The chapter is called Hitahitiya because it is composed with beneficial and harmful things as its subject, or because such things are contained in it.
Key terms
hita-ahita
What is beneficial and what is harmful in the dietary and behavioural classifications of this chapter.
Adhikarana 2 (3) · Śloka 3
yadvāyōḥ pathyaṁ tat pittasyāpathyamityanēna hētunā na kiñciddravyamēkāntēna hitamahitaṁ vā'stīti kēcidācāryā bruvatē |
tattu na samyak; iha khalu yasmāddravyāṇi svabhāvataḥ saṁyōgataścaikāntahitānyēkāntāhitāni hitāhitāni ca bhavanti ||3||
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यद्वायोः पथ्यं तत् पित्तस्यापथ्यमित्यनेन हेतुना न किञ्चिद्द्रव्यमेकान्तेन हितमहितं वाऽस्तीति केचिदाचार्या ब्रुवते |
तत्तु न सम्यक्; इह खलु यस्माद्द्रव्याणि स्वभावतः संयोगतश्चैकान्तहितान्येकान्ताहितानि हिताहितानि च भवन्ति ||३||
Meaning of the śloka
Some teachers say that nothing is invariably beneficial or harmful, reasoning that what is suitable for vata may be unsuitable for pitta. The text rejects this as incomplete. It holds that substances, through their inherent nature and through combination, can be invariably beneficial, invariably harmful, or beneficial in one context and harmful in another.
The commentary first presents the opposing view. Sesame oil and kanjika are examples of things described as suitable for vata but unsuitable for pitta. In that view, no substance is continuously beneficial because it may be unsuitable for pitta, and none continuously harmful because it may suit vata. The conjunction translated as or in the source is explained as including both possibilities. The text then states its own position within the Sushruta tradition. Svabhava is a thing's persistent inherent nature, illustrated by heat in fire and fluidity in water. Samyoga is conjunction with one, two, three or more substances. The conjunction in the statement also includes inherent nature operating within combinations, together with place, time, quantity and processing insofar as these are connected with that nature.
Key terms
svabhAva (svabhava)
A substance's inherent and persistent nature, treated as one basis of its effect.
saMyoga (samyoga)
Combination or conjunction with one or more other substances.
Adhikarana 3 (4) · Śloka 4
tatra ,ēkāntahitāni jātisātmyāt salilaghr̥tadugdhaudanaprabhr̥tīni; ēkāntāhitāni tu dahanapacanamāraṇādiṣu pravr̥ttānyanalakṣāraviṣādīni, saṁyōgādaparāṇi viṣatulyāni bhavanti; hitāhitāni tu yadvāyōḥ pathyaṁ tat pittasyāpathyamiti ||4||
Among these, water, ghee, milk, cooked rice and similar substances are classed as invariably beneficial because they are congenial to the human species. Fire, alkali, poison and similar things used for burning, digestion or destruction are classed as invariably harmful. Other things become comparable to poison through combination. Context-dependent things are illustrated by what is suitable for vata being unsuitable for pitta.
Congeniality to the species means suitability to human beings. A cited definition calls a substance satmya when it remains compatible with the body and does not produce disturbance when used. The inclusive phrase after cooked rice covers barley, wheat and similar foods. Fire, alkali and poison are invariably harmful to healthy people, though for a patient they may be beneficial when selected according to the disease, dose and related considerations. Some read that other substances become harmful through combination with those same harmful things. On that interpretation, inherent nature, combination, place and the other associated factors can make them invariably harmful. The category beneficial and harmful has already been illustrated by the difference between vata and pitta suitability.
Key terms
jAtisAtmya (jatisatmya)
Congeniality or compatibility attributed to the human species as a whole.
ekAntahita (ekantahita)
Classified by the source as invariably or consistently beneficial.
ekAntAhita (ekantahita)
Classified by the source as invariably harmful, with clinical context acknowledged in the commentary.
