Liquid substances include drinking water, milk and others. Vidhi here means their arrangement, classification or distinct types.
Key terms
dravadravya (drava-dravya)
A liquid substance, including water and milk.
vidhi
Classification or prescribed arrangement.
Adhikarana ౨ (౩) · Śloka ౩
పానీయమాంతరీక్షమనిర్దేశ్యరసమమృతం జీవనం తర్పణం ధారణమాశ్వాసజననం శ్రమక్లమపిపాసామదమూర్చ్ఛాతంద్రానిద్రాదాహప్రశమనమేకాంతతః పథ్యతమం చ ||3||
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पानीयमान्तरीक्षमनिर्देश्यरसममृतं जीवनं तर्पणं धारणमाश्वासजननं श्रमक्लमपिपासामदमूर्च्छातन्द्रानिद्रादाहप्रशमनमेकान्ततः पथ्यतमं च ||३||
Meaning of the śloka
Water descending from the atmosphere has an indistinct taste and is compared to amrita. It is described as sustaining life, satisfying, supporting, restoring assurance, relieving fatigue, exhaustion, thirst, intoxication, fainting, drowsiness, sleep and burning, and as especially wholesome.
Antariksha water means water that comes from the sky, especially from clouds; some understand it as water formed there. Its taste is unmanifest because it is extremely slight, not because taste is wholly absent. Calling it amrita means 'like nectar' because it is said not to aggravate doshas; others take amrita as Brahman in form. Jivana means sustaining life, though some gloss it as increasing saumya tissues and others as increasing ojas. Tarpana produces satisfaction. Dharana supports someone fainting from injury such as a weapon wound; ashvasa-janana restores those dried by travel. Prashamana applies separately to each listed state. Shrama is distress from great exertion and klama a lesser form. Mada is intoxication associated with betel nut, poison, alcohol or blood. Contact with water is said to relieve dosha-related drowsiness or sleep, whereas drinking it promotes natural sleep. 'Most wholesome' is variously explained as highly wholesome, foremost among waters, applicable across conditions, or especially beneficial to a healthy person.
Key terms
AntarIkSha (antariksha)
Water descending from the atmosphere or clouds.
anirdeshyarasa (anirdeshya-rasa)
Having taste too slight to specify clearly.
jIvana (jivana)
Life-sustaining; alternative glosses mention saumya tissues or ojas.
dhAraNa (dharana)
Supporting the body in faintness according to the commentary.
When that atmospheric water falls upon the earth, it acquires one of the tastes according to the particular place where it remains, such as a river, large river, natural lake, constructed reservoir, stepped tank, well, cunti, spring, upward-emerging source, sandy collection point, field or marshy pool.
The passage explains how water with an initially indistinct taste gains a specified taste after reaching the ground through differences of place. Examples distinguish rivers such as Ganga from large rivers such as Sindhu and Shona. A sara is described as a renowned natural lake and a tadaga as human-made, though some reverse these definitions. A vapi is masonry-lined with steps; a well is lined but has no steps. Cunti is an enclosed well, though others call it a small temporary well near a river or a mountain pool. Prasravana flows from high ground, while udbhida rises from low ground. Vikira is water obtained by dispersing sand or similar material. Palvala is a grass-covered marshland pool. The word 'and others' includes deep pools and the sea.
Key terms
sthAnavisheSha (sthana-vishesha)
Difference of location that is said to impart taste to water.
prasravaNa (prasravana)
A spring flowing from elevated or mountainous ground.
udbhida
A water source rising upward from low ground.
cuNTI (cunti)
An enclosed well, with alternative geographical interpretations.
Some authorities say that water arising in red, tawny, pale, blue, yellow and white soils respectively becomes sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent.
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పరమతమాహ- తత్రేత్యాది||5||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary identifies this explicitly as the opinion of another school, without endorsing it here.
Key terms
avanipradesha (avani-pradesha)
A type or region of soil associated by this view with a particular water taste.
The text rejects that account. It says water's taste results from the elements entering one another and from their relative predominance or deficiency. Soil rich in its own earth-character yields sour and salty water; predominance of water qualities yields sweet, fire qualities pungent and bitter, air qualities astringent, and space qualities an unmanifest taste because space itself is unmanifest. Water with an unmanifest taste is preferred and should be drunk when atmospheric water is unavailable.
The author gives this as his own view after rejecting the previous one. The rules here are treated as particular exceptions to the general elemental account stated in the Rasa chapter. Other authorities instead explain each taste through two-element combinations: one supplied formulation assigns sweet to earth and water, sour to earth and air, salty to water and fire, pungent to air and fire, astringent again to earth and air, and unmanifest taste to space predominance. The duplicate earth-and-air assignment and omission of bitter in that alternative are present in the supplied commentary and have not been silently corrected.
Key terms
utkarShApakarSha (utkarsha-apakarsha)
Relative predominance and deficiency of elemental qualities.
Atmospheric water is fourfold: rain-stream water, hail water, dew water and snow-derived water. Rain-stream water is preferred because it is light, and is divided into Ganga and ocean-derived types. Ganga water is said generally to rain in Ashvayuja. The two are tested by leaving an unspoiled ball of cooked shali rice in a silver vessel outdoors during rain: if unchanged after a muhurta it is identified as Ganga water; altered color or decomposition indicates ocean-derived water, which is rejected, though ocean-derived rain gathered in Ashvayuja is said to resemble Ganga water. Preferred rainwater is collected in Ashvayuja from clean cloth, a rooftop or clean vessels and stored in gold, silver or earthenware for year-round use. If unavailable, terrestrial water rich in space qualities is used. Seven terrestrial kinds are listed: well, river, lake, reservoir, spring, upward-emerging and cunti water.
Dhara falls in streams, kara is water from hailstones, taushara is night water from dew, and haima derives from compact crystalline snow. Ganga water is associated with the sky and ocean-derived water with the earth. The commentary restricts collection of Ganga rainwater to Ashvayuja rather than Bhadrapada. A muhurta is one-fifteenth of a day or night. In the rice test, avidagdha means unchanged in color and prakleda means decomposition. Although ocean-derived water is generally rejected as defective, the passage admits it at the specified time. Clean means uncontaminated; rooftop collection means catching water as it falls from the upper floor of a whitewashed building.
Key terms
dhAra (dhara)
Rainwater falling in streams.
kAra (kara)
Water derived from hail.
tauShAra (taushara)
Night water derived from dew.
haima
Water derived from compact snow or ice.
muhUrta (muhurta)
A time unit explained here as one-fifteenth of a day or night.
The text assigns water sources by season: at the end of the rains, atmospheric or upward-emerging water; in autumn, all water because it is clear; in winter, lake or reservoir water; in spring and likewise summer, well or spring water; and in the early rains, cunti water and older water not newly reached by rain.
Here 'rainy season' means its end in Ashvayuja, not Bhadrapada, when atmospheric water is rejected because of a traditional concern about contamination from clouds, insects and airborne creatures. For Bhadrapada, the commentary allows ground-supported water rich in space qualities, or according to others boiled-and-cooled water or previously stored Mahendra water. A variant adds well water to atmospheric and udbhida water, taken with honey to avoid vidaha. Autumnal clarity is attributed to the rising of Agastya. In the early rains, anava means old water, such as lake or reservoir water, and anabhivrishta means well water not reached by rain. If it has not rained, any processed water may be taken because fresh rain has not entered it. Another reading has anabhinava, with the same meaning.
Key terms
anava
Old rather than newly collected water in this context.
Water contaminated by decomposition of insects, urine, feces, eggs or carcasses, filled with heaps of grass and leaves, turbid or mixed with poison is condemned. The text says that bathing in or drinking newly collected rainy-season water can quickly cause external and internal diseases.
Kotha, meaning decay, applies separately to insects and each following contaminant. Insects include venomous creatures such as scorpions; shava is an animal corpse; kalusha means dirty or turbid; and poison may be plant- or animal-derived. Here the rainy months are Ashadha, Shravana and Bhadrapada, excluding Ashvayuja. External diseases such as kushtha are associated with bathing, and internal disorders such as udara with drinking.
Key terms
kotha
Decay or putrefaction affecting the listed contaminants.
kaluSha (kalusha)
Dirty or turbid.
nava jala (nava-jala)
Newly collected water during the specified rainy months.
तत्र यत् पङ्कशैवलहठतृणपद्मपत्रप्रभृतिभिरवच्छन्नं रविशशिकिरणानिलैर्नाभिजुष्टं गन्धवर्णरसोपसृष्टं तद्व्यापन्नमिति विद्यात् |
तस्य स्पर्शरूपरसगन्धवीर्यविपाकदोषाः षट् सम्भवन्ति |
तत्र, खरता पैच्छिल्यमौष्ण्यं दन्तग्राहिता च स्पर्शदोषः, पङ्कसिकताशैवालबहुवर्णता रूपदोषः; व्यक्तरसता रसदोषः; अनिष्टगन्धता गन्धदोषः; यदुपयुक्तं तृष्णागौरवशूलकफप्रसेकानापादयति स विर्यदोषः; यदुपयुक्तं चिराद्विपच्यते विष्टम्भयति वा स विपाकदोष इति |
त एते आन्तरिक्षे न सन्ति ||११||
Meaning of the śloka
Water covered by mud, algae, aquatic growth, grass or lotus leaves; untouched by sun, moonlight and wind; or affected in smell, color or taste is considered impaired. Six defects may occur in touch, appearance, taste, smell, potency and post-digestive effect. Roughness, sliminess, warmth and an extreme cold that grips the teeth are touch defects; mud, sand, algae or many colors are appearance defects; a pronounced taste and disagreeable odor are taste and smell defects. Water that causes thirst, heaviness, pain or kapha discharge has defective potency; water that digests slowly or causes obstruction has a post-digestive defect. These six are said not to occur in atmospheric water.
Hatha is water hyacinth, though some call it a grass whose root is not fixed in soil. Aushnya here is warmth generated by vapor from the ground, not fire or sunlight. Dantagrahita means excessive coldness. An expressed taste means a sweet or other taste clearly grasped by the tongue; an undesirable smell includes raw or putrid odor. Virya is described as the cause of an otherwise inexplicable action. Vishtambha is glossed here as a gurgling sound. The absence of these defects extends by implication to terrestrial water strongly predominated by space qualities.
Key terms
vyApanna (vyapanna)
Impaired or affected by defects.
dantagrAhitA (dantagrahita)
Extreme coldness perceived as gripping the teeth.
vIryadoSha (virya-dosha)
A defect inferred from adverse effects attributed to the water.
vipAkadoSha (vipaka-dosha)
A defect attributed to slow digestion or obstruction after use.
व्यापन्नस्य चाग्निक्वथनं सूर्यातपप्रतापनं तप्तायःपिण्डसिकतालोष्ट्राणां वा निर्वापणं प्रसादनं च कर्तव्यं, नागचम्पकोत्पलपाटलापुष्पप्रभृतिभिश्चाधिवासनमिति ||१२||
Meaning of the śloka
For impaired water, the text prescribes boiling over fire, heating in sunlight, or quenching heated iron, sand or hard earthen lumps in it, followed by clarification. It also describes scenting it with flowers such as Nagakeshara, Campaka, Utpala and Patala.
Boiling is assigned to heavily defective water, sunlight to mildly defective water, and quenching heated iron or similar material to moderately defective water. Loshtra is a hard earthen lump, and nirvapana means placing the heated material into water. These treatments themselves constitute prasadhana or clarification. For removing odor, Naga means Nagakeshara, Campaka means Rajacampaka and Utpala is a fragrant water lily; 'and others' includes Ketaki and Mallika.
Key terms
prasAdana (prasadana)
Clarification or processing intended to improve impaired water.
Impaired water and water unsuitable for the season should always be avoided because they are said to generate doshas and be harmful. The text says that drinking impaired water without prior clarification may soon lead to swelling, pandu, skin disorders, indigestion, breathlessness, cough, nasal catarrh, pain, gulma, abdominal disorders and other severe diseases.
Anartava means unsuitable for the particular season; some understand it as rain that has fallen out of season. Aprasadhita means not processed by boiling or another stated method.
Key terms
anArtava (anartava)
Unsuitable for the season; alternatively, rainwater fallen out of season.
aprasAdhita (aprasadhita)
Not subjected to the historical clarification methods such as boiling.
Kataka is a fruit compared in shape to hare droppings. Gomedaka is a gem resembling Pushparaga, though some identify it as Matkola. Bisagranthi is lotus root, mukta is pearl and mani includes crystal and similar gems. The list is presented as a means of removing defects of appearance. Some sources insert Parni root after lotus-root node; Parni is said to grow on the water surface and its root is fibrous.
Key terms
prasAdana (prasadana)
An agent or method used historically to clarify turbid water.
bisagranthi (bisa-granthi)
A node or portion of lotus root.
gomedaka
A gemstone, alternatively identified here as Matkola.
Five supports for placing water vessels are listed: a plank, a three-part eight-angled stand, a ring of Munja grass, a raised water platform and a hanging sling.
A nikshepana is a support upon which water is kept so that contact with the ground and resulting additional defects are avoided. The plank is made from Shalmali or similar wood. Tryashtaka joins three eight-sided rods. Munjavalaya is a ring made of Munja or similar fiber. Udakamancika is an elevated, closely woven cane or bamboo structure, also called a cane enclosure. Shikya is the familiar hanging sling made from Munja and related fibers.
Key terms
nikShepaNa (nikshepana)
A support or stand on which a water vessel is placed.
Seven methods of cooling water are listed: placing it in moving air, adding water around or to its vessel, stirring with a rod, fanning, lifting and filtering through cloth, placing the vessel in sand, and suspending it in a sling.
For udaka-prakshepana, the filled vessel is wrapped or pressed with cloth and immersed up to its neck in other cold water. Yashtika-bhramana means rotating a mechanical rod or similar implement. Vyajana means creating airflow with a fan. Vastroddharana means filtering or lifting through cloth. Valuka-prakshepana means setting the water vessel within sand, and shikyavalambana is suspension in the familiar sling.
Key terms
shItIkaraNa (shitikarana)
A method for cooling water.
yaShTikAbhrAmaNa (yashtika-bhramana)
Stirring or rotating a rod or mechanism in the water.
निर्गन्धमव्यक्तरसं तृष्णाघ्नं शुचि शीतलम् |
अच्छं लघु च हृद्यं च तोयं गुणवदुच्यते ||२०||
Meaning of the śloka
Water is called excellent when it has no smell, no distinctly manifest taste, relieves thirst, is clean, cool, clear, light and pleasing to the heart.
