Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

By suppressing tears, cattarrh in the nose, eye-diseases, heartdisease, loss of appetite, and delirium are induced. In these dis¬ orders, sleep, wines, and agreeable conversation are the remedies prescribed.20

Yawns, langour of body, sleepiness, headache, and heaviness of the eye-lids, are induced by suppression of sleep. In ihese dis¬ orders the remedy is sleep and gentle chafing of the limbs.21

Abdominal tumours, heart-disease, loss of consciousness, and faintness are born of suppression of breath. In these, rest, and all kinds of treatment that are destructive of disorders of the wind,- are beneficial.22

If one desires that the disorders mentioned above, that are born of suppressing the calls of Nature, should not arise, one should not suppress those calls.22

One desirous of one’s good both here and hereafter shduld

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

p. 77

suppress these impulses also, viz., those of (ill-regulated) courage and all fruitless impulses of thought, word, and deed.*24

The man of intelligence should also suppress the impulses of cupidity, grief, fear, wrath, pride, shamelessness, envy, violent propensities of every kind, and covetousness.26

One should also suppress the rising impulses of harshness, of doing anything that is disagreeable to others, of untruthfulness of speech, of speech that is inopportune, of whatever tendencies that exist' for giving pain to others, of sexual congress, of appropriating the property of others, and of all wrongful propensities.28-27

Through sinlessness of thought, word, and deed, a person earns righteous fame, and lives happily, acquiring and enjoying religious merit, wealth, and (sources of) pleasure.28

That exertion of body which is productive of good consequen¬ ces (to the body itself), which conduces to collectedness (of mind), and increases strength, is called physical exercise. One should have recourse to it in due measure.29

The consequences resulting from physical exercise are light¬ ness of body, capacity for work, collectedness, power of enduring hardship, removal of all imperfections, and augmentation of the digestive fire.t30

From excess of physical exercise result fatigue, faintness, loss of vigor, thirst, asthma, consumption, fever, and attacks of cold.31

An intelligent person should never indulge in physical exer¬ cise, lailghter, talking, walking, sexual congress, and night-keeping, to excess even when these become necessary.32

* As an example of ill-regulated courage the Commentator gives the instance of one’s approaching an infuriate elephant. — T.

t It is a fact that by particular exercises particular limbs may be made to look handsotae after the removal of their imperfections. This has been lately known in the West.— T.

p. 78

CHA RA K A-S AM HIT A

He who indulges in these and similar other practices in excess soon meets with destruction like an elephant that assails a lion.38

An intelligent man should abstain gradually from all habitual practices that are injurious and adopt gradually practices that are beneficial. What is meant by ‘gradually’ is laid down as follows.34

If one is addicted to an injurious practice and unaccustomed to a practice that is healthful, one must abstain from the former and accustom oneself to the latter according to the following pro¬ gressive scale : for the first two days one should indulge in the injurious practice to the extent of only three-fourths and adopt the salutary practice to the extent of only one-fourth ; after this, for the third, fourth, and fifth days one should abstain from the former by a half and adopt the latter by a half ; after this, for the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth days one should indulge in the baneful act to the extent of only a fourth and adopt the healthful practice to the extent of three-fourths ; after that., from the tenth day one should give up the injurious habit altogether and adopt the health¬ ful one fully.*35

In this way are faults got rid of gradually, and good habits acquired gradually. In this way are faults got rid of by the good never to return and healthful habits acquired without ever losing them again.36

Some men, from the time of their conception in the mother’s womb, have an equality or harmony of bile, wind, and phlegm ; some are seen in whom wind predominates ; some in whom bile predominates; and some in whom phlegm predominates.37

Amongst these, those mentioned first, {viz., men in whom bile wind, and phlegm exist in a state of harmony) are always hale. Those in whom any one of these three predominates, are always cearaka-asmeitA.

* This verse is expressed in language that is exceedingly terse. To make the sense intelligible I have expanded it, following the lead of the Commentator.— T.

p. 79

subject to disease. The continued presence, in the system, of faults of this nature, constitutes the character of one’s constitution *38