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

Brahmi Ghrita :— Two Prastha measures of the expressed juice of th>; Braihmi and one Prastha measure of clarified butter should be cooked with one Kudava measure of Vidanga seeds, two Pala weight of each of Vacha and Trivrit, and twelve (in number) of each of Haritaki, Amalaka and Vibhitaka well pounded and mixed together. When properly cooked, the (prepared) Ghrita should be carefully preserved in a covered pitcher. It should then be taken in adequate doses as in the preceding manner. The patient should be advised to take meals of boiled rice, clarified butter and milk^ after the medicine had been fully digested. Under its use worms and vermin would be expelled (^from their unsuspected seats in the organism) and creep out of the upper, lower and lateral parts of the body.

$26 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. XXVIII.

This preparation would give a favourable turn to one's fortune, impart a lotus-like bloom (to the cheeks) with perpetual youth, unparalleled intellectual faculties and a life that would cover a period of three centuries of song and sunshine. This elixir orRasa^yana covers within its therapeutic range such affections of the body as cutane- ous diseases (Kushtha\ chronic fever, epilepsy, insanity, and the diseases due to the effect of poisons and to the evil influences of ghosts and malignant spirits, as well as of all other dangerous diseases. 6.

Vacha Rasayana:— A paste of white Vachai

to the size of an Amalaka should be taken with (an ade- quate quantity of) milk, after consecrating it (in the proper manner). The medicine should be taken after cleansing the system (with emetics and purgatives, etc.) and after entering the Agara (room). After the medicine had been digested, a meal of boiled rice with milk and clarified butter should be partaken of. A continuous use of this elixir for twelve days improves the power of hearing. It increases the power of memory if taken for the next twelve days. It enables the user to remember a hundred words at a time by a thrice repetition of the same (z>., by taking it for a period of thirty-six days). A repetition of a twelve days' (2>, forty-eight days) use of the medicine leads to the expiation of all sins ; it imparts a keenness of sight like that of Garuda and enables the user to witness a hundred summers on earth. A decoction prepared with two Pala weight of any other species of Vach£^ should be taken with milk.* The benefits which would result from its use and the rules of diet and conduct to be

* According to Dallana, this preparation of Vacha should be ptc pared by boiling it in the manner of Kshira-pdka Vidhi,

Chap. XXVIII.-, CHIKITSA STHANAM. 52/

observed (during its course} are identical with those of the preceding one. 7.

^ata-psLka Vacha-Ghrita ".—Clarified

butter should be cooked a hundred times in succession
with an adequate quantity of Vachai. The use of a
Drona measure of this medicated Ghrita (taken every
day in an adequate dose) extends the earthly career of
its user to five centuries, and proves beneficial in cases
of scrofula, goitre, elephantiasis and hoarseness. 8.

Measures for prolong^ing life— IVI. T. :

— Now we shall discourse on life-prolonging measures
and remedies. The powders of Vilva (roots) should
be consecrated a thousand times with Vilva flowers by
reciting the SreeSukta (as mentioned in the Rig-
Veda), They should then be mixed with (powdered) gold,
honey and clarified butter (in the form of an electuary),
and licked every morning. It is thus a combination of
medicine and Mantra, and, if used continuously for a
year, would remove all inauspicious features (both of
the body and of the mind). 9-10.

Every morning after a bath^ a man should offer ten
thousand oblations in fire and take the powders and decoc-
tion of the roots and bark of the Vilva with milk in a
spirit of self-control, whereby he would be able to
acquire longevity. This remedy should be considered as
a good Rasiyana. Similarly a decoction of Mrina^la
mixed with honey and fried paddy and duly consecrated
a hundred thousand times with oblations in fire would
be considered an infallible Rasdyana. 11-12.

The use (of a compound consisting of gold, Padma-
reed, PriyangU and fried paddy mixed with honey
and taken in (an adequate quantity of) cow's milk
gives a favourable turn to one's fortune. A potion
of milk cooked with the decoction of the petals (Dala)

528 THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. C^hap. XXVIII.

of Nilotpala (in the manner of Kshira-p^ka Vidhi) and
mixed with gold and sesamum seeds^ is attended with
similar results. 13-14.

Cow's milk with gold, wax and Mdkshika (honey), if (regularly) taken after having performed a Homa ceremony a hundred thousand times, should be consider- ed the best Rasayana. The use of the pulverised com- pound of the three things viz., Vachd, gold and Vilva, if taken with clarified butter, tends to improve the health, memory, intellectual powers and physical growth. It increases the duration of one's life and brings good luck in its train. 15-16.

