The commentary says that after describing the embryo's descent in the preceding chapter, it is appropriate to explain the embryo that has entered. GarbhavyAkaraNa means an exposition or detailed account of the embryo.
Key terms
garbha
The embryo or developing conceptus in the classical account.
Because the prANas are especially important for bodily continuity, the commentary explains them before the skin layers and kalAs. Agni is understood as the power of the various bodily heats, including pAcaka, bhrAjaka, Alocaka, ra~jjaka, and sAdhaka, and as the divine principle governing speech. Soma is the power within watery substances such as shleShma, rasa, and shukra and within taste, and is associated with mind. VAyu has five forms beginning with prANa. Sattva, rajas, and tamas are qualities of the eightfold prakRti. The senses are hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell. BhUtAtman is the karmic person conditioned by wholesome and unwholesome actions. These are called prANas because they enliven: agni through digestion and related work, Soma through nourishing ojas and other saumya tissues, vAyu through circulation and breathing, the three qualities as mind through embodiment and release, the senses through apprehending their objects, and the elemental self through providing consciousness for action.
Key terms
prANa (prana)
A life-sustaining or enlivening principle in this enumeration.
agni
The power expressed through several bodily heats and transformative functions.
soma
The nourishing, watery principle associated with certain tissues, taste, and mind.
bhUtAtman (bhutatman)
The karmic embodied self regarded as the basis of consciousness.
As the developing mixture of shukra and shoNita is transformed, seven layers of skin are said to form like the film on milk. The first, avabhAsinI, displays all complexions and five kinds of shade; it is eighteen twentieths of a grain-width thick and is the site of sidhma and padmakaNTaka. The second, lohitA, is sixteen twentieths and is the site of tilakAlaka, nyaccha, and vya~gga. The third, shvetA, is twelve twentieths and is the site of carmadala, ajagallI, and maShaka. The fourth, tAmrA, is eight twentieths and is the site of various kilAsa and kuShTha disorders. The fifth, vedinI, is five twentieths and is the site of kuShTha and visarpa. The sixth, rohiNI, is one grain-width and is the site of granthi, apacI, arbuda, shlIpada, and galagaNDa. The seventh, mAMsadharA, is two grain-widths and is the site of bhagandara, vidradhi, and arshas. These measurements apply in fleshy regions, not the forehead or fine parts such as the fingers.
The commentary says that skin and related structures arise through transformation of reproductive material only when the life principle is present. AvabhAsinI displays fair and other colors through bhrAjaka agni; shade is fivefold because it derives from five elements, and radiance is also included. Shade is visible nearby, whereas radiance is seen from a distance. Here vrIhi is interpreted as yava, whose width is divided into twenty parts; the layer measurements are fractions of that width. It further interprets a later surgical instruction to mean that the seven layers together measure just under six yavas at the pulp of the thumb.
Key terms
avabhAsinI (avabhasini)
The first skin layer, said to display complexion and shade.
vedinI (vedini)
The fifth layer, associated by name and context with sensation.
rohiNI (rohini)
The sixth skin layer in this sevenfold classification.
mAMsadharA (mamsadhara)
The seventh and deepest listed skin layer, described as supporting flesh.
vrIhi/yava (vrihi/yava)
The grain-based unit used for the stated thicknesses; the commentary interprets vrihi as yava.
The commentary derives dhAtu from 'that which supports.' Besides rasa, rakta, mAMsa, and the other tissues, normal kapha, pitta, and feces can also be called supporting constituents because they sustain through their proper functions. Their Ashayas are the regions where they remain, and the kalAs serve as boundaries in the intervals between these tissue-containing regions.
Key terms
kalA (kala)
A boundary layer between tissue-supporting regions.
dhAtu (dhatu)
A constituent that supports the body through its function.
Ashaya (ashaya)
A region or receptacle in which a constituent resides.
Just as the inner essence of wood becomes visible when wood is cut, the kalA belonging to a dhAtu becomes visible when flesh is cut. These kalA divisions are understood as covered by snAyus, spread continuously, and enveloped by shleShma and a covering resembling the fetal membrane.
Because the kalAs lie within and are not directly visible, the commentary uses analogy as evidence for their existence: separating tissues reveals distinct supporting constituents and thereby indirectly establishes their boundary layers. SnAyus, shleShma, and a jarAyu-like covering are said to support and cover them. It cites Vrddha Vagbhata's explanation that residual moisture between a dhAtu and its receptacle is cooked by its own heat, covered by these structures, and, like heartwood within timber, is called kalA because it is a small residual essence.
Key terms
sAra (sara)
Inner essence or heartwood used as an analogy for kalA.
snAyu (snayu)
A binding structure said to cover and support kalA.
jarAyu (jarayu)
A membranous covering used as a comparison.
shleShma (shleshma)
The cohesive substance said to envelop the kalA divisions.
The commentary uses this image to reinforce that sirAs and the other networks lie in flesh associated with the first kalA. It addresses why mAMsadharA is listed before raktadharA although the nutritional sequence runs from rasa to rakta and then mAMsa: that is the order of nourishment, not the order of support. Here the kalA is being described as a supporting base.
Key terms
bisamRuNAla (bisamrunala)
Lotus fibers and stalks used as an analogy for branching bodily networks.
mAMsadharA (mamsadhara)
The flesh-supporting first kalA.
poShaNakrama (poshanakrama)
The sequence of tissue nourishment, distinguished from structural support.
The commentary explains aNvasthi as small bones. To resolve the question of how medas can be within bone when marrow is also there, it distinguishes medas in small bones from majjA in large bones.