A dietary group described as generally most suitable for all living beings is now taught. It includes red shali and the named varieties shashtika, kanguka, mukundaka, panduka, pitaka, pramodaka, kalaka, asanaka, pushpaka, kardamaka, shakunahrita, sugandhaka and kalama; nivara, kodrava, uddalaka, shyamaka, wheat, barley and bamboo grain; meat of ena, harina, kuranga, mrigamatrika, shvadamshtra and karala; the birds krakara, kapota, lava, tittiri, kapinjala, vartira and vartika; mudga, wild mudga, makushthaka, kalaya, masura, mangalya, chanaka, harenu, adhaki and satina; the greens chilli, vastuka, sunishannaka, jivanti, tanduliyaka and mandukaparni; cow ghee, saindhava salt, pomegranate and amalaki.
Red shali is known by that name. Shashtika is the white variety, kanguka the white-black variety and mukundaka the black variety. Panduka shali has a pale husk. Sugandhaka is devashali. Kalama is a shali variety locally called kalavi. These belong among awned grains. Nivara is a red-awned grain among the prasadi group and is locally called tulaji. Uddalaka is wild kodrava, and vainava is bamboo barley; these and the related grains are placed among inferior or minor grains. Ena is blackbuck, harina a copper-coloured deer, kuranga is locally called caturanga, mrigamatrika is the small, broad-bellied female caturanga, shvadamshtra is a fierce four-tusked animal locally called karkataka, and karala is musk deer. Tittiri is the dark partridge and kapinjala the pale partridge. Vartira is locally called gharghara and vartika is its variety. The deer beginning with ena are dry-land animal meats, and the birds beginning with lava are dry-land birds. Mangalya is a pale variety of masura. Harenu is a round kalaya and a variety of satina. Adhaki is tuvari, and satina is round. Mudga and the following pulses belong to the pulse-soup group. Chilli is field vastuka; vastuka is tankavastuka. Sunishannaka is shirivalika, though others identify it as a four-leaved plant. Jivanti is dodika and mandukaparni is brahmi. These belong among leafy vegetables. Cow ghee represents unctuous substances, saindhava the salts, and amalaki and pomegranate the fruits. The commentary addresses the objection that nivara, kodrava and uddalaka can increase vata: because that action is slight, they are still described as not producing dosha disturbance.
Key terms
pathyatama
Classified by the source as most generally suitable or wholesome.
jA~ggala (jangala)
Associated with dry-land habitat, here classifying certain animal and bird meats.
तथा ब्रह्मचर्यनिवातशयनोष्णोदकस्नाननिशास्वप्नव्यायामाश्चैकान्ततः पथ्यतमाः ||६||
Meaning of the śloka
Likewise, celibacy or sexual restraint, sleeping in a place free from wind, bathing with warm water, sleeping at night and exercise are classed as consistently most suitable.
After the dietary items, the text describes conduct. Brahmacarya here means abstaining from sexual relations. Exercise is considered most suitable for a healthy person when performed at the proper time and in an appropriate amount. The conjunction also includes conduct such as not suppressing natural urges.
Key terms
brahmacarya
Explained here specifically as abstention from sexual relations.
Adhikarana 6 (7) · Śloka 7
ēkāntahitānyēkāntāhitāni tu prāgupadiṣṭāni, hitāhitāni tu yadvāyōḥ pathyaṁ tat pittasyāpathyamiti ||7||
The things invariably beneficial and invariably harmful have already been taught. Context-dependent things have also been indicated by the statement that what is suitable for vata may be unsuitable for pitta.
The invariably beneficial items are water and the others, while the invariably harmful items are fire and the others. The conjunction shows that context-dependent items too were explained earlier, through the example of differing suitability for vata and pitta.
Other substances become comparable to poison through combination. Therefore milk should not be consumed at the same time with vine fruits, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sour fruits, salt, kulattha, oil cake, curd, oil, virohi, rice-flour preparations, dried vegetables, goat or sheep meat, alcoholic drink, jambu fruit, cilicima fish, monitor lizard or boar meat, whether these are taken together as a group or individually.
