An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Vol. I: Sutrasthanam — trans. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1907)

The deranged bodily humours such as, Vayu, Pittam and Kapham should be looked upon as the primary sources of all diseases, inasmuch as symptoms characteristic of each of them may be detected in the case of a disease of whatsoever type, (which usually abates with their corresponding subsidence), and also because the Shastras have ascribed to them the fatherhood of all maladies that assail the human frame.

As the three qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamasi are inherent in, and inseparable from, all the phenomenal appearances in the universe whicli are, in reality,

* Accord. ng lo certain aulhorilies "Death" may also mean death of tissues.

+ Several authorities on the other hand include such diseases as thirst, hunger etc., within the Adhy^tmika class inasmuch as they are but the indications of the want of certain vital principles in the body and appear in the mental plane (Adhy^tmika) only as longings for water, food, ttc

X The Sattva :— Illuminating or psychic principle. Rajas : — Principle of Action and Co-hesion. Tanias -.—Principle of Nescience or Illusion.

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but modifications of their own qualities, so the three fundamental bodily hum'ours underlie at the root of, and run through, the course of all known forms of bodily distemper.

The deranged bodily humours (Dosha" in contact with the different elements, Dhathu) and excrements (Mala) of the body, together with the difference of their locations and pathological effects, give rise to the different forms of disease.*

The nomenclature of a disease depends upon where the affection of the several elementary principles of the body by the deranged bodily humours lies, and which is accordingly styled as it is seated in the lymph- chyle, or in the blood or the flesh, or it is in fat, bone, or in the semen.

Rasaja Distempers :— Distempers such as aversion to, and loss of relish for ' food_, indigestion, aching in the limbs, fever, nausea and a sense of repletion even without food, heaviness of the limbs, diseases affecting the heart, jaundice, constriction of any internal passage of the body (Margo-parodha), emaciation of the body ^cachexia), bad taste in the mouth, weak feelings in the limbs, premature whiteness and falling off of the hair, and s)^mptoms indicative of senile decay, should be regarded as having their seat in the deranged l5"mph- chyle (Rasa).

* This answers the question, "how can the deranged bodily hmnours bring about a disease of the Adhi-vala-type — a disease which is specifically due to the derangement of the innate and primary factors of life."

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234 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA'. [Chap. XXIV.

Raktaja Diseases : — Maladies such as Kushtha (cutaneous affections in general , Visarpa (erysipelas), Pidaka (pustular eruptions, Mashaka, Nilika, Tilakalaka (specks), Nachhya (tans), Vyanga (stains), Indralupta alopecia), enlarged- spleen, Vidradhi (abscess*, Gulma abdominal glands), Vata-shonita (a kind of leprosy), Arsha (piles), Arvuda (tumours), aching of the hmbs^ menorrhagia, h£emopt3'sis, etc. as well as suppuration in the regions of the anus and the penis should be deemed as having their origin in the blood Raktaja contaminated by the deranged bodily humours.

IVSa'nsaj a- Diseases :— Similarly Adhi-mansa, Arvuda, Arsha, Adhi-jihva, Upa-jihva, Upakusha, Gala-sunthika, Alaji, Mansha-sanghata (condylomatous growth), Astha-prakopa, Gala-ganda, Garjda-mala (scrofula), etc. should be regarded as diseases having their seat in the flesh, vitiated by the deranged bodily humours.

IVledaja- Distempers :— Diseases, such as Granthi, \'riddhi, Gala-ganda, Arvuda, and Ostha-prakopa are due to tlie action of the deranged fat. Madhu-meha (diabetes), obesitv and abnormal diaphoresis, etc. should be regarded as having their origin in the humourderanged fat of the body.

Asthija- Disease :— Adhyasthi, Adhi-danta, Asthi-toda, Asthi-shula and Ku-nakha, etc. are thep. 235 diseases which should be regarded as the outcome of the deranged bodily humours affecting the bones.

IVIaJJadoshaJa Diseases :— The vanishing

of sight, epileps}'; vertigo, conjunctivitis and the appearance of a broad-based ulcer about the Parvasthanam and a sense of heaviness in the thighs and knee-joints should be regarded as having their seat in the deranged marrow.

Shukra-doshaja :— Diseases such as, impotency, entire aversion to sexual intercourse, Shukrashmari fseminal concretions). Spermatorrhoea, and other seminal affections, should be regarded as having their seat in the deranged semen.

Cutaneous affections, constipation or looseness of the bowels, and diseases impeding or arresting the proper functions of the sense-organs or in an}" wa}" bringing about their aberrations, should be regarded as respectively located in the receptacle of the faeces and the sense organs.

Thus we have briefl}' enumerated the names of diseases, the specific nature and symptoms of which will be full)' discussed later on under their respective heads.