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

Kaphah :— Sushruta is oie in holding with Foster thgj "the animal body dies daily, in the sense that at every moment some part of its substance is suffering decay, is undergoing combustion."' The etymological significance of the term Shariam vSkr. Shri, to wither up) testifies to his knowledge of the combustion that goes on within the human system. Three kinds of fire are detected in the bod}', which are sure to feed upon its constituent principles in the absence of proper fuel in the shape of food and air. It is food and the fundamental brdily principle of Shleshma, which is cooling or watery in its essence, that fly to the rescue of the organism, the latter (Sleshma) surcharging ii with its own essential humidity and keeping intact the integration of its component molecules.

The Rasa, or lymph chyle which is formed out of the ingested food, prevents the internal bodily fire- from

(i) The seat of the moon is at the root of the palate ami thai of the sun is at the root of the navel ; the place of the air (or breath) is above the sun, and mind dwells above the moon, Chittam (or the passage between the mind and the spiritual soul) dwells above the sun. and life dwells above the moon.

Jn4na Sankallni Tantrani, International Journal of Tdntrik order (New York) Vol. V'. No. 5 p. 109.

(2) It is supposed that the change effected by the light, which falls upon the retina, is in fact a chemical alteration in the protoplasm, and that this stimulates the optic nerve-endings. Kirk's Physiology Ch, XVII,

INTRODUCT.PN. xlvii

preying upon the vitals by coursing freely th;'Ough the whole organism. The Rasa, thus g^enerated, undergoes a sort of purification, the » purified portion being called Prasddabhuta, and the excreted portion Malabhttta, suc^>9 as are found as effete products deposited in certain pores of the body. Kaphah or Sleshmd is that pprtion of Rasa which fills all the intercellular^ spaces of the body, thus holding them together in a kind of cooling embrace (Skr. Slish to embrace) and prevents (il the dreadful combustion which would otherwise have been caused by organic heat. Our Acharjas have classified the Kaphah into five diflFerent kinds such as the Kledaka, Avalanwaka, Vodhaka and Shlcsmaka according to their different functions and locations in the economy.

Dosha : — The lymph chyle, born of the digested food, and which courses through the body, potentially contains the elements which build the diflferent tissues of the human organism. Under the influence of metabolic heat it is progressively transformed into blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, semen and OJah. In other words, under the process of physiological metamorphosis, the lymph chyle sets free that part of its constituents (2) which possess blood-

(i) A ^wftl*lK*!: — Bagbhat.

Charaka Chikitshasth,<.nam. Chap. 15. (2) A. %^Ttg ?}^Tli^T: TJ^f^rf f^f^«(*ft; I fi^^^n: ^Tg^^ ^f^T*i ^t^^ K^: II

Bh^va Mishra.

Chakra Datta's commentary on the Charaka Samhit^. SutrasthSrjani. Cr. XXVIIl.

xlviii int;roduction.

making properties, and are ultimately transformed into blood — (its unuiilised^or excreted portion being eliminated through the natural apertures of the body), and so on, thrqugh the progressive series of metabolism to Oj'a/i Dhd.iu.> Thus with ihc derangement f)f the bodily Vayu which causes the fr^e coursing oi the lymph ch3'le through its vessels, the Pittam imetabolismj,of tissues), in any particular part of the body, is also affected by reason of its incarceration, and thus causes an increase or diminution in the excreted portion of the Rasa, which is another name for Kapham during the progressive metabolism. Thus we see that Vayu, Pitta^i, and Kaphah, which, in their normal state, are the three supporting principles of the body are transformed into morbific diathesis by increasing or diminishing the bodily heat, secretions, or excretions. t

Thus congestion and inanition (atony) are the two main forms of disease recognised by the Ayurvedic Pathologists, the former being held amenable to resolution or elimination, and the latter to local feeding or nourishment.

Agni and Dh^tvagnis : — We can not better conclude this portion of our dissertation than by speaking a word or two about Agni. Sushruta raises the question whether there is any kind of fire in the human organism other than the Pittam ; or are they identical ? Sushruta holds that the Pittam is the only fire present in the system, in as much as all acts from the digestion of food to the disintegration of tissues are performed with the help of the Pittam, which includes within its signification what is connoted by Anabolism and Katabolism of Western Physiologists. But Agnivesha and certain sections of the Ayurvedic Acharyayas hold that there

^fTf^=5WWri^ «?^ ftqi 5f?T «I,?TI: II

Bh^vaprakeisha Part I.