An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita (Bhishagratna ed.)

222 THp: SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. CChap. X.

the child her breast. (This rule should be observed at the time of tending the child every day). 13-14.

Treatment of the mother:— The body

of the mother should be anointed (after parturition) with the Vald-Taila and treated sboth internally and externally) with a decoction of Vayu-subduing drugs (such as the B hadra-D drv ddi gvou^, etc.). If still there be any abnormality in the condition of the Doshas (the discharge of vitiated blood / e., lochia), the mother should be given to drink a luke-warm solution of treacle mixed with powders of Pippali, Pippali roots, Hasti-pippali, Chitraka and S'ringavera, and the medi- cine should be continued for two or three days or longer, (if necessary), till the disappearance of the vitiated blood (lochia). When the discharge gets normal (i e., on the appearance of healthy lochia), the mother should be made to take for three days a gruel (Yavdgu) prepared with the decoction of the drugs constituting the Viddri-Gandhddi Gana and mixed with (a good quantity of; clarified butter or a Yavagu prepared in milk. After that a meal of boiled Sali-rice and a broth made from the meats of Jangala animals boiled with barley, Kola and Ktdattha pulse, should be prescribed for her, taking into consideration the strength and the condition of her appetite (Agni or digesting power). The mother should observe this regimen of diet and conduct for one month and a half (after delivery). After this period she may be at liberty to choose any food to her liking and revert to her natural mode of living. According to several authorities, however, a woman does not regain her natural temperament of body till the reappearance of the healthy menstruation (after parturition). 15.

A strong but newly delivered woman, born and

Chap. X.] SARIRA STIIANAM. 223

bred up in a Jdngala country should be given to drink,
for three or five nights, either oil or clarified butter
in an adequate quantity with an after-potion consisting
of the decoction of drugs constituting the group known
as the Pippalyddi Gana. She should be daily anointed
with oil, etc. If, however, of delicate health, she
should be made to take, for three or five nights in
succession, a medicated Yavagu (gruel) as described in
the last para. Thenceforth a diet of demulcent pro-
perties should be prescribed for her and her body
should be regularly washed with a copious quantity
of tepid water. A mother, after parturition, should
forego (for a considerable time) sexual intercourse,
physical labour and indulgence in irascible emotions/
etc. 1 6

lYIemorable Verses :— Any disease acquired by a newly delivered mother (Sutika) by her injudicious conduct of life soon lapses into one of a difficult type (hard to cure) ; and it becomes incurable if it be due to too much fasting. Hence a wise physician should treat her with such measures as are natural and congenial to her temperament, the time, the place and the nature of the disease, so that she may not be afflicted with any evil effect. 17.

A placenta retained in the uterus causes constipa- tion (Anaha) of the bowels and distention of the abdomen (^tympanitesX Hence in such a case her throat should be tickled with a finger covered with hair ; or the exterior orifice of the vagina should be fumigated with the fumes of the cast-off'skin of a snake, Katuka, Aldvu, Kritavedhana and mustard seeds mixed with mustard oil. In the alternative, a plaster of Ldngali

* Fifteen kinds of emotions as described in the thirty-ninth chapter of ihe Chikitsa-sthanap,!,

224 THE SUSHRUTA SAMIIITA. [Chap. X.

roots should be applied to the palms and soles of her
hands and feet ; or the milky juice of Snuhi tree
should be applied over her scalp ; or a compound made
of pasted Ldngali roots and Kushtha mixed with either
wine or the cow's urine should be given her for drink.
A Kalka either of S'dli roots or of the drugs con-
stituting the Pippalyddi Gana mixed with wine (Sura)
should be given her for the purpose In the alterna-
tive, an Asthapana (enema) of white mustard seeds
Kushtha (Kuda), Ldngali, and the milky juice of Mahd-
vriksJia, mixed with Sura-manda should be prescribed.
(If the above measures fail) an Uttara-Vasti (uterine
douche) prepared with the aforesaid drugs and boiled in
mustard oil should be applied ; or else the placenta
should be removed by the hand lubricated with an olea-
ginous substance and with the nails clipped off. i8.

