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

The girth round the knee-joint is sixteen fingers' width and the length between the wrist and the elbow should measure sixteen fingers' width. The part of the arm between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger should measure twenty-four fingers' width in all. The length of the entire arm mea.sures thirty- two fingers' width, and the girth round the thighs should measure thirty-two fingers' width. The palm of the hand should measure six fingers' width in length and four fingers' width in breadth. The space between the bottom of the ball of the thumb to the root of the index finger, as well as the space between the root of the ears to the outer corner or angle of the eyes, should measure live fingers' in length. The middle finger should

Chap. XXXV. j SUTRASTHANAM. 31measure five fingers' width in length. The index and the ring-fingers respectively -should measure four and a half fingers in length, the thumbs and the little fingers respectively measuring three and a half fingers.

The fissure of the mouth should measure four fingers in length. The girth round the neck should measure twenty fingers. Each of the cavities of the nostrils should measure one and three quarter parts of a finger in length. The region of the iris occupies a third part of the entire area of the cornea. The region of the pupil should measure a ninth part thereof

The arch extending from the hairy extremity of the templar region to the middle point of the back of the head should measure eleven fingers. The distance between the middle of the head and the terminal point of the hairy portion of the neck should measure ten fingers in length. The girth of the neck measured from the back of one ear to that of the other should be fourteen fingers. The length of the pelvic region of a young woman measured from below the anterior side of the thigh joints should be found to be equal to the breadth of the chest (Vakshah) in a male subject 'twelve fingers\

The thigh of a woman should be eighteen fingers in breadth and equal to that of the waist of a man. The entire length of a male human body should be a hundred and twenty fingers. 40

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Authoritative verse on the subject:—An intelligent physician should regard the organism oi" a man of twenty- five or of a woman of sixteen years of age, as fully developed in respect of the maturity of the seven fundamental principles of the body such as, serum, blood, Sic). The dimensions of the different limbs and members of the body, laid down above, should be understood as to have been measured by the standard of one's (man's or woman's) own finger's width, and a person, whose limbs and organs are found to correspond to the above-said measures, is sure to live to a good and hearty old age, as a necessary and befitting sequel to a happ3' and prosperous career in life. In the case of a partial correspondence of one's limbs and organs to the above-said measures and proportions, a man should be regarded as having an average life and prosperity. A person whose limbs fall short of the abovesaid measures should be regarded as an indigent and short-lived person.

Physical temperament (Sa'ra) :— Now

we shall describe the characteristic traits of the different preponderant principles (Sara) or temperaments of the human organism. A man, who is possessed of a good retentive memory, and is intelligent, valorous and cleanly in his habits, and whose mind is graced with such rare and excellent virtues as, purity of thought, and a fervent and unflinching devotion to gods and the reverend, and who exerts himself for the furtheranceChap. XXXV. ] SUTRASTHA'NAM. 31^ of the absolute good, should be regarded as a man of Satvasara (psychic or illumined) temperament.

A man with glossy, white and close-set bones, teeth, and nails and who has beootten a large family of children, and shows a marked amative tendency, should be looked upon as a man in whom the principle of semen decidedly preponderates. A man with a thin and sinewy bod}', and who exibits traits of excessive strength, and possesses a deep resonant voice, and a pair of large and handsome eyes, and who is successful in ever}' walk of life, should be looked upon as one in whom the principle of marrow preponderates. A man with a large head, and a large pair of shoulders, and having firm teeth, bones, cheek-bones, and finger-nails, should be considered as one in whom the principle of bone preponderates.

A man with a large and bulky body, and who is capable of enduring a large amount of fatigue or physical exertion, and who naturally talks in a soft and melodious voice, and whose bodily secretions such as urine and perspiration are characterised by coldness should be regarded as one of a fatty temperament. A man with an erect and upright frame, and deep-set bones, and joints in thick layers of flesh, should be regarded as one in whom the principle of flesh predominates.