The seasons are six periods of two months, counted from shishira to hemanta, or alternatively from varsha to pravrit. Charya means conduct or how one lives during them. Another explanation derives the word from a root expressing movement and eating, so that it includes both diet and activity. A variant title is also explained as conduct regulated by the teaching for the seasons. The commentator notes that seasonal conduct will also be discussed under the maintenance of health.
Key terms
RutucaryA (ṛtucaryā)
Conduct, diet and activity appropriate to the seasons.
कालो हि नाम (भगवान् ) स्वयम्भुरनादिमध्यनिधनः |
अत्र रसव्यापत्सम्पत्ती जीवितमरणे च मनुष्याणामायत्ते |
स सूक्ष्मामपि कलां न लीयत इति कालः, सङ्कलयति कालयति वा भूतानीति कालः ||३||
Meaning of the śloka
Time is described as self-existent, without beginning, middle or end. The deterioration and proper development of rasas, and human life and death, depend on it. The passage explains the name kala through its never resting even for the smallest part of time, and through its gathering together or bringing beings to their end.
The seasons are parts of time, so time is first explained through its nature, action and proposed derivations. Self-existent means not produced by anyone; beginning, middle and end refer to origination, the intervening phase and destruction. Rasa means tastes beginning with sweet; others take it to mean substances possessing those tastes. Their deterioration and proper development depend on time, as do life and death; because life depends on arising, origination is also understood to depend on time. The commentator raises an objection: how can a single time produce opposite results, just as one fire does not produce both heat and cold? The answer takes time here through its seasonal conditions, differing in cold and other qualities. Appropriate and inappropriate conjunction with these conditions can produce opposed effects. In the first derivation, time never remains still even for a small part because it moves. A variant instead explains it as what is counted. Other derivations describe time as gathering beings into one through dissolution, joining them with pleasure and pain, shortening their span, or bringing them near death. Another reading again connects kala with counting.
Key terms
kAlaH (kālaḥ)
Time, also considered through its different seasonal conditions.
svayambhUH (svayambhūḥ)
Self-existent, explained as not produced by anyone.
rasavyApatsampattI (rasavyāpatsampattī)
Deterioration and proper development of tastes or, alternatively, taste-bearing substances.
Through its particular movement, the venerable sun divides time, expressed as the year, into eye-blink intervals, kashthas, kalas, muhurtas, days and nights, fortnights, months, seasons, ayanas, years and yugas.
Time is described as having the form or body of the year. Mention of the sun may include the moon, because of its role in the night and related divisions. Alternatively, the sun alone is intended, its rays being associated with cold, heat and rain, and its rising, setting and other movements marking divisions of time. The commentator explains why the year, rather than a single day or season, represents time here: individual days and seasons differ greatly in cold, heat and rain, whereas a year encompasses the range of qualities found in days and seasons, including those of other years.
तत्र लघ्वक्षरोच्चारणमात्रोऽक्षिनिमेषः, पञ्चदशाऽक्षिनिमेषाः काष्ठा, त्रिंशत्काष्ठाः कला, विंशतिकलो मुहूर्तः कलादशभागश्च, त्रिंशन्मुहूर्तमहोरात्रं, पञ्चदशाहोरात्राणि पक्षः, स च द्विविधः- शुक्लः कृष्णश्च, तौ मासः ||५||
Meaning of the śloka
An akshinimesha is the time needed to pronounce a short syllable. Fifteen such intervals make a kashtha; thirty kashthas make a kala; twenty kalas and one tenth of a kala make a muhurta. Thirty muhurtas make a day and night. Fifteen days and nights make a fortnight, which is of two kinds, bright and dark; the two together form a month.
A short syllable is exemplified by a, produced through the organs of articulation. The commentator asks how these speech-based measures agree with the earlier attribution of time divisions to the sun. The answer is that practitioners of astral measurement also establish the divisions through the sun's motion and the shadow of a gnomon; this familiar method was left unstated. A tenth of a kala is three kashthas. The reading that gives thirty kalas for a muhurta is rejected as having been criticized at length in other expositions. Naming the bright fortnight before the dark indicates a month ending at the new moon; others reverse their order.