IVIakkalla and its Treatment :— The

lochia of a newly delivered woman whose organism has become excessively dry on account of profuse use of absorbants or deranged by any other causes, — the lochia being obstructed in its exit by the local Vayu, — gives rise to Granthis (nodules) which may appear below the navel, on the sides of the pelvis about the region of the bladder or of the pubis. Severe piercing pain (Sula) is felt about the region of the navel, the stomach and the bladder and a sensation of pricking with needle and cutting pain in the intestines. At the same time the abdomen becomes distended with the retention of urine. These are the symptoms of Makkalla. In such a case, a decoction of the drugs of the Viratar-vddi 6^<^;/^ mixed with a powdered com- pound of the Ushakddt Gana should be given her. In the alternative, a potion of carbonate of potash [Yavakshdra) dissolved in tepid water or in clarified butter ; of rock-

Chap. X.] SARIRA STHANAM. 225

salt dissolved in the decoction'of the Pippalyddi Gana ;
of a compound made of the powdered drugs of the latter
Gana with Surd-manda ; of the powders of cardamom
and PancJici-kolas dissolved in the decoction of the
drugs of the Vaninddi Gana ; of the powders of pepper
and Bhadraddrii dissolved in the decoction of the
Prithakparnyddi Gana ; or of pulverized Trikatu^
Chaturjdtaka and Knstiimhuru mixed with old treacle ;
or of simple Arishta, should be prescribed. 19.

Management of the Child:— The baby

being wrapped up in silk should be laid on a bed covered with a silken sheet ; it should be fanned with the branches of a Pilu, Nimba, Vadari, or Parushaka tree. A (thin^i pad (Pichu) soaked in oil should be constantly kept on the head of the child, and its body should be fumigated with the fumes of drugs (^,^., Vac ha, mustard, etc.) potent enough to keep off the (evil) influences of demons and evil spirits. The same drugs should be tied round the neck, hands, legs and head of the infant and the floor of the lying-in room should be kept strewn over with pounded sesamum, mustard, linseed [Atasi). A fire should also be kept kindled in the chamber. Measures laid down in the chapter on the nursing of an Ulcer- patient (chapter IX. Sutra.) should be observed in the present case as well. 20.

Then on the tenth day of its birth the parents having
performed the necessary rites of benediction and cele-
brated the occasion with suitable festivities, shall give
the child a name of their own choice or one determined
by its natal a^trism, etc. 21.

Lactation and selection of a wet-
nurse : -For the healthy gro vth of the child a wet-
nurse should be selected from among the matrons of
its own caste (Varna\ and possessed of the following

226 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. X.

necessary qualifications. She should be of middle stature, neither too old nor too young (middle-aged), of sound health, of good character (not irascible or easily excitable), not fickle, ungreedy, neither too thin nor too corpulent, with lips unprotruded, and with healthy and pure milk in her breasts which should neither be too much pendulent nor drawn up. It should be carefully observed that her skin is healthy and unmarked by any moles or stains, she being free from any sort of crime (such as gambling, day-sleep, debauchery, etc.). She should be of an affectionate heart, and with all her children living.

She should be of respectable parentage and conse-
quently possessed of many good qualities, with an exu-
berance of milk in her breasts, and not in the habit of
doing anything that degrades woman in life. A "Syama '
girl possessed of the aforesaid qualities makes a good
wet-nurse. A child nursed at the breast of a woman
with upturned or unprominent nipples is apt to be
deformed (Karala) in features, while extremely pendu-
lous (large and flabby) breasts may suffocate the child
by covering its mouth and nostrils. Having chosen a
wet-nurse of the commendable type, the child with its
head well-washed should, on an auspicious day, be laid
on her lap wrapped in a clean and untorn linen. The
face of the child should be turned towards the north,
while the nurse should look to the east at the time.
Then, after first having a small quantity of the milk
pressed out and the breast washed and consecrated with
the following Mantras (incantations) the child should be
made to suck her right breast. 22.