Key terms
medodharA kalA (medodhara kala)
The third kalA, described as supporting medas.
medas
The classical fatty tissue or unctuous constituent.
MajjA is especially located inside large bones. In all the other, smaller bones, the substance mixed with blood is called medas. The unctuous substance of pure flesh is termed vasA.
The commentary says the verse clarifies the prose statement: 'the other bones' means all small bones. It then answers what the secondary tissue resembling medas and majjA is by identifying vasA as the unctuous portion of pure flesh.
Key terms
sthUlAsthi (sthulasthi)
A large bone said to contain marrow.
majjA (majja)
Marrow located within large bones in this account.
medas
A fatty constituent described in smaller bones with blood.
vasA (vasa)
The unctuous substance of flesh, regarded as a secondary tissue.
The fourth kalA is shleShmadharA and is present in all the joints of living beings. Just as a wheel turns properly on an axle anointed with oil, joints move properly when held together by shleShma.
The commentary uses the wheel-and-axle analogy to show the qualities and action of shleShma supported by this kalA. AkSha here means the wooden axle located inside the wheel's central opening.
Key terms
shleShmadharA kalA (shleshmadhara kala)
The fourth kalA, described as supporting the cohesive joint substance.
sandhi
A joint or articulation.
shleShma (shleshma)
The lubricating and cohesive principle said to support joint movement.
पञ्चमी पुरीषधरा नाम; याऽन्तःकोष्ठे मलमभिविभजते पक्वाशयस्था ||१६||
यकृत्समन्तात् कोष्ठं च तथाऽन्त्राणि समाश्रिता |
उण्डु(न्दु)कस्थं विभजते मलं मलधरा कला ||१७||
Meaning of the śloka
The fifth kalA is purIShadharA. Situated in the pakvAshaya within the koShTha, it separates waste. Extending around the liver, throughout the koShTha, and along the intestines, this waste-supporting kalA divides the waste located in the uNDuka.
The commentary first takes the inner koShTha as the internal cavity where waste is divided into urine and feces. Gayi instead says it separates fecal residue from the koShTha after nutritive essence has been divided, while agni and vAyu also contribute to that separation. PakvAshaya is emphasized because feces is chiefly situated there, although koShTha includes regions associated with stomach contents, digestion, urine, blood, heart, uNDuka, and lungs. The verse describes the kalA as extending from the region of the liver and related upper structures through the intestines toward the anus. Mention of liver can imply spleen and nearby organs; mention of uNDuka can include the anus. UNduka is glossed by a vernacular term and elsewhere as the receptacle of feces. Gayi alternatively interprets vibhajate as separating waste from the koShTha rather than dividing it into urine and feces.
Key terms
purIShadharA kalA (purishadhara kala)
The fifth kalA, associated with holding and separating fecal waste.
koShTha (koshtha)
The internal visceral cavity or grouped digestive and related regions.
pakvAshaya (pakvashaya)
The lower digestive receptacle associated chiefly with formed waste.
uNDuka (unduka)
A classically named receptacle or region associated with feces.
vibhajate
Divides waste into urine and feces, or alternatively separates feces from the koShTha.
The commentary identifies pitta here with antarAgni, the internal digestive fire. Food that has left the kapha-associated AmAshaya and reached the site of pitta on its way toward pakvAshaya is held there for digestion. A cited account places this kalA between AmAshaya and pakvAshaya, where it retains the four kinds of food and, through pitta's heat, dries and cooks what is unprocessed.
Key terms
pittadharA kalA (pittadhara kala)
The sixth kalA, associated with pitta and digestion.
antarAgni (antaragni)
Internal digestive fire, identified here with pitta.
AmAshaya (amashaya)
The receptacle of unprocessed food, associated here with kapha.
pakvAshaya (pakvashaya)
The receptacle toward which digested material proceeds.
The commentary distinguishes the four modes of intake by their verbal roots: eating a meal, chewing solid food, drinking, and licking or tasting. Food characterized by any of these modes becomes digested. 'At the proper time' means without exceeding the time appropriate to strong, moderate, or weak agni, taking account of quantity, substance, heaviness, and lightness.
सप्तमी शुक्रधरा, या सर्वप्राणिनां सर्वशरीरव्यापिनी ||२०||
यथा पयसि सर्पिस्तु गूढश्चेक्षौ रसो यथा |
शरीरेषु तथा शुक्रं नृणां विद्याद्भिषग्वरः ||२१||
Meaning of the śloka
The seventh kalA is shukradharA, which pervades the entire body of every living being. A skilled physician should understand shukra in human bodies as ghee is hidden throughout milk and sweetness throughout sugarcane juice.
The commentary offers the milk-and-ghee and sugarcane-juice analogies as evidence for shukra's whole-body pervasion. It relates the milk analogy to a person described as having abundant shukra despite little sexual activity, and the sugarcane analogy to a person with diminished shukra, where discharge occurs only after considerable exertion or pressure.
Key terms
shukradharA kalA (shukradhara kala)
The seventh kalA, said to support shukra throughout the body.
sarvasharIravyApin (sarvashariravyapin)
Pervading the whole body.
payasi sarpis
Ghee latent in milk, used as an analogy.
ikShurasa (ikshurasa)
Sugarcane juice whose latent sweetness is used as an analogy.
Although shukra is described as pervading the entire body, the commentary now specifies its path of discharge. It cites Vrddha Vagbhata's closely matching description of shukradharA as lying two finger-widths to the right and below the bladder opening, associated with the urinary pathway, and conveying whole-body-pervading shukra.
