Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

(^araloman said, — This is not so ; for the Soul, which has an aversion for sorrow or pain, would never Qf itself attach diseases to itself.9 It is the Mind, (otherwise) called Sattwa, which, overwhelm¬ ed with Rajas and Tamas, is the cause in the (matter of the) origin of the body and the diseases.-]'10

Varyovida said, — This is not so. Verily, Mind alone cannot be the cause. Without the body the very existence becomes impos¬ sible of bodily diseases and of Mind.11

All creatures have sprung from Rasa. The diverse diseases also have sprung from it. And since the Waters have Rasa in them, the Waters have been said to be the final (or original) cause.:]13

* What is stated here is this : Purusha or man lias the Soul for his cause ; i.e. , it is the Soul that, with certain attributes, becomes the man or person. The Soul being the original cause of the person, diseases also spring from or have their birth in the Soul. The Soul earns acts, i.e., it is the Soul that exerts and acts, and actions, therefore, are the results of the Soul’s activity. The fruits of acts, therefore, i.e., pleasure and pain, must be the Soul’s ; i.e. , the Soul being the actor, must enjoy and endure the con¬ sequences of his acts. Pleasure and pain, again, are enjoyed and endured by a feeling or conscious substance. They cannot inhere to any inert substance.

‘Pravritti’ literally means flow ; hence rise or origin. — T.

t According to this theory, the Soul is inactive. It is the Mind that acts, through the senses or organs of knowledge and action. The results of acts, therefore, viz., pleasure and pain, must attach to the Mind and not to the Soul which transcends the Mind and is oniy the onlooker. One of the primal attributes of the Soul is its aversion for pain. Rajas (or Passion) and Tamas (or Darkness) overwhelm the Mind, and cause it to act. The fruits of acts attach to the Mind and dispose it to attract matter. The shape or form of the material case depends upon the results of acts, so that one becomes a worm or a bird, a horse or a man, in consequence of one’s acts. The Soul is always pure and stainless. The consequences of acts done must have to be enjoyed and endured before they can be exhausted. Hence, abstention from acts is the only means by which the Soul can gradually free itself from its material case, the Linga or finer case, and lastly the Karana Carira or its potentiality to attract a case. For a fuller exposir tion of this doctrine, see the sections on the Soul, birth, body, &c., in the Canti Parva of the Mahabharata. — T.

J By ‘Rasa’ is understood the liquid substance inhering apparently to most of the pbjects of the world. Blood is the Rasa in the human system : so also the vital seed.

CM A RA KA-SA M HIT A.

Hiranyakhya said, — This is not so. The Soul has never been said to have sprung from Rasa. Nor can Mind be said to have sprung from it, being what it is, viz., something that transcends .the senses. Some diseases, again, are due to sound.13

As regards Purusha, he has sprung from the combination of the six {viz., the five primal elements and the Soul). Hence, diseases also i as inhering to Purusha) must be regarded to spring from these six elements. The Sankhyas of former times ascertain¬ ed (by observation and meditation) that this (which is called Purusha) is a compound sprung from the six elements.*1

Unto Kucpka who said so, (Jaunaka said, — This is not so. How can Purusha spring into life from only the six elements, without the intervention of the father and the mother ?13

Man is seen to spring from man ; a cow from cow ; a horse from horse. Certain diseases, such as diabetes and others, are derived from parents. Hence, parents are the causes of disease.16

Bhadrakapya said,— This is not so; since from a blind father a blind son does not spring. Your initial origin cannot be reason¬ ably ascribed to the father and the mother. (For these had father and mother, and they too had theirs, and so on). The living crea¬ ture should be regarded as born of acts. His diseases also have their origin in acts. Without acts, neither Purusha nor diseases can have their origin.18

Bharadwaja said, — It is not so ; since the agent must precede the action. Then, again, no such action, undone by an agent, is seen whose effect is Man.19 The cause of the origin or appear¬ ance of diseases, as of man is Nature, even as Nature is the cause of the sharpness, fluidity, mobility, and heat which are the attributes of Earth, Water, Wind and Light.*20

The sap which feeds them is the Rasa of the vegetables. Rasa, however, is ultimately resolvable into Water. If Rasa, therefore, be the cause of both birth and the diseases to which creatures are subject, the ultimate cause of birth and diseases ' would then be water. — T.