Calling these combinations poison-like places them in the invariably harmful category within the source's framework, since poison is held to be invariably harmful to a healthy person. Valliphala means fruits of creepers such as kushmanda; others identify pulses and similar pods. Kavaka is mushroom; some specify a mushroom variety called sukhanda. Karira is a bamboo shoot, and sour fruits include amrataka. Virohi may mean something whose sprout has been removed or sprouted gram and similar foods. Pishta is rice flour, jambava is jambu fruit, and cilicima is described as a scaled, red-eyed fish with red lines over its body, usually moving on land and called a land fish. Naikadhyam means not at one time. Every item from vine fruit through boar is prohibited with milk both collectively and separately. Some recensions add that non-dry-land meat is suitable for healthy people except those affected by disease, and explain non-dry-land meat as fivefold according to aquatic, marshy and related habitats.
Key terms
viShatulya (vishatulya)
Compared to poison within the source's classification because of a particular combination.
cilicimamatsya
A fish described in the commentary as scaled, red-eyed, red-striped and commonly moving on land.
Adhikarana 8 (9) · Śloka 9
rōgaṁ sātmyaṁ ca dēśaṁ ca kālaṁ dēhaṁ ca buddhimān |
avēkṣyāgnyādikān bhāvān rōgavr̥ttēḥ prayōjayēt ||9||
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रोगं सात्म्यं च देशं च कालं देहं च बुद्धिमान् |
अवेक्ष्याग्न्यादिकान् भावान् रोगवृत्तेः प्रयोजयेत् ||९||
Meaning of the śloka
A discerning physician should examine the disease, habituation, region, season, bodily condition, digestive fire and other relevant factors, and then administer an appropriate substance to the patient.
The passage shows that even something generally classed as incompatible may sometimes be used. Disease includes conditions such as abdominal enlargement. Satmya is said to be eightfold, based on species or birth group, patient, medicine, food, taste, region, season and water. Region includes marshy and other types; season is characterized by cold, heat or rain; and bodily condition may be stout, lean or intermediate. The factors beginning with digestive fire also include constitution, age, strength and mental resilience. Rogavrtti means the patient. Thus, a physician capable of inference, discrimination and reasoning may, after examining these factors, administer even a substance considered categorically harmful. The commentary gives historical examples involving a minute amount of poison in an abdominal disorder and sugarcane given after a black-snake bite.
Key terms
sAtmyam (satmyam)
Habituation or suitability considered through eight contextual bases listed by the commentary.
agnyAdikAn bhAvAn (agnyadikan bhavan)
Digestive fire and related patient factors such as constitution, age, strength and mental resilience.
Because diseases and the other relevant factors occur in many different states, physicians do not accept that a substance is invariably fixed as beneficial or harmful for a patient. They do, however, accept such a distinction for protecting a healthy person. When choosing between poison and milk for a healthy person, they describe milk as invariably beneficial and poison as invariably harmful. In the same way, Sushruta, understand water and other substances possessing properly combined tastes to be invariably beneficial for a healthy person, and not otherwise.
The many possible states of disease, habituation, region and the other factors prevent physicians from calling a substance always beneficial or always harmful in every patient. They do accept fixed classifications in the context of preserving health. Although the example speaks generally of choosing for one of two people, the intended subject is the healthy person: for that person physicians call milk invariably beneficial and poison invariably harmful. Likewise, the concluding statement about water and other substances applies to their use by a healthy person, not to use by someone who is ill.
Key terms
avasthAntarabAhulyAt (avasthantarabahulyat)
Because disease and contextual factors have many differing states.
ekAntahitatA (ekantahitata)
The classification of something as invariably beneficial within the stated context of protecting health.
The text next lists foods regarded as incompatible because of combination. Meat and related foods of domestic, marsh-dwelling and aquatic animals should not be eaten with newly sprouted grain, animal fat, honey, milk, jaggery or masha, whether these are taken together or separately. Rohini or jatuka greens should not be eaten with milk and honey; balaka with varuni and kulmasha; or kakamaci with pippali and marica. Nadibhanga greens, chicken and curd should not be combined. Honey should not be followed by hot water. Raw meats should not be eaten with pitta. Sura, krishara and payasa should not be combined with one another. Sesame shashkuli should not be taken with sauvira, fish with sugarcane products, kakamaci with jaggery, mulaka with honey, or boar with jaggery and honey. Mulaka, mango, jambu, shvavit, pig and godha are incompatible with milk, as are all fish, especially cilicima. Banana is not to be combined with tala fruit, milk, curd or buttermilk. Lakuca fruit is not to be combined with milk, curd or masha soup, nor eaten immediately before or after milk.
