are Sandhi-Marmas, half a finger in length, and of the Vaikalyakara group.

% They are S'ira-Marmas to the length of half a finger and of the Vaikalyakara class,

§ They are S'ira Marmas to the length of half a finger and of the Vaikalyakara class.

II They are Sandhi-Marmas, to the length of half a finger and of the
Vaikalyakara class.

^ They are Asthi-Marmas to the length of half a finger.

$ They are S'ndyu-Marmas, half a finger in length and of the Vis'alyaghna class.

Chap. V/. J SARIRA STHANAM. liy

^ They are Asthi-Marmas to the length of half a finger.

$ They are S'ndyu-Marmas, half a finger in length and of the Vis'alyaghna class.

Chap. V/. J SARIRA STHANAM. liy

extraneous pointed thing lodged into these Marmas, results in the death of the patient, who, on the contrary, lives as long as the shaft is allowed to remain inside or if the shaft comes out itself (after putrefaction). 70-75. An injury to the Sthapani-Marma* (nasal arch of the frontal veins), situated in the middle of the eyebrowSj ends in the manner of the preceding one. An injury Co any of the five joints of the head which are known as the Simanta-Marmast, results in fear, insensibility and madness of the patient and terminates in death. An injury to any of the four Sringaktaka- Marmas]: which forms the junction of the four Siras (nerves), (branches of the facial artery) and soothes the nose, the eyes, the ears and the tongue, proves fatal within the day. An injury to the A dhipati- Marmas § (the vertical groove on the frontal bone) which is marked in the inner side of the roof of the cranium by the Sifd- Sannipdta (superior longitudinal sinus), and on the exterior side by the ringlet of the hair (Romavarta) proves fatal within the day. Thus we have described the thirty-seven Marmas, situated in the region aboVe the clavicles (Urddhva-Jatru). 76-80.

IVIeinorable Verses :— An incision should

be made at the spot a fingers width remote from the Urvi, Kurchcha-Sir^, Vitapa, Kaksha and a Pdrsva- Marma ; whereas, a clear space of two fingers should t They are Sandhi-Marmas to the length of four fingers and of the Kalantara-Pranahara class.

* They are S'ira-Marmas to the length of half a finger and of the Visalyaghna class.

t They are S'ira-Marmas to the length of four fingers and of the Sadyah-Pranahara class.

§ It is a Sandhi-Marma, half a finger in length and of the Sadyah- Pranahara class.

p. 1

t They are S'ira-Marmas to the length of four fingers and of the Sadyah-Pranahara class.

§ It is a Sandhi-Marma, half a finger in length and of the Sadyah- Pranahara class.

p. 1

be avoided from its situation in making any incision about the Stanamula, Manivandha or Gulpha-Marma. Similarly a space of three fingers should be avoided from the Hridaya, Vasti, Kurchcha, Guda or Nabhi Marma ; and a space of four fingers should be avoided in respect of the four Sringatakas, five Simantas and ten Marmas in the neck (Nila etc.) ; a space of half a finger being the rule in respect of the remaining (fiftysix).* Men, versed in the science of surgery, have laid down the rule that, in a case of surgical operation, the situation and dimension of each local Marma should be first taken into account and the incision should be made in a way so as not to affect that particular Marma, inasmuch as an incision, even extending or affecting, in the least, the edge or the side of the Marma, may prove fatal. Hence all the Marma-Sthanas should be carefully avoided in a surgical operation. 8i.

The amputation of a hand or a leg may not prove fatal whereas a wound in any of the Marmas situated therein is sure to bring on death. The vessels become contracted in the case of a cut in the leg or in the hand of a man, and hence the incidental bleeding is comparatively scantier. Therefore it is that a cut in any of these parts of the body, however painful, does not necessarily prove fatal, like the lopping off of the branches of a tree. On the contrary, a man pierced into in any such Marmas, as the Kshipra or the Tala, suffers from excessiveChap. VI.] SARIRA STHANAM. 1 89 hemorrhage (from the affected part) and attended with an excruciating pain, owing to the derangement of the Vdyu, and meets his doom like a tree whose roots have been severed. Hence, in a case of piercing or of injury to any of these Marmas, the hand or the leg should be immediately amputated at the wrist or at the ankle (respectively). 82.

* Some are of opinion that a surgical operation (in the case of the remaining fifty-six) should be made, leaving a space equal in measurement to the dimensions of a palm (from the affected part). Gayadasa, having learnt from Bhoja, explains that a space of two fingers should be left (from the affected part) in making surgical operations of the ten marmas, namely, the two Gulphas, the roots of the two breasts, the four Indravastis, and the two Manivandhas.