Key terms
bastidvAra (bastidvara)
The opening of the bladder in this anatomical account.
Shukra, though said to reside throughout the body, is discharged through joy or arousal when a person of clear and pleased mind engages in sexual activity with women.
The commentary addresses how shukra, compared to ghee dispersed in milk, can separate and flow through the urinary passage. Prasannamanas means a mind free from anger and similar disturbance. VyAyacchataH with women is explained as exerting oneself in sexual union.
Key terms
kRtsnadehAshrita (kritsnadehashrita)
Situated throughout the entire body in the classical account.
prasannamanas
Having a clear, pleased mind free from anger.
harSha (harsha)
Joy or sexual arousal associated with discharge.
vyAyacchat (vyayacchat)
Exerting oneself, interpreted here as engaging in sexual union.
In pregnancy, the embryo is said to obstruct the openings of the channels that carry artava, so menstruation is no longer seen. The artava checked below and redirected upward, together with further accumulating material, is called aparA. What rises still higher reaches the breasts; for this reason pregnant people are described as having fuller and elevated breasts.
The commentary introduces this to explain why artava is not seen from conception until birth. VartmAni means the openings of the channels. It adds that women call aparA the amamalA, but provides no further clarification of that term here.
Key terms
Artavavaha srotas (artavavaha srotas)
Channels said to convey menstrual material.
aparA (apara)
A pregnancy-related structure or accumulated material formed, in this account, from redirected artava; often contextually associated with the placenta.
payodhara
The breasts.
amamalA (amamala)
A term women are said to use for apara; its exact sense is unclear in the supplied commentary.
The commentary identifies the liver as the dark structure on the right and the spleen as the known structure on the left. Their mention also implies kloman as another structure arising from blood, supported by a citation from Vrddha Vagbhata. The lungs are described as attached to the heart's channels. UNduka is glossed with a vernacular anatomical term meaning a pouch-like structure.
Key terms
shoNitajA (shonitaja)
Said to arise from blood in this embryological model.
yakRt (yakrit)
The liver, placed on the right.
plIhan (plihan)
The spleen, placed on the left.
phupphusa
The lungs, described here as arising from blood's foam.
uNDuka (unduka)
A pouch-like visceral structure said to arise from blood residue.
The finest portions of blood and kapha are said to be acted upon by pitta and followed by vayu. Through this process the intestines, rectum, and bladder arise, compared with the formation of metal essence during heating. The tongue arises from the finest portions of kapha, blood, and muscle. Vayu joined with heat opens the channels as required, enters flesh and separates it into muscle units, and, taking unctuousness from fat, forms vessels and ligaments. Gentler maturation forms vessels, harder maturation forms ligaments, and repeated residence produces the bodily receptacles.
The commentary explains that vayu kindles digestive heat while these structures are formed. Gayi preserves a variant reading, 'while being matured in the heart,' instead of 'in the abdomen.' Vayu joined with pitta is said to make nine channels according to their purposes, divide flesh into peshi or muscle portions, and create siras and snayus using unctuous material from fat. For formation of the ashaya receptacles, vayu is understood to remain repeatedly in place.
The kidneys are said to arise from the essence of blood and fat, and the testes from the essence of muscle, blood, kapha, and fat. The heart arises from the essence of blood and kapha and supports the prana-carrying vessels. Below it are the spleen and lungs on the left and the liver and kloma on the right. The heart is especially the seat of consciousness; when covered by tamas, living beings sleep. It is compared with a downward-facing lotus bud that opens in wakefulness and closes in sleep.
Prasada means the essential portion. The commentary glosses the kidneys as the two rounded structures in the flanks and the testes as the two anda. Kloma is identified as tilaka, though that anatomical identification remains historically context-dependent. Consciousness is especially located in the heart, while in a general sense the whole sentient body is its seat, excluding hair, body hair, nail tips, wastes, fluids, and qualities in a cited Charaka passage. Mind, which accompanies consciousness, is likewise especially based in the heart. Sleep occurs when increased tamas covers it. The heart's form is described as a downward-pointing lotus bud.
Key terms
vRukkau (vrikkau)
The two kidneys or flank structures.
vRuShaNau (vrishanau)
The two testes.
hRudaya (hridaya)
The heart, treated here as the special seat of consciousness.
prANavahA dhamanI (pranavaha dhamani)
Vessels described as carrying prana.
kloma
A named internal organ whose exact modern anatomical identification is uncertain.
Sleep is called Vaishnavi and is also described as a harmful or obscuring force that naturally touches all beings. When kapha dominated by tamas reaches the channels carrying awareness, tamasic sleep arises, from which there is no awakening; this occurs at cosmic dissolution. Those dominated by tamas sleep by day and night, those dominated by rajas at irregular times, and those dominated by sattva around midnight. People with depleted kapha, abundant vayu, or mental and physical distress may not sleep; if they do, their sleep is classed as pathological.
Vaishnavi is explained as Vishnu's maya, and sleep is called harmful because it suspends all auspicious activity. Although another tradition lists seven kinds, this commentary reduces sleep to three: tamasic, natural, and pathological. Tamas underlies all sleep, but extreme tamas defines the first kind. Rajasic mobility accounts for irregular timing, while at midnight sattva is somewhat reduced and tamas becomes prominent even in sattva-dominant people. In people depleted by fasting, exertion, increased vayu, or diminished kapha, sleep may nevertheless occur when mental fatigue withdraws the embodied self from sensory objects, as a Charaka verse explains.
