Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

The Wind upholds the constituents of the body ( such as blood, flesh, marrow, fat, &c.) and their courses through the body. It exists in the fivefold form of Prana, Udana, Samana, Vyana, and Apana. It is the urging cause of movements of diverse kinds.*

It restrains the mind ( from all undesirable objects ) and con¬ centrates it ( on objects that are desirable). It causes all the ( ten ) senses ( of knowledge and action ) to perform their functions. It bears all the objects of the senses (after contact with the senses) to the mind. It holds together all the elements of the body. It assists the cohesion of the particles of the body. It causes speech. It is the prime cause of touch and sound, and the root of scent and touch. It is the origin of joy and cheerfulness. It excites the heat of fire. It dries up all faults. It throws out all impurities. It pierces through all the ducts of the body, gross and fine. It gives form to the embryo in womb. It furnishes the evidence of the existence of life. The Wind, when unexcited, achieves all these functions.6

When excited within the body, it pains the body with diverse afflictions. It destroys and injures strength, complexion, happi¬ ness and period of life. It agitates the mind. It injures all the senses. It kills the embryo and causes miscarriage. It maims the embryo (by suspending the development of particular parts). It holds the foetus longer than usual. It causes fear, grief, stupefaction, cheerlessness, and delusions. It destroys life.7

As regards the Wind that blows out of the body, when it is in its normal condition, it achieves the following functions.

charaka-samhitA.

* The Commentator (Chakrapanidatta) takes ‘ uchchavachanam’ as an adjective of ‘cheshtanam.’ The Bengali Commentator errs in taking the word as indicative of * Cabdanam’ — T,

p. 185

It upholds the Earth (in space) ; it causes the fire to blaze forth ; it causes the sun, the moon, the stars, and the planets to move ceaselessly in their respective orbits. It creates the clouds. It causes the clouds to pour rain. It causes all currents or streams to flow. It causes all flowers and fruits to appear. It causes all vegetables to grow. It causes the change of seasons. It causes all solid substances to assume different forms.* It ordains the density of different substances as also their shapes. It causes seeds to sprout forth, and produces the kernel in fruit and crops. It protects crops and fruits from putrefaction while unripe and dries up crops when ripe. It prevents things from putrefying.8

When moving in the world in an excited state, without doubt, it achieves the following functions.

It breaks the summits of mountains. It uproots trees. It agitates seas. It swells the waters of lakes causing them to rise upwards. It causes the currents of rivers to run in opposite directions. It makes the Earth tremble. It urges the clouds.f

It causes frost, thunder, dust, sand, fish, frogs, snakes, ashes, blood, stones, lightning, to fall down on the Earth. It causes excess of virtues, absence of virtues, and contrariety of virtues in respect of the six seasons. It causes failure of crops. It produces disease and plagues. It destroys many objects. It causes those clouds and suns and fire and winds which bring about a universal dissolution at the end of the four Yugas. Possessed of divine attributes, the Wind is the cause of both production and destruction (of the universe). It causes all existent objects to start into life and also brings about their destruction. It ordains both happiness and misery. It is Mrityu, Yama, Niyantri, Prajapati, Aditi, and Vicwakarman. It is of universal form. It is capable of going everywhere. It is the ordanier of all acts or rules. Of all existent objects it is exceed¬ ingly subtile, exceedingly gross, omnipresent and, therefore,

* It causes solid substances to become earth or stone or gold or silver &c explained by the Commentator. — T.

f Some texts read ‘adhamanam,’ meaning ‘causes the clouds to roar.’ _ T.

i36 charaka-sa mhitA.

embraces all things. The Wind is a divine object.*9