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

An attack of Phthisis (Yakshm^) leads its victim to death in whom glossiness of the e3'es, aversion to food, expiratory (subclavicle) dyspnoea, difficult and up-drawn breathing (Urdha-Shvasa), and painful and and excessive micturition (diarrhoea according to others), manifest themselves, A patient suffering from an attack of Gulma (abdominal gland), and on the verge of death, exhibits such symptoms as laboured and painful respiration, colic pain, unquenchable thirst, aversion to food, loss of consciousness, anaemia, and the sudden obliteration of the Granthi (tumorous or glandular formation).

A person laid up with an attack of Vidradhi (abscess) and exhibiting such fatal symptoms as distension of the abdomen, retention of urine, vomiting, hiccough, thirst, pain of a varied character (such as aching, excruciating, etc.) and dyspnoea, should be regarded

302 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [ Chap, XXXIII.

as to have approached the goal of his life. A patient suffering from an attack • of jaundice or chlorosis marked by yellowness of the teeth, nails, and of the conjunctivae, and seeing everything yellow, is not expected to long survive the occurrence of the attack.

A person laid up with an attack of Haemoptysis, largely vomiting blood, and viewing everything red or blood-coloured with his blood-shot eyes, should be regarded as about to depart this life. A person, insane, extremely enfeebled and emaciated, and sitting up sleepless in the night, or with eyes constantly lifted upward or cast down, would be soon relieved of his earthly suffering. A case of Apasm^ra (epilepsy) proves fatal in a person, who is extremely emaciated, and whose eye-brows are constantly moving and whose eyes seem fixed in an unnatural (oblique) stare.

Thus ends the the thirty-third Chapter of the Sutrasthinam in the Sushruta Samhita which treats of incurable diseases.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Now we shall discourse on the Chapter which treats of the mode of preserving the life of a king whose soldiers are on march (J ucta-Scniya-madhy^- yam).

Metrical Texts :— I shall presentl}^ describe the measures, which a physician in the king's service should adopt with a view to protect the life of his royal master, specially from acts of secret poisoning, while mobilizing his armies to invade the territor}^ of a neighbouring monarch accompanied by his chiefs and ministers.

A common practice of the enemy under such circumstances is to poison the wells on the roadside, the articles of food, the shades of trees (shadowy places) and the fuel and forage for cattle ; hence it is incumbent on a physician marching with the troops, to inspect, examine and purify these before using any of them, in case they be poisoned. The symptoms and medical treatment will be fully described and discussed later on in the part, entitled the Kalpa Sthanam.

Men, learned in the lore of the Atharva Veda, hold that death may be attributed to a hundred and one different causes, (lit : deaths of a hundred and one kinds) of which one (which is that of an old man

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THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. XXXIV.

natural!}'- and spontaneously expiring) is called natural, while the rest are unnatural or traumatic in their origin. Physicians conversant with the curative virtues of drugs and minerals, and priests well versed in the Vedic Mantras, should jointly protect the king from death, whether due to idiopathic (Doshajai or extrinsic causes.

The god Brahma disclosed to the world the Atharva Veda together with the eight allied branches of Vedic hterature and the science of medicine. And since a priest (Brahmana) is well- versed in the aforesaid branches of study, a physician should act subserviently and occupy a subordinate position to the priest. The death of a king usually leads to a political revolution or to popular disturbances and brings about a confusion among the vocations of the different orders of society. The growth of population markedly suffers through such catastrophies.

As the external features of a king resemble those of a common person, while his (king's) commanding majesty, sacrifice, forbearance and fortune are super- human (in their nature and intensity), therefore a man should, who is prudent and seeks his own good, think reverentially of his king, and propitiate him with tokens of loyalty and allegiance as if he were a deity. A physician, fully equipped with a supply of medicine, should live in a camp not remote from the royal

Chap. XXXIV. ] SUTRASTKANAM. 365

pavilion, and there the persons wounded by shafts ot arrows or an}^ other war projectiles, or suffering from the effects of any imbibed poison, should resort to him (the physician), conspicuous like a triumphant ensign for his fame and professional success. A physician, well versed in his own technical science, and commanding a fair knowledge of other allied branches of study as well, is glorified by his king and the Brahmanas, and is like a banner of victory an ennobling ornament to the state.