Key terms
akShinimeShaH (akṣinimeṣaḥ)
An eye-blink interval defined here by pronunciation of a short syllable.
muhUrtaH (muhūrtaḥ)
A time division given here as twenty and one tenth kalas.
There are twelve months beginning with Magha. Pairing the months produces six seasons: shishira, vasanta, grishma, varsha, sharad and hemanta. Tapas and Tapasya form shishira; Madhu and Madhava form vasanta; Shuci and Shukra form grishma; Nabhas and Nabhasya form varsha; Isha and Urja form sharad; and Sahas and Sahasya form hemanta.
The older month names are equated as follows: Tapas with Magha and Tapasya with Phalguna; Madhu with Chaitra and Madhava with Vaishakha; Shuci with Jyeshtha and Shukra with Ashadha. Others reverse the last pair's identifications. Nabhas is Shravana and Nabhasya Bhadrapada; Isha is Ashvina and Urja Kartika; Sahas is Margashirsha and Sahasya Pausha. This sequence beginning with shishira is explained in relation to rasa and strength, and a comparable arrangement in Charaka is cited for that purpose. Another interpretation restricts this arrangement to the region north of the Ganga; the commentator records that Gayadasa criticized that view in several ways.
त एते शीतोष्णवर्षलक्षणाश्चन्द्रादित्ययोः कालविभागकरत्वादयने द्वे भवतो दक्षिणमुत्तरं च |
तयोर्दक्षिणं वर्षाशरद्धेमन्ताः; तेषु भगवानाप्यायते सोमः, अम्ललवणमधुराश्च रसा बलवन्तो भवन्ति, उत्तरोत्तरं च सर्वप्राणिनां बलमभिवर्धते |
उत्तरं च शिशिरवसन्तग्रीष्माः, तेषु भगवानाप्यायतेऽर्कः, तिक्तकषायकटुकाश्च रसा बलवन्तो भवन्ति, उत्तरोत्तरं च सर्वप्राणिनां बलमुपहीयते ||७||
Meaning of the śloka
The six seasons, characterized by cold, heat and rain, form two ayanas, southern and northern, through the division of time associated with the moon and sun. Varsha, sharad and hemanta constitute the southern ayana. During these, Soma grows stronger, sour, salty and sweet tastes become prominent in sequence, and the strength of living beings progressively increases. Shishira, vasanta and grishma constitute the northern ayana. During these, the sun grows stronger, bitter, astringent and pungent tastes become prominent in sequence, and the strength of living beings progressively decreases.
Cold is first attributed to wind, heat to the sun and rain to the moon; others attribute both cold and rain to the moon. The southern ayana is associated with lunar time and the northern with solar time. In the southern sequence, the moon and the respective tastes become progressively stronger, as does the strength of living beings. In the northern sequence, the sun and the respective tastes grow stronger while bodily strength declines. Although the earlier list began with the northern sequence, discussing the southern one first here indicates its distinction as visarga, a period associated with imparting strength to living beings.
Key terms
dakShiNAyanaM (dakṣiṇāyanam)
The southern ayana, comprising varsha, sharad and hemanta here.
uttarAyaNaM (uttarāyaṇam)
The northern ayana, comprising shishira, vasanta and grishma here.
visarga
The imparting or nourishing phase associated here with increasing strength.
The commentator identifies the cool-rayed one as the moon and Vivasvan as the sun. Vayu is described as nourishing the world in association with the moon and drying it in association with the sun. Through this, rasas develop at the appropriate times, and living beings are sustained and increased.
The two ayanas together make a year. Five such years receive the name yuga. According to some, time revolving like a wheel, from the smallest nimesha interval through the yuga, is called the wheel of time.