Both sprouted and de-sprouted new grain are included, and each named item is incompatible with the domestic and other meats whether used collectively or separately. Rohini is katuka greens and jatuka is paushkara greens. Balaka is a type of crane, varuni another name for liquor, and kulmasha boiled masha or similar grain. Nadibhanga is a green made from tender reed-like shoots, and chicken may be combined with neither one nor both of the other listed items. Pitta here means the dark portion attached to the liver. Krishara is gruel of sesame, rice and masha; payasa is rice cooked in milk; these and sura are incompatible in pairs as well as all three together. Sauvira is a type of sour fermented grain liquid. Sugarcane products include jaggery. Other witnesses read the sequence as kakamaci with jaggery, mulaka with honey, boar with milk, and mulaka with milk. Still others omit the milk relationship with boar and read kakamaci with jaggery, mulaka with honey, and boar; by carrying the word honey forward, they link it with both boar and kakamaci. Shvavit is identified as sehika. Cilicima is singled out to emphasize its incompatibility with milk even though all fish have already been included. Some manuscripts add a reading that lakuca should not be eaten with honey and ghee; although present in many current copies, it is absent from the older compilations and the commentator says it should not be accepted. The final phrase again supplies lakuca as the item not to be eaten before or after milk.
Key terms
saMyogAdahitAni (samyogadahitanI)
Foods classed by the source as harmful specifically because of their combination.
kRusharA (krishara)
A gruel prepared from sesame, rice and masha.
cilicimam
A fish singled out as especially incompatible with milk in the source.
The text next lists foods regarded as incompatible because of preparation. Pigeon fried in mustard oil should not be eaten. Kapinjala, peacock, lava, tittiri and godha should not be eaten when cooked over fuel of eranda wood and daruharidra, or cooked in eranda oil. Ghee kept for ten nights in a bronze vessel should not be consumed. Honey should not be taken with hot substances or in hot seasons. Kakamaci cooked in a vessel previously used to cook fish or ginger should not be eaten, nor upodika greens cooked with sesame paste, nor balaka fried in boar fat and eaten with coconut. Bhasa cooked on a spit over embers should also not be eaten.
Here karman means processing or preparation. The wording concerning eranda and daruharidra is read as cooking over a fire made from eranda and daruharidra wood. Others read only eranda-wood fire and explain it accordingly. Ten nights means that the ghee has remained for ten days and nights. Hot substances are those hot to the touch through fire or another cause, while a hot time means summer and autumn. In the fish- and ginger-cooking rule, paripacana means the cooking vessel. The balaka is forbidden with coconut after being fried in boar fat. Bhasa is described as a short-beaked gray kind of vulture, and angarashulya means pierced on a spit and cooked over embers.
Key terms
karmaviruddhAn (karmaviruddhan)
Foods regarded as incompatible because of their processing or method of preparation.
The text next lists incompatibility due to quantity. Honey and water, and honey and ghee, should not be consumed in equal measures. Two unctuous substances, honey with an unctuous substance, or water with an unctuous substance should especially not be taken when rainwater is used as the accompanying drink.
The commentary emphasizes that honey with an unctuous substance, or water with an unctuous substance, is especially not to be consumed with rainwater as the accompanying drink. With this passage the source has described five forms of incompatibility: by inherent nature, combination, time, processing and quantity.
Key terms
mAnaviruddhAn (manaviruddhan)
Substances regarded as incompatible because of the quantities in which they are combined.
AntarIkShodakAnupAnau (antarikshodakanupanau)
Taken with rainwater as the accompanying drink.
