The Sushruta Samhita — trans. Bhishagratna

t So far, as in foetal' life, allantoic arteries and ihe unbilical veins subserve the purposes of nutrition, excretion, etc , and reflects the rudimentary vascular system.

2;

210 THE SUSHRUtA SAMHITA. [Chap. IX.

perform such specific functions of the body, as sound, touch, taste, sight, smell, inspiration, sighing, yawning, sneezing, laughter, speech, and weeping, etc., and tend to maintain the integrity of the body. These Dhamanis, reaching the heart, respectively ramify themselves into three branches, thus making thirty (ramifications in all). Ten of these serve the following purposes, viz , two serve as the channels of the bodily Vayu, two of the Pitta, two of the Kapha, two of the blood, and two of the Rasa (lymph chyle). Eight of the remaining ones (twenty), serve the following functions, viz.^ two of them cany sound, two sight or colour, two smell, and two taste. Moreover a man speaks with the help of another two, makes sound with the help of another couple, sleeps through the instrumentality of another pair (couple), and wakes up with the help of another couple. Two of the Dhamanis (ducts) carry the fluid of lachrymation, two of them (ducts), attached to the breasts of a woman, cany milk of her breasts, which, coursing through the breast of a man, convey his seminal fluid. Thus we have described the thirty Dhamanis with their ramifications. These sustain and maintain the integrity (of the limbs and members of the body) above the (line of) umbilicus, such as the Udara, the sides, the back, the chest, the neck, the shoulders and the arms. 4.

IVIcmorabIcVcrSe:—Theup-coursing Dhamanis duly perform the offices stated above. Now I shall describe the specific functions, etc., {i.e,, nature, office, and situations, etc.,) of the down-coursing ones. 5.

Functions of the down -coursing

Dhamanis : — The down-coursing Dhamanis respectively form the channels for the downward conveyance of Vayu (flatus), urine, stool, semen, and catamenial

Chap. IX.] SARIRA STHANAM. 211

5.

Functions of the down -coursing

Dhamanis : — The down-coursing Dhamanis respectively form the channels for the downward conveyance of Vayu (flatus), urine, stool, semen, and catamenial

Chap. IX.] SARIRA STHANAM. 211

fluid, etc. These Dhamanis reaching down into the PittAsaya (receptacle of the Pitta) separate the serum prepared out of the food and drink through the agency of the local heat (and pitta), and carry it to the remotest parts of the organism maintaining their healthy moisture, supplying them with the necessary principles of nutrition and (ultimately) conveying them to the upcoursing and lateral Dhamanis, in order to be conveyed to the parts traversed by them respectively. Thus they indirectly serve to supply the heart with its quota of healthy Rasa (serus fluid), if not in a direct way. Moreover they tend to separate the efifetematter (urine, stool and sweat) from the fully transformed lymph-chyle in the abdomen, the stomach and the small intestines (Amds'aya and Pakvas'aya). Each of the down-coursing Dhamanis is found to ramify into three branches at a place midway between the Amas'aya (stomach) and the Pakvds'aya (intestines). Thus they number thirty in all. The functions of the ten out of these (thirty vessels) are as follows, viz., two serve to carry Vdyu, two Pitta, two Kapha, two blood, and two Rasa (lymph-chyle). Two of these Dhamanis, running into the intestines, carry the food, another two carry the Toya* (watery) part, another two, running into the bladder, serve to carry out the urine (from the bladder), another two carry the semen, and another two serve as the channels of transmission and emission of the same fluid and serve to carry the ovarian discharge in women. The two Dhamanis, attached to the large intestine (Sthulantra), serve as the channels of faecal matter, while the remaining eight convey perspiration to the lateral-coursing Dhamanis, Thus we have finished describing these thirty Dhamanis with their ramifications. These sustain and maintain the * Xhi,s watery p^rt reaching the bladder is tKansformed into urine,p. 212 integrity of the parts of the body below the naval region, such as the Pakvasaya (Intestine), the waist, the organic principles of stool and urine, the organs of generation, the anus, the bladder, and the lower limbs of the body (Sakthi) (according to their utility in the physical economy of the organism). 6.

Memorable Verse ;— These down-coursing

6.

Memorable Verse ;— These down-coursing

Dhamanis perform the afore-said functions. Now I shall describe the specific functions {i.e., nature, office, and situations, etc.,) of the lateral-coursing Dhamanis. 7.

Functions of the lateral-coursing*

Dhamanis: — The four lateral-coursing Dhamanis, gradually ramifying themselves into hundreds and thousands of branches, simply baffle counting. The net-work of these Dhamanis spreads over the whole orgnism and maintain its integrity. Their exterior orifices are attached to the roots of hairs (pores of the skin) through which they convey the perspiration and the Rasa (serum), thus supplying the body, both internally and externally, with the soothing nutritions (moisture of healthy lymph-chyle). The effects and potencies of the articles of anointment, sprinkling, immersion, and plasters, enter through these orifices into the internal organism through the agency of the heat in the skin, and sensations of a pleasant or painful contact are experienced through their instru-: mentality. Thus we have finished describing the four lateral-coursing Dhamanis with their ramifications throughout the whole organism. 8.

Memorable Verses :— The Dhamanis have got pores in their sides through which they carry the Rasa (lymph-chyle) throughout the organism, like the filaments and fibres of water-lily and lotus. The.'^e Phan\anis furnish the self-conscious Ego, confined in

I

Chap. IX.] SARIRA STHANAM. 21 3

the material body, which is the resultant of the combination of the five material elements, with a distinct sensation* peculiar to each of the five sense-organsf and break up the combination (of the five material elements) at the time of death. 9 — 10.

Now we shall describe the symptoms produced by a Srota (duct or channel) pierced at its root or starting point. The ducts or channels respectively conveying the life, the food, the water, (the organic principle of) the Rasa (serum), the blood, the muscles, the fat, the urine, the stool, the semen, and the catamenial blood, naturally fall within the scope of Surgery (Salya-tantra). Several authorities assert that the Srotas (vessels) are innumerable]:, and perform different functions in their different aspects.