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

* Tvak here means Rasa or serum.

t The type of Kushtha affecting the principle of Medas (fat) is generally supposed to be sin-begotten.

348 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. IX.

disease which is the fourth (in order of enumeration) and that even is purely contingent on the willingness and capacity of the patient to conform to a strict regimen of diet, conduct and dress. Blood-letting and purifying measures (emetics and purgatives) should be resorted to in such a case and then the special medicinal remedies prepared from BhallsLtakaf, Silaijatu, Gugguln, Aguru, Tuvaraka, Khadira, and Asana and the Ayaskriti should be used in accordance with the prescribed ; rules. The disease in its fifth form (is found to invade the bones and) should be given up as incurable. 3-6.

Treatments of Doshaja Types :— in

the first stage of Kushtha, the patient should be treated
in accordance with the prescribed maxims (rules) of
Sneha-pana. In a case of Vattaja-Kushtha, cil or
clarified butter, cooked with (a decoction and Kalka of)
Mesha-s'ringi, S'wadamshtrd, S'arngashtd, Guduchi
and the drugs included in the group of Das'anmla
should be used as drink and ointment. In cases
of the Pittaja type, the patient should be made to
drink (a potion consisting of) clarified butter prepared
with (a decoction and Kalka of) Dhava^ As'vakarna^
Kakubha, Palds'a^ Pichu-mardha, Parpataka, Madhuka,
Rodhra and Sainangd. In the Kaphaja type, clarified
butter cooked with (a decoction and Kalka of) Piydla,
S' ditty Aragvadha, Nimha, Saptaparna, Chitrakay
Maricha, Vacha and Kushtha should be prescribed.

* Bhallataka-preparations have been described in the treatment cf Ars'as, preparations of S'ilajatu, Guggulu, Aguru and Tuvaraka in the treatment of Prameha-pidaka, and Khadira, Asana and Ayaskriti prepara- tions in the treatment of Maha-kushtha.

t Oil should be used in a case of Kapha-predominance, whereas clarified butter in that of Pitta-predominance. Others assert that clarified butter should be used for drinking purposes and oil for anointments.

Chap. IX.] CHIKITSA STHANAM. 349

The clarified butter cooked with (a Kalka and a decoc-
tion of I Bhalldtaka.Ahhayd and" Vidanga^ or (the medicinal
oils known as) the Tuvaraka Taila and the Bhallitaka
Taila should be used in all types of Kushtha. 7-8.

The IVIaha-tikta Ghrita:-A paste or

Kalka should be made by pounding equal parts of Saptaparna^ Aragvadha, Ativishd^ Pdthd, Katu-rohini, Amritd, Trip/iald, Paiola, PicJiu-marda, Parpataka^ Durdlabhd, Trdyamdjid^ Mustd, Chandana, Padmaka^ Haridrd, Upakulyd, Vis'dld, Murvd, S'atdvari, S'drivd^ Indra-yava^ Atarushaka, Shadgranthd {I'achd), Mad/iuka, Bhu-ni7nha and Grishtikd*, This paste (Kalka) should be cooked with four times its own weight of clarified butter, with the juice of Amalaka, weighing twice as much as the clarified butter and with water weighing four times the quantity of the Amalaka juice. It should be constantly stirred (with a ladle), while being cooked. This medi- cated Ghrita is called the Maha(-tikta Ghrita, which proves curative in Kushtha, chronic fevers, haemorrhage, heart-disease, insanity, ApasmAra, Gulma, postular eruptions, menorrhagia, goitre, scrofula, elephantiasis, jaundice, erysipelas, impotency, itches and Pdma, etc. 9.

The Tikta-Sarpih :— Two Pala weight of

each of the following drugs, viz., Triphald, Patola, Pichu- marda, Atanishaka, Katu-rohini, Durdlabhd^ Trdyamdnd and Parpataka-\ should be taken and boiled together in a Drona measure of water. The boiling should be continued till it is reduced to one fourth of its original quantity. Then half a Pala weight of each of the following drugs, viz., Trdyamdnd, Musta, Indra-yava, (red)

* Chakradatta does not read "Grishtika" but read "Us'ira" instead. He also takes both the kinds of "Haridrd," of "Upakulya" (Pippali) and of **Sariva".

t Chakradatta reads ''Nis'a" in addition to the above drugs.

350 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. IX.

Chandana, Kirdta and Pippali should be pasted together.
This pasted Kalka and the decoction should be cooked
with a Prastha measure of clarified butter. The medicated
Ghrita thus prepared is called the Tikta-Sarpih. Dis-
eases such as Kushtha, chronic fever, Gulma, Haemor-
rhoids^ GrahanI, edema, jaundice, erysipelas and impo-
tency readily yield to the curative efficacy of this
Ghrita. lo.