Adhikarana 13 (16) · Śloka 16
ata ūrdhvaṁ rasadvandvāni rasatō vīryatō vipākataśca viruddhāni vakṣyāmaḥ- tatra madhurāmlau rasavīryaviruddhau, madhuralavaṇau ca, madhurakaṭukau ca sarvataḥ, madhuratiktau rasavipākābhyāṁ, madhurakaṣāyau ca, amlalavaṇau rasataḥ, amlakaṭukau rasavipākābhyām, amlatiktāvamlakaṣāyau ca sarvataḥ, lavaṇakaṭukau rasavipākābhyāṁ, lavaṇatiktau lavaṇakaṣāyau ca sarvataḥ, kaṭutiktau rasavīryābhyāṁ kaṭukaṣāyau ca, tiktakaṣāyau rasataḥ ||16||
The text next classifies pairs of tastes as incompatible by taste, potency or post-digestive effect. Sweet and sour, and sweet and salty, are opposed by taste and potency. Sweet and pungent are opposed in all three respects. Sweet and bitter, and sweet and astringent, are opposed by taste and post-digestive effect. Sour and salty are opposed by taste. Sour and pungent are opposed by taste and post-digestive effect. Sour with bitter, and sour with astringent, are opposed in all three respects. Salty and pungent are opposed by taste and post-digestive effect. Salty with bitter, and salty with astringent, are opposed in all three respects. Pungent with bitter, and pungent with astringent, are opposed by taste and potency. Bitter and astringent are opposed by taste.
In this section, 'in all respects' means by taste, potency and post-digestive effect. The conjunction after sweet and salty carries forward opposition by taste and potency; after sweet and astringent it carries forward opposition by taste and post-digestive effect; and after pungent and astringent it carries forward opposition by taste and potency. The passage implies that the listed opposition does not prohibit established usable pairs such as curd with sugar, but applies among pairs that are otherwise unsuitable. Gayadasa and other teachers declare this entire passage non-authoritative. They reason that another passage prescribes consuming all tastes, beginning with sweet, for healthy people, while yet another prohibits consuming only a single taste. Brahmadeva, without deciding whether it is authoritative, reads and explains it. The present commentator includes it, and explains portions of it, in order to represent all views.
Key terms
rasadvandvAni (rasadvandvani)
Pairs of tastes evaluated for opposition by taste, potency and post-digestive effect.
sarvataH (sarvatah)
In all three respects: taste, potency and post-digestive effect.
Substances possessing qualities in excessive degrees should be avoided, including those that are excessively unctuous, dry, hot or cold, and other similar extremes.
The verse explains that even substances normally beneficial to a healthy person, such as buffalo milk, become categorically harmful when a quality is excessive. Taratamayogayukta means endowed with an extreme degree of unctuousness or another quality. Thus buffalo milk, being more unctuous than cow milk, is to be avoided by a healthy person with balanced digestive fire, though the commentary says it may be used by an ill person with sharp digestive fire. The conjunction is also understood to include use of substances that are exceptionally wholesome, life-promoting or fertility-promoting, since these are held to be invariably beneficial; other substances possessing extreme qualities are held inherently and invariably harmful. 'And similar' includes qualities associated with potency such as slimy, clear or non-slimy, penetrating and soft, as well as heavy and light potency. Others say it includes every quality not already mentioned.
Key terms
taratamayogayuktAn (taratamayogayuktan)
Possessing a quality such as unctuousness, dryness, heat or cold to an excessive degree.
Items such as those described as incompatible because of their virya are invariably harmful. The remaining items should be understood as beneficial in some circumstances and harmful in others.
The verse summarizes the preceding teaching. Virya may denote the eight qualities beginning with unctuousness, or the twenty qualities together with the six tastes, since virya is defined as that by which a substance acts. The broad wording includes all incompatibilities stated in other treatises. Another interpretation derives from 'and so forth' the incompatibilities involving place, time, quantity and other factors taught elsewhere. Remaining foods, such as masha, are conditionally beneficial or harmful because they aggravate one dosha while reducing another.
Key terms
vIryataH (viryatah)
On account of operative qualities; interpreted as the eight principal qualities or more broadly the twenty qualities and six tastes.