Both ayanas together, rather than either alone, constitute the year. The repetition clarifies that the twelve months must occur in their ordered seasonal sequence; a disconnected or rearranged collection of months is not what is intended. Five years form a yuga in the technical usage of this passage. The commentator distinguishes this convention from the four other yugas beginning with Krita.
Key terms
yugam
A five-year period in the technical convention used here.
For considering the accumulation, aggravation and subsiding of doshas, this chapter uses six seasons in the sequence varsha, sharad, hemanta, vasanta, grishma and pravrit. They are two-month periods beginning with Bhadrapada: Bhadrapada and Ashvayuja form varsha; Kartika and Margashirsha form sharad; Pausha and Magha form hemanta; Phalguna and Chaitra form vasanta; Vaishakha and Jyeshtha form grishma; and Ashadha and Shravana form pravrit.
This arrangement concerns shodhana and the seasonal course of doshas. The commentator asks why it was not given first, since doshas cause disease. One answer is that the earlier arrangement explains the development of tastes that influence doshas; another is that the preceding chapter had already named seasons such as shishira. Pravrit means the first period of rainfall, while varsha is its continuation. Aggravation is stronger than accumulation, and shodhana is described as its treatment; a similar ordering in Charaka is cited in that context. Thus the earlier calendar concerns rasa and strength, while this one concerns accumulation and related dosha stages with particular emphasis on shodhana. Another interpretation assigns this calendar to regions south of the Ganga, but Gayadasa's criticism of that interpretation is recorded.
Key terms
prAvRuD (prāvṛḍ)
The first period of rains, distinguished from their continuation.
saMshodhana (saṃśodhana)
Eliminative treatment, the principal therapeutic context of this seasonal arrangement.
The passage explains seasonal accumulation and aggravation of the doshas. In varsha, plants are young and of limited potency, and waters are unsettled and laden with impurities from the earth. When consumed by beings whose bodies are damp and whose agni is obstructed by cold-associated vata, under cloudy skies and on water-soaked ground, these undergo vidaha and lead to pitta accumulation. In sharad, as clouds thin and mud dries, the sun's rays liquefy that accumulation and disorders associated with pitta arise. By hemanta, the plants have matured in potency and strength, and waters are settled, unctuous and heavy. When consumed by bodies supported by frosty winds under a mild sun, without vidaha, their unctuousness, coldness, heaviness and coating quality lead to shleshma accumulation. In vasanta, the sun's rays liquefy this accumulation and disorders associated with shleshma arise in bodies that remain somewhat stiff. In summer, the same plants and waters become depleted, dry and very light. Their dryness and lightness contribute to vata accumulation in bodies dried by the sun. At the onset of rains, with earth and bodies thoroughly damp, cold winds and rain stir that accumulated vata and give rise to vata-associated disorders. This is the account of the causes of dosha accumulation and aggravation.
Plants are exemplified by wheat, chickpeas and rice. 'Young' need not mean freshly harvested: older grains may absorb moisture, soften, swell and become capable of sprouting, with reduced potency, while vegetables may actually be new. Virya is explained as strength, though others take it specifically as cold or hot potency. Unsettled water is newly formed and unconditioned, or, in another explanation, turbid. Its impurities include grass, leaves and decomposing remains. Vidaha is explained as sour transformation during digestion. The vata that impairs agni is specifically bodily vata aggravated by cold, not simply an external cold wind. The commentator contrasts this with external cold closing the pores and retaining internal warmth. Sanchaya means increase in an accumulated mass, or, according to others, increase in the dosha's own site. Seasonal cold prevents the accumulated pitta from becoming aggravated immediately; autumn sunlight then liquefies it and pitta disorders arise. Mature potency means developed capacity, while strength-bearing means promoting bodily growth, so these descriptions are not redundant. Settled waters are clear, or free of earth-derived impurities. Frost-bearing wind is said to support the body. Avidagdha is explained as sweet transformation rather than sour transformation. Cold keeps accumulating kapha congealed; spring sunlight melts it like solidified ghee rather than drying and pacifying it, because the sun is not yet sufficiently intense and kapha is abundant. Examples of resulting disorders include aversion to food and hridayotkleda. Summer depletion is explained as loss of heaviness, and dryness as absence of unctuousness. The commentator addresses why cold vata can accumulate in hot summer: dryness is predominant among its qualities, and the extreme dryness of the consumed substances accounts for accumulation. Early rains then provoke the accumulated vata, with examples such as pricking pain and movement in the abdominal region. Finally, although subsiding of doshas was also promised, it is deferred so that the discussion of treatment for aggravation is not interrupted. Accumulation and aggravation are therefore explained together first.