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కీదృశం పునరుపాదేయం భౌమమిత్యాహ- నిర్గంధమిత్యాది| శుచి అనుపహతం| లఘు చేతి చకారః సమస్తగుణవత్త్వేఽత్యంతగుణకారి, అల్పగుణవత్త్వే త్వల్పగుణకారీతి తారతమ్యసూచకః| హృద్యం చేత్యత్ర తు క్వథితజలస్య హృదయాప్రియత్వేఽప్యుపగ్రహణార్థమ| గుణవత్ ప్రశస్తగుణోపేతం||20||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary presents these as the qualities for selecting terrestrial water. Shuchi means unspoiled. The word ‘and’ after light indicates degree: water possessing all the qualities acts most beneficially, while that possessing fewer does so to a lesser extent. The inclusion of ‘pleasing to the heart’ permits selection even though boiled water may not itself be agreeable to the heart. Gunavat means endowed with commendable qualities.
Key terms
shuci (shuchi)
Clean or unspoiled.
hRudya (hridya)
Pleasing or agreeable to the heart.
guNavat (gunavat)
Endowed with the commendable qualities listed here.
Westward-flowing rivers are described as wholesome because their water is light; eastward-flowing rivers are not praised because their water is heavy; southward-flowing rivers are said to be moderately free of faults because they have mixed characteristics. Rivers arising in the Sahya are associated with kushtha; those from the Vindhya with kushtha and pandu; those from Malaya with worms; those from Mahendra with shlipada and udara; those from the Himalaya with heart disease, swelling, head disorders, shlipada and galaganda; and rivers east and west of Avanti with arshas. Rivers arising in Pariyatra are described as wholesome and supportive of strength and health.
The commentary maps westward rivers to the arid western region and western sea, eastward rivers to marshy lands and the eastern sea, and southward rivers to the central region. It qualifies the regional claims. Malaya rivers flowing over stone and sand are wholesome, while those without stone and sand are said to produce worms. Himalayan rivers from the upper region are wholesome, while those from the lower region are linked with the listed disorders. Prachyavanti and Aparavanti may mean rivers from mountains east and west of Ujjayini; another view makes them rivers flowing eastward or westward in the Ujjayini region rather than rivers from its mountains, but Gayadasa rejects that explanation. Pariyatra rivers arising from lakes are wholesome, whereas those from mountain clefts are faulty.
Rivers that flow swiftly and have clear water are described as light. Those covered with aquatic growth, turbid, or slow-moving are described as heavy.
The commentary says this is a general distinguishing rule that supplements the preceding classifications for rivers in arid, marshy, intermediate and mountainous regions.
Rivers in the recognized desert regions are generally slightly bitter and saline. Waters described as paurusheya are light, mildly sweet and supportive of strength.
The commentary specifies that maru means the well-known desert regions, not every area denoted by the broader term jangala. Paurusheya is explained as vrishya. Another reading describes the waters as slightly astringent, sweet, light after digestion and beneficial for strength.
Key terms
maru
The specifically recognized desert regions.
pauruSheya (paurusheya)
Explained by the commentary as vrishya.
laghupAka (laghu-paka)
Light after digestion, in the alternative reading.
तत्र सर्वेषामेव भौमानां ग्रहणं प्रत्यूषसि, तत्र ह्यमलत्वं शैत्यं चाधिकं भवति, स एव चापां परो गुण इति ||२४||
Meaning of the śloka
All terrestrial waters should be collected at dawn, when their clarity and coolness are greatest. These are said to constitute water's highest quality.
The commentary identifies pratyusha as morning and understands the supreme quality of water as the combination of coolness and clarity. Another reading states only that coolness is water's highest quality; in that reading, the particle cha is taken to imply clarity as well.
Key terms
pratyUSha (pratyusha)
Dawn or early morning, the stated collection time.
Terrestrial water exposed to the sun's rays by day and the moon's rays by night becomes non-drying and non-abhishyandi and is considered comparable to rainwater.
This explains when terrestrial water may substitute for atmospheric water because solar and lunar exposure gives it comparable qualities. ‘By day’ covers the whole day, while mention of rays excludes overcast days; ‘by night’ covers the entire night. Lunar influence is said to prevent excessive dryness despite solar exposure, and solar influence to prevent abhishyanda despite lunar exposure. Abhishyandi is glossed as something that quickly produces doshas or diseases. Although the full-night moon occurs only at full moon, the commentary says that the strong transformation from that one night continues on other nights. The passage thereby criticizes water that is excessively cold, hot, unctuous or dry.
Key terms
anabhiShyandi (anabhishyandi)
Not rapidly producing the obstructive or dosha-generating effect called abhishyanda.
gaganAmbu (gagana-ambu)
Atmospheric or rain water used as the standard of comparison.
Rainwater collected in a good vessel is said to calm all three doshas, support strength, serve as rasayana and promote medha. Its qualities thereafter depend on the receiving vessel.
The commentary explains balya through nourishment, ojas and strength. Rasayana is linked to production of excellent rasa and related factors and is said to be usable by both healthy and ill persons. Medhya is glossed as pure or purifying; another reading has shita, ‘cool,’ instead. Collection in an especially excellent vessel is said to enhance the water's qualities. These dosha-calming effects are introduced here in connection with the special influence associated with the rising of Agastya.
Key terms
gaganAmbu (gagana-ambu)
Rainwater or atmospheric water.
rasAyana (rasayana)
A classical restorative designation attributed to this water.
pAtrApekShi (patra-apekshi)
Having qualities that depend on the collection vessel.
Water arising from candrakanta is remembered as protective against rakshasas, cool, pleasing, relieving fever, burning and poison, calming pitta, and clear.
The commentary identifies this as water originating from the candrakanta gem. Rakshoghna means removing fear of rakshasas, and hladi means producing comfort. Because moonbeams enter into its formation it is atmospheric in one respect, while because it emerges from a gem it is terrestrial in another; it therefore has a dual character.
Key terms
candrakAntodbhava vAri (chandrakanta-udbhava vari)
मूर्च्छापित्तोष्णदाहेषु विषे रक्ते मदात्यये |
भ्रमक्लमपरीतेषु तमके वमथौ तथा ||२८||
ऊर्ध्वगे रक्तपित्ते च शीतमम्भः प्रशस्यते |२९|
Meaning of the śloka
Cool water is praised in the source for fainting, pitta-related or heat-related burning, poison, disorders of blood, effects of alcohol, dizziness, exhaustion, tamaka, vomiting and upward-moving raktapitta.
The commentary says the phrase concerning pitta and heat includes burning in the hot autumn and summer seasons. Madatyaya is a disorder caused by alcohol. Bhrama is dizziness like the sensation of being on a rotating wheel; parita means afflicted or accompanied by. Tamaka may mean shvasa or loss of consciousness, and vamathu means a vomiting disorder.
Key terms
madAtyaya (madatyaya)
A disorder attributed to alcohol.
tamaka
Explained alternatively as shvasa or loss of consciousness.
Urdhvaga raktapitta (urdhvaga raktapitta)
The upward-moving form of the classical condition raktapitta.
Cool water should be avoided in flank pain, pratishyaya, vata disorders, constriction of the throat, abdominal distension, an ama-filled or inactive koshta, immediately after purification, new fever, hiccup and after drinking sneha.
Stimita koshta is glossed as a koshta affected by ama. For sadyah-shuddha, one view avoids cool water on the day purification was performed, while another extends the period to seven days. Although heat was earlier treated as a fault of touch, the commentary accepts warmth for practical use in particular conditions. Another explanation says the earlier criticized heat arose from terrestrial vapor, whereas the useful heat here is produced by fire or sunlight.
Key terms
stimita koShTha (stimita koshtha)
A koshta described by the commentary as affected by ama.
sadyaHshuddha (sadyah-shuddha)
Recently purified; its duration is disputed as the same day or seven days.
River water is described as vata-producing, dry, agni-kindling, light and lekhana; another kind is abhishyandi, sweet, dense, heavy and kapha-producing. Lake water relieves thirst, supports strength, is astringent, sweet and light. Pond water is vata-producing, sweet, astringent and pungent after digestion. Reservoir water calms vata and shleshma but is alkaline, pungent and pitta-producing. Alkaline well water produces pitta, calms shleshma, kindles agni and is light. Chauntya water kindles agni, is dry and sweet, and does not produce kapha. Spring water calms kapha, kindles agni, is pleasing to the heart and light. Audbhida water is sweet, calming to pitta and non-burning. Vaikira water is pungent, alkaline, shleshma-calming, light and agni-kindling. Field water is sweet but heavy after digestion and dosha-producing; marsh-pool water is similar and especially dosha-producing. Sea water is fish-smelling, salty and said to produce all doshas.
The commentary presents these as remaining general qualities of the different water sources. It distinguishes two types of well water: alkaline and one with no manifest taste. Only the alkaline type is pitta-producing; the other is not.
Key terms
nAdeya (nadeya)
River water.
sArasa (sarasa)
Water from a lake.
vApya (vapya)
Water from a constructed reservoir or tank.
kaupa
Well water, divided here into alkaline and unmanifest-taste types.
Water from marshy regions is condemned as abhishyandi and possessing many faults. Water from arid regions, being free from these faults, is described as unobjectionable, non-burning after digestion, thirst-relieving, commendable and increasing satisfaction. Water from an intermediate region is described as agni-kindling, sweet, cool and light.
The commentary explains that the ‘faults’ are the previously described undesirable features of touch, appearance, taste, smell, virya and vipaka. Avidahi means not producing burning.
कफमेदोऽनिलामघ्नं दीपनं बस्तिशोधनम् ||३९||
श्वासकासज्वरहरं पथ्यमुष्णोदकं सदा |४०|
Meaning of the śloka
Warm water is described as reducing kapha, medas, anila and ama, kindling agni, cleansing the bladder, and relieving shvasa, kasa and fever. The text calls it continually wholesome.
मद्यपानात्समुद्भूते रोगे पित्तोत्थिते तथा ||४२||
सन्निपातसमुत्थे च शृतशीतं प्रशस्यते |४३|
Meaning of the śloka
Water that has been boiled and then cooled is praised in illness arising from drinking alcohol, in conditions attributed to pitta, and in conditions arising from the combined doshas.
The commentary distinguishes the present statement from an earlier recommendation of cold water in madatyaya. Here, boiled-and-cooled water is intended for disease arising from madatyaya. It concludes that boiled-and-cooled water may be used both in madatyaya itself and in disease arising from it.
Key terms
shRutashIta jala (shritashita jala)
Water that has first been boiled and subsequently cooled.
madAtyaya (madatyaya)
A classical disorder associated with excessive alcohol consumption.
Coconut water is described as unctuous, sweet, cooling, pleasing to the heart, kindling, cleansing to the bladder, aphrodisiac, reducing pitta and thirst, and heavy.
In the context of water, the passage describes the liquid inside a slightly mature, still-moist coconut. Jejjhata instead reads 'light' and understands lightness as rapid transformation or digestion.
Key terms
nAlikerodaka (nalikerodaka)
The liquid inside a slightly mature, still-moist coconut.
bastishodhana
A classical action described as cleansing the bladder.
laghu
Light, in Jejjhata's variant, explained as rapidly transformed.
दाहातीसारपित्तासृङ्मूर्च्छामद्यविषार्तिषु ||४४||
शृतशीतं जलं शस्तं तृष्णाच्छर्दिभ्रमेषु च |४५|
Meaning of the śloka
Boiled-and-cooled water is recommended in burning sensation, diarrhea, conditions involving pitta and blood, fainting, distress from alcohol or poison, thirst, vomiting and dizziness.
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అధునా శృతశీతస్య శేషవిషయమాహ- దాహేత్యాది||44||-
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary states only that this verse gives the remaining situations in which boiled-and-cooled water is used.
Key terms
shRutashIta jala (shritashita jala)
Water that has been boiled and then cooled.
pittAsRk (pittasrk)
A condition involving pitta and blood in the classical classification.
अरोचके प्रतिश्याये प्रसेके श्वयथौ क्षये ||४५||
मन्देऽग्नावुदरे कुष्ठे ज्वरे नेत्रामये तथा |
व्रणे च मधुमेहे च पानीयं मन्दमाचरेत् ||४६||
इति जलवर्गः |
Meaning of the śloka
In loss of appetite, pratishyaya, excessive salivation, swelling, wasting, weak agni, abdominal disease, kushtha, fever, eye disease, wounds and madhumeha, water should be taken only sparingly. Thus ends the group concerning water.
The verse identifies conditions in which water is to be drunk in a restricted amount. Manda means that it should be allowed only to the extent that complete prohibition is impossible. The commentator notes that compilers of the Nibandha read this water section in reverse order, whereas he explains it in the sequence taught by his teachers.
Key terms
manda
Sparingly or minimally, explained as only as much as cannot be prohibited.
agnimAndya (agnimandya)
Weakness of digestive agni in the classical account.
madhumeha
A classical disease term retained without imposing a modern diagnosis.
अथ क्षीरवर्गः |
गव्यमाजं तथा चौष्ट्रमाविकं माहिषं च यत् |
अश्वायाश्चैव नार्याश्च करेणूनां च यत्पयः ||४७||
Meaning of the śloka
Now begins the milk group. The listed milks are those of the cow, goat, camel, sheep, buffalo, mare, woman and female elephant.
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ఇదానీం క్షీరస్యాష్టవిధాం యోనిమాహ- గవ్యమిత్యాది| కరేణుర్హస్తినీ| అశ్వాయాశ్చ నార్యాశ్చ కరేణూనాం చేతి చకారత్రయమనుక్తసమానజాతీయక్షీరాణాం సముచ్చయార్థం, తేనాశ్వతరీఖరీమృగీఖంగినీక్షీరాణామపి గ్రహణం| తత్ పునర్భూయసా నోపయుజ్యత ఇతి న కృతం సాక్షాత్తద్గ్రహణం||47||
Meaning of the commentary
The text gives eight principal sources of milk, and karenu means a female elephant. The repeated conjunctions after mare, woman and elephant also include milk from similar unlisted animals, such as mule, donkey, deer and rhinoceros. These are not named directly because they are rarely used.
Milk is described as the refined essence of many substances consumed by the animal. It sustains life and is heavy, sweet, slimy, cooling, unctuous, smooth, flowing and soft. Because of these qualities, milk is said to be congenial to living beings.
The passage gives ten qualities shared by the milks. Here oshadhi includes substances generally, not only plants that perish after fruiting. Rasa means a refined essence free from waste, compared with ojas and shukra, and also suggests whiteness. Milk is called life-sustaining because it supports principles such as agni and soma or promotes bodily development. Slimy is the opposite of clear, and smooth the opposite of rough. Jejjhata reads instead that the refined essence of many substances has become milk and is therefore congenial to all living, placental beings. Satmya is explained as that which produces well-being.
Key terms
auShadhirasaprasAda (aushadhirasaprasada)
The refined essence of the many substances consumed by the animal.
