Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

t ‘Udara’ here implies broad or specious, as opposed to narrow or confined. ‘Broad or specious as a mountain-breast’, ‘free as the mountain air’, &c., are stereotyped phrases.

‘Achintya . prabhava’ : here ‘prabhava’ is evidently used for grandeur or majesty o appearance. It has no reference to puissance or energy.

‘Divya tirtha &c.’ — ‘Tirtha’ implies a sacred water, be it a river, or a lake, or even a well. They are places of pilgrimage. There can be no ‘tirtha’ without water. As nearly all the rivers of the Gangetic basin rise from the Himavat mountains, those mountains are fitly de¬ scribed as the origin of ‘tirthas.’ ‘Divya’ implies excellent or eminent. As regards medicinal herbs, "again, the Himavat mountains are regarded as- producing the best kinds or species. To this day, all noted physicians obtain their supplies of medicinal herbs from Morung in Nepal, and other regions on the breast of the Himalayas. — T.

t Compare this list with the fuller one given in Lesson I of Sutrasthana. — -T.

CHA RA ICA - SA MH1 TA .

io 57 your sole wealth ! I see in you a depression of spirits, loss of puis¬ sance, hoarseness of voice, loss of complexion, and all those ailments that are caused by rusticity of habitat and that are concomitants of unhappiness.* 7

Verily, rusticity of habitat is the root of all unhappiness. That you who are all of pious practices had betaken yourselves to that life without attending to the safety of your own bodies, was certainly a favour shown to men of the world. 8

The time has come for the inculcation of the Science of Life. For the good of regenerate Rishis, of my own self, and of all creatures, the twin Agwins imparted to me the (knowledge of the) Science of Life. The Lord of all creatures (viz., Daksha) had imparted it to the twins. The Grandsire (Brahman) had imparted it to the Lord of all creatures. Considering the shortness of the period of life which human beings now have, and which, again, is subject* to decrepitude and diseases of diverse kinds, considering the misery and the con¬ comitants of unhappiness to which they are liable, and considering also that the stock is small, of human beings, of (the merits of) penances, self-restraint, vows, gifts, and study (of the Vedas), it behoveth you to hear from me, bear in mind, and promulgate, for the good of all creatures, the Science of Life, which is the most sacred (of all sciences), which promotes longevity, which prevents the effects of decrepitude and disease, which infuses strength, which is as nectar itself, which is most beneficial to all beings, which affords pro¬ tection unto .the afflicted, and which is unsectarian as regards its doctrines.f 9-n

* ‘Glani’ means a depression of spirits. It may stand also for disease or ailments. As, however, ailments are specially mentioned in this very sentence, ‘glani’ should be taken to stand for depression of spirits. — T.

+ The descent of the Science of Life, as traced here, is this : originally emanating from the Grandsire himself, it was imparted by him to Daksha, one of those sops who were created by only a fiat of his will. Daksha is regarded as a ‘Prajapati’ or Lord of all creatures, because it was he who, with some of his brothers, undertook, at the command of Brahman, to create beings of all kinds. Daksha imparted a knowledge of the science to. the twin Agwiris who are regarded as the physicians of the celestials. The twins having acquired it thus, communicated it to. Indra-, the chief of the deities. India, having got it, communi¬ cated it to none. The ordinance of the Hindu religion is that one that has acquired a science incurs the obligation of imparting it to another. If one acts in a different way, one As regarded as incurring a great sin. The practice was unknown in those days of preceptors

CHARAKA-SAMHITA

p. 1058

And the Vedas are (the property) of the Rishis. Universal friend¬ ship and compassion constitute the best and the highest merit that the Soul can achieve ; and they are known as acts relating to Brahman, which are eternal* 12

Hearing these words of the chief of the celestials, all the Rishis, being gladdened, sang the praises of that foremost of immortals with many a rik, and welcomed his speech. 13

Then Indra imparted the Science of Life, which is like unto nectar, unto the Rishis and said :

All this should be practised. This is the auspicious time for Rasayanas. Excellent are the medicinal herbs that are born on Himavat, and they have now attained to maturity and potency. *4