A (medicated) oil prepared by duly cooking it with
the decoction of a Tuld weight of Vdsd-roots should be
taken by a man after having performed a Homa cere-
mony with a thousand libations for the expansion of
his intellectual faculty and the increase of the duration
of his life on earth A Tul^ weight of barley grains
should be powdered. The preparations of this barley
powder (gradually) taken with honey and powdered
Pippa/i incresises one's capacity for study. 17-18.

The use of pulverised Amalaka and gold with
honey imparts vitality to a dying man. A regular use
of the Sataivari-ghrita mixed with honey and pulveris-
ed gold enables a man to subjugate even his king.
A compound consisting of Go-chandand, Mohanikd,
honey and gold should be taken by a man wishing a
good turn to his destiny 19-21,

Clarified butter cooked with an admixture of the
pasted Yashti-madhu and with the decoction of Padma
and Nilotpala should be regularly taken with gold, and
then a potion of milk cooked with the foregoing drugs
should be taken. It invariably removes the evil features
(of both mind and body), and gives a good turn to

Chap. XXVIII.] CHIKITSA STHANAM. 529

fortune. It increases longevity and makes the user (fortunate like) a king. 22-A.

The Tri-padi (lit. three-footed) GAyatri should be recited in connection with the use of any of these elixirs where no Mantra would be found to be specifically mentioned. The use of the foregoing medicinal com- pounds improves one's beauty, surrounds a man with the majesty and effulgence of the gods and makes him as strong as an elephant. Constant study, disquisitions (on philosophical and scientific topics), discussions in other subjects, and residence with professors or men learned in the respective branches of knowledge, are the best means for improving memory and expanding one's intellect. Eating after the digestion of a previous meal, non-repression of any natural urgings of the body, annihilation of all killing propensities, perfect contin- ence, self-co ntrol and refraining from rash and hazard- ous undertakings, should bs deemed the keys to a long life. 22.

Thus ends the Twenly-eighlh Chapter of the Chikitsila-Slhanam in the Sus'ruta Samhita which deals with elixirs and remedial agents for improving the memory and intellect and increasing longevity.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Now we shall discourse on the restorative and on
the constructive agents (Rasdyana) which arrest innate
morbific tendencies and decay* (Svabh^Vlka-

Vyadhi Pratishcdhaniya Rasayana) i-

IVIetrical Text : —in the days of yore the gods
such as Brahma, etc created a kind of Amrita ambrosia)
which is known by the epithet of Soma, for the preven-
tion of deathf and decay of the body. We shall now
deal with the mode of using this (ambrosia). 2.

The one and the same divine Soma plant nr,ay be classified into twenty- four species according to the differ- ence of their habitats, structures, epithets and potencies. They are as follows: — Ams'umdn, Munjavdn, Chandra- mdh, Rajataprabha^ DuiudSoma, Kaniydn, S'vetdksha^ Kanaka prahha.Pratdnavdn^ Tdla vrinta^ Karavira, Ant- s'avdn, Svayam-prahha^ Mahd-soma, Garuddhrita, Gdya trya^ Traishtuhha, Pdmkta^ fdgata, S'dmkara, Agni- shtonia, Raivata, Yathokta and Udupati, All these kinds of Soma secure for the user a mastery of the G^yatri (and hence in the Vedas), and are known by the above auspicious names mentioned in the Vedas \

* These are decrepitude, death, hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. t Here death may mean, according to some authorities, the death of tissues as well.

X The whole of the hymns in the gth Book of the Rig-veda, besides a few in other places, are dedicated to the honour of Somaj but these tweniy- four names do not occur there. The plant is there represented as a god, and his worship must at one time have altaired a remarkable popularity. The extraordinary properties of the exhilarating juice of the Soma are frequently mentioned in the Rig-veda and the language throughout in which it is behymned could not be more eulogistic. As an instance of

Chap. XXIX.] CHIKITSA STHANAM. 53 1

Their virtues and methods of using them are identical with each other and are described below. 3 4.