Because of species-congeniality, the text says that all eight kinds of milk are generally permissible for living beings and compatible with disorders attributed to vata, pitta, blood and the mind. It attributes to milk relief of a long list of conditions, including chronic fever, cough, breathing difficulty, dryness or wasting, kshaya, gulma, mental disturbance, abdominal disease, fainting, dizziness, intoxication, burning, thirst, disorders of the heart and bladder, pandu, grahani disorder, piles, pain, udavarta, diarrhea, pravahika, disorders of the female reproductive system, miscarriage, raktapitta, fatigue and exhaustion. It further calls milk strengthening, nourishing, aphrodisiac, vajikarana, rasayana, supportive of intellect and lifespan, life-sustaining, bulk-promoting, uniting fractures, usable with emetic, purgative and asthapana therapies, and augmenting ojas. It is described as especially suitable for children, older people, the injured, the depleted, and those emaciated by hunger, sexual activity or exercise.
The passage presents actions shared by the eight milks because of their similar qualities. Pranin here means placental beings, and species-congeniality means producing comfort for humans and related species. Mental disorders are those associated with rajas and tamas. Some connect jirna only with fever, while others connect chronicity with the whole list through exhaustion; the relieving verb applies individually to all conditions through klama. The commentary then narrows many indications: cough excludes kapha-type cough; shosha means dryness of mouth, throat and palate; kshaya means rajayakshma; gulma and abdominal disease are of vata-pitta type; fainting, dizziness, intoxication and thirst exclude kapha and ama; and several other conditions are limited by dosha, stage or predominance. It expressly says milk should not be given in kapha-predominant raktapitta or weak agni. Balya is interpreted as promoting flesh, though others read it as increasing ojas and omit the later separate phrase about ojas. Vrshya generates shukra, while vajikarana promotes its activity. Rasayana is linked to continuous use; medhya may mean intellect-promoting or purifying; and papmapaha, especially for cow milk, means reducing sin. Sandhana refers to fracture union. Milk functions in emesis or asthapana when combined with the respective drugs. Its purgative action is attributed either to its flowing quality in a soft koshta or, according to others, to combination with purgative drugs. Asthapana is equated with niruha. Milk is said to augment ojas because their qualities correspond. Jejjhata instead reads a statement beginning specifically with cow milk as cold, unctuous, sweet and non-burning; on that reading these qualities belong only to cow milk, while the remainder is shared.
Key terms
jAtisAtmya (jatisatmya)
Congeniality attributed to compatibility with a species.
rasAyana (rasayana)
A rejuvenative designation linked here to continuous use.
vAjIkaraNa (vajikarana)
Promotion of reproductive activity, distinguished from generation of shukra.
ojas
A classical vital principle said to share qualities with milk.
AsthApana (asthapana)
A decoction-enema procedure, equated here with niruha.
अल्पाभिष्यन्दि गोक्षीरं स्निग्धं गुरु रसायनम् |
रक्तपित्तहरं शीतं मधुरं रसपाकयोः ||५०||
जीवनीयं तथा वातपित्तघ्नं परमं स्मृतम् |५१|
Meaning of the śloka
Cow milk is described as mildly abhishyandi, unctuous, heavy, rasayana, cooling, sweet both in taste and after digestion, reducing raktapitta, life-supporting, and especially calming vata and pitta.
After the general qualities of milk, the passage gives qualities and actions specific to cow milk. Mildly abhishyandi is explained as producing only a small increase of moistness in the channels of doshas, dhatus and malas.
Key terms
alpAbhiShyandi (alpabhishyandi)
Producing a mild increase of moistness in bodily channels, according to the commentary.
rasapAka (rasapaka)
Taste and post-digestive transformation, both described here as sweet.
Goat milk is described as having qualities like cow milk and as especially suitable for those with shosha. It is said to kindle digestion, be light and absorbent, and reduce breathing difficulty, cough and raktapitta. The verse relates these effects to goats' small bodies, consumption of pungent and bitter plants, limited water intake and continual movement, and consequently calls their milk a remover of all disorders.
The word guna is used here in the sense of resulting effects. The commentary rejects the idea that small body size and the other listed features alone explain whether a milk is suitable, because those features can also occur in other animals. It instead recognizes two relevant causes: the particular species and its characteristic movement and related habits. 'Remover of all disorders' is interpreted as reducing all doshas.
Key terms
aja kShIra (aja kshira)
Goat milk.
shoSha (shosha)
A classical condition of drying or wasting.
sa~ggrAhi (sangrahi)
Absorbent or retaining in the classical description.
Adhikarana ౪౦ (౫౩) · Śloka ౫౪
రూక్షోష్ణం లవణం కించిదౌష్ట్రం స్వాదురసం లఘు ||53||
శోఫగుల్మోదరార్శోఘ్నం కృమికుష్ఠవిషాపహం |54|
Camel milk is described as dry, hot, slightly salty, sweet in taste and light. It is said to reduce swelling, gulma, abdominal disease, piles, worms, kushtha and poison-related conditions.
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ఇదానీమౌష్ట్రక్షీరగుణమాహ- రూక్షేత్యాది||53||-
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary only introduces the qualities of camel milk and adds no further interpretation in the supplied text.
Key terms
auShTra kShIra (aushtra kshira)
Camel milk.
gulma
A classical disease category retained without modern equivalence.
Sheep milk is described as sweet, unctuous, heavy, and increasing pitta and kapha. It is said to be suitable in conditions of uncombined vata and in cough arising from anila.
Kaphavaha means producing kapha. 'Only vata' means vata that is unobstructed and not combined with another factor. Another reading describes sheep milk as sweet, unctuous, hot, increasing pitta and kapha, and heavy; it calls it suitable when vata is pure and prescribes pouring it over the body in anilashonita. In that reading, pure vata means unobstructed vata, anilashonita means vata obstructed by blood, and seka means external pouring.
Key terms
Avika kShIra (avika kshira)
Sheep milk.
kevalavAta (kevalavata)
Vata interpreted as unobstructed and uncombined.
seka
An external pouring procedure in the alternate reading.
Buffalo milk is described as highly abhishyandi, sweet, destructive of digestive fire, sleep-producing, heavier, colder and more unctuous than cow milk.
Highly abhishyandi is explained as producing a pronounced increase of moistness in the channels of doshas, dhatus and malas. 'More unctuous' means more unctuous than cow milk.
Key terms
mAhiSha kShIra (mahisha kshira)
Buffalo milk.
mahAbhiShyandi (mahabhishyandi)
Producing a marked increase of moistness in bodily channels.
vahninAshana (vahninashana)
Described as suppressing digestive fire.
Adhikarana ౪౩ (౫౬) · Śloka ౫౭
ఉష్ణమైకశఫం బల్యం శాఖావాతహరం పయః ||56||
మధురామ్లరసం రూక్షం లవణానురసం లఘు |57|
Milk from one-hoofed animals is described as hot, strengthening, reducing vata in the shakha, sweet-sour in taste, dry, light, and having a secondary salty taste.
One-hoofed animals include the horse and similar animals; shapha means hoof. Some interpret shakha as the arms and legs, so the milk reduces vata there. Others interpret shakha as tissues such as blood. Another tradition says that, through an effect like that of kanjika and through the influence of its source, it reduces vata in the peripheral shakha but produces it in the koshta.
Key terms
ekashapha
One-hoofed animals such as the horse.
shAkhA (shakha)
Interpreted alternatively as limbs or as peripheral tissues such as blood.
lavaNAnurasa (lavananurasa)
A secondary or accompanying salty taste.
Adhikarana ౪౪ (౫౭) · Śloka ౫౮
నార్యాస్తు మధురం స్తన్యం కషాయానురసం హిమం ||57||
నస్యాశ్చ్యోతనయోః పథ్యం జీవనం లఘు దీపనం |58|
Human breast milk is described as sweet, cooling, light, life-supporting and kindling, with a secondary astringent taste. It is said to be suitable for nasya and for instillation into the eyes.
Female-elephant milk is described as sweet, aphrodisiac, heavy, unctuous and cooling, with a secondary astringent taste. It is said to promote bodily stability, benefit the eyes and increase strength.
प्रायः प्राभातिकं क्षीरं गुरु विष्टम्भि शीतलम् ||५९||
रात्र्याः सोमगुणत्वाच्च व्यायामाभावतस्तथा |६०|
Meaning of the śloka
Milk obtained in the morning is generally described as heavy, obstructive and cooling because night has the qualities of Soma and the animal has not exercised.
Aparahna means the latter part of the day. The commentary reports that these two verses, concerning morning and afternoon milk, are accepted in the opinion of senior authorities.
Shruta means cooked or brought to a boil. 'Not abhishyandin' is qualified to mean that it remains slightly abhishyandin rather than lacking that quality entirely.
Key terms
shRuta (shruta)
Cooked or heated to boiling.
anabhiShyandin (anabhishyandin)
Not strongly abhishyandin; the commentary retains a slight degree.
The prohibition against cooking applies specifically to a woman's breast milk. Other milks are said to be beneficial when heated, whereas human breast milk is said to be beneficial without boiling.
Key terms
stanya
Human breast milk.
Ama (ama)
Raw or unheated in this context.
Adhikarana ౫౧ (౬౩) · Śloka ౬౩
ధారోష్ణం గుణవత్ క్షీరం విపరీతమతోఽన్యథా |63|
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धारोष्णं गुणवत् क्षीरं विपरीतमतोऽन्यथा |६३|
Meaning of the śloka
Milk that is still warm from the stream at the time of milking is described as possessing good qualities; milk otherwise is said to have the opposite character.
Dharoshna denotes any milk warm from the stream as it is drawn. Gunavat means endowed with qualities, while milk that is not dharoshna is described as lacking them.
Key terms
dhAroShNa (dharoshna)
Still warm from the stream immediately at milking.
guNavat (gunavat)
Endowed with the qualities valued by the source.
Adhikarana ౫౨ (౬౩) · Śloka ౬౩
తదేవాతిశృతం శీతం గురు బృంహణముచ్యతే ||63||
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तदेवातिशृतं शीतं गुरु बृंहणमुच्यते ||६३||
Meaning of the śloka
That milk, when excessively heated and then cooled, is described as heavy and brimhana.
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అతిపక్వమాహ- తదిత్యాది| బృంహణం దేహవృద్ధికరం||63||
Meaning of the commentary
This concerns overcooked milk. Brimhana is explained as promoting increase of the body.
Key terms
atishRuta (atishruta)
Excessively heated or overcooked.
bRuMhaNa (brimhana)
Traditionally described as promoting bodily increase.
अनिष्टगन्धमम्लं च विवर्णं विरसं च यत् |
वर्ज्यं सलवणं क्षीरं यच्च विग्रथितं भवेत् ||६४||
इति क्षीरवर्गः |
Meaning of the śloka
Milk should be avoided if it has an undesirable smell, is sour, has changed color or taste, is salty, or has become clotted or curdled. This concludes the group on milk.
Changed color means a departure from its normal white appearance; changed taste means a taste other than its expected sweetness. Vigrathita means that its parts have clotted through contact with sour or similar substances, a state commonly regarded as spoiled.
Key terms
vivarNa (vivarna)
Changed from the normal color.
virasa
Having an altered or inappropriate taste.
vigrathita
Clotted or separated, commonly treated as spoiled.
Curd is divided into sweet, sour and very sour forms. In general it has an astringent aftertaste and is unctuous and hot in potency. It is traditionally described as countering pinasa, irregular fever, diarrhea, loss of appetite, difficult urination and emaciation, and as promoting reproductive potency, vitality and auspiciousness.
The opening establishes three kinds of curd, followed by general qualities. Hot means hot in virya; vrishya means promoting shukra; and mangalya means a cause of auspiciousness. An alternative passage describes curd as sweet and sour, heavy and abhishyandin, loosening urine and stool, increasing shleshma, pitta and swelling, reducing emaciation, improving appetite and being auspicious. It further distinguishes curd with its cream removed as grahin and less abhishyandin, curd retaining cream as increasing kapha, medas and shukra, and incompletely formed curd as affecting all three doshas.
Key terms
dadhi
Curd, divided here by degree of sweetness and sourness.
kaShAyAnurasa (kashaya-anurasa)
An astringent secondary taste.
uddhRutasAra (uddhrita-sara)
Curd from which the cream or rich portion has been removed.
Sweet curd is described as strongly abhishyandin and as increasing kapha and medas. Sour curd is said to increase kapha and pitta, while very sour curd is said to impair rakta.
The verse gives the distinct attributed qualities of the three kinds of curd. Mahabhishyandin is to be understood in the same technical sense used earlier for strongly secretion-promoting or obstructive food.
Key terms
mahAbhiShyandin (mahabhishyandin)
Strongly possessing the quality called abhishyanda.
atyamla
Very sour curd.
raktadUShaNa (rakta-dushana)
Traditionally described as impairing or vitiating rakta.
Adhikarana ౫౬ (౬౭) · Śloka ౬౭
విదాహి సృష్టవిణ్మూత్రం మందజాతం త్రిదోషకృత్ |67|
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विदाहि सृष्टविण्मूत्रं मन्दजातं त्रिदोषकृत् |६७|
Meaning of the śloka
Incompletely formed curd is described as causing vidaha, loosening stool and urine, and aggravating all three doshas.
The explicit mention of three indicates simultaneous aggravation of vata, pitta and shleshma with equal force, rather than in sequence or in unequal degrees.
Key terms
mandajAta (manda-jata)
Curd that is only partly set or incompletely formed.
vidAhin (vidahin)
Traditionally described as causing a burning or irritating digestive effect.
tridoShakRut (tridosha-krit)
Said to aggravate all three doshas simultaneously and equally.
Goat's-milk curd is described as light, reducing kapha and pitta, countering depletion of vata, suitable in durnama, breathlessness and cough, and kindling agni.
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అజాదధ్యాహ- దధ్యాజమిత్యాది||68||-
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary identifies this verse as the account of curd made from goat's milk without adding further interpretation.
Key terms
Aja dadhi (aja dadhi)
Curd prepared from goat's milk.
agnidIpana (agni-dipana)
Traditionally described as kindling digestive agni.
durnAma (durnama)
A historical disease term retained because its exact referent is context-dependent.
विपाके कटु सक्षारं गुरु भेद्यौष्ट्रिकं दधि ||७०||
वातमर्शांसि कुष्ठानि कृमीन् हन्त्युदराणि च |७१|
Meaning of the śloka
Camel-milk curd is described as pungent after digestion, slightly alkaline, heavy and bhedin. It is traditionally said to counter vata, piles, skin disorders, worms and abdominal diseases.
Human milk curd is described as unctuous, sweet after digestion, strengthening, nourishing and heavy. It is said to be foremost for the eyes, to calm doshas and to possess especially excellent qualities.
