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

lYIetrical Texts :— A Sneha (oil or clarified butter) cooked with the pasted drugs (of the Siro-Virechana group) would be as beneficial as the powder (Kalka) of those drugs for the purpose of an errhine in respect of a weak, emaciated, timid, delicate or female patient. 31.

Forbidden Cases : -A fasting person, or one who has just taken his meal, or one suffering from an acute catarrh or coryza of a virulent type, an enciente woman, a man found to be still under the influence of an intoxicating liquor or who has taken a Sneha (oleaginous substance), water or any other liquid, or one suffering from indigestion or who has been treated with an enema (Vasti), one in an angry and excited state of mind or afflicted with thirst or who is suffering from the effects of any slow chemical poison (Gara) or fatigued or overwhelmed with grief as well as an infant, an old man, one who has voluntarily repressed any natural urging of the body or one about to take a full bath (Sirah-Sndna) should be regarded unfit for treatment with lany kind of medicinal) snuffs (Nasya). Snuffing and smoke inhalation should not be resorted to in the event of the sky being (unseasonably) overcast with clouds at a time when such phenomena do not usually or ordinarily happen. 32-A,

A deficient or an excessive application of snuffs (at one time), or its extreme heat or coldness, a sudden or de layed application of the same (into the nostrils), droopingp. 84p. 666 posture of the head or its movements during the application, the fact of its being used while the patient would be taking his meals, or its application in any forbidden case may produce such distressing symptoms as thirst eructations, etc., due to the action of the aggravated or decreased Doshas of the body. 32.

Metrical Texts : — The evils which are usually found to attend an abuse of medicinal snuffs (Nasya) or errhines (S'iro-vireka) may be grouped into two classes — those incidental to the aggravation (Utkles'a) of the Doshas or to the loss or waste (Kshaya) of the same. The distempers due to an aggravation of the Doshas should he remedied with soothing (S'amana)and corrective ^^S'odhana) measures and remedies, while those resulting from the loss or waste of the Doshas should be remedied with such drugs and remedies as would make up the decreased Doshas (of the system). 33.

Pratimarsha Nasya when to be used : -The Pratimarsha form of snuff should be resorted to on any of the following fourteen different occasions, z^z'-sr.:— after quitting the bed in the morning, after cleansing the teeth, on the occasion of going out of the house, after having been fatigued with physical exercise, after sexual intercourse and a journey, after defecation and urination, after the use of gargles (Kavala) and collyrium (Anjana), in an empty stomach, after vomiting, just after a day-sleep and in the evening. 34.

Their Effects :— A Pratimarsha snuff used by a person just after rising from his bed tends to remove the waxy mucus (Mala) accumulated in the nostrils during the night and brings on a cheerful state of the mind, when used after having cleansed the teeth, it imparts a sweet aroma to the mouth and makes the teeth steady and firm (in their sockets). When used by a man on the

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occasion of his going out of the house, it acts as a safeguard against the troubles of smoke and dust (assailing him on the road) owing to the consequent moist mucous secretion in the nostrils. When used after the exertion of physical exercise, coition or a journey, it serves to remove the sense of consequent fatigue, and when used after micturition or defecation it tends to remove the dulness or heaviness of vision. When applied after gargling or after an application of collyrium (along the eyelids) it serves to invigorate the eye-sight. When applied on an empty stomach, it cleanses the internal channels of the body and imparts a lightness to it. Taken after an act of emesis it tends to cleanse the mucous (S'leshmd) deposit on the beds of the internal ducts of the body and thus brings on a fresh appetite for food. When taken after a day-sleep it tends to remove the sense of drowsiness and physical heaviness and purges the filthy accumulations (in the nose, etc.) thus bringing about a concentrated state of the mind. When taken in the evening it brings on a good sleep and an easy awakening. 35.

IVIetrical Texts :— The quantity of Sneha which, being lightly snuffed in, reaches down into the cavity of the mouth, should be deemed adequate for a dose of the Pratimarsha (kind of snuff*). The benefit of using a snuff" may be perceived in a variety of ways, as it tends to cure the diseases peculiar to the superclavicular regions of the body, removes the cloudening

* One drop or two, or the quantity necessary to bring about a disruption of the Doshas, is the dose of a Pratimarsha Nasya according to Vriddha-Vagabhata.