Key terms
vaiShNavI nidrA (vaishnavi nidra)
Sleep described as Vishnu's maya.
tAmasI nidrA (tamasi nidra)
Sleep attributed to a strong predominance of tamas.
The heart is declared the seat of consciousness. When it is overcome by tamas, sleep enters the embodied being. Tamas is said to cause sleep and sattva to cause awakening; alternatively, intrinsic nature itself is proclaimed the stronger cause.
These verses restate the preceding prose for easier understanding. Because sattva, rajas, and tamas are always present, the commentator recognizes a possible difficulty in attributing the opposed states of sleep and wakefulness to simultaneously present gunas. The alternative appeal to svabhava, intrinsic nature, addresses that difficulty.
Key terms
cetanAsthAna (chetana-sthana)
Seat of consciousness, identified here with the heart.
tamas
The guna said to cause sleep.
sattva
The guna said to cause awakening.
svabhAva (svabhava)
Intrinsic nature, offered as an alternative and stronger cause.
During sleep, the ruling embodied self apprehends pleasant and unpleasant objects previously experienced in former bodies through a mind activated by rajas.
The commentary answers how dreams occur when waking awareness is absent. Dream cognition is treated as memory, since cognition ordinarily depends on external objects that are absent during sleep. Apparently novel dream material is explained as experience from previous bodies, though this also includes experiences from the present body. Bhutatman here means the kshetrajna, the conscious owner of the sleeping body, rather than merely a body composed of elements. It apprehends through mind while the senses sleep. Rajas activates the mind and produces dream activity; when mind is covered by tamas, nothing is seen in sleep.
Key terms
bhUtAtmA (bhutatman)
The conscious self or kshetrajna that rules the embodied person.
pUrvadehAnubhUta (purva-dehanubhuta)
Experienced in a previous body, extended by the commentary to present-life experience too.
The commentary says that tamas disables the group of sense faculties externally in relation to their objects and internally in relation to mental objects such as pleasure and pain. The self itself remains unchanged, yet because its instruments are impaired it appears to sleep.
Key terms
karaNa (karana)
A faculty or instrument of cognition, including senses and mind.
vaikalya
Impairment or loss of effective function.
tamas
The obscuring guna whose increase disables the faculties.
bhUtAtmA (bhutatman)
The embodied conscious self, held to remain unchanged.
Daytime sleep is prohibited in all seasons except summer. Even in other seasons, a short daytime sleep is permitted for children, older people, women, those who are emaciated, injured, depleted, accustomed to alcohol, exhausted by travel, riding, or work, those who have not eaten, those depleted in fat, sweat, kapha, rasa, or blood, and those with indigestion. A person kept awake at night may sleep by day for half the period of wakefulness. Day sleep is called an altered practice and is said to provoke all doshas, leading to cough, difficult breathing, nasal symptoms, heaviness of the head, body ache, loss of appetite, fever, and weak digestion. Night waking is said to cause similar complications through vata and pitta.
The exception 'apart from summer' permits daytime sleep in summer. A muhurta is glossed as two ghatikas. The commentary says replacement sleep after night waking should be limited to half the lost duration because daytime sleep is considered an altered pattern. 'All doshas' is understood to include blood. Although day sleep is morally criticized in the text, it is allowed in summer for protection of the body. The same listed complaints are attributed to night waking.
Key terms
divAsvApa (divasvapa)
Daytime sleep.
muhUrta (muhurta)
A short period glossed here as two ghatikas.
vikRuti (vikriti)
An altered or nonstandard practice, applied here to daytime sleep.
rAtrijAgaraNa (ratri-jagarana)
Staying awake at night.
sarvadoShaprakopa (sarva-dosha-prakopa)
Aggravation of all doshas, interpreted here as including blood.
Knowing that night waking and daytime sleep can disturb health, a discerning person should avoid staying awake at night, avoid day sleep, and sleep in moderation. The verse predicts that such a person will remain healthy and cheerful, possess strength and good complexion, retain sexual vigor, avoid extreme corpulence or thinness, have an attractive body, and live for one hundred years.
The commentary says these results belong to a person who follows the sleep pattern just described. Vrisha means possessing capacity for sexual activity, and shriman here means having bodily beauty or radiance.
Key terms
mita svapna
Moderate or measured sleep.
vRuSha (vrisha)
Possessing sexual capacity in this context.
shrImAn (shriman)
Having bodily beauty or radiance.
samAH shatam (samah shatam)
One hundred years, the longevity promised by the verse.
(निद्रा सात्म्यीकृता यैस्तु रात्रौ च यदि वा दिवा|) दिवारात्रौ च ये नित्यं स्वप्नजागरणोचिताः |
न तेषां स्वपतां दोषो जाग्रतां वाऽपि जायते ||४१||
Meaning of the śloka
For people who are habitually adapted to sleeping or remaining awake by day or by night, the text says that sleep or wakefulness at those accustomed times does not produce harm.
The commentary explains that daytime sleep is not considered faulty for those to whom that pattern has become satmya, or habitual and compatible. The parenthetical opening preserves an alternative or supplementary wording about sleep habituated either at night or by day.
Key terms
nidrAsAtmya (nidra-satmya)
A sleep pattern that has become habitual or compatible for a person.
divArAtrau (diva-ratrau)
By day and by night.
svapnajAgaraNocita (svapna-jagaranocita)
Accustomed to sleeping and waking at particular times.