The commentary identifies this as human milk curd. It explains chakshushya agrya as foremost among substances considered beneficial for the eyes and gunottara as excelling in qualities.
Elephant-cow's curd is described as light after digestion, reducing balasa, hot in virya, impairing digestion, having an astringent secondary taste and increasing feces.
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హస్తినీదధ్యాహ- లఘ్విత్యాది||74||-
Meaning of the commentary
The supplied commentary only introduces this as the account of curd from a female elephant and adds no further explanation.
The various curds beginning with cow's curd have been described separately. Their properties should be understood in this manner for all types, with cow's curd alone regarded as superior in qualities.
The commentary states that cow's curd is best among all curds. Evam means ‘in this manner,’ and eva gives the restrictive emphasis that cow's curd is the superior one.
Key terms
gavyadadhi (gavya dadhi)
Cow's curd, declared superior among the listed curds.
Curd that has been thoroughly strained is said to calm vata, produce kapha, be unctuous and nourishing, not greatly increase pitta, and create desire for food.
Curd formed from previously boiled milk is regarded as possessing good qualities. It is said to calm vata and pitta, be appetizing, and increase the strength of dhatus and agni.
The upper creamy portion of curd is described as heavy, vrishya and calming to anila. It is also said to extinguish agni and increase kapha and shukra.
The commentary introduces the distinct qualities of a particular curd component. Sara is the fat-rich upper layer of curd, commonly called tara. ‘Extinguishing the fire’ means reducing agni. Both vrishya and ‘increasing shukra’ are stated to convey a very strong increase: one term denotes generation and the other activation or expression.
Key terms
dadhisara (dadhi-sara)
The fat-rich upper layer of curd, popularly called tara.
vahnervidhamana (vahner vidhamana)
Extinguishing or reducing agni.
vRuShya (vrishya)
Promoting generation or expression of shukra in this context.
Curd from which the fatty essence has been removed is described as lacking sara, dry, grahi, causing vishtambha and vata, kindling agni, comparatively lighter, slightly astringent and promoting taste or appetite.
The commentary explains asara as lacking the essential or fatty portion. Vishtambha is non-passage of stool accompanied by vata, pricking and colicky pain. Others instead explain vishtambha as a rumbling sound in the rectal region.
Key terms
asAra dadhi (asara dadhi)
Curd from which the fatty or essential portion has been removed.
grAhi (grahi)
Having a retaining or binding action.
viShTambha (vishtambha)
Explained either as obstructed stool with pain or as a rumbling sound in the rectal region.
तृष्णाक्लमहरं मस्तु लघु स्रोतोविशोधनम् ||८१||
अम्लं कषायं मधुरमवृष्यं कफवातनुत् |
प्रह्लादनं प्रीणनं च भिनत्त्याशु मलं च तत् |
बलमावहते क्षिप्रं भक्तच्छन्दं करोति च ||८२||
स्वाद्वम्लमत्यम्लकमन्दजातं तथा शृतक्षीरभवं सरश्च |
असारमेवं दधि सप्तधाऽस्मिन् वर्गे स्मृता मस्तुगुणास्तथैव ||८३||
इति दधिवर्गः |
Meaning of the śloka
Mastu relieves thirst and fatigue, is light and clears srotas. It is sour, astringent and sweet, non-vrishya, and reduces kapha and vata. It gives pleasure and nourishment, quickly breaks up and moves waste, rapidly brings strength and creates appetite. As curd is classified into seven kinds—sweet, sour, very sour, incompletely formed, made from boiled milk, with its upper cream, and without that cream—the corresponding qualities of mastu are likewise remembered as sevenfold.
The commentary defines mastu as the watery lower portion of curd mixed with water. It is sevenfold because curd has seven varieties. Others instead recognize two kinds of mastu, derived respectively from curd and takra. Mala here means urine and feces, and bhakta-chanda means desire for food.
Key terms
mastu
The watery lower portion associated with curd, described here as mixed with water.
srotovishodhana (sroto-vishodhana)
Clearing the bodily channels in the source's account.
The section on takra begins. Takra is described as sweet and sour with an astringent secondary taste, hot in virya, light and dry. It kindles agni and is said to calm gara, swelling, diarrhea, grahani, pandu, arshas, spleen disorders, gulma, loss of appetite, intermittent fever, thirst, vomiting, excessive secretion, pain, splitting discomfort, shleshma and anila. It is sweet after digestion, pleasing to the heart, said to calm urinary difficulty and disorders from improper use of sneha, and is non-vrishya.
The commentary explains gara as artificially made poison. Vishama-jvara includes intermittent fevers other than one that is continuously present. Praseka is salivary discharge. Sneha-vyapat is a disorder arising from excessive or deficient use of sneha, and avrishya means not promoting shukra. Another treatise divides takra into three kinds: dry with its fat removed, with half its fat removed, and with ghee not removed; it says selection depends on dosha, agni and strength. The commentary notes that another textual tradition describes each type's qualities separately.
Key terms
takra
A churned curd preparation characterized in the passage.
gara
Artificially prepared poison in the commentary.
snehavyApat (sneha-vyapat)
A disorder attributed to excessive or deficient use of sneha.
Takra is the preparation in which fat has separated through churning, half as much water is added, and the result is neither very thick nor very liquid; its taste is sweet-sour with astringency. Curd churned without water while retaining its fat is called ghola.
The commentary says this defines the kind of takra to which the preceding qualities apply. Ghola retains the qualities of curd. A preparation retaining fat but made with water is called udashvit; its qualities are to be learned from another doctrinal tradition.
Key terms
takra
Here, churned curd with separated fat and half its quantity of water.
ghola
Curd churned without added water while its fat remains.
udashvit
A fat-containing churned preparation made with water, mentioned by the commentary.
Adhikarana ౭౪ (౮౬) · Śloka ౮౬
నైవ తక్రం క్షతే దద్యాన్నోష్ణకాలే న దుర్బలే |
న మూర్చ్ఛాభ్రమదాహేషు న రోగే రక్తపైత్తికే ||86||
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नैव तक्रं क्षते दद्यान्नोष्णकाले न दुर्बले |
न मूर्च्छाभ्रमदाहेषु न रोगे रक्तपैत्तिके ||८६||
Meaning of the śloka
Takra should not be given to a person with a wound, during the hot seasons, to someone weak, in fainting, dizziness or burning, or in a disorder of rakta and pitta.
The commentary explains its use in pathway obstruction through takra's stated channel-clearing action. Disturbed vayu means altered vata, understood here as generally situated in the koshta.
Key terms
agnimAndya (agni-mandya)
Diminished agni.
mArgAvarodha (marga-avarodha)
Obstruction of bodily pathways or channels.
duShTa vAyu (dushta vayu)
Disturbed or altered vata, generally understood here as located in the koshta.
For vata, sour buttermilk mixed with saindhava is prescribed; for pitta, sweet buttermilk with sugar; and for kapha, buttermilk combined with vyosha and alkali.
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సంయోగవిశేషేణ త్రిదోషహరత్వమాహ- వాతే ఇత్యాది||89||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says that the specific combinations described here are intended to make buttermilk address each of the three doshas.
Key terms
saindhava
The named salt added to sour buttermilk in the vata combination.
vyoSha (vyosha)
The pungent compound added with alkali in the kapha combination.
kShAra (kshara)
Alkali included in the kapha-directed combination.
Adhikarana ౭౮ (౯౦) · Śloka ౯౦
గ్రాహిణీ వాతలా రూక్షా దుర్జరా తక్రకూర్చికా |90|
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ग्राहिणी वातला रूक्षा दुर्जरा तक्रकूर्चिका |९०|
Meaning of the śloka
Takrakurcika is described as absorbent, vata-producing, dry and difficult to digest.
The passage gives the qualities of the dense portion formed when buttermilk has become coagulated through other causes. Spoiled or altered buttermilk with a solidified component is called takrakurcika.
Key terms
takrakUrcikA (takrakurcika)
The coagulated dense portion of altered buttermilk.
grAhiNI (grahini)
Absorbent or retaining in this context.
durjarA (durjara)
Difficult to digest.
Adhikarana ౭౯ (౯౦) · Śloka ౯౦
తక్రాల్లఘుతరో మండః కూర్చికాదధితక్రజః ||90||
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तक्राल्लघुतरो मण्डः कूर्चिकादधितक्रजः ||९०||
Meaning of the śloka
The manda produced from coagulated curd or buttermilk is lighter than buttermilk.
Manda here means mastu. The liquid produced from curd and buttermilk that have become kurcika is lighter than buttermilk, while ordinary mastu from normal curd is equal to buttermilk in lightness. Others read 'produced from curd, kurcika and buttermilk,' thereby collecting three kinds of mastu: from ordinary curd, coagulated curd and coagulated buttermilk. Another reading says that curd-manda equals buttermilk and removes obstruction and loss of appetite. Ordinary mastu is defined as the clear portion of properly formed curd produced through summer heat or similar conditions.
Key terms
maNDa (manda)
The liquid portion identified here as mastu.
mastu
The clear liquid portion separated from curd or related coagulated products.
kUrcikA (kurcika)
A coagulated or dense state of curd or buttermilk.
In connection with buttermilk-kurcika, the commentary introduces milk-kurcika. Kilata is the dense part of coagulated milk, locally called kshiramsu and called kilati by cooks. Pumstva is explained as shukra.
Key terms
kilATa (kilata)
The dense portion of coagulated milk.
puMstva (pumstva)
Reproductive potency, glossed here as shukra.
Adhikarana ౮౧ (౯౧) · Śloka ౯౧
మధురౌ బృంహణౌ వృష్యౌ తద్వత్పీయూషమోరటౌ ||91||
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मधुरौ बृंहणौ वृष्यौ तद्वत्पीयूषमोरटौ ||९१||
Meaning of the śloka
Piyusha and morata are, like kilata, described as sweet, nourishing and aphrodisiac.
Piyusha is defined as the milk of a cow during the first seven days after calving. After seven days, until that milk becomes clear, it is called morata. Jejjhata instead defines morata as the mastu arising from spoiled or altered milk.
Key terms
pIyUSha (piyusha)
Milk from a newly calved cow during the first seven days, according to the commentary.
moraTa (morata)
Milk after the first week and before clearing, or alternatively mastu from altered milk.
Fresh butter is described as light, softening, sweet, astringent, slightly sour, cooling, supportive of intellect, kindling, pleasing to the heart, absorbent, calming pitta and anila, aphrodisiac and non-burning. It is said to reduce kshaya, cough, wounds, dryness, piles and ardita. Butter kept for a long time is described as heavy, increasing kapha and medas, strengthening, nourishing and reducing dryness, and is especially praised for children.
Sadyaska means freshly produced. Sukumara means making the body soft or delicate. Its absorbent action is attributed to prabhava and to the presence of a buttermilk component, which also explains its sourness. The later qualities concern aged butter. Strengthening is explained as increasing ojas, while nourishing means promoting bodily growth; 'especially' indicates a greater degree.
Key terms
navanIta (navanita)
Butter, differentiated here as fresh or kept for a long time.
क्षीरोत्थं पुनर्नवनीतमुत्कृष्टस्नेहमाधुर्यमतिशीतं सौकुमार्यकरं चक्षुष्यं सङ्ग्राहि रक्तपित्तनेत्ररोगहरं प्रसादनं च ||९३||
Meaning of the śloka
Butter produced by churning milk is described as exceptionally unctuous and sweet, very cooling, softening, beneficial to the eyes and absorbent. It is said to calm raktapitta and eye disorders and to clarify them.
The superiority of its unctuousness, sweetness and cooling quality is relative to butter made from curd. Prasadana applies to raktapitta and eye disease. Some read instead that it improves complexion or color.
Key terms
kShIrottha navanIta (kshirottha navanita)
Butter produced by churning milk rather than curd.
prasAdana (prasadana)
Clarifying or soothing the named conditions in the main reading.
varNaprasAdanIya (varnaprasadaniya)
Improving complexion or color in the alternate reading.
Santanika is described as calming vata, satisfying, aphrodisiac, strengthening, unctuous, appetizing, sweet with a sweet vipaka, clarifying raktapitta, and heavy.
In connection with butter made from milk, the commentary describes santanika as the congealed upper layer of milk, meaning its cream or essence. Tarpani means producing satisfaction or satiety.
Key terms
santAnikA (santanika)
The congealed upper layer or cream of milk.
tarpaNI (tarpani)
Satisfying or producing satiety.
madhuravipAka (madhuravipaka)
Having a sweet post-digestive effect in the classical account.
The forms beginning with curd that have just been described are the best forms derived from cow milk. The corresponding unlisted forms from other milks should be understood according to the qualities of their source milk. Thus ends the buttermilk group.
Although eight sources of milk were previously named, the products just discussed—buttermilk, mastu, buttermilk-kurcika, kilata, piyusha, morata, butter, santanika and related forms—refer specifically to cow milk because it is considered foremost. This does not deny corresponding products from goat, sheep and other milks. Their properties should be inferred in conformity with the qualities of the particular source milk.
Key terms
vikalpa
A distinct form or derivative product.
kShIravIrya (kshiravirya)
The qualities or potency of the source milk used to infer properties of its derivatives.
Ghee is described as sweet, saumya, soft, cooling in potency, only mildly abhishyandi and uncting. It is said to calm udavarta, mental disturbance, apasmara, pain, chronic fever, abdominal distension, vata and pitta, and to kindle agni. The text attributes to it support of memory, judgment, learning, radiance, voice, beauty, bodily softness, ojas, vigor and strength; it also calls it conducive to life, aphrodisiac, medhya, age-preserving, heavy, beneficial to the eyes, increasing shleshma, countering sin and misfortune, counteracting poison and warding off harmful beings.
Some take these as qualities of ghee generally, while others restrict them to cow ghee because of its excellence. Saumya and cooling potency can coexist even where a source milk is hot, as with sheep milk. The negative in anabhishyandi has a diminutive sense, so ghee is mildly abhishyandi, producing slight moistening in the channels of doshas, dhatus and malas. Snehana means producing unctuousness. Its calming effect on udavarta and related conditions applies only when they are free from ama, and the fever intended is chronic. The suffix 'producing' applies individually from memory through strength. The commentary defines memory as recall of the past, mati as knowledge of what is yet to come, medha as capacity to retain texts, kanti as radiance, lavanya as exceptional beauty, saukumarya as softness of the limbs, ojas as a vital essence located in the heart, and strength as bodily development. Tejas is interpreted as courage, while others say brilliance, though the Mahapanjika rejects the latter. Medhya may mean purifying. Age-preserving means maintaining the allotted lifespan without illness. The effects on sin, misfortune and harmful beings are attributed to prabhava. A less-established reading has 'drawing away the three doshas'; even there, it is said to affect kapha only when linked with vata and pitta, not isolated kapha.
