Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

For the increase of strength and flesh, that diet should be given to a person afflicted with phthisis which has been laid down in the lesson on the treatment of persons weakened by wounds and sores. *79> Verily, this prince of diseases is allayed by oils and ghees and powders for rubbing thd body with, by bathing, dipping, and washing the body (in or with water prepared according to directions), by enemata, by milk and ghee (prepared according to the instructions laid down), by meat and meat-juice mixed with rice, by agreeable wines, by enjoyment of agreeable perfumes, by baths in water agree-

* ‘Utsadanas’ are powders used for rubbing the body with. — T.

+ Drugs that promote longevity are called ‘Jivaniya.’

If the season is winter, the water should be used while lukewarm ; if it is summer, it should be used when cooled.— T.

J This verse is incorrectly and differently read in many of the printed texts.— T.

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CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

able to the season, by robes untorn and agreeable, by sight of friendly and beautiful women, by songs and instrumental music delightful to the ear, by giving everything that contributes to make the patient cheerful, by consolatory and soothing speeches, by constant service of superiors and seniors, by practice of Brahmacharyya, by practice of gifts and penances, by worship of the deites, by truthfulness of speech, by good conduct, by auspicious rites and touch of auspicious articles, by abstention from injuring others, and by adoring physi¬ cians and Brahmanas.i8°-l84

Desirous of cure, a person afflicted with phthisis should also perform that sacrifice and those religious rites which are laid down in the Vedas. By performance of these, this, disease was in former times conquered.* i85

( Here are two verses containing a summary ).

In this lesson on the treatment of ‘Raja-Yakshma’ (phthisis), the first appearance of the disease, its causes, its premonitory indications, the group of (developed) symtoms it manifests, the medicines in brief as also in detail, the designations by which it is known, the subsidiary causes, incurability, curability, and difficulty of cure, — these have all been compiled and expounded.

Thus ends Lesson Eight, called Treatment of ‘Raja-Yakshma,’ in the Division called Chikitsita, of the treatise of Agniveja as revised by Charaka,

This refers to the case of Chandramas, the diety of the moon. — T.

LESSON IX.

THE TREATMENT OF INSANITY.*

We shall now expound the Lesson on Insanity.

Thus said the illustrious son of Atri.

Punarvasu, who was the abode of intelligence, memory, know¬ ledge, and penances, and who was the refuge of all living creatures, declared unto Agnivega, asked (by him) at the proper time, the causes, symptoms, and medicines of Insanity. 1

Food that consists of hostile or inharmonious ingredients, or Ingredients that are vitiated, or that are impure (tainted), attacks on the deities, Brahmanas, and seniors, mental shocks caused by fear and joy, and abnormal efforts, are the causes of Insanity. 2

Of a person of weak mind, the faults (viz., wind, bile, and phlegm), vitiated by these (causes), vitiating the heart which is the abode of Intelligence, and overwhelming the ducts that convey impressions (from the senses) to the mind, quickly stupefy the mind.f 3

A clouded or confused understanding, restlessness of mind, anxious glances, restlessness of manner, indistinct articulation, and emptiness of the chest, are the general symptoms of Insanity. 4

Of bedimmed understanding, the person that is insane feels neither happiness nor misery. He becomes oblivious of conduct and duty. Peace of mind is not his.

Destitute of memory and understanding and consciousness, the mind of the person afflicted with Insanity wanders hither and thither4 5

Disorder of the understanding, the mind, and the memory, is called Insanity. Insanity is either accidental or constitutional.

The causes which produce Insanity are of five kinds. I shall now expound the symptoms and the treatment of this disease. 6

* In many of the Bengal texts, this Lesson occurs as the fourteenth. In Gangadhara’s text, it is numbered as the ninth. — T.

■}• The words ‘sattwa’, ‘hridaya’, and ‘chetas’ probably imply the same thing, viz., the mind. ‘Manovahagratangsi’ mean the ducts or nerves which convey impressions from the senses to the mind.— T.

J The correct reading is ‘bhramatyasya’ and not ‘bhrahmatyayam.’ Gangadhara adheres to the incorrect reading and takes ‘bhramati’ as standing for the causal form. — T.

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CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

Dry, scanty, and cold food, purging and vomiting, loss of the constituent elements (of the body), and fasts, greatly increase the wind. The increased wind vitiates the heart already affected by . anxious thoughts, and then destroys the understanding and the memory speedily. 7

Laughter and smile and dancing and singing and speech on inappropriate occasions, and motions and gestures, and crying, and roughness and leanness of the body and reddishness of the complexion, are the symptoms of Insanity born of (excited) wind. This form of Insanity gains force when digestion has taken place of food taken by the patient. 8