Loss of sleep is attributed to vata, pitta, mental distress, depletion, or injury and is said to settle through opposite measures. Recommended measures include oil massage, applying oil to the head, rubbing or powder massage of the body, and gentle pressing; sweet, unctuous foods made from rice, wheat, sugarcane products, milk, and meat broths; broths of burrowing and certain game birds; grapes, sugar, and sugarcane preparations at night; and pleasant, soft beds, seats, vehicles, and other comforts.
The commentary links insomnia with the listed causes and calls massage and the other measures their opposites. Samvahana is gentle massage, and sugarcane-processed foods include preparations such as crystallized sugar. Pleasant arrangements for sleeping and sitting are recommended, together with further comforts such as coverings.
Key terms
nidrAnAsha (nidranasha)
Loss of sleep or insomnia.
abhya~gga (abhyanga)
Oil massage.
saMvAhana (samvahana)
Gentle rubbing or massage.
pratyanIka (pratyanika)
A measure opposite to the stated cause.
bileshaya / viShkira (bileshaya / vishkira)
Burrowing animals and a class of game birds named as broth sources.
निद्रातियोगे वमनं हितं संशोधनानि च |
लङ्घनं रक्तमोक्षश्च मनोव्याकुलनानि च ||४७||
Meaning of the śloka
For excessive sleep, the text recommends therapeutic vomiting and other cleansing procedures, fasting or lightening therapy, bloodletting, and mentally disturbing stimulation.
Although vomiting is included among cleansing procedures, it is mentioned separately because the commentary considers it especially capable of producing wakefulness or loss of sleep.
Key terms
nidrAtiyoga (nidra-atiyoga)
Excessive sleep.
vamana
Therapeutic emesis in the historical treatment system.
saMshodhana (samshodhana)
Cleansing or evacuative procedures.
la~gghana (langhana)
Fasting or lightening therapy.
raktamokSha (rakta-moksha)
Bloodletting.
manovyAkulana (mano-vyakulana)
Mental agitation or disturbing stimulation.
Adhikarana ੩੨ (੪੮) · Śloka ੪੮
ਕਫਮੇਦੋਵਿਸਾਰ੍ਤਾਨਾਂ ਰਾਤ੍ਰੌ ਜਾਗਰਣਂ ਹਿਤਮ੍ |੪੮|
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कफमेदोविषार्तानां रात्रौ जागरणं हितम् |४८|
Meaning of the śloka
The text considers staying awake at night beneficial for people afflicted by kapha, excess fat, or poisoning.
The commentary introduces this as an exception: although night sleep is normally prescribed, it is prohibited for certain people in the listed conditions.
The commentary presents these as exceptions for whom daytime sleep, though generally prohibited, is praised. The word 'beneficial' from the adjoining statement is understood here as well.
Because sleep arises from tamas and resembles bewilderment, the commentary next describes the related state tandra. Failure to apprehend sensory objects means not registering sound and the other objects. Unlike ordinary sleep, from which awakening removes fatigue, a person awakened from tandra remains fatigued; this is why klama is included among its signs.
Key terms
tandrA (tandra)
A sleep-like state marked by heaviness, yawning, impaired sensory engagement, and persisting fatigue.
indriyArthAsamprApti (indriyartha-asamprapti)
Failure to apprehend sensory objects.
gaurava
Heaviness.
jRumbhaNa (jrimbhana)
Yawning.
klama
Fatigue that persists even after arousal in this distinction.
A yawn is defined as an action in which a person takes in a single breath, stretches the body, opens the mouth, and releases the breath with tears from the eyes.
The commentary introduces this definition while explaining signs mentioned under tandra. It notes that some sources insert a verse defining sneezing in this context: prana and udana meet in the channels of the head and sound emerges through the nose. The received commentators did not read that verse, so this commentary says it should not be included.
Key terms
jRumbha (jrimbha)
A yawn.
anilocchvAsa (anilochchhvasa)
An inhalation or breath involving vayu.
udveShTana (udveshtana)
Stretching or extending the body.
kShavathu (kshavathu)
Sneezing, defined in a rejected interpolated verse.
Alasya is described as attachment to pleasant touch, a restless aversion to discomfort, and lack of initiative in tasks despite having the capacity to perform them.
Following klama, the commentary defines alasya because both involve non-engagement in activity, even though laziness was not separately announced in the preceding outline.
Key terms
Alasya (alasya)
Lack of initiative in action despite retained capacity.
Utklesha is described as nausea in which food is disturbed upward but does not come out, with salivation, spitting, and pressure or distress in the chest or heart region. Glani is described by sweetness in the mouth, drowsiness, discomfort in the heart region, dizziness, lack of desire for food, and lassitude.
Some authorities read these verses as definitions of utklesha and glani. The commentary states that its recognized earlier commentators did not include them and therefore says they should not be accepted as part of the text.
Key terms
utklesha
Nausea or upward disturbance of food without vomiting in the reported verse.
praseka
Excess salivation.
hRudayapIDA (hridaya-pida)
Pressure or distress in the chest or heart region.
glAni (glani)
A state of lassitude with drowsiness, dizziness, and poor appetite.
apATha (apatha)
A reading not accepted by the commentators relied upon here.
The commentary explains that the word va has the sense of 'as if': the person does not literally have wet hide wrapped around the body but experiences a comparable heaviness. The omitted possessive 'his' is understood in the final phrase.
Fainting is said to arise chiefly from pitta and tamas; vertigo from rajas, pitta, and vata; drowsiness from tamas, vata, and kapha; and sleep from kapha and tamas.
