अथातः सर्वोपघातशमनीयं रसायनं व्याख्यास्यामः ||१||
यथोवाच भगवान् धन्वन्तरिः ||२||
Meaning of the śloka
Now the text begins the explanation of rasāyana that is said to pacify all forms of harm or impairment. Dhanvantari is identified as the authority from whom this teaching proceeds.
The commentary first derives rasāyana as the course or means by which rasa and the other bodily dhātus are nourished. It also explains the term as a means of obtaining the rasa, vīrya, vipāka, and prabhāva present in medicinal substances, together with longevity, strength, vigour, firmness, and stability of age. In this sense, rasāyana may enhance what is present, maintain it, or bring about what has not yet been attained. It is classified in several ways: kuṭīprāveśika and vātātapika; kāmya, naimittika, and ājasrika; and saṃśodhana and saṃśamana. Kāmyarasāyana is undertaken for desired ends such as vitality, intellect, or prosperity. Naimittika rasāyana is occasioned by disease and includes examples such as śilājatu, bhallātaka, and tuvaraka. Ājasrika rasāyana includes the habitual use of milk and ghee. In the final classification, saṃśodhana acts through elimination of doṣa, whereas saṃśamana acts through pacification, with nāgabalā treatment given as an example. The supplied reading for the example of saṃśodhana, “sasyādi-rasāyana,” is explicitly marked as uncertain.
Key terms
rasAyana (rasāyana)
A means of nourishment, maintenance, enhancement, or attainment, classified in several ways by the commentary.
dhAtu (dhātu)
Rasa and the other bodily constituents said here to be nourished.
kuTIprAveshika (kuṭīprāveśika)
One of the two rasāyana modes in the commentary, associated by its name with entering a specially designated dwelling.
vAtAtapika (vātātapika)
The second of the two rasāyana modes contrasted with kuṭīprāveśika.
kAmya (kāmya)
Rasāyana undertaken for a desired aim, such as vitality, intellect, or prosperity.
naimittika
Rasāyana undertaken on account of a disease or particular occasion.
Ajasrika (ājasrika)
Habitual rasāyana, illustrated here by regular use of milk and ghee.
saMshodhana (saṃśodhana)
The eliminative category of rasāyana, explained as acting through removal of doṣa.
saMshamana (saṃśamana)
The pacifying category of rasāyana, with nāgabalā treatment cited as an example.
पूर्वे वयसि मध्ये वा मनुष्यस्य रसायनम् |
प्रयुञ्जीत भिषक् प्राज्ञः स्निग्धशुद्धतनोः सदा ||३||
नाविशुद्धशरीरस्य युक्तो रासायनो विधिः |
न भाति वाससि क्लिष्टे रङ्गयोग इवाहितः ||४||
शरीरस्योपघाता ये दोषजा मानसास्तथा |
उपदिष्टाः प्रदेशेषु तेषां वक्ष्यामि वारणम् ||५||
Meaning of the śloka
A knowledgeable physician should employ rasāyana during the earlier or middle period of a person’s life, after the body has been oleated and purified. The rasāyana procedure is said to be unsuitable for a body that has not been purified, just as dye applied to soiled cloth does not shine properly. The text then announces that it will explain how to prevent the bodily impairments caused by doṣas and those arising in the mind, which have been described in their respective sections.
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na bhāti na dīpyatē| āhitaḥ prayuktaḥ| śarīradōṣā vātādayaḥ; mānasau tu rajastamasī||3-5||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary explains na bhāti as ‘does not shine or become radiant’ and āhita as ‘applied.’ It identifies the bodily doṣas as vāta and the others, and the two mental doṣas as rajas and tamas.
Key terms
rasAyana (rasāyana)
The regimen whose appropriate timing and prerequisites are stated in these verses.
snigdhashuddhatanu (snigdha-śuddha-tanu)
A body described as having undergone oleation and purification before rasāyana.
doSha (doṣa)
A factor said to cause bodily or mental impairment; the commentary distinguishes bodily doṣas from rajas and tamas.
rajas
One of the two mental doṣas identified by the commentary.
tamas
One of the two mental doṣas identified by the commentary.
ra~ggayoga (raṅgayoga)
The application of dye, used as an analogy for rasāyana applied after proper preparation.