Key terms
sa~jcayaH (sañcayaḥ)
Dosha accumulation; alternatively increase in its own site.
vidAha (vidāha)
Sour digestive transformation in this commentary.
prakopa
Aggravation following accumulation in the seasonal sequence.
niHsArAH (niḥsārāḥ)
Depleted, specifically explained here as lacking heaviness.
तत्र वर्षाहेमन्तग्रीष्मेषु सञ्चितानां दोषाणां शरद्वसन्तप्रावृट्सु च प्रकुपितानां निर्हरणं कर्तव्यम् ||१२||
Meaning of the śloka
The text prescribes removal of the doshas that accumulate in varsha, hemanta and grishma when they become aggravated in sharad, vasanta and pravrit respectively.
Nirharana means drawing out through procedures such as vamana. The wording is taken to reserve shodhana for a large dosha burden; a moderate burden calls for pachana and related measures, while a small burden calls for langhana, restraint of thirst and seasonal conduct. The repeated naming of seasons restricts the ordinary timing: applying such procedures in seasons such as summer is described as capable of causing complications or death. An exception is nevertheless recognized for rapidly progressing conditions treatable by shodhana. Repeating the accumulation seasons also signals the diet and conduct prescribed for each season under healthy living. The commentator places seasonal shodhana in the second month of the relevant season: Margashirsha for pitta, Chaitra for kapha and Shravana for vata, regarding these as moderate periods and citing a three-month spacing.
Key terms
nirharaNaM (nirharaṇam)
Removal or drawing out of the aggravated doshas.
bahudoSha (bahudoṣa)
A large dosha burden, distinguished from moderate and small burdens.
By the natural course of the seasons, pitta-associated disorders subside in hemanta, shleshma-associated disorders in summer, and vata-associated disorders in sharad. Thus accumulation, aggravation and subsiding have been explained.
The natural course refers to seasonal characteristics such as cold, heat and rain. The commentator raises the objection that if doshas subside naturally, medical teaching would be unnecessary. The response preserves a distinction between natural cessation and bringing about a different subsequent condition: the teaching contributes to a sequence unlike the accumulating or aggravated one. The analogy is a pot and a hammer: even where destruction is understood as natural, the hammer remains effective in producing the different condition of shards.
Key terms
upashamaH (upaśamaḥ)
Subsiding or pacification in the seasonal account.
Within a day and night, the text identifies a resemblance to vasanta in the forenoon, grishma at midday, pravrit in the afternoon, varsha at dusk, sharad at midnight and hemanta before dawn. The daily cycle, like the year, is to be understood through cold, heat and rain-related characteristics and the accumulation, aggravation and subsiding of doshas.
The yearly pattern is extended by analogy to the daily cycle. Astral specialists explain the sharad-like character of midnight, despite the lack of sunlight, by the sun's position below the terrestrial globe; physicians explain it through the nature of the time and the influence of food. Daily accumulation and related changes are addressed through the preventive daily practices discussed elsewhere, such as cleaning the teeth. The commentator asks why seasonal changes remain necessary if the same stages occur every day. Daily accumulation and aggravation have comparatively slight causes, arising from the day's thermal and related qualities associated with moon, sun and wind, and subside through relatively slight preventive measures. Seasonal changes, by contrast, involve sustained alterations in substances, tastes, qualities, potency, vipaka and prabhava under their differing courses. They therefore have larger causes and require correspondingly stronger measures such as shodhana.
