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

* Dallana explains that the patient should be caught hold of by his wrists and ankles and given the gentle jerks so as to allow the potency of the Sneha spread through the organism.

t Some explain that the buttocks of the patient should be raised up with his bedding and his couch. At any rate his buttocks should be raised up in order to enable the injected Sneha lo remain inside the intestines and not to come out instantly.

Chap. XXXVII. J CHIKITSA STIIANAM. 617

down in due time after the application. If at anytime a quantity of the Sneha injected into the bowels in the manner of an Anuv^sana enema (Vasti) is instantly driven back by the pressure of the incarcerated abdominal Vayu, or the Vayu (air) of the bladder (Vasti \ or by an excessive heat, keenness (in potency), or an over-dose of the injected fluid itself, or by the over dose of the medicines (^subsequently) added thereto, a Snehavasti charged with a smaller dose of the Sneha should be again applied, since a Sneha un-retained in the abdomen fails to produce any emulsive effect. 20-21.

Retention of stool, urine and Vayu (flatus) is produced by using an insufficient quantity of Sneha in an Anuvdsana-vasti. A burning sensation in the body, diarrhoea (Pravaha^ and fatigue accompanied with pain set in as the natural resultants of an excessive Anuvdsana enema. The satisfactory nature of the application of an Anuviisana-vasti should be inferred from the timely discharge of the injected Sneha with flatus and fcecal matter* out of the bowels of a patient without giving rise to any distressing symptoms such as burning and sucking f sensations, etc. 22.

The patient may be given a light + meal or diet in the evening, in case he is possessed of a keen digestive capacity^, subsequent to the digestion of a previous meal and (should he feel hungry) after the discharging of the injected Sneha. Tepid water boiled with Dhanydka

* It should be noted that the particle •''^" in the text means that on the satisfactory action of an Anuvasana-Vasti, the injected S neha may come out with urine as well.

t Dallana explains ''^^t^" to mean thirst. X "Light" means both light in quantity as well as in quality. ^^^ § Some commentators explain this couplet to mean that a patiant .of ordinary digestive capacity should be given a light food, whereas a ^^ patient of keen digestive capacity may take a full one.

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6l8 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. XXXVIIand S'linthi should be given hot to the patient on the (following I morning as it would sharpen his appetite and produce a fresh relish for food. 23.

This is the procedure of applying a Sneha-vasti. Six, seven, eight or nine applications of Sneha-vastis should in this m?inner be made in succession alternately with those of a Nirudha-vasti. 24-A.

The Successive actions of the

Vastis:— The first application of the Vasti permeates I he pelvic and the inguinal regions with the emulcent essence of the injected Sneha, The second tends to restore the Vayu in the cephalic part of the body to its normal condition. The third contributes to the improvement of bodily strength and complexion. The fourth permeates the Rasa (lymph chyle) with its own oily essence. In this way the fifth application of a Vasti permeates the blood, the sixth the flesh, the seventh the fat, the eighth the bones, and the ninth the marrow with the oily essence. This series of Vasti-applications repeated twice tends to purify the semen from all its impure or unhealthy constituents. 24.

A person treated with eighteen series (three hundred and twenty-four in number) of such Sneha-vastis and Niruha-vastis in the above mentioned way and observing the prescribed rules of diet and conduct is enabled to develop a muscular strength in no way inferior to that of an elephant, and to live a sinless life a thousand years, in the full enjoyment of his intellectual faculties, god-like beauty and horse-like swiftness. 25.

An excessive application of only one kind of Vasti, either of a Sneha-vasti, or of a Niruha vasti, should be avoided; since an excess of the first (Sneha-vasti) tends to

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