The diseases named as examples include impotence, blindness, visarpa, dakodara, eruptions, insanity and bhagandara. Weakness may affect the physical seats of the senses or their functional powers. Mention of taste excludes treating the inherent virya of a substance itself as the incompatibility; thus the commentary allows warmed milk, explaining that the acquired heat does not make milk harmful because milk's sweet taste and cooling virya oppose it, and similarly allows warm water. An alternative reading has 'taste, virya and the others,' which also requires avoiding incompatibility of the two vipakas called heavy and light. The verse summarizes this chapter: the taste and virya incompatibility applies specifically to the substances declared incompatible here, rather than automatically to unlisted substances.
Key terms
indriyadaurbalyam
Weakness either of the bodily seats of the senses or of their sensory powers.
यत्किञ्चिद्दोषमुत्क्लेश्य भुक्तं कायान्न निर्हरेत् |
रसादिष्वयथार्थं वा तद्विकाराय कल्पते ||२०||
Meaning of the śloka
Anything eaten that aggravates a dosha but does not expel it upward or downward, or that acts improperly upon rasa and the other dhatus, becomes a cause of disorder.
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na kēvalaṁ viruddhabhōjanamēva vyādhihētuḥ, api tu hitāhitādīnyapīti darśayannāha- yadityādi| yatkiñcidityanēna aśēṣamēvāhitaṁ saṅgr̥hītam| dōṣaṁ vātādikam| utklēśya prakōpya| na nirharēditi madanaphalatrivr̥tādivadūrdhvamadhō vā nākarṣēt, tadvikārāya kalpata iti sambandhanīyam; kalpatē sampadyatē| na kēvalaṁ dōṣakaramēva vyādhayē bhavati, api tu rasādidhātuduṣṭikaramapi vyādhayē bhavatītyāha- rasādiṣvityādi| rasādiṣvayathārthaṁ vēti rasādidhātuṣvayathārthaṁ prayōjanaviruddhaṁ rasādīnāṁ jīvanādiprayōjanavirōdhi rasādidhātudūṣaṇakaramityarthaḥ| dōṣaduṣṭikāritvēna dhātudūṣaṇakaratvaṁ na labhyatē, viśiṣṭaśaktitvāddravyāṇāṁ; tathāhi- kāniciddōṣaduṣṭikarāṇi, kāniciddhātuduṣṭikarāṇīti; tāni cātra na kathayiṣyāmō vistarabhayāt| anyē tu vyākhyānayanti- rasādiṣviti ādiśabdādvīryavipākayōrgrahaṇaṁ; tēna rasavīryavipākēṣu yadbhuktaṁ sadayathārthamanarthakaraṁ vā bhavati, tadvikārasya kalpatē| jaijjhaṭācāryastvamuṁ ślōkamanārṣaṁ kathayati, gayadāsācāryēṇa cāyamaṅgīkr̥taḥ, atō'smābhirapi likhitō vyākhyātaśca||20||
Meaning of the commentary
The verse shows that incompatible food is not the only cause of disease; conditionally beneficial or harmful foods may also cause it. 'Anything' includes every unsuitable substance. Utkleshya means aggravating vata or another dosha. Failure to expel means that, unlike madanaphala or trivrit, it does not draw the dosha upward or downward. A substance can also cause disease by specifically impairing rasa and the other dhatus and opposing their life-supporting purposes. Because substances have specific powers, some chiefly impair doshas and others dhatus; the details are omitted to avoid excessive length. Another explanation takes 'rasa and the others' to mean rasa, virya and vipaka: food that acts improperly or harmfully in any of these respects causes disorder. Jejjata calls the verse non-authoritative, while Gayadasa accepts it; Dalhana therefore records and explains it.
Key terms
utkleshya
Having excited or aggravated a dosha without subsequently expelling it.
The purgation should be appropriate to the particular disease caused by incompatible food; for example, purgation suited to kushtha counters kushtha arising in this way, and the principle applies similarly elsewhere. Emesis or purgation is used when doshas are abundant and the patient has adequate vitality; shamana is for other cases. Shamana is defined as that which neither expels balanced doshas nor excites them, but brings aggravated doshas toward balance. Prior beneficial use means first taking something that counters the expected harmful disorder, with gold cited in relation to poison. Another reading has 'prior wholesome food' instead of 'prior beneficial use.'