Key terms
ghRuta (ghrita)
Ghee, discussed either generally or specifically as cow ghee according to different commentators.
anabhiShyandi (anabhishyandi)
Interpreted here as only mildly producing moisture in bodily channels.
medhA (medha)
Capacity to retain learned texts.
ojas
A classical vital essence said here to be located in the heart.
prabhAva (prabhava)
Specific effect invoked to explain religious or protective claims.
Cow ghee is described as sweet after digestion, cooling, reducing vata, pitta and poison effects, foremost among substances considered beneficial to the eyes, strengthening, and excellent in its qualities.
After describing ghee generally, the passage gives the special qualities of cow ghee. 'Foremost for the eyes' means considered the best among eye-benefiting substances, and gunottara means excellent in qualities.
Goat ghee is described as kindling, beneficial to the eyes, strengthening, and suitable in cough, breathing difficulty and kshaya. It is light after digestion.
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ఆజం ఘృతమాహ- ఆజమిత్యాది||98||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary only introduces this statement as the description of goat ghee.
Camel ghee is described as pungent after digestion, kindling, calming kapha and vata, and reducing swelling, worms, poison-related conditions, kushtha, gulma and abdominal disease.
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ఔష్ట్రఘృతమాహ- ఔష్ట్రమిత్యాది||100||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary only identifies the verse as a description of camel ghee.
पाके लघ्वाविकं सर्पिर्न च पित्तप्रकोपणम् |
कफेऽनिले योनिदोषे शोषे कम्पे च तद्धितम् ||१०१||
Meaning of the śloka
Sheep-milk ghee is described as light after digestion and as not aggravating pitta. It is traditionally said to be beneficial in kapha and vata conditions, disorders of the female reproductive tract, wasting and tremor.
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ఆవికఘృతమాహ- పాకే ఇత్యాది||101||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary identifies this verse as the account of ghee prepared from sheep's milk.
Ghee made from a woman's milk is described as foremost for the eyes and comparable to amrita. It is said to increase the body and agni, digest lightly and counter poison.
Elephant-milk ghee is described as astringent, bitter, light, agni-kindling and binding stool and urine. It is traditionally said to counter kapha, skin disorders, poison and worms.
Kshira-ghrita is ghee made from fresh butter obtained by churning milk. Its grahin action is attributed to prabhava. Bhrama is a spinning sensation like being mounted on a wheel, and murccha is loss of consciousness.
Key terms
kShIraghRuta (kshira-ghrita)
Ghee made from butter obtained by churning milk directly.
sa~ggrAhin (sangrahin)
Traditionally described as restraining or consolidating, here attributed to prabhava.
Sarpis-manda is sweet and sara and is said to relieve pain of the reproductive tract, ears, eyes and head. It is prescribed historically for basti, eye-filling and related filling procedures.
Old ghee is described as sara, pungent after digestion, reducing all three doshas, kindling agni and countering a long list of historical conditions including fainting, intoxication, unmada, abdominal disease, fever, gara, wasting, apasmara and pains of the reproductive tract, ears, eyes and head; it is also prescribed for basti and eye filling. Further verses attribute effects in timira, breathlessness, pinasa, cough, skin disorders, poison, graha and related states. Ghee kept for 111 years is called kumbha-sarpis and is said to counter rakshas; older ghee is called maha-ghrita, praised for beings dominated by kapha and vata, strength, purity, intellect and especially timira, and described as removing all bhutas. This concludes the ghee group.
Purana ghee means ghee kept for ten years. Three kinds of mada are attributed to poison, blood and alcohol; gara means a compounded poison. Purana in the procedures means eye filling. 'Eleven hundred' is interpreted as one hundred and eleven years. Bhuta can mean living beings in one clause and non-human afflictive beings in the ritual-medical claims. The author elsewhere calls one-hundred-year-old ghee kaumbha. Verses 109-111 are absent from the standard commentarial compilations but included here because many physicians recite them.
Key terms
purANa ghRuta (purana ghrita)
Ghee aged ten years according to the commentary.
kumbhasarpis (kumbha-sarpis)
Ghee said here to have been aged 111 years, though another source gives 100 years.
Sesame oil is described as fiery, hot, sharp, sweet with sweet vipaka, nourishing, satisfying, rapidly diffusing, subtle, clear, heavy, flowing, dispersive, vrishya and beneficial to skin, intellect, softness, muscle stability, complexion, strength and vision. It is also said to bind urine, scrape, digest, reduce combined vata and balasa, counter worms, produce slight pitta, calm reproductive-tract, head and ear pain and cleanse the uterus. The text praises it for pouring, massage, immersion and related use in many wounds, fractures, dislocations, burns and animal bites, and for basti, drinking, nasal use, ear and eye filling and food preparation to calm vata.
After ghee as the chief animal fat, sesame oil is presented as the chief plant oil. Agneya and hot are distinct: fiery origin does not always imply heat. Brimhana strengthens the body through tissue nourishment and does not contradict lekhana, which is directed toward medas; substances can have specific powers. Vyavayi spreads through the body before digestion, sukshma follows subtle channels, and vikasi loosens joint bonds. Vrishya is interpreted as promoting shukra, though others derive it from tissue nourishment; Jatukarna instead calls oil immediately avrushya. Skin benefit applies in massage and food. Vision benefit applies after digestion, not by filling the eye. Reduction of anila-balasa may mean the combined condition, or cleansing their pathways. Ashita-pitta is interpreted as producing only slight thinning pitta; some separate ashita, a reading rejected by the Mahapanjika. The commentary defines the many injury terms individually and explains parisheka as pouring oil over a limb, abhyanga as massage, avagaha as immersion and use in food as processing.
Key terms
vyavAyin (vyavayin)
Said to spread through the body before being digested.
vikAsin (vikasin)
Described as loosening the bonds of joints.
lekhana
A scraping or reducing action directed here toward medas.
Castor oil is described as sweet, hot, sharp, agni-kindling, with pungent and astringent secondary tastes, subtle, channel-cleansing, beneficial to skin, vrishya, sweet after digestion and age-sustaining. It is traditionally said to promote health, intellect, appearance, memory and strength, purify reproductive substances, reduce vata and kapha and remove doshas through the lower pathway.
Oils from the fruits or seeds of Nimba, Atasi, Kusumbha, Mulaka, Jimutaka, Vrikshaka, Kritavedhana, Arka, Kampillaka, Hastikarna, Prithvika, Pilu, Karanja, Ingudi, Shigru, Sarshapa, Suvarcala, Vidanga and Jyotishmati are collectively described as sharp, light, hot in potency, pungent with pungent vipaka, sara, and as reducing vata, kapha, worms, skin disease, prameha and head disorders.
The commentary identifies Jimutaka as Devadali, Vrikshaka as Kutaja, Kritavedhana as Koshataki, Hastikarna as Mahaparna or Bhupalasha though others call it red castor, Prithvika as black cumin, Ingudi as a thorny tree though others identify Putrajivaka, Shigru as Shobhanjana fruit, Suvarcala as Suryavarta, Vidanga as a worm-countering drug and Jyotishmati as Kakamardanika. Elsewhere Nimba oil is said to remove gray hair; here that is included under the general claim of reducing head disorders.
Key terms
hastikarNa (hastikarna)
Identified as Mahaparna/Bhupalasha, alternatively red castor.
i~ggudI (ingudi)
A thorny tree, alternatively identified as Putrajivaka.
sara
Traditionally described as promoting movement or evacuation.
Among those oils, flaxseed oil is described as reducing vata but strength-reducing, unctuous, hot, heavy, pitta-increasing, pungent after digestion and unfavorable to vision. Mustard oil is described as light, pungent, agni-kindling, scraping and reducing worms, itching, skin disease, kapha, medas and vata. Ingudi oil is slightly bitter and light and is said to reduce worms and skin disorders but diminish sight, shukra and strength. Kusumbha oil is sharp, irritating, pungent after digestion, unfavorable to vision, increasing all doshas, rakta and pitta.
Oils from Kiratatikta, Atimuktaka, Bibhitaka, coconut, Kola, Akshoda, Jivanti, Priyala, Karbudara, Suryavalli, Trapusa, Ervaruka, Karkaru, Kushmanda and related plants are described as sweet with sweet vipaka, cooling, abhishyandin, increasing urination, weakening agni and calming vata and pitta.
Atimuktaka is identified as Avantaka, Kola as the kernel of Badara, Akshoda as a northern-region nut, Jivanti as Svarnajivanti fruit, Karbudara as Kancanara and Suryavalli as Arkapushpi, though others call the latter a variety of Suryavarta because Suvarcala was already listed. Trapusa is cucumber, Ervaruka a summer cucumber and Karkaru a type called Vadava Trapusa; 'and others' includes Kalinga. Agni-sadana means weakening digestion. The oils are classified as sweet even when their source plants are bitter, based on direct observation.
Key terms
sUryavallI (suryavalli)
Arkapushpi, alternatively a variety of Suryavarta.
agnisAdana (agni-sadana)
Traditionally described as weakening digestive agni.
abhiShyandin (abhishyandin)
Moisture- or secretion-promoting in the source's classification.
तुवरकभल्लातकतैले उष्णे मधुरकषाये तिक्तानुरसे वातकफकुष्ठमेदोमेहकृमिप्रशमने उभयतोभागदोषहरे च ||१२२||
Meaning of the śloka
Tuvaraka and Bhallataka oils are described as hot, sweet-astringent with a bitter secondary taste, calming vata, kapha, skin disease, medas, meha and worms, and removing doshas through both upper and lower pathways.
Tuvaraka is said to be a tree of the western seacoast with kesara-like leaves and kapittha-like fruits. Removing doshas through both pathways means by both emesis and purgation.
Key terms
tuvaraka
A western coastal tree described by its leaves and fruits.
bhallAtaka (bhallataka)
A potent plant whose oil is grouped with Tuvaraka.
Resinous or heartwood fats from Sarala, Devadaru, Shimshapa, Aguru and Gandira are described as bitter, pungent and astringent, cleansing impaired wounds and reducing worms, kapha, skin disease and vata.
Oils of tumbi, koshamra, danti, dravanti, shyama, saptala, nilika, kampillaka and shankhini are bitter, pungent and astringent. They are said to remove doshas through the lower route, calm worms, kapha, kushtha and anila, and cleanse contaminated wounds.
The commentary identifies tumbi as bitter alabu; koshamra as popularly called koshamba; danti as dantini; dravanti as shambari; shyama as vriddhadaruka; saptala as popularly satala; nilini as shriphalika; and shankhini as white shriphalika, though others identify shankhini as a variety of yavatiktaka. ‘Removing doshas through the lower route’ means through virechana.
Key terms
adhobhAgadoShahara (adhobhaga-doshahara)
Removing doshas by a downward purgative action.
sha~gkhinI (shankhini)
Identified as white shriphalika or, alternatively, a yavatiktaka variety.
duShTavraNashodhana (dushta-vrana-shodhana)
Cleansing a contaminated wound in the source's account.
सहकारतैलमीषत्तिक्तमतिसुगन्धि वातकफहरं रूक्षं मधुरकषायं रसवन्नातिपित्तकरं च ||१२७||
Meaning of the śloka
Sahakara oil is described as slightly bitter and very fragrant, calming vata and kapha, dry, sweet-astringent and rich in rasa, without greatly increasing pitta.
The commentary identifies sahakara oil as mango oil. Gayi says it is the oil that appears as soon as the stalk of a young mango fruit is broken; others say it is the fat or oil from the fruit kernel.
Key terms
sahakArataila (sahakara-taila)
Mango oil, whose exact source is disputed in the commentary.
phalavRuntabha~gga (phala-vrinta-bhanga)
Breaking the stalk of a young fruit, said by Gayi to release the oil.
phalamajjasneha (phala-majja-sneha)
Oil or fat from the fruit kernel, according to another view.
For fruit-derived oils mentioned here, their qualities and actions should be determined and described in correspondence with the fruits from which they arise.
Because fruits are innumerable, the commentary extends fruit qualities to their oils. One interpretation applies this generally: fruit oils have qualities and actions resembling their fruits. Another says that fruit oils already mentioned in this oil section retain the actions explicitly stated for them, while unlisted fruit oils should be described after examining their fruits. Some read yani ity uktani kanichit instead of yany uktaniha kanichit, without changing the remaining sense.
Key terms
phalodbhava taila
Oil derived from a fruit.
atidesha
Extension of the fruit's stated qualities and actions to its oil.
Adhikarana ౧౧౧ (౧౨౯) · Śloka ౧౨౯
యావంతః స్థావరాః స్నేహాః సమాసాత్పరికీర్తితాః |
సర్వే తైలగుణా జ్ఞేయాః సర్వే చానిలనాశనాః ||129||
The commentary relates all plant fats to sesame oil. This means that some properties and actions found in sesame oil also occur in other oils, not that every property and every action of sesame oil belongs to all of them. Others interpret guna here only as the unctuousness common to all oils.
Key terms
sthAvara sneha (sthavara sneha)
A fat or oil derived from plants.
tilatailaguNa (tila-taila-guna)
A quality associated with sesame oil and extended in a limited way to other plant oils.
Among all oils, sesame oil is distinguished as superior. Other substances are also called oil because their production and some of their qualities resemble it.
The commentary uses sesame oil's primacy to explain why the same term taila applies to other oils. Castor oil and others are produced in a manner comparable to oil from sesame, and they share some actions and properties of sesame oil.
Key terms
tilataila (tila-taila)
Sesame oil, treated as the primary example of oil.
Vasa, medas and majja from domestic, marsh-dwelling and aquatic animals are described as heavy, hot, sweet and calming vata. Those from arid-land animals, one-hoofed animals and carnivores are light, cool, astringent and calming rakta and pitta. Those from pratuda and vishkira birds calm shleshma. Among ghee, oil, vasa, medas and majja, each successive item is described as heavier after digestion and more effective at calming vata.
The commentary gives examples: domestic animals include cows, camels and goats; marsh-dwelling animals include buffalo; aquatic animals include fish; arid-land animals include ena antelope; one-hoofed animals include horses; carnivores include tigers; pratuda birds include pigeons and doves; and vishkira birds include lava. The passage closes the oil group.
Key terms
vasA (vasa)
Animal muscle fat in this classification.
medas
Animal adipose tissue or fat.
majjA (majja)
Marrow.
pratuda
A classical bird category exemplified by pigeons and doves.
The honey group begins. Honey is described as sweet with an astringent secondary taste; dry, cooling, agni-kindling, beneficial to complexion and voice, light, delicate, lekhana, pleasing to the heart, vajikarana, uniting, cleansing, healing, grahi, beneficial for the eyes, clarifying and able to follow subtle pathways. It is said to calm pitta, shleshma, medas, meha, hiccup, shvasa, kasa, diarrhea, vomiting, thirst, worms and poison; to be pleasing; and to calm all three doshas. Its lightness reduces kapha, while its viscosity, sweetness and astringency are said to calm vata and pitta.