Key terms
Ahnikau (āhnikau)
The daily forms of accumulation and aggravation, contrasted with seasonal forms.
When the seasons are undisturbed, plants and waters are also undisturbed. When used, they are described as supporting pranas, life, strength, capacity and ojas.
The preceding account of dosha accumulation and related stages concerns undisturbed seasons. Pranas are the vital principles beginning with Agni and Soma. Ayus is described through the conjunction of the body, senses, sattva, self and mind. Bala concerns vigour and bodily development; virya means capacity; and ojas is explained as the unctuous essence of the seven dhatus situated in the heart.
Key terms
ojaH (ojaḥ)
The unctuous essence of the seven dhatus, described here as situated in the heart.
Seasonal disturbance means a reversal or abnormality of cold, heat, wind and rain. Adrishta is interpreted here as adharma shared by the population and acting as the impelling cause. Abnormality includes deficiency, inappropriate occurrence and excess, making plants and waters unsuitable. An alternative arrangement of the wording makes a causal distinction explicit: adharma is the impelling cause, while the actual abnormalities of weather are the direct agents affecting plants and water.
Key terms
adRuShTa (adṛṣṭa)
An unseen cause, interpreted here through collectively shared adharma.
viparItAni (viparītāni)
Abnormal through deficiency, inappropriate occurrence or excess.
This gives the general principle of treatment for disturbances of the seasons. The word avyapanna, unimpaired, applies to both plants and water. The commentator consequently identifies suitable plants as previously stored plants that remain unimpaired, and suitable water as unimpaired water that has been boiled. Others read a longer passage beginning with the instruction to carry out treatments using previously stored plants whose potency has not been damaged. The commentator says that this reading is exceedingly unfamiliar and therefore does not reproduce it in full.
Key terms
avyApannAH (avyāpannāḥ)
Unimpaired; applies here to both plants and water.
anupahatavIryAbhiH (anupahatavīryābhiḥ)
With potency undamaged, describing the plants in the alternative reading.
कदाचिदव्यापन्नेष्वपि ऋतुषु कृत्याभिशापरक्षःक्रोधाधर्मैरुपध्वस्यन्ते जनपदाः, विषौषधिपुष्पगन्धेन वा वायुनोपनीतेनाक्रम्यते यो देशस्तत्र दोषप्रकृत्यविशेषेण कासश्वासवमथुप्रतिश्यायशिरोरुग्ज्वरैरुपतप्यन्ते, ग्रहनक्षत्रचरितैर्वा, गृहदारशयनासनयानवाहनमणिरत्नोपकरणगर्हितलक्षणनिमित्तप्रादुर्भावैर्वा ||१९||
Meaning of the śloka
Sometimes, even when the seasons are undisturbed, populations are afflicted by causes the text identifies as kritya, curses, the anger of rakshasas and adharma. In a region reached by wind carrying the scent of flowers of poisonous and other plants, people are described as suffering from cough, difficult breathing, vomiting, pratishyaya, headache and fever without distinction of dosha constitution. The passage also attributes affliction to the movements or conditions of planets and nakshatras, or to the appearance of inauspicious signs associated with houses, wives, beds, seats, conveyances, riding animals, mani, valuable objects and implements.
