Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

From the opinions of the “ press ” I see that you have already interested Professor Jacobi of the Bonn Univer¬ sity. As the eminent medical men I intended to con¬ sult as to the propagation of your books are of the same University, I intend to write to Professor Jacobi to get his opinion about the best means of introducing your en¬ terprise to the public.

I remain,

Sir,

Yours faithfully,

(Sd.) Franz Gebhard.

THE objects of the mind are ideas. Here again, the proper, excessive, scant, and injudicious correlation of the Mind with its objects, or of the mental Understanding with its objects, becomes the cause of the normal or abnormal condition of oneself.*

Here again, for these reasons, one should act in such a way as to preserve one’s normal condition in order that one’s untroubled senses and mind might continue in an untroubled state ; that is to say, by keeping oneself in touch with such objects of the senses as are productive of beneficial results ; by properly achieving such acts as deserve to be achieved (and abstaining from such acts as should be abstained from), repeatedly ascertaining everything by a judicious employment of the Understanding ; and lastly, by resorting to practices that are opposed to the virtues of the place of habitation, season of time, and one’s own particular nature or disposition (as dependant upon a preponderance of this or that attribute or ingredient). Hence all persons desirous of 2sights. All these injure the sight or make it fall away from its normal condition. The consequence of this, of course, is that the perceptions, of which the eyes are the source or channel, become injured. A judicious or proper correlation, however, of the eye with form, preserves the normal condition of the eye, and the perceptions of which the eye is the source are kept unimpaired. The same is the case with each of the other senses ; excessive indulgence or exercise, the absence of judicious indulgence, and im¬ proper indulgence, impair each of them. Deafness is often induced by exposing the ear to loud, harsh, and dissonant sounds continuously. The delicacy of the olfactory nerves is seen to be impaired by exposing them continually to powerful scents. Taste and Touch may be impaired by such injudicious indulgence. — T.

* Certain objects, such as form, &c., are apprehended or seized by the Senses. The Mind, as the leader of the Senses, apprehends or seizes those very objects. Some¬ times again the Mind, acting without the intervention of the Senses, concerns itself with those objects. When the latter are thus presented to the Mind, they are more particu¬ larly called the objects of the Mind. Hence, the objects of the Mind are what are called ideas or notions or mental representations of external objects. * Mano-bhuddhi ’ in the text is used to distinguish it from ‘ Indriy a-buddhi. ’ I have verbally rendered it ‘ mental Understanding ’ when ' Understanding ’ alone would have been a good rendering. Ac¬ cording to the Sankhya system of philosophy it includes Dhi, Dhriti, and Smriti, i. e. , Reason or Judgment, the Representative power or imagination including, perhaps. Re¬ production or Association, and Memory or the power of conserving what is acquired. — T.