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

beauty and pleasing shape, causes the grovrth of scanty but soft hair on its surface. It strengthens the eyesight and increases the energy of the body, improves its power of digestion and heightens its glow and complexion. Fat is deranged by such acts as, an abuse of astringent, bitter, cold, parchifying or Vistambhi (indigestible food which remains stuffed in the stomach^ substances, a voluntary repression of the natural urging for evacutions of the body, by excessive sexual indulgence, and fatiguing physical exercise, or by the draining action of any particular disease.

An instance of dislodgment of fat from its proper seat or locality is attended by such symptoms as roughness of the skin, loss of the natural healthful glow of the body and a breaking or an aching pain in the limbs. Anaemia or a gradual emaciation of the body, impaired digestive function and a slanting or downward course of the deranged humours, mark the case where the bodily fat has undergone a change in its natural properties through any foul contamination. A case of loss or waste of the bodily fat is marked by such S5aTiptoms as, impaired digestive function, dulness of sight, decay of strength and aggravation of the bodily Vayu, and always ends in death.

The medical treatment in the latter case (loss of fat) should consist in the administration of oily or emollient drinks, use of medicated unguents or lubrications, Pradeha (plasters of oleaginous substances) and

Chap. XV. ] SUTRASTHANAM. 13^

Parisheka (washes) and a diet comprising light, cooling and well-cooked articles of food.

lYIetrical texts : — A person suffering from a wasting of any of the constituent humours or fundamental principles or excrements of the body, as well as one suffering from loss of Ojah (albumen) naturally craves for drink and food that tend to contribute directly to the formation of the matter (or bodily principle) so lost or wasted. Conversely, the particular food or drink longed for b}' a person suffering from a loss or waste of any of the abovesaid fluids or principles, should be looked upon as possessed of a curative virtue in that particular case. Such a person devoid of consciousness and divested of his bodily and intellectual functions through a deranged state of the bodih' Vayu ner\-e-force) and extremely weak and enfeebled owing to the loss of the vital fluid should be regarded as past all cure.

Etiology of Obesity :— Obesity or loss of flesh (Karsha) should be ascribed to changes in the condition of the lymph chyle. The lymph chyle derived from the assimilated food of a person, who is habituated to a course of diet which tends to promote the quantitv of the bodily Kapham or is in the habit of pampering his belly even when a previous meal has not been thoroughly digested, or who is addicted to a habit of sleeping in the day, or leading a sedentary life, or is averse to taking

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any sort of physical exercise, continues in an immature State and is transformed into a serum of sweet taste which moves about within the body, engendering the formation of fat which produces excessive stoutness. A person afflicted with obesity develops such symptoms as shortness of breath, thirst, ravenous appetite, excessive sleepiness, perspiration, fetid odours in the body, wheezing sound in the throat during sleep or sudden suspension of breath, inert feeling in the limbs, dulness or heaviness of the body, and indistinctness of speech. Owing to the softness of fat, a fatty person is unntted for every kind of work. Capacity for sexual intercourse is diminished (in such a one), owing to the obstruction of the passage of semen by phlegm and fatty deposits ; and the growth of the rest of the root-principles of the body such as, lymph chyle, albumen, semen, etc., is considerably arrested owing to the deposit of fatty matter within the channels of the internal passages of the body, thus seriously affecting his bodily strength. An obese or excessively corpulent person is likely to be afflicted with any of the following diseases such as, urethral discharges, eruptions, boils, carbuncles, fever, fistula in ano, or with any of the diseases which are caused by a deranged state of the bodily V^3ai ; and such attacks are invariably found to terminate in death. Any disease in such a person is apt to develop into one of a violent and dangerous type owing to the obstruction of the internal channels with deposits of fat.

Chap. XV. ] SUTRASTHANAM.

^2^7

Hence all things or conditions which foster the growth of abnormal fat should be carefully avoided.