Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

Ordinarily, it implies a shadow, or the reflection of an object in a mirror or other polish¬ ed surface. Thus the shadow of a person standing sunlight or moonlight or candle-light is a ‘cchaya.’ The image reflected in water and in a mirror is also a ‘cchaya.’ This ‘cchaya’, the Rishi says, is called ‘Pratichcchaya,’ The word ‘cchaya’, however, has a different meaning. In medical scriptures, it is sometimes used to signify the sheen or or light which a person’s body seems to possess. This sheen is fancifully classed under five heads, and is supposed to appertain to the five principal elements of which the body is composed. The characteristics of each class of sheen are explained in this and the following verses. A certain kind of sheen or light is supposed to appertain to Ether, not because the body wliich possesses it has Ether for its predominating element, but because in consequence of its especial characteristics it is fancifully regarded as etherial. _ T.

t In verse 13, the Rishi, it seems, speaks of colour. The colour or complexion of the body is certainly distinct from the sheen or light which colour or complexion displays. In the enumeration, it will be seen, both the primary and the secondary colours occur.

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

p. 899

Amongst these, those that are effulgent, cool, and stainless, are regarded as auspicious. Those, on the other hand, that are dry, filthy, and cheerless, are regarded as inauspicious.* H

That which is called Shadow overwhelms the complexion, while that which is called Lustre brightens the complexion. Then, again, Shadow is noticeable only when a person is near ; while Lustre is noticeable from even a distance. I5

There is no man that is without Shadow, as, indeed, there is no one that is without Lustre. It is not, however, every kind of Shadow, or every kind of Lustre, that indicates the good or the bad that is in store for a particular person. Only particular kinds of Shadow and particular kinds of Lustre do so. Times also come when Shadow becomes dependent upon Lustre.

The physician should abandon that man whose eyes betray the symptoms of jaundice, whose face is full, whose cheeks are fleshy, who is always afraid, and whose body is hot.

That man does not live for even a week who loses consciousness as often as he is raised to a sitting posture from his bed, and who expresses a disgust for everything.-]" 18

That man who suffers under a combination of diseases some of which are of an upward and some of a downward tendency, and whose Grahani is about to be afflicted, lives for half a month. :9 That man who, attacked by disease, has been emaciated, who eats little but whose evacuations in the form of stools and urine are copious, should be avoided by the physician. 20

That diseased man who, reduced in strength, eats more food than before, but whose evacuations in the form of stools and urine are scanty, should be regarded as already dead. 21

That man who while eating such food as is possessed of nour¬ ishing virtues but whose strength and complexion continually de¬ crease, lives for a short while. 22

It is evident that the Rishis had little knowledge of an analysis of colours. There is really an infinity of colours in the world. It is evident that . the seven mentioned here were taken as primary colours. — T.

* It is very difficult to give correct readings of the adjectives used in this and the other verses. — T.

t ‘ Vikathwana’ is explained by Chakrapani as implying one who expresses disgust for everything. Gangadhara explains it as referring to the physician in the sense that the physician can with boastful certitude, &c., Gangadhara is certainly wrong, as his interpre¬ tation violates grammar,

p. 114

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

-900

That man whose throat emits a cooing sound, whose breath has become hard, whose stools have become liquid, whose strength has been reduced, who is always thirsty, and whose mouth is dry, does not live. 23 ,

That man whose breath has become short, and who staggers or reels in moving, Punarvasu of Atri’s race regards him as already dead.* * * § 24

He whose breath has gone upward, and who is overwhelmed by phlegm, and whose complexion, strength, and food have de¬ creased, does not live.f 25

That man whose eyes have become upturned, or whose eyes tremble constantly, whose strength has been reduced, who is afflict¬ ed by thirst, and whose mouth has become dry, does not live.j 26 That man whose cheeks have become swollen, whose fever and coughing are intense, who has got deep-seated pains in the abdo¬ men, and who has a disgust for food, is not a subject upon which treatment can succeed. 27

That man whose mouth and tongue have been displaced, whose eye-brows have fallen down, and whose tongue has been covered with prickles, should be regarded as already dead.§ 28

That man whose penis has gone inwards so as to almost disap¬ pear, and whose testicles hang downwards in a measure much beyond what is usual, or one in whom is seen the reverse of this in consequence of any abnormality, is regarded as betraying the indications of the near approach of death.1T 29