Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

* The necessity of this is to guide a physician in the diagnosis, and, hence, the treatment of a disease. A physician is called. He finds a patient suffering not from a particular ail¬ ment but from a complexity of ailments. He sees, for instance, a patient suffering not simply from fever but from thirst, headache, gonorrhsea and a hundred other ailments. Which is the real disease — should be the first thing for him to ascertain. For if the real disease be detected, treatment of that disease will assuage all the ailments. That ailment which when treated alleviates all others is the real disease ; the others are only supervening symp¬ toms. It should not, however, be thought that those which are called symptoms, are mere indications of disease. Thjy, in their turn, become separate diseases. So there is no hard and fast division between symptoms and diseases. In other words, we cannot say that certain ailments are always symptoms and certain others are always diseases. What ailment is the symptom and what the disease entirely depends upon the nature of the case. A general rule on the point can be laid down so far that those ailments are symptoms which are accessories and those constitute the disease which are principal. Physicians should, no doubt, detect and treat the chief ailment, i. e. the disease. But sometimes they should pay heed to a symptom as well. A symptom that is aggressive should be first attended to, such as thirst in cholera.— T.

t When there is harmony in the constituents of the body, the body is said to be in a normal or healthy condition. Any break in the harmony is the abnormal or the diseased condition. The aim of medical science is nothing more than a restoration of the original harmony. — T.

X The word rendered ‘causes’ or ‘cause’ occurs twice within this summary, first as ‘Hetavah -in the first line of the first verse, and then as ‘Hetu’ in the second line of the second verse. *Rupa’, ‘linga’, and ‘lakshmana’, again, convey the same sense. The fact is, ‘Hetavah’ as used in the first line means causes different from the kind of causes which is implied by .‘Hetu’, in. the. second line, .pf; the sepond verse.. So also the words ‘Rupa’, ‘linga’, and lakshmana’ indicate different classes of symptoms. Beginning with the first, verse.; ‘Hetavah’

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

p. 1013

Thus ends Lesson eight, in the Division called Nidana, of Agnivega’s treatise as revised by Charaka.

refers to the definition and synonyms of the word as given in aphorism 2 of the first Lesson of this Division. Similarly, ‘Purvarupa’ refers to what has been said in the latter part of aphorism 3 of the same Lesson. The definition only of the term is implied. The same should be said of the words ‘Rupani’, and ‘Upagaya’, and ‘Samprapti.’ Only the definitions are referred to. ( Vide aphorisms 3, 4, and 5 of Lesson I). ‘Purvamutpattih’ has reference to the first origin of disease. ( Vide Lesson VIII, aphorisms 10 and II.

The aphorisms, in brief, about treatment occur after every disease noticed in this Division ; only the general methods of treatment have been referred to.

The considerations of Curability and Incurability occur after the mention of each disease. ‘Hetu’, ‘linga’ and ‘upaganti’, meaning ‘causes’, ‘symptoms’, and ‘methods of alleviation’, have reference to what has been said separately of each disease.

As regards ‘causes and nomenclature of diseases and symptoms’, vide aphorisms begin¬ ning with 24 of Lesson VIII.

END OF NIDANA-STHANA.

SPECIAL NOTICE.

Our subscribers will see that the Division called ‘Nidana’ is concluded in this fasciculus. The Division called ‘Chikitsa will begin in the next. Of all the Divisions of this great work, the most important and useful is ‘Chikitsa.’ There is a saying, the authorship of which is unknown, which funs — viRtt ^ n

“In ‘Nidana’ (or the causes of disease), Madhava is the foremost (authority) ; in Sutra (aphoristic enunciation of the general principles of pathology, &c.,) Vagbhata is the fore¬ most ; in £arira’ (Anatomy) Sugruta is the foremost ; but Charaka is the foremost in ‘Chikitsa’ or Treatment.” This estimate fairly accords with the received opinion.

The Division, therefore, that will, commence with the next fasciculus, is the most important of all the Divisions of Charaka’s great treatise.

The majority of our subscribers have not sent us any portion of their dues for a long time. We beg to invite their attention to this fact. If they kindly remit their dues to us without delay, we may then be able to complete the work within a short time and redeem our pledges. The fact is, the completion of our task depends entirely on the regularity with which we are paid. We hope our subscribers will clear off their balances without the necessity of our addressing each of them separately.

NOTICE.

Those subscribers who have lost any of their fasciculi are requested to write to us promptly.