The verse says that cold water, milk, honey, and ghee—taken singly, in combinations of two or three, or all together beforehand—maintain the stage of life or age.
The commentary presents these four substances as age-maintaining measures selected according to differences in bodily prakṛti. It counts fifteen possible uses: four single substances, six pairs, four groups of three, and one combination containing all four. It states that the substances should be used in unequal quantities that avoid an incompatibility of measure. Cold water is assigned to a prakṛti in which pitta, vāta, and kapha are balanced; milk to one with predominant pitta; honey to one with predominant kapha; and ghee to one with predominant vāta. The physician is expected to decide among the combinations of one, two, three, or four substances according to what is beneficial or harmful in the person’s prakṛti and pattern of vāta and the other doṣas.
Key terms
shItodaka (śītodaka)
Cold water, one of the four substances listed for the regimen.
payaH (payaḥ)
Milk, assigned by the commentary to predominant pitta prakṛti.
kShaudra (kṣaudra)
Honey, assigned by the commentary to predominant kapha prakṛti.
sarpiH (sarpiḥ)
Ghee, assigned by the commentary to predominant vāta prakṛti.
vayaHsthApana (vayaḥsthāpana)
Maintenance or stabilization of age, the traditional purpose attributed to these measures.
prakRuti (prakṛti)
Bodily constitution used by the commentary to distinguish the selection of substances.
mAnAviruddha (mānāviruddha)
Not incompatible with respect to quantity or proportion; the commentary calls for unequal measures.
The text describes five month-long uses of viḍaṅga seed powder, taken according to strength: with yaṣṭīmadhu and honey in cold water, followed by cold water; with honey and a decoction of bhallātaka; with honey and a grape decoction; with honey and āmalaka juice; or with a guḍūcī decoction. After digestion, it prescribes rice rich in ghee with an unsalted, lightly oiled soup of mudga and āmalaka. These regimens are traditionally said to reduce arśas, destroy intestinal organisms, strengthen the power of retaining what is received, and add one hundred years of life for each month of use.
The commentary introduces these as measures said to increase lifespan. It states that yaṣṭīmadhu and honey are to be taken in the same quantity as the viḍaṅga seeds, and associates this form with pitta- and blood-related arśas or persons of that constitution. Viḍaṅga powder mixed with honey and drunk with bhallātaka decoction, also according to strength, is associated with dry vāta-related arśas or that constitution. In each of the remaining alternatives, viḍaṅga powder is understood as the omitted common ingredient. Ghṛtavantam means that the rice contains abundant ghee. The commentary says the stated results belong to all five regimens and directs that diet and restrictions follow the method prescribed for bhallātaka.
Key terms
viDa~ggataNDula (viḍaṅga-taṇḍula)
Viḍaṅga seeds, powdered as the common ingredient in the five regimens.
arshAMsi (arśāṃsi)
Arśas, the condition for which the passage claims benefit.
grahaNadhAraNashakti (grahaṇa-dhāraṇa-śakti)
The power of receiving and retaining, said here to be strengthened.
bhallAtakakvAtha (bhallātaka-kvātha)
A decoction of bhallātaka used as one of the vehicles.
mudgAmalakayUSha (mudgāmalaka-yūṣa)
A soup of mudga and āmalaka prescribed after the preparation has digested.
Verses 8–10 describe elaborate rasāyana regimens. Viḍaṅga seeds are steamed, processed, ground, sealed in an iron vessel with a honey-water medium, and kept within a heap of ash during the rainy season. After prescribed bodily preparation and ritual consecration, the material is taken in the morning according to strength, followed after digestion by a restricted meal; the person sleeps on a bed of dust. The text describes successive, extraordinary bodily changes over several months, followed by radiant appearance, distant hearing and sight, predominance of sattva, novel poetic ability, elephant-like strength, horse-like speed, restored youth, and a lifespan of eight hundred years. It also assigns specific substances for massage, cleansing, bathing, and application, with the diet and restrictions of the bhallātaka regimen. A comparable preparation using deseeded kāśmaryā is then described, except that the dust-bed and former meal are omitted and food cooked with milk is used; it is recommended for disorders attributed to blood and pitta. Finally, preparations of balā, atibalā, nāgabalā, vidārī, and śatāvarī are described with different vehicles. The text traditionally claims that twelve nights of balā use maintains youth for twelve years and one hundred days maintains it for one hundred years, and recommends these herbs for those seeking strength, those who are emaciated, those affected by raktapitta, those vomiting blood, and those undergoing purgation.