Metrical Texts :— ''O, thou beautiful damsel,
may the four oceans of the earth contribute to the
secretion of mjlk in thy breasts for the purpose of in^-:

Chap. X,] SARtRA STHAKAM. 227

proving the bodily strength of the child. O, thou with
a beautiful face, may the child, reared on your milk,
attain a long life, like the gods made immortal with
drinks of ambrosia". 22.

A child nursed at the breast of any and every
woman for want of a nurse of the commendable type,
may fall an easy prey to disease, owing to the fact of the
promiscuous nature of the milk proving incongenial to
its physical temperament. The milk of a nurse not
being pressed out and spelled off at the outset may
produce cough, difficulty of breathing, or vomiting of
the child, owing to the sudden rush of the accumulated
milk into its throat choking up the channels. Hence
a child should not be allowed to suck in such milk. 23.

The loss or suppression of the milk in the breasts of a woman is usually due to anger, grief, and the absence of natural affection for her child, etc. For the purpose of establishing a flow in her breast, her equanimity should be first restored, and diets consisting of Sdli-rice, barley, wheat, Shashtika, meat-soup, wine (Surd\ Souviraka, sesamum-paste, garlic, fish, Kas'eruka, S'ringdtaka, lotus- stalk, Viddri-kandi, Madhuka flower, S'atdzari, Nalikd^ Aldvu, and Kdla-S'dka, etc.. should be prescribed. 24.

Examination, etc., of milk :— The breast-
milk of a nurse or a mother should be tested by casting
it in water. The milk which is thin, cold, clear, and
tinged like the hue of a conch-shell, is found to be
easily miscible with water, does not give rise to
froths and shreds, and neither floats nor sinks in water,
should be regarded as pure and healthy. A child fed
on such milk is sure to thrive and gain in strentgh and
health. A child should not be allowed to take the
breast of a hungry, aggrieved, fatigued, too thin, too
corpulent, fevered, or a pregnant woman, nor of one in

■22S THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA . [Chap. X.

whom the assimilated food is followed by an acid reac- tion, or of one who is fond of incongenial and unhealthy dietary, or whose fundamental principles are vitiated. A child should not be given the breast until an adminis- tered medicine is assimilated in its organism, lest this should give rise to a violent aggravation of the pharmaco- logical action of the medicine, as well as of the deranged Doshas (Vdyu, Pitta, etc.), and the refuse matters (Malas) of its body. 25.

IVIemorable Verses:— The Doshas (Vayu,

Pitta and Kapha) of a wet-nurse are aggravated by ingestion of indigestible or incompatible food, or of those articles which tend to derange the Doshas of the body, and hence her milk may be vitiated. A child, fed on the vitiated milk of a woman, vitiated by the deranged Doshas owing to injudicious and intemperate eating and living, falls an easy prey to physical disease, An intelligent physician in such a case should devise means for the purification of the milk as well as of the derang- ed Doshas which account for such vitiation (inasmuch as the medication of the child alone will not produce any satisfactory effect). 26-27.

Infantile diseases and their Diagno-
sis : — -A child constantly touches its diseased part or
organ and cries for the least touch (by another of that
part of its body). If the seat of disease be its head, the
child cannot raise nor move that organ and remains with
its eyes closely shut. A disease seated in its bladder
gives rise to retention of urine, thirst, pain and occa-
sional fainting fits. A retention of urine and stool,
discolouring of complexion, vomiting, distention of the
abdomen, and gurgling in the intestines indicate the
seat of the disease to be its Koshtha (colon). A
constant crying (and the child's refusal to be consoled)