Charaka-Samhita — trans. Kaviraj Avinash Chandra Kaviratna

* That oil produces durability is seen from the fact that in this country sticks of bamboos, books, and many other things of common use are always steeped in oil and made to soak as much oil as possible. Such things, when steeped in oil, always last longer than those which are not steeped in it. — T.

f The fact is, fat, if eaten by persons given to physical exercise, becomes benefi cial. ‘ Viddha ’ implies wounds caused by pingierc weapons. — T,

CHA RA KA-SAMHI TA

p. 141

By drinking such substances at night-time during the cold season, a person whose phlegm has been excited gets stomachic disorders arising from suppression of the wind, disgust for food, shooting pains in the abdomen, and general anaemia.18

One should drink warm water after having taken ghee, and broth of flesh after having taken oil. After taking fat or marrow, one should eat gruel of rice. As an alternative, warm water is recommended to be drunk after taking all kinds of oily sub¬ stances. 1

There are four and twenty ways of taking oils, They are as follow : —

Oils may be taken with rice or with ointments and plasters, or with broth, or with meat, or with milk, or with curds, or with gruel of barley, of with soup ( of flesh ), or with potherbs, or with ( ordinary ) gruels, or with those called kamvalika, or with those called khada, or with flour of ( fried ) barley, or with cakes of sesame, or with limes, or with such semi-liquids as are licked up with the tongue, or with solid food or, with liquids used for rubbing the body, or with enemata, or with those drugs that are used after the application of enemata, or with liquids injected into the ear, or with things used as snuffs or with washes or collyria used for the eyes.*2o.?i

Of those oily substances which are taken without being mixed with any other object, there can be no classification. Physicians, jn treating of oily substances, regard those as of the first kind.22

By permutations and combinations of the six different kinds of tastes, Oils mixed with these, come up to three and sixty varieties. Unmixed, they are of only one kind ( as said above). Hence, in all, there are four and sixty varieties of oily substances. The physician possessed of knowledge should apply them in the cases of persons, always taking into consideration the nature of the disease, the time or season of application, and the peculiarities of the patients as dependent on the places they in-,

* . 1 Kamvalika ’ is a kind of gruel prepared from some vegetables. ‘ Khada ’ is hutter milk boiled with some acid vegetables and spices,—?’,p. 1 habit, their age and strength and habits.*23-24

The dose in respect of oils is of there kinds, viz., the full dose, the middling dose, and the small dose. As regards tne periods necessary for digestion, a full day and night is required for the full dose, a full day only for the middling dose, and half a day for the small dose. These are the three doses of oils in respect of quantity. I shall now expound to thee their applica¬ tion in respect of individual patients.se-2 7

For men that habitually take large quantities of such substan¬ ces, for those that have keen appetites and thirst, for those whose digestive fire is strong, for those that are endued with great strength, for those that have abdominal tumours, for those that have been bitten by snakes, for those that have erysepelas, for those that are mad, for those whose urine is not copious, and for those whose stools are hard, the full dose is recommended. Listen to the benefits expected from thefull dose in such cases. Well applied, it quickly alleviates disorders. Affecting every part of the physical system, it corrects its faults. It imparts strength to the body. It revives ( invigorates) the body, the senses, and the mind.28.31

They that are afflicted with Aruska (a), malignant boils, Pidaka (3), pustules producing an itching sensation, and Pama ( c ), they that are afflicted with leprosy, gonorrhoea, and hemorrhages caused by disorders of the wind, they that do not eat much, they whose stools are not hard, and they that are not very strong, should take the middling dose The middling dose acts as a mild purgative, does not reduce the strength, agreeably softens the body, and corrects many disorders. a 2-34

They that are aged, they that are young in years, they that are infants, they that are very delicate, they whose intestines have

* ‘ Oka ’ implies, literally, the habitat, i.e., the country or place inhabited by the person treated. It is taken here as implying the age, strength, and habits also of the person. — T.

(a) Probably, Tinea favosa.

(b) Pustules ( common ).

( () Herpes.

p. 143