Medicinal Plasters for Kushtha :—

Having first soothed the patient with any of the pre- ceding medicated clarified butters and having his body fomented, the surgeon should have recourse to the veni- section. One, two, three, four, or five s iras (veins) of the patient may be opened (according to the circumtances). The raised or elevated patches on the skin should be scraped off, or should be kept constantly covered with a medicinal plaster. As an alternative, the characteristic patches of the disease should be first rubbed with the substance known as the Samudra-phena or with the leaves of S'dka^ Goji, or Kdkodumbara and a plaster (Lepa) composed of Ldkshd, Sarja-rasa, Rasdnjana, Prapunndda, Avalguj'a, Tejovati and the roots of As'va-mdraka, Arka, Kutaja, and Arevata, pasted with the urine or bile of a cow, should be applied to them; or Svarjikd, sulphate of copper, sulphate of iron, Vidanga, Agara-dhuma, Chitfaka, Katuka, Sudhd, turmeric and Saindhava pounded together with the urine or bile of a cow should be applied to the diseased localities.

As an alternative, the alkali, prepared from the ashes
of Palds'a wood in the prescribed manner, should
be boiled with the powders of the preceding drugs ; it
should be removed from the oven after reducing it to
the thickness or consistency of a Phdnita and used in
plastering (the diseased patches) ; or a plaster composed

Chap. IX.] CHIKITSA STHANAM. 35t

of fyotishka fruits, Ldkshd, Maricha^ Pippali and the leaves of the Jdti flower pasted together ; or a plaster composed of yellow orpiment, Manali-s'ild, the milky juice of Arka^ sesamum, S'igru and Maricha, pasted together ; or a plaster composed of Svarjikd^ KushtJia, sulphate of copper, Kiitaja, chitraka, Vidanga, Maricha ^XiAManah-s'ild pasted together ; or a plaster of Haritaki, Karanjikdj Vidanga^ white mustard seeds, rock-salt, Goro- chand, Somardji and Haridrd pasted together should be applied to the diseased localities.

IVIetrical Text:— The preceding seven medi-
cinal plasters are possessed of the virtue of destroying
or curing Kushtha in general. Now hear me deal with
the remedies to be specifically employed in cases of
ringworm (Dadru) and leucoderma (Svitra\ 1 1 .

Treatment of Dadru : - h plaster composed

of Kushthuy mustard seeds, S'ri-niketa, Haridrd, Trikatu and the seeds of Chakra-marda and of Mulaka pasted together with Takra (butter milk ?) should be applied to the ringworm. The disease is found to readily yield to the curative efficacy of a medicinal plaster, composed of Saindhava, Chakra-marda seeds, treacle, Kes'a7'a (Vakula), and Td^-ksha-s' aila (Rasanjana) pasted together with expressed Kapittha juice. Preparations of Hema- kshiri, Vyddhi-ghdta (Aragvadha\ S' iris ha, Nimba, Sarja, Vatsaka and Aja-karna (a species of Sarja) should be used in cases of ringworm of a virulent type for baths (D. R. Drinks),* plasters and rubbing. 12.

Treatment of ^vitra :— In cases of sVitra

and Pundarika, the patient should be made to drink a lukewarm decoction prepared with equal parts of the

* In drinks or baths, a decoction should be used and in plasters and rubbings the ingredients should be pasted with Takra and the expressed juice of Kapittha.

352 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. IX.

roots of Bhadrd (Udumbara) and Malapu, The use
of this potion would produce blisters on the patches.
These blisters should be treated, after their bursting, with
a plaster (Pralepa) composed of the ashes of the burnt
skin of leopards and elephants and made into a thin
paste with (mustard) oil. A plaster composed of the
insect known as the Puti and the Kshara (alkali) of
Aragvadha should be found to be the best remedy for
Svitra. 13.

All kinds of Svitra are found to readily yield to the application of a medicinal plaster made of the black ashes of a well-burnt cobra (Krishna-Sarpa) pasted with the oil of Vibhitaka. The white ashes of the said cobra mixed with one andahalf timeof its own weight of water should be filtered seven times in the manner of preparing an alkali. Mustard oil* should be cooked with this alkaline water weighing four times as much. An appli- cation of this oil proves curative in cases of Svitra. 14.

The Prapunndda seeds. Kushtha and Yashti-jnadJiu
should be pasted together with clarified butter. The
plaster thus prepared should be given to a domestic
white cock, purposely kept without food for a day and
a half when it would evince any sign of hunger after the
period. The dung of the said cock should then be
collected after a full digestion of the said medicated
drugs and applied as plasters on the affected patches for
a month. It would bring about the cure (even) of
internalf Svitras. 15.

Well burnt ashes of the dung of an elephant];, mixed

* This is the best medicine for curing S'vitra.

t The internal S'vitras are those under the blisters produced by the application of the remedy mentioned first in the list.

X S'ivadasa, the commentator of Chakradatta, says that some read g^^?p§^ in place of ijsi^?^? in which case it would mean "S'amatha."

Chap. IX.] CHIKITSA STHANAM. 353

with elephant's urine, should be filtered several times
(twenty-one times or seven times) after the manner of an
alkaline preparation. A Drona measure of this alkaline
solution should be boiled with the seeds of the Somardji
weighing a tenth part thereof. This compound should
be taken down from the oven as soon as it assumes
a glossy hue and should then be made into boluses.
Having rubbed the diseased patches of Svitra, a
plaster of these boluses should be applied to them
which would soon assume a healthy and natural com-
plexion. 16.

