Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

There is no treatment for that patient whose bed, seats, vehicles (for locomotion, such as carriages and cars, &c.), movements (in walking), and eating, and cries are heard to be inauspicious.* 35 That patient should be regarded as already dead whose kinsor head-gear may stick to a hook or nail, or the branch of a shrub or tree. Or, he may see the garments of another person thus sticking and causing obstruction to his progress. Either of these is to be regarded as an unfavourable omen. ‘Chaitya’ is a large tree, generally a banian or a peepul, growing in, or adjacent to, a village, and held sacred by the inhabitants. Generally speaking, stones, representing particular deities, are kept at the foot of a Chaitya. These trees are circumambulated by the villagers on certain auspicious occasions. A Chaitya sometimes stands at a place where four roads meet. ‘Purna’ implies full. It stands here for a jar or pot full of water. An empty jar or pot is an inauspicious omen, while a full one is an auspicious one. A journey becomes fruitless if the person undertaking it seesan empty jar at the point of setting out. ‘Pathachccheda’ implies the crossing of one’s way. If a cat, a dog, or a snake crosses one’s way, it is regarded as highly inauspicious. The Thugs, or professional stranglers, always regarded the cross¬ ing of their way by a hare as inauspicious. Enterprises on the point of success were abandoned if a hare crossed their path. See “Confessions of a Thug” by Colonel Meadows, ‘Diptam di$am’ is that point of the compass which is lighted by the sun. Thus in the morning, it would imply the east ; in the afternoon, the west. Chakrapani gives another meaning of the word ; according to him it may imply the south or the region towards which is situated the abode of Yama. — T.

* If from the reports the physician hears, he thinks that the patient’s bed and seats, &c., are inauspicious or abnormal, he should conclude that death is near. What circumstances, however, are inauspicious in respect of beds, &c., are not laid down here.— T.

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

p. 921

folk and friends are seen to use beds and seats and vehicles and other (personal) surroundings resembling-those of the dead.* 36

There is no treatment for that patient whose food (even when carefully cooked) becomes spoiled, and in "whose house a fire ignited in a windless place, even when fed with fuel, becomes extinguished. 37

The life of that patient is exceedingly difficult to save in whose house vessels break or fall down with a loud crash.-}- 38

( Here occur some verses . )

Those death-indicating symptoms of persons who are on the point of death, which have been laid down in detail in these two and ten Lessons, we shall now recapitulate in brief, adopting a different order (or method).

Statements made according to order or method help to a right comprehension of the meaning. 39-4°

It is not desirable that this topic should once more be elabo¬ rately explained, since it has been already discussed in the (previ¬ ous) Lessons devoted to it. 41

Of embodied beings dwelling in bodies, while their last hours come, of those longing for dissolution, of those that are about to leave their material tenements, of those that are on the point of renouncing their life-breaths which are very dear, of those that are for forsaking their beloved residence, of those who, upon the break¬ ing and tearing of their arteries and organs are about to enter the great darkness, certain symptoms and changes of condition occur, indicating death. I shall declare them, agreeably to what is stated in the medical scriptures and to what has been said above.j 42-43

* Perhaps, filthy and torn and broken beds and bedsteads and seats and vehicles are intended. — T.

t ‘Amatra’, as explained by Wilson, is a vessel or pot. The correct reading, of course, is ‘amatra’, and not ‘amitra’ or ‘amatra’ as some texts have. — T.

t The Rishi indulges here in various modes of expression for indicating a dying

‘(Jaririn’ is the Self invested with body.

‘Abhyugra’ (and not ‘Atyugra’) is the correct reading." It means intent or longing. ‘Kantam vasam’ is ‘the dear or beloved dwelling’; of course, the body is implied. ‘Tantra’ implies the tubular ducts of the body, i. e., nerves and arteries.

‘Yathoddegam’ is ‘agreeably to the object (set forth).’ The object, as stated in verse 40, is statement or enumeration according to a different or new method. — T.

p. 922

CHARAKA-SAMH1T A,

The life-breaths become afflicted ;

Consciousness becomes suspended ;

Limbs cast off their strength ;

Exertions cease ;

The senses lose their functions ;

Perception becomes obstructed ;*

The mind becomes subject to anxiety ;

Fear overwhelms the heart ;

Memory leaves (the mind) ;

Intelligence also (does the same) ;

Modesty and brightness of complexion depart ;