Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

t ‘Dundubhi’ commonly means a drum. The word is also applied to a kind of bird Perhaps, it is the former that is intended here.— T

$ A kind of musical instrument. It is a sort of drum. A section, cut off from a hollow earthen globe, overlaid tightly with a goatskin or sheepskin. It is beat by a num¬ ber of pliant sticks made of the rattan, having a single handle, resembling a cat-o-nine.— T.

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

8 17 ance, that which is indistinct, that which is half-uttered, that which is weak, that which is uttered with pain, and that which is the result of repeated efforts.

Those voices also are regarded abnormal which arise immedi¬ ately before the appearance of the voices laid down as abnormal.

Thus has the subject been expounded of voices that are normal or natural and those that are abnormal or unnatural, i8

The sudden appearance of voices modified from the normal into the abnormal, or the combination into one of many voices, or the division into many of one voice, is regarded as an unfavourable symptom.*

Thus has the subject been expounded, of voices..

Thus have the subjects been expounded of both complexions and voices for ascertaining the near approach of death. »9 *

Here occur some verses.

He is not (that isr his death is near) on whose body an abnor¬ mal colour arises, whether on only its half or on the whole, when there is no cause for the appearance of such colour. 1

If half the face becomes blue, or dark,, or coppery, or red, and another colour appears on the other half of the face, it is regarded as an indication of the nearness of death. 2

Oiliness well discernible on half the face, and exceeding dryness on the other half, or pains experienced in one half of the face and. joy on the other half, is regarded as a symptom of death. 3

Pigmentary nsevi or moles, freckles, brown spots, and wellmarked lines, appear on the face of a patient that will give up his life-breaths very soon. 4

White marks like flowers appearing on the nails and the teeth,, or a clay-like substance attaching to the teeth, or a white powder, like lime, appearing on the teeth, are symptoms of the near ap¬ proach of death. 5.

* ‘Prakritivaikarika’ means ‘modified from the normal into the abnormal.’ Some of the Bengali translators take it to imply both normal and abnormal, which is wrong> ‘Abhinirvitti’ is appearance, and ‘asu’ is sudden..

‘The combination of many voices into one’ implies an analysis that- is extremely difficult if not wholly impracticable.

‘The division into many of one voice’ practically implies the appearance of many voices in succession to one another. — T.

8/8

CHARAKA-SAMHITA .

Abnormal colour on the lips, the (soles of the) feet, and the' (palms of the) hands, in the eyes, in the urine and the stools, and on the nails, of a person already reduced in strength, is an indica¬ tion of the near approach of death. 6

He whose lips have become blue like a ripe jamva(«),. should be known as a person whose period of life has run short and death is near, by one that is wise. 1

He is not (i. e., does not live long) whose voice, whether one or consisting of many in succession, has suddenly become abnormal,, when he is gradually sinking. 8

Whatever else of what is abnormal in voice and colour appears in a person destitute of strength and flesh, is indicative of the near¬ ness of death. 9

Thus have the topics been expounded of voice and colour, on ascertainment of the symptoms of persons whose death is near. The physician who is not well conversant with those symptoms falls into errors in estimating t he unexhausted measure of the period of life. 10

Thus ends the first Lesson, called Varna-swariya, in the Divi¬ sion called Indriya, of the treatise of Agniveca as revised by Charaka.

LESSON II.

PUSHPlTAM,

We shall now expound the Lesson called ‘ Pushpitamindriyam.’ Thus said the illustrious son of Atri.*

As a flower is seen here to be the premonitory indication of a fruit to be, so a symptom called ‘Arishta’ is a premonitory indica¬ tion of a person about to die.i

There may, indeed, be a flower that is not followed by a fruit.

a. Fruit of the Eugenia jambolana, Lamk.

* ‘ Pushpa’ is flower. Why this Lesson is called ‘Pushpitam’ or » Pushpitamindriyam’ is explained below. ‘ Arishtas’ or indications of the near approach of death are likened to flowers, death being the fruit. The approach of fruit is indicated by the appearance of flowers. Sometimes flowers do not develop into fruits ; so indications regarded as ‘Arishtas’ are not followed by death. They may not be real ‘Arishtas’ and hence the non-appearance of death. The object of this Lesson is to lay down further instructions about ‘Arishtas’ truly so called. — T.

p. 879

So also there may be a fruit that has not been preceded by a flower. 2

For all that, there cannot be a disappearance of an ‘Arishta’ that has manifested itself, without death occurring (as a conse¬ quence). There cannot, again, be a death that has not been pre¬ ceded by an ‘Arishta. 3