The leaves and bark (Dala tvacham) of the Antra
(mango) and the Haritaki* should be well soaked in a
decoction of the same drugs (after the manner of a
Bhavand-saturation) and made into Vartis {i,e.^ plugs).
These Vartis should again be well soaked in the milky
exudation of the Vata tree and lighted (with mustard oil)
in a copper vessel used as an Indian lamp. The lamp
black, thus produced, should be collected and well
soaked in a decoction of Haritaki. Kildsa (a particular
kind of Kushtha) is destroyed, if rubbed with this
preparation for several times after having been lubri-
cated with mustard oil.f 17.

* According to some, both the leaves and bark of the "Amra" and of the "Haritaki" should be taken.

t The leaves and bark respectively of the A'tnra and the Haritaki should be taken in the preparation. The whole stanza seems to be of faulty construction. Dallana, in his commentary, says that some read the fourth line as "<f^^ f%w ^^ifT ^EW?WT^^t^^tf% ^Ilf^^ ll'' This seems to be a better reading. It removes the difficulty in the construction, but it omits also the word "KilsCsa" from the text. This, however, is also an improvement, inasmuch as this preparation seems to be a remedy for Svitra (which is only a variety of Kilasa) like the preceding and the following ones ; and it seems unlikely that Sus'ruta would introduce a remedy for KilsCsa in general in the special treatment of S'vitra.

354 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. IX.

A case of leucoderma would (undoubtedly) yield to
the curative virtue of a medicinal plaster composed
of Somardji seeds, Mdkshika, Kdkodumhara, Ldkshd,
powdered iron, Pippali and Rasdnjana^ taken in equal
parts and black sesamum equal to their combined
weight, pasted with the bile of a cow and applied to the
diseased patches. Similarly, a case of ^vitra would
prove amenable to the application of peacock's bile, or
of burnt Hrivera mixed with the said bile. i8.

Various types of Svitra are cured with the appli- cation of either of the two following medicinal plasters. The first consists of Jw////^ (sulphate of copper), Haritdla (yellow oxide of arsenic), Katukd, Trikatu^ Simha (Rakta- Sobhdnjana), Arka^ Karavira, Kushtha^ Avalguja^ Bhal- Idtaka, Kshirini^ mustard seeds and Snuhi ; and the second consists of the leaves of the Tilvaka, Arishta (Nimba), Pilu and Aragvadha pasted together with the seeds of the Vidanga and Karavira and Haridrd^ Ddru- haridrd, Vrihati and Kantakdri. 19.

Nila-Ghrita \~-Vdyasi, Phalgu and Tiktd each
weighing one hundred Palas, two Prastha measures of
powdered iron, three Adhaka (eight seers) measures of
Triphald and two Adhaka measures of Asana should be
boiled together with three Drona measures of water. This
decoction should be taken down when reduced to one
quarter of its original measure and cooked again with a
quantity of clarified butter (weighing a quarter part of
the former (decoction) and with a Kalka consisting of
Indra-yava, Trikatu^ Tvak, Deva-ddru^ Aragvadha, Pdrd-
vata-padiy Danti, Vdkuchi^ Kes'atdhva (Vakula) and
Kantakdri. The patient should be made to drink this
medicated clarified butter when the disease would be
found to have attacked the Dhattus (fundamental prin-
ciples of the organism), or to have become involved in the

Chap. IX. 1 CHIKITSA STHANAM. 355

aggravated Doshas of the system. The diseased patches
should be rubbed with it, in the event of the afifection
being found to be confined to the Tvak (skin) alone.
Even the type of Kushtha, commonly held to be incur-
able, has been found to prove amenable to the use of
this medicated clarified butter, which is known as the
Nila-Ghrita. 20.

IVIahsC-Nila-Ghrita :-A Tuld* weight of

the drugs known as Triphald^ Tvak, Trikatu, Suras d,
Madayantikd, Vdyasi and Aragvadha and ten Pala
weights of each of the drugs known as Kdkamdchi,
Arka, Varuna, Danti, Kutaja, Chitrakay Ddru-haridrd
and Kantakdri should be boiled together with three
Drona measures of water. This decoction, boiled down
or reduced to six Prastha measures, should be again
boiled with the watery secretion of cowdung, cow's
urine, milk, curd and clarified butter, each weighing an
Adhaka, and with the Kalka (weighing one-fourth as
much of clarified butter) of Bhu-nimba, Trikatu^
Chitraka, Kardnj'a-huit, Nilikd, S'ydmd, Avalguja, Pilu^
Nilini and Nimba-^o'WQ.rs, It is a curative for Kushtha.
The rubbing of the diseased patches with this Ghrita
imparts a healthy and natural colour to the skin in
cases of Svitra or white leprosy. It also cures diseases
like fislula-in-ano, worms in the intestines and Arsas.
It is known as the Mahat-Nila-Ghrita.f 21.