The commentary says the dry, agni-kindling and light qualities belong to old honey, while new honey has the opposite qualities. Sukumara means producing delicacy; lekhana means thinning; hridya means pleasing and beneficial to the heart; vajikarana means promoting shukra; sandhana joins a fracture; shodhana cleanses a contaminated wound; ropana heals a clean wound; chakshushya benefits the eyes; prasada clarifies eyes and body; and hladi produces comfort. Although coolness, dryness and lightness might suggest increasing vata, and sweetness might suggest increasing kapha, the commentary attributes tridosha-calming action to the combined specific influence of substance and qualities.
Key terms
madhu
Honey, described through general qualities and actions in this section.
yogavAhi (yogavahi)
A carrier that follows or enhances an associated formulation; developed further in a later passage.
The commentary derives pauttika from puttika bees, described either as large tawny bees or, by others, as black mosquito-sized bees. Bhramara honey comes from familiar bhramara bees. Kshaudra comes from small tawny makshika bees. Makshika honey is attributed to large tawny bees, though others say very small bees. Chatra is made in umbrella-shaped combs by yellow-tawny insects popularly called baga in Himalayan and Malava forests. One account says arghya is whitish honey flowing from madhuka flowers near Jaratkaru's hermitage; another attributes it to yellow, sharp-beaked, bee-like insects called argha. Unlike other honey, arghya is said not to conflict with heat. Auddalaka comes from small tawny insects that commonly gather honey inside anthills. Dala may mean honey found on leaves, while another view derives it from even smaller tawny bees called dala that commonly live in tree hollows.
Key terms
pauttika
Honey from puttika bees, whose appearance is disputed.
chAtra (chatra)
Honey formed in umbrella-shaped combs in the named forests.
Arghya (arghya)
A honey with competing explanations of its source and a stated exception concerning heat.
dAla (dala)
Explained either as honey on leaves or honey from small tree-hollow bees called dala.
Pauttika honey is especially dry and hot because of an association with poison; it is said to provoke vata, blood and pitta, have a cutting action, cause internal burning and intoxication. Bhramara honey is called heavy because of its viscosity and predominance of sweetness. Kshaudra is especially cool, light and lekhana. Makshika is still lighter, dry and regarded as best, especially praised for shvasa and related disorders. Chatra is sweet after digestion, heavy, cold and viscous, and is said to calm raktapitta, shvitra, meha and worms. Arghya is described as especially beneficial for the eyes, strongly calming kapha and pitta, astringent, pungent after digestion, strengthening, bitter and not increasing vata. Auddalaka promotes taste and voice and is said to calm kushtha and poison; it is astringent, sour, hot, pitta-producing and pungent after digestion. Dala-derived honey is dry and said to calm vomiting and meha.
The commentary explains pauttika's poisonous association by saying its bees consume poisonous flowers. Chedi means breaking up medas nodules and similar formations. Its intoxication is attributed to the same poisonous association and is described as a toxic kind of mada. The remaining statements enumerate each variety's qualities.
Key terms
saviShAnvaya (savisha-anvaya)
Having an association with poison, explained through bees feeding on poisonous flowers.
chedi
A cutting or breaking action, explained in relation to medas nodules.
mAkShika (makshika)
A honey variety described here as especially light, dry and superior.
New honey is nourishing and does not greatly reduce shleshma; its action is described as balanced. Old honey reduces medas and corpulence, is grahi and performs strong lekhana.
The commentary defines new honey as honey removed from its natural receptacle and stored only a short time; old honey is the opposite, having been stored longer.
Key terms
nava madhu
Honey stored only briefly after removal from its natural receptacle.
purANa madhu (purana madhu)
Older honey stored for a longer period.
atilekhana (ati-lekhana)
A strongly reducing or scraping action.
Adhikarana ౧౧౮ (౧౪౧) · Śloka ౧౪౧
దోషత్రయహరం పక్వమామమమ్లం త్రిదోషకృత్ ||141||
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दोषत्रयहरं पक्वमाममम्लं त्रिदोषकृत् ||१४१||
Meaning of the śloka
Pakva honey is said to calm all three doshas, while ama honey that has become sour is said to produce all three doshas.
One view defines pakva as honey altered by contact with fire or by becoming thick. Others reject heat-processing because contact between honey and fire is prohibited, and instead understand pakva and ama as stages produced by the honey's transformation over time.
Key terms
pakva madhu
Mature honey, variously explained through heating, thickening or transformation over time.
Ama madhu (ama madhu)
Unmatured honey, here described as sour and tridosha-producing.
Honey combined in various formulations is said to overcome many disorders. Because it derives from many substances, honey is regarded as the foremost yogavahi.
The commentary explains yoga here as a group of medicines. Yogavahitva means that honey produces an action corresponding to the substance with which it is combined; among such carriers, honey is considered excellent.
Key terms
yoga
A medicinal combination or group of medicines in this context.
yogavAhi (yogavahi)
A carrier said to take on or convey the action of the substance combined with it.
Because honey is produced by bees from flower juices belonging to many substances with mutually differing rasa, guna, virya and vipaka, it is to be handled without heat. Honey as a whole is said to be incompatible with hot substances because of its association with poison; when given with hot substances to a person distressed by heat, or in a hot place or season, it is said to harm like poison. Its delicate nature, coolness and origin from the juices of many plants are also given as reasons for incompatibility with heat, and it is said to be especially incompatible with atmospheric water.
The commentary connects anushnopachara with honey's production by bees from diverse and mutually differing flower juices. A variant reads that honey arises from bees associated with poison in flower juices. Some read both ‘to be handled without heat’ and ‘yogavahi,’ but the commentary rejects the latter addition because yogavahitva was already stated. A parenthetical explanation says bees range through flower juices and honey is hot in virya, yet should not be combined with a hot substance because the combination is incompatible like poison. Here ‘hot substances’ means hot to the touch, not substances of hot virya. The risk is stated for a heat-afflicted person and a hot place or season. Delicate things are said to conflict with heat, with fresh butter, solidified ghee, water and flowers as examples. Although honey is cool by nature, it may also conflict with some cool things, especially atmospheric water. The particle api preserves the exception that arghya honey is not incompatible with heat.
Key terms
anuShNopacAra (anushna-upachara)
Handling or using without heat.
uShNasparsha (ushna-sparsha)
Hot to the touch, distinguished here from hot virya.
viruddha
Incompatible in the source's dietary framework.
Arghya (arghya)
The honey variety preserved as an exception to incompatibility with heat.
Honey combined with a hot substance and used in an emetic preparation is said not to be incompatible in the previously described way, because it is expelled before digestion and does not remain in the body.
The verse states an exception for hot substances used with honey in emesis. Although incompatibility is not asserted in this setting, senior authorities still avoid the combination because they fear that the emetic preparation may move downward rather than be expelled upward.
Key terms
vamana
A historical therapeutic emesis procedure.
apAka (apaka)
Absence of digestion before the preparation is expelled.
anavasthAna (anavasthana)
Failure to remain in the body.
Adhikarana ౧౨౨ (౧౪౭) · Śloka ౧౪౭
మధ్వామాత్పరతస్త్వన్యదామం కష్టం న విద్యతే |
విరుద్ధోపక్రమత్వాత్తత్ సర్వం హంతి యథా విషం ||147||
ఇతి మధువర్గః |
No state of ama is said to be more difficult than indigestion caused by honey. Because the measures used for it are mutually incompatible, it is said to kill a living being like poison. Thus ends the honey group.
Madhvama means indigestion of honey, described as more troublesome than other forms of indigestion. Measures used for ama include sweating and hot water, but their heat is considered incompatible with honey. 'All' in the verse is explained as any living being.
Key terms
madhvAma (madhvama)
A classical state of indigestion attributed to honey.
viruddhopakrama
A condition for which the proposed measures conflict with the substance involved.
Now begins the sugarcane group. Sugarcanes are generally described as sweet in taste and vipaka, heavy, cooling, unctuous, strengthening, aphrodisiac, promoting urine, calming raktapitta, and increasing worms and kapha. The many varieties listed are Paundraka, Bhiruka, Vamshaka, Shvetaporaka, Kantara, Tapasekshu, Kashthekshu, Sucipatraka, Naipala, Dirghapatra, Nilapora and Koshakrt. These are the broad varieties based on their general form...
The passage gives general qualities of sugarcane. The closing expression is inclusive, adding numerous other varieties such as Bhorada, Shatapatra, Panduka, Vetraka, Kodravaka and Cani. The twelve named varieties are grouped broadly by their general stoutness or form.
Key terms
ikShuvarga (ikshuvarga)
The group of sugarcane varieties and products.
madhuravipAka (madhuravipaka)
A sweet post-digestive effect in the classical classification.
...Their qualities will now be described. Paundraka and Bhiruka are very cooling, sweet, unctuous, nourishing, kapha-producing, flowing, non-burning, heavy and aphrodisiac. Vamshaka has similar qualities but is slightly alkaline. Shvetapora resembles Vamshaka but is slightly hot and is said to calm vata. Kantara and Tapasa follow Vamshaka in their qualities. Kashthekshu is similar but aggravates vata. Sucipatra, Nilapora, Naipala and Dirghapatra are said to produce vata, reduce kapha and pitta, possess some astringency and cause burning. Koshakara is heavy and cooling and is said to reduce raktapitta and kshaya.
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గుణానిత్యాది||150-154||-
Meaning of the commentary
The supplied commentary contains only a brief reference to the verses and provides no additional explanation of the listed qualities.
Key terms
pauNDraka (paundraka)
A sugarcane variety assigned the first set of qualities.
vaMshaka (vamshaka)
A variety described as similar to Paundraka and Bhiruka but slightly alkaline.
The verse distinguishes qualities by part of the cane. The eyes are the buds at the joints capable of producing shoots. Others read 'and in the skins,' meaning the outer rind, instead of 'in the eyes.'
Key terms
akShi (akshi)
A sugarcane eye or bud at a joint, in the main reading.
The Brhat and Laghu Panjikas support the stated reading. Jejjhata instead reads that tooth-pressed juice produces kapha, does not burn, restrains raktapitta and has a capacity equal to sugar. In that variant, virya means efficacy or capacity rather than hot or cold potency. The juice is explained as non-burning because it has not stood outside and therefore has not been affected by wind, sunlight and related influences.
Key terms
dantaniShpIDita rasa (dantanishpidita rasa)
Sugarcane juice obtained by chewing or pressing with the teeth.
These qualities are attributed to machine pressing together with the rind and other parts, and to the juice remaining outside long enough to contact wind, sunlight and related influences. Heavy means slow to digest. Vidahi is defined as food or drink that, through its nature or heaviness, digests slowly in contact with digestive fire and thereby aggravates pitta with a burning effect. Vishtambha is interpreted either as abdominal gurgling or, by others, as failure to pass stool accompanied by gas, piercing pain and colic.
Key terms
yAntrika rasa (yantrika rasa)
Sugarcane juice obtained by mechanical pressing.
vidAhi (vidahi)
Described as producing burning and aggravating pitta during delayed digestion.
viShTambha (vishtambha)
Interpreted as gurgling or as obstructed stool with gas and pain.
Jaggery is described as sweet with slight alkalinity, not excessively cooling, unctuous, cleansing to urine and blood, mildly calming pitta, calming vata, increasing medas, worms and kapha, strengthening and aphrodisiac.
When phanita becomes very dense through further cooking, it is called guda or jaggery. Sakshara means slightly alkaline. These qualities apply to unrefined jaggery.
Key terms
guDa (guda)
Jaggery formed by cooking phanita to a very dense state.
sakShAra (sakshara)
Slightly alkaline.
anirmala guDa (anirmala guda)
Unrefined jaggery, to which the listed qualities apply.
Adhikarana ౧౩౧ (౧౬౧) · Śloka ౧౬౧
పిత్తఘ్నో మధురః శుద్ధో వాతఘ్నోఽసృక్ప్రసాదనః |161|
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पित्तघ्नो मधुरः शुद्धो वातघ्नोऽसृक्प्रसादनः |१६१|
Meaning of the śloka
Refined jaggery is described as sweet, calming pitta and vata, and clarifying the blood.
Matsyandika, khanda and sharkara arise through successive purification. Each later product is described as cooler, more unctuous, heavier, sweeter, more aphrodisiac, and more effective in calming raktapitta and thirst.
Processing gives jaggery these different names and qualities. Matsyandika is liquid khanda, locally called khandadrava; khanda is the familiar solid product; and sharkara is crystalline white sugar, locally called tavaraja. The sequence is jaggery, matsyandika, khanda and then sharkara. As purity increases through that sequence, cooling and the other stated qualities are said to increase.
Key terms
matsyaNDikA (matsyandika)
A liquid sugar product identified as liquid khanda.
यथा यथैषां वैमल्यं मधुरत्वं तथा तथा |
स्नेहगौरवशैत्यानि सरत्वं च तथा तथा ||१६३||
Meaning of the śloka
As these sugarcane products become progressively purer and sweeter, their unctuousness, heaviness, cooling quality and flowing nature are said to increase correspondingly.
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పూర్వోక్తమేవ స్పష్టయతి- యథేత్యాది| ఏషామిక్షువికారాణాం| గౌరవం వాతపిత్తహారిత్వం, గౌరవం మధురవిపాకిత్వమిత్యన్యే| అన్యే తు ‘స్నేహలాఘవశైత్యాని’ ఇతి పఠంతి||163||
Meaning of the commentary
The verse clarifies the preceding statement about sugarcane products. One explanation associates heaviness with the capacity to calm vata and pitta, while another associates it with sweet vipaka. A variant reads 'unctuousness, lightness and cooling quality' instead of 'unctuousness, heaviness and cooling quality.'
Key terms
vaimalya
Increasing purity or refinement.
gaurava
Heaviness, variously linked to dosha effects or sweet vipaka.
यो यो मत्स्यण्डिकाखण्डशर्कराणां स्वको गुणः |
तेन तेनैव निर्देश्यस्तेषां विस्रावणो गुणः ||१६४||
Meaning of the śloka
The material drained or removed during the making of matsyandika, khanda and sharkara should be described according to the particular qualities of the product from which it comes.
The verse describes the impurity removed while these sugar products are prepared. Whatever qualities—such as cooling—belong to a given product are also assigned to its corresponding drained material. The commentary identifies this guna as a particular fraction containing impurity and alkali. It explains the attribution by saying that something associated with and produced from a substance shares that substance's qualities.
Key terms
visrAvaNa (visravana)
Material drained or removed during preparation of a sugar product.
samala-kShAra avayava (samala-kshara avayava)
A particular fraction described as containing impurity and alkali.