The commentator introduces causes of illness other than seasonal disturbance and stresses that kadachit means sometimes, not always. Kritya is explained as a particular female rakshasa produced by the hostile ritual of an angered practitioner of mantras. Others distinguish kritya as a hostile rite capable of destroying an entire realm, whereas abhicara destroys a single person. Abhishapa means a curse uttered by a teacher, siddha or similar person. Rakshasas are described as beings of the Heti and Praheti lineages who delight in violence; their anger is rakshahkrodha. Adharma means misconduct of body, speech and mind. Janapada here means the people, and upadhvasyante means that they are afflicted. The floral scent is explained as the scent of flowers of poisonous and other plants, brought nearby by the wind and associated with cough and difficult breathing; suvilinda trees and others are named among the plants. An alternative reading lists cough, difficult breathing, pratishyaya, loss of smell, dizziness, headache, fever and masurika. Its interpreters associate the first group, through headache, with wind entering the nostrils, and fever and masurika with wind reaching the tactile sense organ. Planetary activity is explained as the movement of planets such as Saturn in unfavourable positions. Nakshatra activity includes disturbance of a person's birth nakshatra by meteors and similar events. The final compound refers to illnesses arising in connection with unfavourable signs in the listed objects or persons. The commentator identifies dara as wives, shayana as a bed, asana as a seat, yana as a palanquin, chariot or similar conveyance, vahana as an elephant, horse or similar riding animal, and mani as crystal and similar objects. In one grammatical explanation, everything from houses through mani is collectively called ratna, valued possessions, thereby avoiding redundancy between mani and ratna. Others distinguish mani as prized particular parts of snakes and other creatures, ratna as rubies and other gems, and upakarana as pots, cooking vessels, winnowing baskets and other utensils. Alternatively, houses and the other listed things themselves are the upakarana. A further textual reading omits the words for houses, wives and causal occasion, retaining the appearance of inauspicious signs in beds, seats, conveyances, riding animals, mani, ratna and implements.
Key terms
janapadAH (janapadāḥ)
Populations or people, as explicitly explained here.
adharmaH (adharmaḥ)
Misconduct of body, speech and mind in the commentary.
pratishyAya (pratiśyāya)
The nasal disorder named among the afflictions.
gandhAj~jAna (gandhājñāna)
Failure to perceive smell, included in the alternative reading.
तत्र, स्थानपरित्यागशान्तिकर्मप्रायश्चित्तमङ्गलजपहोमोपहारेज्याञ्जलिनमस्कारतपोनियम- दयादानदीक्षाभ्युपगमदेवताब्राह्मणगुरुपरैर्भवितव्यम्, एवं साधु भवति ||२०||
Meaning of the śloka
In such circumstances, the text directs people to leave the affected place and devote themselves to pacificatory rites, expiation, auspicious observances, recitation, fire offerings, offerings, sacrifice, joining the hands in reverence, salutations, austerity, disciplined observances, compassion, giving, initiation and acceptance of instruction, together with devotion to deities, Brahmanas and teachers. It states that well-being results from proceeding in this way.
The commentator presents these as general measures for illnesses attributed to seasonal disturbance and related causes. Because seasonal disturbance is attributed here to adharma, the proposed treatment is daivavyapashraya, recourse to religious or ritual measures. Shanti means mastery of the senses, or alternatively worship and similar acts performed with Vedic mantras. Prayashchitta means observances such as Chandrayana prescribed in remembered religious teaching to quiet the effects of past actions. Another explanation derives it from tapas and firm resolve, describing expiation as austerity joined with determination. Mangala includes wearing auspicious plants and mani. Japa is repeated recitation of Rik, Yajus and Saman preceded by Om. Homa is described by large numerical designations such as laksha, koti and prayuta. Upahara means presenting cows, horses and similar offerings to deities and others; another interpretation is an offering to deities that includes an animal. Ijya means sacrifice. Anjali means reverently cupping or joining the hands. Namaskara is bodily, verbal and mental homage to deities, twice-born persons and teachers. Tapas includes fasting and other practices of austerity; niyama means prescribed disciplines such as silence. Daya is compassion for living beings, and dana is giving wealth according to one's means. Diksha means receiving a mantra or similar instruction from a teacher; abhyupagama means accepting the teacher's statements and similar instruction. The qualifier para, devoted to, is to be connected separately with each item beginning with leaving the place. The concluding expression means that well-being follows.