Key terms
shamanam
A pacifying measure that brings aggravated doshas toward balance without expelling them or disturbing balanced doshas.
Adhikarana 19 (22) · Śloka 22
sātmyatō'lpatayā vā'pi dīptāgnēstaruṇasya ca |
snigdhavyāyāmabalināṁ viruddhaṁ vitathaṁ bhavēt ||22||
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सात्म्यतोऽल्पतया वाऽपि दीप्ताग्नेस्तरुणस्य च |
स्निग्धव्यायामबलिनां विरुद्धं वितथं भवेत् ||२२||
Meaning of the śloka
An incompatible substance may fail to produce its expected harmful effect when it has become habitual, is taken in a small quantity, or is consumed by a young person with strong agni and by those made strong through unctuous intake and exercise.
The verse explains why some people who consume incompatible food do not develop the corresponding disorders. One grammatical interpretation joins strength with unctuous intake and exercise: persons strengthened by eating unctuous substances have powerful agni, so the incompatible food proves ineffective. Others take balinam as a separate group, yielding people who are unctuous, exercise regularly, or are strong. Some place after this verse another stanza saying that one accustomed to exercise, strong, a child, unctuous, possessing agni, or a large eater does not acquire such disorders because of habituation or small quantity. The commentary rejects that additional stanza because none of the commentators read it.
Key terms
sAtmyataH (satmyatah)
Because the substance has become compatible through habituation.
The qualities of winds are now described. The east wind is slightly sweet, unctuous and saline, heavy, produces vidaha and increases rakta and pitta. It especially increases disease in wounded persons, those with injuries or poisoning, and those dominated by kapha. It is praised for people with vata conditions, fatigue or depleted kapha. The south wind is sweet, non-burning, light and has an astringent secondary taste; it is considered the best, beneficial to the eyes, strengthening, calming to rakta and pitta, and does not aggravate vata. The west wind is clear, dry, rough, forceful and removes unctuousness and strength; it is sharp, dries kapha and medas, depletes the body and may rapidly destroy vitality. The north wind is unctuous, soft, sweet, cooling and has an astringent secondary taste, without aggravating the doshas. It moistens and strengthens those in their normal state and is especially valued for people who are debilitated, depleted or afflicted by poison.
The directions can make even otherwise beneficial wind harmful. Another explanation says south and north winds are beneficial because they reduce doshas, while east and west winds are harmful, which is why their qualities conclude the chapter. A variant says the east wind especially increases moisture in wounds rather than disease. Khara means violently forceful. Other authorities omit the entire wind passage because conjunction with direction is out of place in a discussion of foods. Gayadasa transmits this chapter in a different order, omitting some earlier material and inserting another list of incompatible combinations. That list prohibits taking milk together with, immediately before or after, vine fruits, fungi, karira, sour fruits, salt, kulattha, oil cake, curd, sesame oil, dry vegetables, goat or sheep meat, alcohol, jambu, chilichima fish, monitor lizard or boar. It also prohibits pigeon fried in mustard oil; kapinjala, peacock, lava, tittiri or monitor lizard cooked with castor wood or fire, or with castor oil; equal measures of honey and ghee; honey followed by rainwater; ghee kept ten nights in a bronze vessel; heated honey or honey with something hot; curd with alcohol; meat cooked with bile, and raw meat even alone; sura, krishara and payasa together; sesame cakes with sauvira; honey, ghee, fish, monitor lizard or prishata meat with buttermilk; monitor lizard with honey; fish or prishata meat with kshaudrasava; fish with maireya, madhvika or balopodaki; sugarcane products with fish; ghee, jaggery, kakamachi, honey and radish together; boar with honey; chicken with curd; balaka with alcohol; cooked upodika with sesame paste; pippali with fish fat; and eating payasa while anointed with priyangu. Gayadasa then places passages beginning with graded combinations, which the commentary does not reproduce because they match earlier passages.
Key terms
mArutaH (marutah)
Wind, whose qualities are classified here according to its direction.