The commentary explains piṣṭapacana as a cauldron lined with grass and similar material, dṛṣad as a stone slab, and nidadhyāt as 'one should store it.' For madhūdakottara, it gives honey-water as predominant and understands the water as viḍaṅga decoction, while other authorities read it as cold water. Upasaṃskṛta-śarīra means a purified body. One explanation of sahasra-sampāta says the material is used after one thousand offerings with mantras from a Ṛgvedic chapter. Jejjaṭa instead connects sampāta with the ritual dripping of repeatedly offered substances into a vessel of water or another liquid. Gayī describes consecration by Atharvavedic specialists, using the relevant medicinal mantra or the three-footed Gāyatrī one thousand times, for exhaustion of former karma, removal of obstacles, or attainment of a desired blessing. The commentary defines pāṃśu as dust and vaṃśavidala as a bamboo splint; the second stage means the second month, and the shedding occurs after the fourth has elapsed. Apūrvotpādī means composing previously unheard verses or similar works. Ajakarṇa is identified as mahāsarja, popularly called gandhamuṇḍa. Here kaṣāya means paste, and utsādana is rubbing with an oily paste. Candana is interpreted as red sandalwood, while others take it as white sandalwood. Following the bhallātaka procedure means observing such measures as entering the prescribed open dwelling. Other details and the stated qualities are shared across the related regimens.
Key terms
rasAyana (rasāyana)
The rejuvenative regimen described in these verses.
madhUdakottara (madhūdakottara)
A medium dominated by honey-water; the commentary preserves disagreement over whether its water is viḍaṅga decoction or cold water.
sahasrasampAtAbhihuta (sahasra-sampātābhihuta)
Ritually consecrated through a thousand offerings; the commentators preserve different accounts of the procedure.
upasaMskRutasharIra (upasaṃskṛta-śarīra)
A person whose body has undergone the prescribed purification.
pAMshushayyA (pāṃśu-śayyā)
A bed of dust prescribed during the viḍaṅga regimen.
utsAdana (utsādana)
Rubbing the body with an oily paste, according to the commentary.
balA (balā)
One of the roots used in the later strength- and longevity-oriented regimen.
shoNitapitta (śoṇita-pitta)
A blood- and pitta-related basis of disorders for which the kāśmaryā preparations are indicated.
The passage describes taking an appropriate quantity of powdered vārāhī root, mixed with honey and stirred into milk. After it has digested, the stated food is milk, ghee, and rice, with the same restrictions as before. The text traditionally claims that this regimen brings a lifespan of one hundred years and inexhaustibility in relation to women. It then describes producing ghee by adding the same powder to cooked and cooled milk and churning it, taking the ghee with honey in the evening and morning or once daily, and following the same meal after digestion. A month of this use is again said to produce a hundred-year lifespan.
The commentary glosses pratiṣedha as restraint or cessation. It explains that milk cooked by the standard milk-preparation method is sprinkled with vārāhī powder, cooled, and churned to obtain ghee. As another reading or formulation, one may use a droṇa of vārāhī ghee processed one hundred times, to which the same longevity claim is attached. It specifies a preparation using vārāhī tuber paste, four times as much milk, and a droṇa of ghee; other authorities instead supply four times as much water, although water was not stated in the base text. The commentary acknowledges the general prohibition against eating fatty food after drinking fat, but argues that it is acceptable here because the ghee has been processed one hundred times with vārāhī, is regarded as naturally pacifying, and is used according to the rasāyana procedure.
Key terms
vArAhImUla (vārāhī-mūla)
Vārāhī root, powdered or made into a tuber paste for the preparations described.
pratiShedha (pratiṣedha)
The prior restraint or restriction, glossed by the commentary as cessation.
shatapAka (śatapāka)
Processed or cooked one hundred times, describing an alternative vārāhī ghee.
sarpis
Ghee used both in the preparation and in the prescribed meal.
rasAyanavidhi (rasāyana-vidhi)
The rasāyana procedure invoked to justify the special dietary sequence.
