Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

Austin Flint, Esq., New York, U. S A. : — I have read with much pleasure the first fasciculus of your translation of Charaka Samhita and shall be very glad to receive the rest of the work, it cannot fail to be of great interest to the medical profession, which will be under great obligations to you.

A. H. Edgren, Esq., Gothenburgh, Sweden I am deeply interested in anything Indian, and I need not say that I shall consider it as a gain to obtain whatever insight I may into the subject treated of in your valuable translation.

Professor A. V. Williams Jackson., Columbia College , New York, U. S. A.— I must congratulate you, with true appreciation of your efforts. I should very much like to make a little note, in one of our papers, of the praiseworthy work you are doing, Be assured, Sir, of my hearty thanks and appreciation and of my deep interest in India and antique lore.

Mons. A. Barth., Paris : — Your efforts to place within reach of the readers of ancient literature a work of so interesting a nature both to the Oriental scholars and to the men of medicine, are very praiseworthy, and I shall be happy to bring the work to the notice of the French public, or, at least, of those who take an interest in these researches.

Mons. B. St. Hailaire, Paris: — -I praise you on your undertaking and wish you all success. The work is of interest to all learned men and to medical men, and the commentaries written on it prove its value and utility. I will put in a notice- in the Journal des Savants as soon as I can and shall be happy to do you justice.

Professor H. Jacobi, Bonn University, Germany : — The work you have undertaken will interest Sanskritists as well as medical men who care for the history of their science. I shall not fail to draw the attention of some eminent physicians whom I know personally, to the ancient work of Charaka.

Herr, R. Garbe, Primenstram Konigsbursth, Germany .-—English translation of Charaka Samhita is, perhaps, at least from an historical point of view, the most'important work of the medical literature of your country.

Sir Alfred Croft, M. A., C. I. E., Director of Public Instruction, Bengal : — I have been greatly entertained as well as edified by the examination, in part IV, of all the things which a man shall not do. A layman can understand the precepts and such a guide 60 life, cannot be other than valuable.

CHARAKA-SAMHIT A.

p. 1239

seeing faults in things that are faultless, seeing repulsive sights in one’s own body, entertaining a sense of abomination for food and drink while eating and drinking,* waste of strength and flesh, fond¬ ness for women, wine, and meat, fondness for keeping the body wellwrapped and hidden from other’s view, the frequent appearance o.f flies and little worms and hair and bits of straw in food and drink, the excessive growth of hair and nails, dreams of attacks by birds and insects and beasts of prey, ascending, in dreams, upon heaps of hair and bones and ashes, and the sight, in dreams, of lakes and tanks as also of hills and forests and luminous bodies, drying up or wasting or falling. 3i-35

Gf phthisis which presents various symptoms, these are the incu¬ batory indications.

Hear now what ‘the symptoms of this disease are, according to the heads stated above in brief, with the medicines that are pres¬ cribable : 36

The several ‘dhâtus’ (ingredients of the body, such as juices, blood, flesh, &c.) are developed by their respective measures of heat.

Thus developed, each, coursing through its own duct, nourishes the others. (The juice into which food is reduced, nourishes the blood ; the blood nourishes the flesh ; and so on).

In consequence of the obstruction of the ducts, and of the waste or loss of blood and the other ‘dhatus,’ and of the loss of the inherent heat in each ‘dhatu,’ the king of diseases, viz., phthisis, is induced. 37-38

At such a time the food which is cooked in the stomach by the (digestive) fire, becomes converted for the most part into ‘Mala’ (impurities) ; very little of it is converted into anything substantial. j-39

Hence, of a person who is afflicted with phthisis, the impurities (stools) should be protected. Gf him whose ‘dhatus’ have all been wasted, the only strength is that of the stools (in his stomach and jntestines).J 4°

*/.«., Disrelish for what is taken. — T.

t Digestion is regarded as a process of cooking. The digestive fire cooks nbe food in the stomach. A portion of the food taken becomes ‘Mala’ or impurities, and the other portion becomes ‘prasada’ or pure juice. This juice afterwards becomes blood. The blood makes flesh ; and so on. — T.

t The fact is, such a person should never have purgatives administered unto him. The very impurities in his intestines sustain his strength and life. — T.

IS 7

1.240

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

The ducts being obstructed (in phthisis), the juice (into which food is converted) remains in its own place and increases there (with¬ out flowing into or through the obstructed channels for conversion into blood). Accumulating in its place, it is expelled by the urgings of cough, in various forms. 41