Honey that becomes solid through cooking or drying over time is called madhu-sharkara because it resembles sugar. Chedani means breaking apart consolidated kapha and similar accumulations.
Key terms
madhusharkarA (madhu-sharkara)
Honey solidified by cooking or drying until sugar-like.
chedanI (chedani)
Breaking apart consolidated material such as kapha.
prasAdanI (prasadani)
Clarifying or making clear.
Adhikarana ౧౩౮ (౧౬౭) · Śloka ౧౬౭
యవాసశర్కరా మధురకషాయా తిక్తానురసా శ్లేష్మహరీ సరా చేతి ||167||
All the kinds of sugar described are traditionally said to relieve burning, calm bleeding attributed to pitta, and reduce vomiting, fainting and thirst.
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అవశిష్టశర్కరాగుణమాహ- యావత్య ఇత్యాది||168||
Meaning of the commentary
The verse states general qualities attributed to the remaining and previously described sugars.
Key terms
raktapittaprashamana (rakta-pitta-prashamana)
Traditionally described as calming bleeding within the pitta framework.
Phanita made from Madhuka flowers is described as dry, increasing vata and pitta, reducing kapha, sweet after digestion, astringent and harmful to the bladder. This concludes the sugarcane-products group.
The section on alcoholic drinks begins. Alcoholic drink in general is described as sour, pitta-increasing, appetite-promoting, agni-kindling, evacuative, reducing kapha and vata, pleasing to the heart, cleansing the bladder, light after digestion, irritating, hot, sharp, awakening the senses, dispersive, and promoting stool and urine. The supplied passage breaks off after this point.
The general class comprises three kinds: grain-based, grape-derived and guda-derived alcohol. Although alcoholic drink is said to possess five tastes other than salty, it is called sour because sourness predominates and produces the principal action. Awakening the senses means sharpening their activity. Vikasi means loosening joint bonds, and srishta-vin-mutra means promoting stool and urine. These are presented as qualities common to all alcoholic drinks.
Key terms
madya
Alcoholic or fermented drink.
rocana
Traditionally described as stimulating relish or appetite.
Continuing from an incomplete preceding line, the text asks the listener to hear the special qualities. Mardvika, because it is described as non-irritating and derives from a sweet substance, is said by learned authorities not to be prohibited even in bleeding attributed to pitta. It is described as sweet, dry, with an astringent secondary taste, light and easily digested, sara, and as countering wasting and irregular fever.
Kharjura alcohol differs only slightly from Mardvika and is said to aggravate vata. It is also described as clear, appetite-promoting, kapha-reducing, emaciating, light, astringent-sweet, pleasing to the heart, fragrant and awakening the senses.
Sura is traditionally described as reducing cough, piles, grahani disorder, urinary obstruction and vata, being suitable in depletion of breast milk and blood, and promoting bodily increase and agni.
Sura is described as red and somewhat turbid from a paste of flour and fermenting agent. The listed properties are said to apply generally to all sura.
Key terms
surA (sura)
A fermented alcoholic drink made with flour and a fermenting agent.
grahaNIdoSha (grahani-dosha)
A historical digestive disorder category.
stanyakShaya (stanya-kshaya)
Depletion of breast milk in the historical indication.
White sura is traditionally said to reduce cough, piles, grahani disorder, breathlessness and nasal catarrh, and to increase urine, kapha, breast milk, blood and muscle.
Prasanna is traditionally described as relieving vomiting, loss of appetite and piercing pains of the heart, abdomen and flanks, and as reducing kapha, vata, piles, obstruction and abdominal distension.
Toda means piercing pain, while shula refers to the twelve previously defined types of pain. Prasanna is the clear upper portion of sura. Vibandha is failure of vata and related functions to move, and anaha is abdominal fullness or distension.
A sura made from barley and related inferior grains is described as increasing pitta, low in kapha effect, dry, aggravating vata, obstructive and heavy. The supplied passage is incomplete after this point.
After flour-based sura, the commentary introduces sura from lower-grade grains. The plural 'barleys' includes yava, yavika and atiyava. Vishtambha is failure of stool to move accompanied by vata, piercing pain and colic; others gloss it as a gurgling sound. This sura uses barley ferment.
Key terms
kudhAnyasurA (kudhanya-sura)
Sura prepared from grains treated by the source as inferior.
viShTambha (vishtambha)
Obstruction of stool with pain, alternatively glossed as gurgling.
One explanation identifies Madhulaka as a small wheat called Pishika in the central region, or as monkey-hand grass, with the drink made using ferment from its fruit. Jejjhata instead defines it as an incompletely fermented drink made from Madhuka flowers.
Key terms
madhUlaka (madhulaka)
A fermented drink with competing grain/grass and Madhuka-flower identifications.
asa~jjAtamadya (asanjata-madya)
Alcoholic drink whose fermentation has not fully developed.
Kohala is made from roasted barley flour and is commonly called Kauhalika. Others identify it as a rice-based sura called Kancanali by the people of Pundra.
Key terms
kohala
An alcoholic drink identified either as barley-flour based or as a rice sura.
kauhalikA (kauhalika)
The common name for the barley-flour interpretation.
kA~jcanAlI (kancanali)
A Pundra-region name for the alternative rice-sura interpretation.
Jagala is described as grahi, hot, digestive, dry, and as producing thirst, kapha and swelling. It is pleasing to the heart and is said to reduce pravahika, abdominal rumbling, durnama, anila and shosha.
The commentary identifies jagala as the lower sediment of liquor that is discarded. Others define it as sura made from kinva and cooked grain. Swelling is said to be reduced through external application, and shosha means wasting or depletion.
Key terms
jagala
Defined either as discarded lower liquor sediment or as sura made from kinva and cooked grain.
Because its essence has been removed, bakkasa is said to cause vishtambha and provoke vata. It kindles agni, promotes passage of feces and urine, is clear or non-slimy, mildly intoxicating and heavy.
The commentary identifies this sidhu as sasyaka: boiled sugarcane juice is fermented with a binding starter such as dhataki, and a small amount of guda and ghee is added; after time it becomes the product called sasyaka.
Key terms
gauDa shIdhu (gauda sidhu)
A fermented drink based on boiled sugarcane juice and guda.
sasyaka
The named product identified with this type of sidhu.
dhAtakI (dhataki)
A fermentation-associated ingredient used to bind or initiate the preparation.
Sharkara sidhu is sweet, agreeable in taste, agni-kindling and said to cleanse the bladder. It calms vata, is sweet after digestion, pleasing to the heart and awakens or sharpens the senses.
Sidhu made from cooked juice is described as similar to the preceding sugar-based sidhu, supportive of strength and complexion, sara, reducing swelling, agni-kindling, pleasing to the heart, appetizing and beneficial in shleshma and arshas.
Sidhu made from uncooked juice is described as reducing or depleting, and is said to counter swelling and udara. It supports complexion, promotes digestion, benefits the voice, removes obstruction and is said to be beneficial in arshas.
The commentary identifies shita-rasika as a preparation made from uncooked juice. Jarana means bringing about transformation or digestion of food and similar material.
The commentary describes akshika sidhu as prepared from a decoction of bibhitaka and guda, processed with dhataki flowers and similar ingredients. Because of the particular influence of its ingredients, it is said to be generally non-conflicting in pandu and wounds compared with other alcoholic drinks; its binding action is to be understood in the same qualified way.
Key terms
AkShika shIdhu (akshika sidhu)
A fermented drink made from bibhitaka decoction and guda with dhataki-associated processing.
sa~ggrAhaka (sangrahaka)
Having a binding or retaining action.
asRukprasAdana (asrik-prasadana)
Clarifying blood in the source's account.
Adhikarana ౧౫౮ (౧౮౭) · Śloka ౧౮౭
జాంబవో బద్ధనిస్యందస్తువరో వాతకోపనః |187|
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जाम्बवो बद्धनिस्यन्दस्तुवरो वातकोपनः |१८७|
Meaning of the śloka
Jambava sidhu is astringent, causes retention of discharge or urine, and provokes vata.
The commentary says jambava sidhu is prepared from jambu fruit juice, a decoction of tumburu, guda, dhataki and similar ingredients. Baddha-nisyanda is glossed as retention of urine, and tuvara means astringent.
Key terms
jAmbava shIdhu (jambava sidhu)
A fermented drink based on jambu fruit juice and the listed processing ingredients.
baddhanisyanda (baddha-nisyanda)
Explained by the commentary as retention of urine.
Surasava is sharp, pleasing to the heart, promotes urination, reduces kapha and vata, is agreeable in the mouth and produces lasting intoxication. It is also described as calming anila.
The commentary defines surasava as an asava in which sura is used in place of water. Its stable intoxication means that the state of drunkenness lasts for a long time.
Madhu-asava is light and chedi, and is said to reduce meha, kushtha and poison. It is bitter, astringent, swelling-reducing, sharp, sweet and does not provoke vata.
Maireya is described as sharp, astringent and intoxicating; it is said to reduce durnama, kapha, gulma, worms, medas and anila, while being sweet and heavy.
The commentary describes maireya as having three bases. In one account, separately prepared sura and asava are combined and fermented again, with sura based on flour, asava based on guda, and honey also added. Alternatively, maireya may have two forms produced from three bases: a flour-based preparation, madhu-asava and guda.
Key terms
maireya
A fermented drink described through alternative arrangements of three bases.
triyoni (tri-yoni)
Having three source bases or fermentative components.
durnAma (durnama)
A classical condition term used here among the claimed effects.
The commentary introduces this as sugarcane-juice asava. Others read two items, ‘mardvika and sugarcane-juice asava.’ Mardvika wine was described previously, whereas the present item is specifically an asava.
Key terms
ikShurasAsava (ikshu-rasa-asava)
An asava made from sugarcane juice.
mArdvIka (mardvika)
A wine separately included by an alternative reading.
The commentary identifies this as a flower-based sidhu. Some do not accept adding guda to the madhuka-flower preparation, while others require guda precisely because it is classified as sidhu.
नवं मद्यमभिष्यन्दि गुरु वातादिकोपनम् ||१९२||
अनिष्टगन्धि विरसमहृद्यं च विदाहि च |१९३|
Meaning of the śloka
New liquor is described as abhishyandi, heavy and provoking vata and the other doshas. It has an undesirable smell and taste, is displeasing to the heart and causes internal burning.
The commentary defines newness as the stage before the beverage's rasa has developed and clarified. Others define liquor as new if one year has not yet passed.
Key terms
nava madya
New liquor, defined either by undeveloped rasa or as less than one year old.
ajAtarasaprasAda (ajata-rasa-prasada)
The state before flavor has developed and become clear.
vidAhi (vidahi)
Producing internal burning in the source's account.
Aged fermented drink is described as fragrant, kindling, pleasing to the heart, appetizing, destructive to worms, opening the channels, light, and reducing vata and kapha.
Rocishnu means pleasantly appetizing even to a person who is already satisfied. Age is recognized when the taste has matured and the drink has acquired fragrance and other desirable features. Others define an aged drink simply as one more than a year old.
Key terms
jIrNa (jirna)
Aged or matured, defined either by developed qualities or as more than one year old.
sphuTasrotaskara (sphutasrotaskara)
Described as making the bodily channels open or clear.
Arishta is said to possess enhanced qualities because of its ingredients and processing. It is described as relieving many disorders, calming doshas, kindling, reducing kapha and vata, flowing, not strongly opposed to pitta, and beneficial in pain, abdominal distension, abdominal and splenic disorders, fever, indigestion and piles.
Arishta is discussed as a fermented preparation resembling asava. Its ingredient combination includes substances such as abhaya and citraka, and its processing is said to give it greater activity than alcohol alone. In 'relieving many doshas,' dosha means diseases. The general calming of doshas is explained specifically as reducing kapha and vata. The negative in pittavirodhana has a diminutive force, so the commentary understands it as mildly reducing pitta. The broad disease claim is then explained by the listed conditions. Others emphasize its effect on kapha and vata in particular.
Key terms
ariShTa (arishta)
A medicinal fermented preparation whose properties depend on ingredients and processing.
dravya-saMyoga (dravya-samyoga)
The combination of constituent substances.
saMskAra (samskara)
Processing said to alter or enhance a preparation's activity.
Adhikarana ౧౬౮ (౧౯౬) · Śloka ౧౯౬
పిప్పల్యాదికృతో గుల్మకఫరోగహరః స్మృతః ||196||
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पिप्पल्यादिकृतो गुल्मकफरोगहरः स्मृतः ||१९६||
Meaning of the śloka
Arishta prepared with the Pippalyadi group is regarded as reducing gulma and disorders of kapha.
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పిప్పల్యాద్యరిష్టమాహ- పిప్పల్యాదీత్యాది||196||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary only identifies this as the statement about Pippalyadi arishta.
Key terms
pippalyAdi ariShTa (pippalyadi arishta)
A fermented medicinal preparation made with the Pippalyadi group.
gulma
A classical disease category retained without imposing a modern diagnosis.
A skilled physician should determine the qualities and actions of arishta, asava and sidhu by carefully considering the particular ingredients and processing of each.
Sidhu here denotes an alcoholic drink. Arishta is ingredient-dominant, asava is liquid-dominant, and madya gives prominence to both. The physician should understand which ingredients and processes suit the particular disease and then describe the resulting qualities and actions accordingly.
सान्द्रं विदाहि दुर्गन्धं विरसं कृमिलं गुरु ||१९८||
अहृद्यं तरुणं तीक्ष्णमुष्णं दुर्भाजनस्थितम् |
अल्पौषधं पर्युषितमत्यच्छं पिच्छिलं च यत् ||१९९||
तद्वर्ज्यं सर्वथा मद्यं किञ्चिच्छेषं तु यद्भवेत् |
तत्र यत् स्तोकसम्भारं तरुणं पिच्छिलं गुरु ||२००||
कफप्रकोपि तन्मद्यं दुर्जरं च विशेषतः |
पित्तप्रकोपि बहलं तीक्ष्णमुष्णं विदाहि च ||२०१||
अहृद्यं पेलवं पूति कृमिलं विरसं च यत् |
तथा पर्युषितं चापि विद्यादनिलकोपनम् ||२०२||
सर्वदोषैरुपेतं तु सर्वदोषप्रकोपणम् |२०३|
Meaning of the śloka
Alcohol that is dense, burning, foul-smelling, unpleasant in taste, worm-infested, heavy, disagreeable, immature, sharp, hot, kept in a bad vessel, made with too few medicinal ingredients, left overnight outside its fermentation vessel, excessively clear or thin, or slimy should be completely avoided. Drink made with too few ingredients, immature, slimy and heavy particularly aggravates kapha and is difficult to digest. Thick, sharp, hot and burning drink aggravates pitta. Disagreeable, thin or immature, putrid, worm-infested, unpleasant or improperly left overnight drink aggravates anila. Drink possessing all these faults aggravates all doshas.