In connection with sleep as a state of obscured awareness, the commentary also discusses drowsiness, fainting, and related states. It describes bhrama as a sensation of turning like someone mounted on a wheel. Tandra, previously described by its signs, is now classified by cause. Sleep, already attributed to tamas as a mental fault, is stated again here with a bodily dosha because of this discussion. Gayi does not read the descriptions of exhaustion, lethargy, and related states, regarding them as unsupported by a root aphorism.
The commentary recalls the earlier account in which a channel linked to the fetal navel conveys the pregnant person's nutritive rasa. It adds a second cause: maruta fills and expands the fetal srotases. Through the expansion attributed to agni and vayu, these channels become broader and the fetus grows.
Key terms
garbha
The fetus or developing being.
rasa
Nutritive essence, understood here as derived from the pregnant person.
mArutAdhmAna (marutadhmana)
Filling or expansion produced by maruta.
srotas
A bodily channel expanded in the classical growth model.
A fixed seat of jyotis or agni is said to lie within the fetus at the navel. Vata expands it, and through this the body grows. Maruta joined with heat opens the channels upward, across, and downward, and bodily growth proceeds accordingly.
The commentary identifies the place of jyotis at the center of the fetal navel as the seat of agni. Vayu inflates it, and fire together with maruta expands the channels, producing growth. To explain how expansion at the central channel yields growth in every direction, it interprets the repeated wording as showing that heated vayu opens the srotases progressively upward, transversely, and downward, with corresponding growth of the body.
Key terms
jyotiHsthAna (jyotihsthana)
The seat of jyotis or agni placed at the fetal navel in this account.
AdhmAna (adhmana)
Inflation, filling, or expansion.
UShman (ushman)
Heat acting together with maruta.
srotas
A channel opened and expanded in the classical growth model.
The commentary answers why vision-related structures and hair follicles do not grow in the same way as the body: it says they are dhruva, fixed or unchanging.
Key terms
dRuShTi (drishti)
Sight or the visual structure; the exact anatomical scope is contextual.
After noting that some structures do not increase even while the body grows, the commentary states the converse: nails and hair continue to increase even during bodily decline. It explains the phrase as making svabhava the cause.
The commentary counts three single-dosha constitutions, three dual-dosha constitutions, and one constitution involving all three, making seven in total. It introduces the following discussion of the causes and characteristic signs of constitution.
Key terms
prakRuti (prakriti)
Constitution or inherent bodily pattern in this context.
शुक्रशोणितसंयोगे यो भवेद्दोष उत्कटः |
प्रकृतिर्जायते तेन तस्या मे लक्षणं शृणु ||६३||
Meaning of the śloka
The dosha that is predominant when shukra and shonita unite is said to establish the developing person's prakriti; the text then introduces the signs of each constitution.
The commentary distinguishes a constitution-forming predominance from pathological aggravation. A dosha predominant while remaining in its natural state establishes one of the seven lifelong constitutions, whereas a pathological form harms fetal development. Gayi raises an apparent conflict with an earlier teaching that dosha-affected reproductive material cannot form a balanced fetus. He answers that the whole bija need not be affected: alteration of one part may affect or prevent only the corresponding fetal structure without preventing conception. His examples concern congenital absence of sight and differences of the hands and feet. A cited verse similarly distinguishes an overall viable bija from a portion affected by vata or another dosha.
Key terms
shukrashoNitasaMyoga (shukra-shonita-samyoga)
Union of the reproductive substances in the classical account.
utkaTa doSha (utkata dosha)
A predominant dosha, interpreted here either as constitutional or pathological.
prakRuti (prakriti)
A lifelong constitutional pattern established at conception in this model.
bIja (bija)
Reproductive seed or generative material.
bIjAvayava (bijavayava)
A component of the reproductive seed linked with a corresponding developing structure.
The vata constitution is described as wakeful, averse to cold, unfortunate in appearance or circumstances, given to stealing, envy, non-noble conduct, music, rough or cracked hands and feet, scant and coarse beard, nails, and hair, aggression, and grinding the teeth. Such a person is described as lacking steadiness and lasting affection, ungrateful, thin and rough, with prominent vessels, talkative, quick in walking and speech, wandering, and mentally unsettled. Dreams may involve rapid movement through the sky. Thought and gaze are described as unstable, with limited acquisition of valuables, wealth, and friends, and speech may be disconnected. An appended verse compares vata types with the dispositions of various animals.
The commentary begins with vata because of its stated priority among the doshas. It glosses the traits as excessive wakefulness, an unattractive form, theft, inability to tolerate others' good qualities, ignoble conduct, interest in song, harmfulness, and tooth-grinding during sleep. Adhriti is lack of fortitude; rapid movement includes quick walking and quick speech; and anavasthitatman and avyavasthitamati indicate an unsettled mind and uncertain judgment. The animal comparisons are said to concern behavioral resemblance.
Key terms
vAtaprakRuti (vata prakriti)
The constitution associated with predominant vata.
prajAgarUka (prajagaruka)
Especially wakeful.
adhRuti (adhriti)
Lack of steadiness or fortitude.
anavasthitAtman (anavasthitatman)
Having an unsettled mind.
anUka (anuka)
Behavioral likeness or disposition in the appended animal comparisons.
