Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

The physician possessed of knowledge should let out blood by opening the veins at the line joining the temples with the hair of the head, in cases of violent Insanity as also in fever and epilepsy. 87

Gratifying the Insane with ghee and meat, the physician should place him at his ease in a chamber not exposed to the wind. He will come out, freed from loss of understanding and memory, and having regained his senses. 88

Or, some friend of his should console him with words that are fraught with Piety and Profit ; or, he should inform him of the loss of some beloved one, or show him some such object as is capable of exciting his wonder.* 89

Or, rubbing him with mustard oil and binding him with cords, he should be kept, face upwards, in a lying posture, exposed to the sun.

Gangadhara explains the second line wrongly. — T.

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

127-7

Or, he should be touched with the (ripe) cods of Mucuna prunens , hot iron, or sprinkled over with hot oils and water. 90

Or, striking him with whips and goads, and binding him strongly, he should be confined in a solitary chamber. By this, his deranged mind will be quickly restored to equanimity. 91

Or, he should be terrified by means of snakes deprived of fangs, or tame lions and elephants, or armed men. Or, his terror should be excited by the mention of robbers and enemies lying in wait for him. 92

Or, officers of the peace, binding him strongly and taking him out, frighten him with death, saying that the king had ordered it, and speaking fiercely to him all the while. 93

Verily, the fear of life is greater than the fear of bodily injury. By putting the patient into fear of his life, his mind which is wan¬ dering in multifarious directions becomes restored to a state of quietness. 94

That person whose mind has been afflicted in consequence of the loss of some beloved object, should be brought back to reason by sweetly spoken assurances about his acquisition of a similar object. 95

Those that have become insane through lust, or grief, or fear, or wrath, or joy, or envy, or cupidity, should be brought back to reason by the operation of opposite emotions. 96

Ascertaining the strength or weakness of habitat, age, food and drink and practices to which the patient is habituated, the fault that is excited, and the season (when treatment is begun), the physician should take up the treatment, agreeably to what has been laid down above, of Insanity caused by the action of evil spirits as also of the faults {viz., wind, bile, and phlegm). 97

The physician possessed of intelligence should avoid keen collyria and the rest, as also all sorts of cruel acts in treating a person who has become insane through the action of a deity, a Rishi, a Pitri, or a Gandharva. 98

The drinking of ghee and the like, and such other mild courses of treatment should be adopted in the case of such a person. In the

p. 1278

CHARAKA-SAMHI TA.

case of such a patient, the following courses of treatment should be adopted, (viz., worship of the deities, sacrifices and offerings to them), the recitation of mantras, the application of mild collyria, performance of religious rites as bring about an alleviation of calamities, the offer of oblations, performance of Homa, the silent recitation of sacred texts or names, propitiatory rites, observance of Vedic ordinances, and of ceremonies of expiation. 99-i°°

By worshipping every day, with concentrated attention, the Lord of all creatures, the Supreme Being possessed of great effulgence, the the Master of the Universe, one conquers the fear of (catching) Insanity, wi

By offering worship to the retainers, called ‘Pramathas,’ of Rudra, who wander over the earth, one becomes freed from diverse kinds of Insanity (brought about by the action of superhuman beings). 102

As regards those varieties of Insanity which are accidental, these may be alleviated by sacrificial offerings auspicious -rites, Homa (libations on the sacred fire), wearing pearls, and gems,* practice of truth, penances, knowledge, gifts, observance of pious ordinances as also of vows, the worship of the deities, Guhyakas, learned Brahmans, seniors and preceptors, and by well-tested mantras (sacred texts) and ordinances. 103-104

In consequence of their causes, as also the ingredients vitiated, being the same, the instructions that have been laid down in the treatment of epilepsy should be followed in (the treatment of) Insanity also. I05

He who abstains from fish and wine and lives upon food and •drink that are beneficial, whose passions are under control, who is pure in body and mind, is regarded as one devoted to the quality of Goodness. Such a person is never attacked by Insanity that is born of the vitiated faults or that is Accidental. 106

Of one whose Insanity has been cured, the symptoms are a clear apprehension of all the objects of the senses, clearness of the mind,

* ‘Gada,’ disease ; hence ‘agada’ is a general name for remedies of all kinds. Here it evidently refers to gems and stones. — T.

CHARAKA-SAMHITA.

p. 1279

the understanding, and the soul, and the restoration, to their normal condition, ‘of the several ingredients of the body.