An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Vol. II — trans. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1911)

Chap. IV.] CIIIKITSA STIIANAM,p. 291 would be found to have been confined in any parti u'ar part of the body,* 10-12.

In the event of the aggravated Vayu being connected either with the Pitta or the Kapha, such a course of treatment should be adopted as would not be hostile to the two other Doshas. Blood-letting (in small quantities) should be resorted to several times in a case of complete genesthesia (Supta-Vata) and the body should be anointed with oil mixed with salt and chamber-dust (Agara-dhuma) Milk boiled with a decDction of the drugs of the Pancha-mula group, acid-fruits (Phalamla), meat-soup or soup of (well-cooked) corn (Dhanya) with clarified butter are beneficial in cases of Vataroga, 13-15.

^alvana-Upanaha :— A poultice composed of the drugs of the K^.kolyadi group, the Vayu-subduing drugs (those of Bhadra-darvddi and Vidarigandhadi groups), and all kinds of acid articlesf (such as, Kanjika, Sauvira, fermented rice-gruel, etc.), the flesh of animals which live in swamps (Anupa) or in water (Audaka)l, oil, clarified butter and all kinds of lardaceous substances, mixed together and saturated with a profuse quantity of salt and then slightly heated is known by the name of Salvana. A person suffering from any form of Vata roga should be always treated with such Salvana poultices (Upanaha). The poultice should be applied to such part of the body as is

" It is to be understood that measures and remedies laid down under the head of Sarvanga-gata should be used when the Vayu would be found to be diffused throughout the whole organism instead of being confined to any specific part.

t According to others it means all kinds of acid- fruits, etc.

X Chakradatta reads "^IT^qfliH: fln^^:" (well-cooked with the fle.h of "Anupa" animals) in place of ^|T<ft^^*ltQ^ I

292 TJ'E SUSHRUTA SAMIllTA. [Chap. IV.

numbed, painful or contracted and the affected part should be firmly ban daged thereafter with a piece of Kshauma* linen ( r woollen cloth. As an alternative, the affected part should be plastered (and well rubbed) with the ingredients of the Sdlvana-Upanaha and inserted into a bag made of cat or mungoosc skin or that of a camel or deer hide. i6.

The aggravated Vayu, if located in the shoulders, the chest, the sacrum i^Trika) or the Manya, should be subdued by emetics and errhincs judiciously employed. Siro-Vasti should be applied to the head of the patient as long as it would take one to utter a thousand Matras (a short vowel sound), more or less, as the case may require, where the aggravated Vayu would be found to have located itsellf in the head, (if necessary) blood-letting should be resorted to. As a mountain is capable of obstructing the passage of the wind, so the Sneha-Vasti (oily enema) is alone capable of resisting the action of the aggravated Vtiyu whether it extends throughout the whole system or is confined to a single part. 17-19

Measures beneficial to Vata-Vyadhl:

— An application of Sneha, fomentations, anointment of the body, Vasti, oily purgatives, Siro-vasti, the rubbing of oils on the head, oily fumigation, gargling with tepid oil, oily errhines, the use of meat-soup, milk, meat, clarified butter, oil and other lardaceous articles (of food), all kinds of acid fruits, salt, lukewarm washes, gentle massage, the use of saffron, Agttra^ Patra, Kushtha, Eld^ Tagara, the wearing of woollen, silken, cotton or any other thick kind of garments, living in a warm room or in one not exposed to the wind or in an inner chamber, the use of a soft bed, basking in the glare of fire, entire sexual abstinence, these and such like other things

* Some lead it as Valka, i.e., made up bark.

Chap. IV ] CIIIKITSA STHANAM. 293

should be generally adopted by a patient suffering from Vata-roga 20.

The Tilvaka-Ghrita :— A paste i^Kaika) of the following drugs, viz, Trivrit, Danti, Suvarna-kshiri, Saptald, S amkhini, TripJiald and Vidatiga, each weighing an Aksha \two tolas\ and Tilvaka- roots and Kampillaka, each weighing a Vilva (eight tolas), a decoction of Triphala and curd, each weighing two Patras '-' (^thirty-two seers) and clarified butter, weighing sixteen seers, should be duly cooked together. Medical authorities recommend this Tiivaka Ghiila as an oily purgative in cases of Vata-roga. As'oka-Ghrita and Ramyaka-Ghrita aie prepared in the same manner, (viz., b}' substituting As'oka and Ramyaka respectively for Tilvaka). 21.