Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

Thus, the wmrd Roga applies equally to the faults and diseases. To the last, however, it applies especially.5*

It should be stated that diseases are countless in consequence of their very large number.

The faults, however, are countable, in consequence of their not being many.

Therefore, diseases, for example’s sake, and the faults, without anything touching them being left out, are being expounded ( as follows ) agreeably to the requirements of propriety .6t

* The etymologies of the words expressive of disease are highly interesing..

‘ Roga' is from ‘Ruj’ meaning ‘to pain.’ Hence it means anything that pains..

‘ Atanka ' is from ' taki 1 implying to live in distress.

‘Yakshma’ is from a word that means worship. A person that is ill worships, the deities devoutly. In health, one may forget the deities, but not so when one is lying on a sick-bed. Various vows, &c., are also made on such, occasions.

‘ Doshaprakriti ’ implies the nature of ‘ Dosha,’ i. e., wind, bile, and phlegm. That nature is to be disordered or diseased. Hence, disease may fitly be called as ‘ of the nature of Dosha.’

‘ Vikara ’ is modification or change for the worse. Health is changed into, disease. — T.

f The correct reading is ' Yathochitam ’ and not ‘ Yathachitram ’ as some vicious Bengal texts have. What the Rishi says in the concluding portion of aphorism 6 is this. Diseases are innumerable, the faults are few. Some of the diseases, therefore, can be explained, for the sake of example. Faults, however,, may be treated of exhaustively. ‘ Udaharanartham ’ applies to ' Vikarah,’ while ' Anavafeshena ’ applies to ' doshah.’— T.

C11ARAKA-SA MHITA

5i5

Rajas ( Passion ) and Tamas ( Darkness ) are the faults of the mind.

Their modifications are Lust, Wrath, Cupidity, Heedlessness.

Envy, Pride, Arrogance, Grief, Anxiety, Fear, Joy, &c.7

Wind, Bile, and Phlegm are, verily, the faults of the body.

Their modifications are Fever, Diarrhoea, Rheumatism, Con¬ sumption, Asthma, Diabetes, Leprosy, &c.8*

Thus, the Faults are enumerated in full, while, of Diseases, only a portion is enumerated.9

Amongst them, verily, of these two kinds of Faults ( viz., mental and bodily ), there are three kinds of exciting causes, viz,, union with disagreeing objects of sense, faults of understanding, and Time.

When excited, the faults, in consequence of difference of exciting causes as also of difference of the elements vitiated, generate innumerable diseases.

Verily, those diseases, viz ., Lust and the others, and Fever and the rest, following one another, sometimes exist together.

As regards Rajas and Tamas, their co-existence is perpetual, since there can be no Ta?nas without Rajas.10 + means Consumption and similar other diseases that waste or emaciate the

* ‘ Cosha ’ is any disease that dries up the body or bodily elements. It

‘ Meha ’ has many varieties. It is a word applied to all urinary affections as also affections of the genital organs. Of Leprosy, again, there are many varieties. — T.

t Faults are of two kinds, viz., mental and bodily. Their excitement leads to disease. The exciting caused are three ; viz., union of the mind or body with such objects of sense as do not agree with the mind or the body. ( Vide Lesson XI, ante, Sutrasthanam)

By ' Parinama’ is meant Time.

The correct reading is ‘ Dushya^ifeshat' and not ‘ drayavifeshat’.

The faults being excited generate innumerable diseases in consequence of differences of exciting causes and differences of the 1 dushyas ’ or elements of the body, such as juice, blood, flesh, &c., that are excited. Though numbered three, the exciting causes are really infinite.

5‘6

CHAR A KA-SAMHITA.

Generally, of the faults dwelling in the body, in consequence of their belonging to the same place, there happens a commingling of all or a mingling of any two.

The faults, again, are like those that vitiate them, in conse¬ quence of both being possessed of qualities that are similar.11*

In this connection (shall be explained) the difference between that which is principal and that which is accessory (or an adjunct).

That is called the principal which exists independently, whose indications are all manifest, and whose origin and alleviation conform to what has been said.

Lust, &c, representing the modifications of the two mental faults, and Fever, &c., representing the modifications of the bodily faults, follow one another and sometimes co-exist. Modifications of mental faults may co-exist as regards one another, or they may co-exist with modifications of bodily faults. The same is the case with regard to the co-existence of the modifications of bodily faults.

Such co-existence may be either accidental, in the sense of being temporary, or perpetual, in the sense of being necessary. The two mental faults, viz., Rajas and Tamas cannot but co-exist. One of them can not exist independently of the other. Vide Mahabharata, Qanti Parva, the Sections on Rajas and Tamas. — T.