For one seeking good sight or vitality, the passage describes a decoction of the heartwood of bījaka and the root of agnimantha in which a prastha of māṣa is cooked. While it is cooking, a paste of citraka root in an akṣa measure and āmalaka juice amounting to one quarter are added. After cooking, the preparation is removed, consecrated with a thousand oblations, cooled, combined with honey and ghee, and taken according to strength and suitability while avoiding salt. After digestion, rice with ghee is eaten with an unsalted soup of mudga and āmalaka, or with milk, for three months. The text traditionally attributes sight like that of Garuḍa, substantial strength, undiminished sexual capacity, and a hundred-year lifespan to these two modes of use. It then records a verse saying that a person who eats śaṇa fruits cooked with milk and accompanied by milk does not undergo decline of age.
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bījakasārāgnimanthamūlaṁ palaṁ salilāḍhakē niṣkvāthya, ardhāvaśiṣṭē tatra pūtē ṣōḍaśapalāni māṣāṇi sādhyāni, tasmiṁśca sidhyati citramūlakalkākṣaṁ prakṣipēt, āmalakarasasya māṣaprasthāpēkṣayā caturthabhāgaṁ kuḍavamaṣṭau palāni| payasā vēti yōgadvayamētat, yōjanāviśēṣatvāt| sauparṇaṁ garuḍacakṣuṣā tulyaṁ cakṣurbhavati| gayī tu ‘sahasrasampātābhihutaṁ kr̥tvā’ iti na paṭhati| anyē tu suśrutādhyāyinō'tra vakṣyamāṇaṁ yōgaṁ paṭhanti; yathā- payasā saha siddhānītyādi| ayaṁ yōgō'nārṣaḥ, jējjaṭēnāpyanuktatvāt; tasmānna paṭhanīyaḥ||12-13||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary specifies that one pala each of bījaka heartwood and agnimantha root is decocted in one āḍhaka of water, and sixteen palas of māṣa are cooked in the strained liquid when half remains. During cooking, one akṣa of citraka-root paste is added; the āmalaka juice is one quarter of the māṣa quantity, namely one kuḍava or eight palas. It reads the alternative involving milk as establishing two distinct applications because their modes of combination differ. Sauparṇa sight is explained as sight comparable to Garuḍa's. The commentator preserves textual disagreement: Gayī does not read the phrase about consecration with a thousand oblations. Some students of Suśruta read the following verse beginning with śaṇa fruits here, but the commentator judges that verse non-authoritative because Jejjaṭa also does not mention it and therefore says it should not be read as part of the text.
Key terms
bIjakasAra (bījaka-sāra)
The heartwood of bījaka used in the described decoction.
agnimanthamUla (agnimantha-mūla)
Agnimantha root, combined here with bījaka heartwood.
sahasrasampAtAbhihuta (sahasra-sampātābhihuta)
Consecrated with a thousand oblations; Gayī is said not to read this phrase.
yathAbala (yathābala)
In an amount suited to the person's strength.
yathAsAtmya (yathāsātmya)
According to what is suitable or accustomed for the person.
sauparNa (sauparṇa)
Compared by the commentary to the sight of Garuḍa.
anArSha (anārṣa)
Judged by the commentator to be non-authoritative or not derived from the sage's textual tradition.
Thus ends the twenty-seventh chapter of the Cikitsāsthāna in the Nibandhasaṅgraha commentary on Suśruta composed by Śrī Dalhaṇa. The supplied text preserves the spelling-order variant Dalha(hla)ṇa in the commentator's name.
Key terms
sarvopaghAtashamanIya (sarvopaghātaśamanīya)
The chapter title, referring to rasāyana said to pacify or counter all forms of impairment.
rasAyanacikitsita (rasāyana-cikitsita)
The treatment chapter devoted to rasāyana.
cikitsAsthAna (Cikitsāsthāna)
The treatment section of the Suśruta Saṃhitā.
nibandhasa~ggraha (Nibandhasaṅgraha)
The title of Dalhaṇa's commentary on the Suśruta Saṃhitā.