Key terms
daivavyapAshrayaM (daivavyapāśrayam)
Recourse to religious or ritual measures as the treatment category used here.
prAyashcittaM (prāyaścittam)
Expiatory observance, alternatively explained through austerity and firm resolve.
dayA (dayā)
Compassion for living beings.
dIkShA (dīkṣā)
Receiving a mantra or similar instruction from a teacher.
In hemanta, a cold north wind blows and the quarters are filled with dust and smoke. The sun is obscured by frost or mist, and bodies of water are bound by cold. Crows, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, rams and elephants are lively. Rodhra, priyangu and punnaga are in flower in this season called hima.
After describing pacificatory and other measures for disturbed seasons, the text turns to the signs of seasons proceeding normally. In hemanta, among the six seasons, the wind is called northern because it arises in the north. Rajas means dust, and akula means filled or pervaded. Himanaddha means joined with hima, cold or frost. Darpita means delighted or lively. Dhvanksha is the crow, khanga is the rhinoceros, and urabhra is the ram. Punnaga is identified as nagakeshara, and himasahvaya refers to hemanta.
Key terms
himasAhvaye (himasāhvaye)
In the season called hima, identified by the commentary as hemanta.
punnAga (punnāga)
A flowering tree identified here as nagakeshara.
darpitA (darpitā)
Lively or delighted, describing the listed animals.
In shishira the cold is greater, and the quarters are filled with wind and rain. The remaining seasonal signs should be understood as the same as those of hemanta.
In vasanta, the south wind blows over Mount Malaya, pictured as marked by the red lac on the feet of the wives of Siddhas and Vidyadharas. Scented by its contact with the sandalwood growth there, this wind delights lovers, kindles desire and dissolves the estrangement between a couple. The quarters are clear and beautified by groves in which kimshuka, ambhoja, bakula, chuta, ashoka and other plants bloom. They are enchanting with the songs of cuckoos and the humming of bees, enveloped in the southern breeze, pleasing in appearance and radiant with fresh shoots.
These are the signs of vasanta. The southern wind originates in the south and carries the fragrance of sandalwood growing on Mount Malaya. The further description of the quarters as clear means that they are free from dust, smoke and similar obscurations. They are adorned by groves of flowering kimshuka and other trees. The cuckoos and bees fill them with sweet sounds. Being enveloped by the southern wind means being surrounded by it. Sumukha describes their pleasing open appearance, and pallavojjvala means that fresh shoots adorn them.
Key terms
vasante
In vasanta, the season described through flowering groves and the fragrant southern wind.
caraNAlaktaka (caraṇālaktaka)
Red lac applied to the feet in the poetic description.
mAnabhiduro (mānabhiduro)
Dispelling the offended reserve or estrangement between lovers.
ShaTpada (ṣaṭpada)
Bee, included among the sources of the season's sweet sounds.
In grishma the sun's rays are intense and the southwest wind is unpleasant. The earth is heated, rivers run thin, and the quarters seem to blaze. Pairs of chakravaka birds wander about, and wild animals are intent on finding water to drink. Shrubs, grasses and creepers are fallen, while trees bear the signs of shedding their leaves.
These are the signs of an undisturbed grishma season. The southwest wind causes discomfort in this season. Thin rivers have little flow. Pairs of chakravaka birds wander through the quarters in search of bodies of water. The animals are preoccupied with drinking water. Virudha means shrubs or branching growth, trina means the familiar grasses, and lata means creepers; dhvasta means that these have fallen down. The trees are marked by leaves that have loosened and fallen.
Key terms
nairRuto (nairṛto)
Coming from the southwest, describing the summer wind.
tanvyaH (tanvyaḥ)
Having little flow, describing rivers.
cakravAka (cakravāka)
The bird whose pairs are described as wandering in search of water.
In pravrit the sky is covered by clouds drawn along by the west wind. They pour forth rain with flashes of lightning and loud thunder. The earth abounds in tender, dark young grass and shines with shakragopa insects. It is adorned with kadamba, nipa, kutaja, sarja and ketaka.