पित्तप्रकृतिस्तु स्वेदनो दुर्गन्धः पीतशिथिलाङ्गस्ताम्रनखनयनतालुजिह्वौष्ठपाणिपादतलो दुर्भगो वलीपलितखालित्यजुष्टो बहुभुगुष्णद्वेषी क्षिप्रकोपप्रसादो मध्यबलो मध्यायुश्च भवति ||६८||
मेधावी निपुणमतिर्विगृह्य वक्ता तेजस्वी समितिषु दुर्निवारवीर्यः |
सुप्तः सन् कनकपलाशकर्णिकारान् सम्पश्येदपि च हुताशविद्युदुल्काः ||६९||
न भयात् प्रणमेदनतेष्वमृदुः प्रणतेष्वपि सान्त्वनदानरुचिः |
भवतीह सदा व्यथितास्यगतिः स भवेदिह पित्तकृतप्रकृतिः ||७०||
(भुजङ्गोलूकगन्धर्वयक्षमार्जारवानरैः |
व्याघ्रर्क्षनकुलानूकैः पैत्तिकास्तु नराःस्मृताः ) ||७१||
Meaning of the śloka
The pitta constitution is described with sweating, strong odor, yellowish and lax limbs, copper-colored nails, eyes, palate, tongue, lips, palms, and soles, early wrinkles, greying and hair loss, a large appetite, dislike of heat, rapid anger and reconciliation, and moderate strength and lifespan. Such a person is said to be intelligent, precise, forceful in debate, radiant, and difficult to restrain in conflict; dreams may feature gold-colored flowers, fire, lightning, or meteors. The person is described as unwilling to submit from fear, harsh toward those who do not submit, inclined to conciliate or give to those who do, and distressed in facial expression or movement. An appended verse gives animal and supernatural comparisons.
The commentary explains 'speaks after challenging' as interrupting another's statement to reply and takes assemblies here as battles. Palasha is identified as kimshuka. Santvana means pacification. The distressed face is linked to oral inflammation, while painful movement is explained by inability to tolerate the strain of running.
Key terms
pittaprakRuti (pitta prakriti)
The constitution associated with predominant pitta.
kShiprakopaprasAda (kshiprakopa-prasada)
Becoming angry and becoming calm quickly.
tejasvin
Radiant, forceful, or spirited.
vigRuhya vaktA (vigrihya vakta)
One who challenges or interrupts another statement before replying.
The kapha constitution is described through dark green, blue, steel-like, wet arishta-fruit, or reed-stem complexions; pleasing appearance; preference for sweet tastes; gratitude; steadiness; endurance; limited greed; strength; slow comprehension; and lasting enmity. Further signs include pale eyes, stable curly dark hair, prosperity, a voice compared with clouds, drums, or lions, and dreams of lotuses, water birds, and pleasant waters. The person is also described with reddish eye corners, well-proportioned limbs, unctuous complexion, sattva qualities, tolerance of hardship, and respect for teachers. Parenthesized verses add deliberation, firm learning, stable friendships and wealth, generosity after consideration, decisive speech, respect for elders, and symbolic comparisons.
The commentary identifies indīvara as blue lotus, nistrimsha as a sword, and arishta as the dark round soapnut-like fruit. Dhritiman means possessing fortitude, and well-divided limbs means that all body parts are distinctly and properly formed. It reports that some recensions include four sets of comparison verses across the vata, pitta, and kapha descriptions, but says these should not be read because earlier compilers did not include them.
Key terms
shleShmaprakRuti (shleshma prakriti)
The constitution associated with predominant kapha.
dhRutimAn (dhritiman)
Possessing steadiness or fortitude.
ciragrAhI (chiragrahi)
Slow to grasp or understand.
suvibhaktagAtra (suvibhaktagatra)
Having distinctly and proportionately formed limbs.
A physician should recognize constitutions produced by combinations of two or all three doshas through the combined signs of the relevant constitutions.
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ਸਂਸਰ੍ਗਜਾਃ ਪ੍ਰਕਤੀਰਾਹ- ਦ੍ਵਯੋਰਿਤ੍ਯਾਦਿ||੭੭||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary identifies this verse as the account of constitutions arising through dosha combinations and adds no further detail.
Key terms
saMsargaja (samsargaja)
Arising from a combination or association of doshas.
prakRuti (prakriti)
Constitution.
lakShaNa (lakshana)
A characteristic sign used in recognizing the constitution.
The text says that constitutional prakritis do not undergo aggravation, change into another form, or diminish during life; a change occurs only when lifespan has ended.
विषजातो यथा कीटो न विषेण विपद्यते |
तद्वत्प्रकृतयो मर्त्यं शक्नुवन्ति न बाधितुम् ||७९||
Meaning of the śloka
Just as an organism born from poison is not destroyed by that poison, the doshas that establish a person's constitution are said not to harm that person severely.
The commentary asks why constitutional doshas do not cause disease. It limits the statement to the doshas that formed the body and interprets 'cannot harm' as qualified rather than absolute: they can cause some discomfort, but not severe injury merely by constituting the person. A poison-born creature may experience some effects of its poisonous nature without being destroyed by them; similarly, features such as cracked extremities in vata types or sweating and odor in pitta types may cause some burden. It cites another text's statement that vata and other constitutional types are continually somewhat afflicted.
Key terms
viShajAta kITa (vishajata kita)
A creature said to be born from poison, used as an analogy.
ArambhakadoSha (arambhaka dosha)
A dosha involved in forming the body or constitution.
bAdh (badh)
To trouble or harm; qualified here as slight rather than absent.
nitya Atura (nitya atura)
Continually somewhat afflicted, as cited of constitutional types.
Some authorities describe elemental constitutions in humans. Three correspond to air, fire, and water and are expressed through the signs of vata, pitta, and kapha. The earth constitution is described as having a stable, large body and patience; the space constitution as pure, long-lived, and having large bodily openings.