Mode of using the Soma :— A room or an

inner chamber (AgSLra) in a commendable site protected with three walls on each side and provided with all kinds of accessories and attendants, should be first secured before taking (the expressed juice of) any of the aforesaid Soma plants. Then at an auspicious hour on an auspi- cious day marked by favourable astral combinations and lunar phase, the person desirous of using the Soma should enter the inner or central Chamber after having had his system cleansed (with the proper emetics, purga- tives, etc ) and having had his diet in the proper order (pf Peyd, etc.). A (whole) plant of the Ams'mndn (or of any other kind of) Soma should be procured in the manner to be observed at the time of collecting the Soma for an (Agni-shtoma) sacrifice and (all) the (preliminary) rites of Homa should be performed (in the usual orthodox way). After that the bulb (of the Soma plant) should be pricked with a golden needle and a quantity of the secreted milky exudation should be collected in a golden vessel. The patient (with the auspicious rites of protection,

this we might refer to Rigveda VIII. 48.3 which has been metrically translated by Muir as follows : —

We've quaffed the Soma bright,

And are immortal grown ;

We've entered into light,

And all the gods have known.

What mortal now can harm.

Or foeman vex us more ?

Through thee, beyond alarm,

Immortal god, we soar.
It should be mentioned, however, that as far as our knowledge goes,
this Soma is now-a-days not within our reach.— E(},

THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA. [Chap. XXIX.

etc., done unto him) should drink off an Anjali (Kudava)
measure of the secreted juice at a draught without tast-
ing it, and the remainder, if any, should be cast into
water. He should then wash and rinse his mouth with
water in the manner of Achamana. Then having
controlled his mind and speech with the vows cf Yama
(paramount duties/ and Niyama (minor duties)+
should stay in the protected inner chamber surrounded
by his friends. 5.

Metrical Text :— After having drunk the
Rasdyana (Elixir) one should reside in a windless (pres-
cribed) chamber; spend his time in perfect control over
his senses, sitting, standing or walking about in his
chamber in a holy spirit and by no means indulging in
sleep (which is injurious under the circumstances). 6.

Or the patient may, after taking his meal in the
evening and hearing the benedictory words, lie down
on a mattress of Kus'a-grass covered with black-deer
skin and thus pass the night among his friends and may
take cold water when thirsty. Then having got out of
his bed in the morning he should hear the benedictory
words recited and have the benedictory rites performed
unto him. He should then touch the body of a cow
and sit down in the same manner (in his chamber).
Vomitings mark the digestion of the Soma-juice and
after vomiting the blood -streaked worm-infested matter,

*Patanjali, the propounder of ihe Yoga system of Philosophy, enumerates the Yamis as follows: — "=?jf%:^" (harmlessness), "^(?j" (truthfuln.'ss), '■•'?[^?j" (abstinence from stealing), "jfij'^" (continence) and "'^nrf^f" (non-acceptance of offerings except in prescribed cases).

tThe Niyamis, according to the same authority, are: — "?^^" (purity — external or internal), ''^5^" (contentment) "cPT;^^ (penance), "^To5(T^" (religious study) and "|;'??:-^<!r^»T ' (meditation of the Divine gPeing).

Chap. XXIX ] CHIKITSA STHANAM. 533

milk boiled and cooled should be given him in the
evening. Worm-infested stools follow on the third day
(of its use) which help the system in purging ofif all filth
and obnoxious matter (accumulated in the organism)
through errors in diet and conduct, etc. The patient
should in that case bathe in the evening and take cold
boiled milk as before and lie down on a piece of
Kshauma cloth stretched over (the aforesaid mattress).
Swellings appear on the body on the fourth day (of its
use) and worms are found to creep out from all parts
of the body. The patient should He down that day on
a bed strewn over with dust and in the evening, he
should be made to drink a potion of milk as before.
He should pass the fifth and sixth clay in the same
manner, but milk should be given him in the morning
and in the evening (instead of only in the evening).
The muscles become withered by this time and on the
seventh day the patient is found to be a mere skeleton
covered with a skin only and left with bare animation,
the vital spark being retained by the potency of Soma.
The body should be washed with tepid milk on that
day and plastered with a paste of sesamum, Yashti-
madhu and sandal wood, and milk (only) should be
given him to drink. 7-A.

On the morning of the eighth day, the body should
be washed with milk, and plastered with sandal paste,
and potions of milk should be prescribed for him after
which the patient should be advised to leave his bed
of dust and lie down on one covered with a piece of
Kshauma cloth. From now the muscles of the body
begin to show signs of fresh and vigorous growth,
the skin becomes cracked, and the teeth, nails and
hair begin to fall off. On and from the ninth day the
rnedlcinal oil known as A.nu-Taila should be used to