An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, Vol. II — trans. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1911)
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The translator’s English as printed (Kunja Lal Bhishagratna). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
the mouth and the head of a male serpent are large, while those of a female snake are small. Those which partake of both these features and are mild-venomed and not (easily) irritable, should be considered as hermaphrodite (Napumsaka). 18.
Now we shall describe the general features of snakebites : — Why does snake-poison prove instantaneously fatal like a sharp sword, thunder-bolt or fire? Why is it that a case of snake bite, if neglected even for a very short time (Muhurta) at the outset, terminates in the death of the patient without (even) giving him an opportunity of speaking ? 19-20.
From the general characteristics of the bites, it should be presumed that they may be divided into three kinds. We shall, therefore, describe in detail the specific features of the bites of these three kinds (^instead of all of them separately). It will be both beneficial to the patient and will leave no room for the confusion of the physician. From the specific features of these three kinds of snake-bites should be inferred all other snakebites. 21.
Specific symptoms of a bite by a Darvi-kara snake:— A black colour of the skin, eyes, nails, tooth, urine and stool and the seat of the bite, roughness of the body and heaviness of the head, pain in the joints, weakness of the back, neck and waist, yawning, shivering, hoarseness of the voice, a rattling sound in the throat, lassitude, dry eructation, cough and difficult breathing, hiccough, upward course of the bodily Viyu, pain (S'ula) and consequent aching of the limbs, thirst, excessive salivation, foaming in the mouth, . choking of the external orifices of the body (such as
7IO THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. IV. , the mouth and the nostrils) and peculiar pains (such as the pricking, piercing pain in the body) due to the aggravation of the bodily Vdyu, — these are the specific symptoms of a bite by a snake of the Darvi-kara species. 22.
Specific symptoms of a bite by a lYIandali snake : -Yellowness of the skin, etc., longing for cold, a sensation as if the whole interior is being burnt with scorching vapours, extreme burning sensation in the body, thirst, a sensation of intoxication, delirium, fever, haemorrhage through both the upper and the lower channels, sloughing of the flesh, swelling and suppuration in the affected part, a jaundiced sight, a rapid aggravation (of the Pitta) and the presence of various sorts of pain peculiar to the derangement of the of the bodily Pitta, — these are the specific symptoms of a bite by a snake of the Mandali species. 23
Specific symptoms of a bite by a
RsCJiman snake :— Whiteness of the bkin, etc., ^ita Jvara (catarrhal fever), horripilation, a numbness of the limbs, a swelling about the seat of the bite, flowing out of dense phlegm (from the mouth), vomiting, constant itching of the eyes, a swelling of and a rattling sound in the throat, obstruction of breath, delirium, peculiar pain and troubles characteristic of the deranged Kapha in the body, — these are the specific symptoms of a bite by a snake of the R^jimg^n species 24.
Specific symptoms of bites by snakes of different sexes and a^^es, etCi ! — The sight or the pupils of the eyes of a person bitten by a male snake, is turned upward. A bite by a female serpent exhibits such smyptoms as downcast eyes and appearance of veins on the forehead, while that by a hermaphrodite (Napumsaka) snake makes the
. Chap. IV.] KALPA STHANAM. 7^^
patient look sidelong. A person bitten by a pregnant snake produces yellowness of the face and tympanites. A bite by a newly delivered snake causes Sula (pain), bloody urination and an attack of tonsilitesi^Upa-jihvikd) in the victim. A person bitten by a hungry serpent craves for food. A bite by an old serpent is marked by a slow and mild character of the different stages of poisoning. A bite by a snake of tender age is marked by a rapid setting of the characteristic poisonous symptoms which are found to be mild in their nature. A bite by a non-venomous serpent is marked by the absence of any of the specific symptoms of poisoning. According to several authorities, a bite by a blind serpent brings on blindness in its train. An Ajagara (Boa-constructor 1 is found to actually swallow up the body of its prey, to which should be ascribed the death of the victim in such a case (resulting from the crushing of bones and strangulation) and not to the effects of any poison. A person bitten by a snake of instantaneously fatal poison, drops down dead at the moment of the bite as if struck by a sharp weapon or by lightning. 25.
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