The commentary presents this as one school's view. Air, fire, and water constitutions correspond to vata, pitta, and shleshma signs; the verse adds earth and space, with large openings meaning broad nasal, ear, and similar apertures. Others expand elemental combinations singly and in groups: five single-element, ten two-element, ten three-element, five four-element, and one five-element constitution, making thirty-one. Seven further major constitutions are formed from sattva, rajas, and tamas singly, in pairs, and together, following a statement attributed to Nagarjuna that there are seven by dosha and seven by guna.
Key terms
bhautikI prakRuti (bhautiki prakriti)
A constitution classified by the five elemental principles.
pArthiva (parthiva)
Earth-associated constitution.
nAbhasa (nabhasa)
Space-associated constitution.
kha
A bodily opening such as the nose or ear in this passage.
mahAprakRuti (mahaprakriti)
A major constitution based here on combinations of the three gunas.
Seven sattvika mental constitutions are described. The Brahma type is associated with purity, belief, Vedic study, honoring teachers, hospitality, and sacrifice. The Mahendra type with nobility, courage, authority, scriptural understanding, and supporting dependants. The Varuna type with preference for coolness, endurance, tawny eyes and hair, and pleasant speech. The Kubera type with impartiality, endurance, acquiring and preserving wealth, and great reproductive capacity. The Gandharva type with love of fragrance, garlands, dance, music, and recreation. The Yamya type acts appropriately, begins firmly, is fearless, mindful, pure, and free from attachment, delusion, pride, and hostility. The Rishi type practices recitation, vows, celibacy, offerings, and study and possesses knowledge and discriminative understanding.
The commentary presents these as mental constitutions differentiated by the gunas. It glosses ijya as sacrifice, greatness as broad-mindedness, paingalya as tawny eyes, harikeshata as tawny hair, great reproductive power as capacity to produce offspring, vihara as roaming or recreation, praptakari as acting appropriately, and dridhotthana as firm in undertaking.
Six rajasa constitutions are then described. The Asura type is powerful, fierce, brave, intensely angry, envious, eats alone, and is devoted to the belly. The Sarpa type is sharp, effortful, fearful when not angry, irascible, deceptive, and restless in recreation and conduct. The Shakuna type has strong desire, eats continually, is intolerant, and unstable. The Rakshasa type holds one-sided views, is fierce, envious, outside the text's dharma, and has abundant tamas. The Paishacha type eats leftovers, is irascible, enjoys daring acts, is sexually acquisitive, and lacks shame. The Preta type does not share, is inactive, inclined to distress and envy, greedy, and ungenerous.
The commentary explains raudra as frightening, chanda as intensely angry, and asuyaka as unable to tolerate another's good qualities. Ekashin means eating alone. Audarika means a voracious eater; Gayadasa instead reads aupadhika and interprets it as devoted to deception. For the Sarpa type, 'fearful' is qualified as fearful when not angry, following a Caraka statement that the person is brave when angry and fearful when not. Ajasrahara means eating without interruption, ekantagrahita means clinging to a one-sided position, asuya means attributing faults to virtues, and taikshnya here means irascibility.
Three tamasa constitutions are described. The Pashava type is characterized by poor understanding, crookedness or dullness, recurrent sexual activity in dreams, and rejection of others. The Matsya type is unstable, foolish, fearful, desirous of water, and mutually aggressive. The Vanaspatya type remains attached to one place, is concerned only with food, and is described as lacking sattva, dharma, kama, and artha.
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ਮਨ੍ਦਤਾ ਜਿਹ੍ਮਤਾ||੯੪-੯੭||-
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary supplies only one gloss: mandata is understood as crookedness. It gives no further explanation of these three categories.
Key terms
pAshava (pashava)
An animal-associated tamasa archetype.
matsyasattva (matsya sattva)
A fish-associated tamasa archetype.
vAnaspatya (vanaspatya)
A plant-associated tamasa archetype.
nirAkariShNutA (nirakarishnuta)
A tendency to reject or repel; the precise nuance needs review.
mandatA (mandata)
Glossed by the commentary as crookedness, though dullness is another possible surface sense.
After recognizing a person's constitution, the physician should apply a corresponding course of action. These major constitutions are produced by rajas, sattva, and tamas; the physician should discern them carefully through their described signs.
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ਪ੍ਰਕਤਿਜ੍ਞਾਨੇ ਪ੍ਰਯੋਜਨਮਾਹ- ਕਾਯਾਨਾਮਿਤ੍ਯਾਦਿ||੯੮-੯੯||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says the verse states the practical purpose of knowing constitution and offers no additional explanation.
Key terms
kAyaprakRuti (kaya prakriti)
A bodily or psycho-physical constitutional type.
anurUpa kriyA (anurupa kriya)
A course of action suited to the recognized constitution.
mahAprakRuti (mahaprakriti)
A major constitution based on the gunas.
sattva-rajas-tamas
The three gunas used to form the mental-constitution categories.
This marks the end of the fourth chapter of the Sharirasthana in Dalhana's commentary on Sushruta entitled Nibandhasangraha. The transmitted spelling of Dalhana's name is shown with a textual variation.
Key terms
garbhavyAkaraNa (garbhavyakarana)
Explanation or detailed account of the fetus; the chapter title.
shArIrasthAna (Sharirasthana)
The division concerned with embodiment, anatomy, and development.
nibandhasa~ggraha (Nibandhasangraha)
The title of Dalhana's commentary.
Dalha(hla)Na (Dalhana)
The commentator's name, transmitted with a spelling variation.