The Sushruta Samhita — trans. Bhishagratna

CHAPTER X.

Now we shall discourse on the Sdriram which treats of the nursing and management, etc., of pregnant women from the day of conception till parturition

(Garbhini-Vyakarana-^ariram). i.

General Rules :— An cnciente, from the first day of conception, should always cherish a clear joyful spirit in a clem body. She should wear clean and white garments, ornaments, &c., engage herself in the doing of peace-giving and benedictory rites and live in devotion to the gods, the Brahmins and her elders and superiors. She should not touch nor come into contact with unclean, deformed or maimed persons, and should forego the use of fetid smelling things, avoid dreadful sights and painful or agitating sounds and the use of dry, stale and dirty food as well as that prepared overnight. Long and distant walks from home, resorts to cremation-grounds or to a solitary retreat, or to a Chaitya*, and sitting under the shadow of a tree should be absolutely forbidden (to her during the period of gestation). Indulgence in anger, fright or other agitating emotions of the mind should be deemed injurious. To carry a hea vy load, to talk in a loud voice and all other things which might occasion injury to the foetus, (sexual intercourse, &c.) should be refrained from. The practice of constant anointment and the cleansing of the body, &c., (with Amalaki, Haridrd, etc. —lit. cosmetics) should be given up, All fatiguing exercises should be discontinued and the rules laid down for the

* Chaitya — is a haunted or diefied tree, or according to others a Budhistic monastery.

Chap. X.] SARIRA STHANAM.

p. 217

guidance of a woman in her menses should be strictly adhered to. The couch and the bed of a pregnant woman should be low, soft and guarded on all sides by a number of soft pillows or cushions. The food should be amply sweet, palatable (Hridya)* well-cooked, prepared with appetising drugs and abounding in fluid substances. These rules should be followed up till delivery. 2.

Special regimen during the period

The food should be amply sweet, palatable (Hridya)* well-cooked, prepared with appetising drugs and abounding in fluid substances. These rules should be followed up till delivery. 2.

Special regimen during the period

of Gestation : -During the first three months of pregnancy an enciente should partake of food abounding in sweet, cool and fluid articles. Several medical authorities recommend a food made of Shashtika rice with milk, to be given to her specially in the third month of gestation, with curd in the fourth, with milk in the fifth and with clarified butter in the sixth month of pregnancy. Food largely composed of milk and butter, as well as relishing (Hridya) food with the soup of the flesh of jdngala (wild) animals should be given to her in the fourth, food with milk and clarified butter in the fifth, adequate quantity of clarified butter prepared with (the decoction of) Svadamshtra, or gruel (Yavagu) in the sixth ; and clarified butter prepared with (the decoction of) the Prithakparnyddi group in adequate quantities in the seventh month of gestation. These help the foetal development. For the purpose of restoring the Vayu of her body (nervous system) to the normal course and condition and for the cleansing of the bowels, the enciente should be given an AsthApana (enema), composed of a decoction of Vadara mixed with Vala, Ativala, Satapushpa, Palala (flesh), milk, cream of curd, oil, Saindhava salt,

* "Hridya" here means the diet in which there is an abundance of Ojo-producing (albuminous) properties.

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2l8 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. X.

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2l8 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. X.

Madana fruit, honey and clarified butter. After that she should have an Anuvdsana (enema) made up of oil prepared with milk and decoction of the drugs known as the Madhuradi-gana. This restores the Vdyu to its normal course and condition, which brings on an easy and natural parturition unattended with any puerperal disorders. Henceforth up to the time of delivery the enciente should have liquid food (Yavagu) made up of emollient substances (fatsj and soup of the flesh of Jangala animals (deer, etc.). If treated on these lines the enciente remains healthy and strong, and parturition becomes easy and unattended with evils. An enciente should be made to enter the lying-in chamber in the ninth month of her pregnancy and under the auspices of happy stars and propitious lunar conditions. The chamber of confinement (Sutikagriha) in respect of a Brdhmin, Kshatriya, Vais'ya and Sudra mother should be raised on grounds respectively possessed of white, red, yellow and black soils, and made of Vilva, Vata, Tinduka and Bhallataka wood. Couches should be made of these woods respectively in cases of the different social orders. The walls of the room should be well-plastered and the furniture (necessary accessories) should be placed tidy in their proper places. The door of a lying-in chamber should be made to face the south or the east, and the inner dimensions of the room should be eight cubits in length and four in breadth. Religious rites for warding off the visitation of evil spirits and malignant stars should be undertaken at (the door of) the room. 3.

Signs of imminent parturition-(M.~-

T.) :— A looseness of the sides of the abdomen and untying of the umbilical cord of the child (from the cardiac cord of its mother) and a perception of the

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ap- ^l SARlRA STHANAM. 2tg characteristic pain at the waist would indicate the approach of the time of delivery. A constant and severe pain at the waist and the back, constant (involuntary) motions of the bowels and micturition and mucous discharge from the vulva are the symptoms which are manifest at the time {i.e., a little before) of parturition. 4-5.