The commentary defines dense as thick; heavy as slow to digest; immature as new; sharp as causing discomfort in the mouth; hot as hot to touch; and bad-vessel storage as use of an unsuitable container. Too few medicinal ingredients means too little dhataki or similar material. Paryushita is drink kept overnight in a vessel other than its fermentation vessel, excessively clear means overly thin, and slimy means having a mucus-like feel. Vidahi is explained either as a slowly digesting substance that remains in an intermediate digestive stage and aggravates pitta with burning, or simply as producing varied burning distress. Virasa means discordant or unpleasant taste. Krimila means containing worms. Pelava means clear or thin, though others interpret it as immature. 'Possessing all faults' refers to the whole set beginning with density.
Key terms
paryuShita (paryushita)
Kept overnight outside the proper fermentation vessel.
vidAhi (vidahi)
Interpreted as causing pitta-related burning during delayed digestion or more generally varied burning distress.
pelava
Clear or thin, though another interpretation takes it as immature.
Alcohol that has stood for a long time, developed its proper taste, is kindling, reduces kapha and vata, is appetizing, clear and fragrant, and produces intoxication is described as fit for use.
After listing faults, the text gives desired qualities. Prasanna means clear, surabhi fragrant, and madavaha pleasure-producing or intoxicating. Drink with the earlier faults is to be avoided, while drink with these qualities is regarded as usable.
The potency of alcohol, which varies by its source, taste and virya, combines with digestive fire, reaches the heart, rises through the dhamanis and quickly intoxicates by disturbing the senses and mind. The text attributes this action to its subtlety, heat, sharpness and vikasi quality.
Alcohol varies according to sources such as grapes and according to taste and potency; all tastes except salty may occur, while virya includes hot, dry and related qualities. Its shakti is said to reach the heart and rapidly produce exhilaration by disturbing sight and the other senses together with the mind. It rises through the dhamanis after joining digestive fire, whose nature is upward-moving. Subtlety explains access to the subtle senses and mind; heat supplies another cause of upward movement; sharpness explains rapid action; and vikasi means loosening the bonds of the joints. The conjunction also adds lightness as a cause of upward movement.
Key terms
madya-vIrya (madya-virya)
The effective potency of alcohol in the commentary's account.
dhamanI (dhamani)
A channel through which the potency is said to move upward.
vikAsi (vikasi)
A quality explained as loosening the bonds of joints.
After drinking, intoxication is said to arise slowly in a person of shleshma constitution, soon in one of vata constitution, and very quickly in one of pitta constitution.
The passage distinguishes intoxication according to bodily constitution. Shlaishmika, vatika and paittika mean persons of shleshma, vata and pitta constitution respectively. The conjunction adds that intoxication in the pitta type is also intense.
Key terms
mada
Intoxication caused by alcohol.
prakRti (prakriti)
Bodily constitution classified here by predominant dosha.
In a sattvika person, intoxication is said to promote cleanliness, consideration for others, joy, adornment, desire, singing, study, good fortune and enthusiasm for sexual activity. In a rajasa person, it produces a disposition toward suffering, reckless self-destructive acts and continuing quarrels. In a tamasa person, it produces impurity, sleep, intolerance of others, desire for prohibited sexual relations and false speech.
The passage classifies intoxicated behavior according to mental constitution. Dakshinya means a disposition that considers others, lalasa desire, and suratotsaha initiative toward sexual intercourse. In a rajasa person, duhkhashilatva means engaging in distress, atmatyaga with rashness means risk-taking that destroys the body, and continuing quarrel means uninterrupted conflict. Mada is intoxication produced by alcohol. In the tamasa account, matsarya means inability to tolerate others and lolata desire.
Key terms
sAttvika (sattvika)
A person characterized by sattva in the source's mental typology.
Shukta is described as increasing raktapitta, cutting, digesting eaten food and ama, causing hoarseness, reducing kapha-predominant pandu and worms, light, sharp, hot, promoting urine, pleasing to the heart, reducing kapha, and pungent after digestion.
Shukta is also called cukra. A cited definition describes mastu or a similar liquid placed in a clean vessel with jaggery, honey and kanjika and kept in a heap of grain for three nights. It may be fermented from sugarcane juice, madhuka flowers, pilu and related materials without a decoction; others also call fermented tubers and similar ingredients shukta. Chedana applies to kapha nodules and related accumulations. Vaisvarya means producing hoarseness, jarana means digestion of ama, and shleshma-pandu means pandu dominated by shleshma.
Key terms
shukta
A sour fermented preparation also called cukra.
vaisvarya
Production of hoarseness or loss of normal voice.
shleShmapANDu (shleshmapandu)
A pandu condition dominated by shleshma.
Adhikarana ౧౭౭ (౨౧౧) · Śloka ౨౧౧
తద్వత్తదాసుతం సర్వం రోచనం చ విశేషతః ||211||
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तद्वत्तदासुतं सर्वं रोचनं च विशेषतः ||२११||
Meaning of the śloka
All substances fermented in that manner share the qualities of shukta and are especially appetite-promoting.
Gauda shukta is jaggery-based; a cited recipe ferments jaggery-water with oil, kanjika, tubers, vegetables and fruits. Rasa-shukta is made from sugarcane juice or another juice by a comparable method. A cited honey-shukta recipe places jambira juice with pippali root in a honey vessel within a grain heap for three days; 'honey vessel' may mean a nearly honey-filled vessel or ingredients made with honey placed in a vessel. A variant reads madya-shukta instead: any alcohol that over time abandons its other tastes and becomes sour is then called shukta. The conjunction also includes grain-derived shukta. The commentary explains the order as jaggery-shukta heavier than juice-shukta, which is heavier than madya-shukta. Abhishyandi means producing moistness in the channels of doshas, dhatus and malas.
Key terms
gauDa shukta (gauda shukta)
Jaggery-derived shukta.
rasa-shukta
Shukta prepared from sugarcane or another juice.
madhu-shukta
Honey-based shukta in the main reading.
madya-shukta
Alcohol that has become sour, in the alternate reading.
तुषाम्बु दीपनं हृद्यं हृत्पाण्डुकृमिरोगनुत् |
ग्रहण्यर्शोविकारघ्नं भेदि सौवीरकं तथा ||२१३||
Meaning of the śloka
Tushambu is described as kindling, pleasing to the heart, and reducing heart disorder, pandu and worms. Sauviraka is said to have similar qualities, to break accumulations, and to reduce disorders of grahani and piles.
Tushambu and sauviraka are two kinds of kanjika. Although they are also mentioned in the chapter on purgation, they are included here because they share the fermented category and to show their additional qualities and actions.
Key terms
tuShAmbu (tushambu)
A fermented preparation classified as a type of kanjika.
sauvIraka (sauviraka)
Another fermented preparation classified as a type of kanjika.
bhedi
Breaking or evacuating accumulations in the classical account.
Dhanyamla, because it is made from grain, is described as life-sustaining, light and relieving burning by external contact. When drunk it is said to reduce vata-associated kapha and the thirst connected with them. Because of its sharpness, holding it in the mouth is said to remove kapha quickly and relieve unpleasant taste, bad odor, coating, dryness and fatigue of the mouth. It is described as kindling, digestive, evacuating, useful in asthapana, and congenial to people living near the sea. Thus ends the fermented-liquid group.
Dhanyamla is kanjika, a fermented drink made from shali, jurnahva, kodrava or other grains. It is called life-sustaining because it is produced from shali and similar grains. Its effect on burning is through external contact. When drunk, it is understood to reduce kapha accompanied by vata and the thirst associated with both. Shosha refers to dryness of the mouth, jarana to digestion, and asthapana to niruha enema.
Key terms
dhAnyAmla (dhanyamla)
A sour grain-fermented liquid identified as kanjika.
gaNDUShadhAraNa (gandushadharana)
Holding a liquid in the mouth.
AsthApana (asthapana)
A classical decoction-enema procedure, equated with niruha.
The urine of the cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, elephant, horse, donkey and camel is generally described as sharp, hot, pungent and bitter, with a secondary salty taste; light; cleansing; and reducing kapha, vata, worms, medas, poison, gulma, piles, dara, kushtha, swelling, loss of appetite and pandu. It is also described as pleasing to the heart, kindling digestion, digestive and evacuative.
The commentary introduces the section on urine and states that the listed qualities are common to all eight kinds. Shodhana is explained as cleansing waste. The qualities are restated in verse, which the commentator says is not a needless repetition because they are being expressed metrically.
Key terms
mUtrANi (mutrani)
The eight kinds of animal urine discussed collectively in this passage.
shodhana
Cleansing, explained by the commentary as purification of waste.
dIpana-pAcana (dipana-pacana)
Kindling digestion and promoting the processing of food.
dara
A disease term in the supplied list whose precise contextual identification requires specialist review.
Cow urine is described as pungent, sharp and hot, yet not aggravating vata because it contains an alkaline quality. It is said to be light, to kindle agni, to support mental capacity, to increase pitta, and to reduce kapha and vata. The text directs its use in classical applications involving pain, gulma, abdominal disorders, distension, purgation, asthapana enema and other conditions considered manageable through urine preparations.
The commentary discusses which animal's urine the expression gomutra denotes. One view takes it as urine of the cow rather than the bull, based on its association with the female buffalo in the preceding list and the absence of a reading meaning buffalo bull; another view appeals to established usage. The teachers give a broader rule: for cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, urine from females is intended, whereas for elephants, horses, donkeys, camels and humans, urine from males is intended. Where a urine passage does not specify sex, urine of either sex may be accepted; where male or female is explicitly stated, only that specified sex is intended.
Key terms
gomUtra (gomutra)
Cow urine; the commentary debates and then specifies the sex of the animal intended.
sakShAratva (saksharatva)
Possession of an alkaline quality, offered as the reason it does not aggravate vata.
AsthApana (asthapana)
A classical evacuative enema procedure mentioned among the applications.
medhya
Described in this context as supporting mental capacity.
दुर्नामोदरशूलेषु कुष्ठमेहाविशुद्धिषु |
आनाहशोफगुल्मेषु पाण्डुरोगे च माहिषम् ||२२२||
Meaning of the śloka
Buffalo urine is indicated in the text for durnama, abdominal disorders and pain, kushtha, meha, incomplete cleansing, distension, swelling, gulma and pandu.
Goat urine is described as relieving cough and breathing difficulty, and reducing swelling, kamala and pandu. It has pungent and bitter qualities and is said to aggravate maruta slightly.
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ఛాగమూత్రమాహ- కాసశ్వాసాపహమిత్యాది||223||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary only identifies this verse as the statement concerning goat urine and adds no further explanation.
Key terms
chAga (chaga)
Goat urine in this passage.
kAsa-shvAsa (kasa-shvasa)
The paired classical conditions of cough and breathing difficulty.
kAmalA (kamala)
A classical disease category retained without imposing a modern diagnosis.
Sheep urine is described as useful in kasa, enlargement of the spleen, abdominal disorders, shvasa, wasting and retention of stool. It is said to contain alkaline qualities, to be bitter and pungent, hot, and reducing to vata.
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మైషమూత్రమాహ- కాసేత్యాది||224||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary identifies this verse as the account of sheep urine and offers no further explanation.
Key terms
Avika mUtra (avika mutra)
Sheep urine, the substance whose traditional properties are listed here.
Horse urine is described as kindling digestion, pungent, sharp and hot; reducing vata and disorders of the mind; reducing kapha; and recommended in worms and dadru.
Elephant urine is described as slightly bitter, salty, evacuative, reducing vata, aggravating pitta and sharp. The text directs its use in preparations involving kshara and in kilasa.
Donkey urine is described as reducing gara and disorders of the mind, sharp, relieving grahani disorders, kindling digestion, and reducing worms, vata and kapha.
Camel urine is described as alleviating swelling, kuṣṭha, abdominal disorders, unmāda, disorders of vāta, worms, and piles. The supplied verse is incomplete after this statement.
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కారభమూత్రమాహ- శోఫేత్యాది| కారభం ఔష్ట్రం|228|
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary introduces the statement about kārabha urine and explains that kārabha here means auṣṭra, or camel.
Key terms
kArabha (kārabha)
Relating to a camel; the commentary identifies this as camel urine.
shopha (śopha)
Swelling, listed among the conditions the substance is traditionally said to alleviate.
kuShTha (kuṣṭha)
A classical category of skin disorders in this passage.
unmAda (unmāda)
A classical condition of disturbed mental functioning listed in the verse.
Adhikarana ౧౯౦ (౨౨౮) · Śloka ౨౨౮
... మానుషం చ విషాపహం ||228||
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... मानुषं च विषापहम् ||२२८||
Meaning of the śloka
The surviving fragment states that human urine is also regarded as counteracting poison. The beginning of the verse is absent from the supplied passage.
The commentary introduces the statement about human urine and reads the combined sense as: camel urine and human urine counteract poison. It adds that, although human urine was not separately specified among the eight urines, the earlier expression ‘all of that’ was understood to include it, and it is therefore explained here.
Key terms
mAnuSha (mānuṣa)
Human; in context, human urine.
viShApaha (viṣāpaha)
Traditionally described here as counteracting poison.
aShTAnAM mUtrANAm (aṣṭānāṃ mūtrāṇām)
The group of eight urines discussed in the commentary.
tat sarvam
‘All of that’; the earlier wording through which the commentator considers human urine implicitly included.
The liquid substances have thus been described in summary. A person who understands their distinctions according to time and place is fit to administer them to the king.
The commentary says this concluding statement provides a basis for reasoning about liquid substances that have been mentioned as well as those not explicitly mentioned. In the phrase ‘one who knows the distinctions of place and time,’ the word ‘physician’ is understood but left unstated.
Key terms
dravadravyANi (dravadravyāṇi)
Liquid substances discussed in this chapter.
samAsAt (samāsāt)
In summary or concisely.
kAladeshavibhAgaj~ja (kāla-deśa-vibhāgajña)
One who understands distinctions arising from time and place; the commentary identifies this person as the physician.
UhArtha (ūhārtha)
For reasoned inference concerning both stated and unstated liquid substances.
Thus ends the forty-fifth chapter of the Sūtrasthāna in Dalhaṇa’s commentary on Suśruta called the Nibandhasaṅgraha. The supplied source preserves a spelling variant in the commentator’s name, written as Dalha(hal)ṇa.
Key terms
dravadravyavij~jAnIya (dravadravyavijñānīya)
Knowledge or examination of liquid substances; the chapter title.
sUtrasthAna (Sūtrasthāna)
The section of the Suśruta Saṃhitā in which this chapter occurs.
nibandhasa~ggraha (Nibandhasaṅgraha)
The title of Dalhaṇa’s commentary on the Suśruta Saṃhitā.