These are the signs of an undisturbed pravrit season. Clouds drawn by the west wind cover the sky. They pour out water accompanied by lightning flashes and thunder fiercely. Shashpa means young grass, and adhya means abundant in it. Shakragopa is identified as indravadhu, while others call it jyotiringana; these are presented as alternative identifications. Nipa is identified as dhulikadamba.
Key terms
prAvRuShi (prāvṛṣi)
In pravrit, the season described here through rain-bearing clouds and young grass.
shaShpaM (śaṣpam)
Young grass.
shakragopaH (śakragopaḥ)
An insect named in the seasonal description, with differing identifications in the commentary.
nIpo (nīpo)
A plant identified by the commentary as dhulikadamba.
In the rainy season, rivers are filled with water and trees along their banks are uprooted. Stepped reservoirs are adorned with fully blossomed kumuda and blue utpala flowers. The ground's raised and hollow places are no longer clearly distinguishable, and abundant crops beautify the earth. Rain-bearing clouds, without excessive thunder, obscure the sun and planets in the sky.
The commentator identifies these as signs of an undisturbed rainy season. Ambhas means water: the rivers are covered with water and their bank-side trees are uprooted. Vapi denotes a particular kind of well or reservoir provided with steps. The earth's level or raised places and hollows cannot be seen distinctly. The clouds that obscure the sun and planets are rain clouds without excessive thunder.
Key terms
vApyaH (vāpyaḥ)
Stepped wells or reservoirs, as explained by the commentary.
avyApannavarShA (avyāpannavarṣā)
The rainy season displaying its undisturbed characteristics.
In sharad, the sun is tawny and hot, and the sky is clear with white clouds. Lakes shine with lotuses stirred by the shoulders of hamsa birds. The earth has mud in low places and dryness on higher ground. Bana, saptahva, bandhuka, kasha and asana adorn the landscape.
Babhru is glossed as tawny or yellowish-brown. The sky is both clear and marked by white clouds, and the lotuses are moved by the shoulders of hamsa birds. The commentator assigns the descriptions of mud, dryness and druma respectively to low, high and level places. Unusually, druma is here glossed as tiny ants that make anthills. Bana is identified as sahachara, saptahva as saptaparna, and bandhuka as bandhujivaka, locally called vaduli.
A long quotation then associates regional habits with particular disorders. It says that eastern people who habitually eat fish and sour foods and frequent marshy places commonly have shlipada and galaganda; that people in the south who eat fish from low-lying waters and the sea commonly have kushtha; that people of Avanti who habitually eat oily and sour foods, wheat and split pulses commonly have arshas and lameness; and that people of Magadha, described as fond of meat, alcohol, sexual activity and daring exertion, are often seen with rajayakshman. It further associates the Bahlikas' use of sharp foods, abhishyandin meats and grain-based liquids, together with an already moist or congested disposition, with balasaka. These are the quoted text's regional and causal assertions.
The quotation instructs the physician to consider differences in region, diet, conduct, mental disposition and ethical conduct, and to assess satmya, sattva, the season and the patient's body before selecting treatment. Medicines should be arranged in accordance with the person's regional suitability and customary way of living. It attributes health, complexion, ojas, strength and vigour to such appropriate treatment, and thinness, weakness and repeated illness to abandoning seasonal and habitual suitability. It therefore recommends what is satmya and avoidance of what is asatmya, together with restraint of anger and the senses, eating after the preceding food has digested and moderate sleep. Finally, it relates the previously described seasonal qualities and strength to the characteristics and lifespan of offspring conceived in those seasons. After assessing favourable and unfavourable features, it recommends coordinating medicine with diet, attributing increased health, strength and vigour to that approach.
Key terms
sharad (śarad)
The season whose landscape and weather are described here.
sAtmyaM (sātmyam)
What is suitable or habituated to in the individual's regional and personal circumstances.
abhiShyandIni (abhiṣyandīni)
Describing foods regarded in the quotation as promoting moistness or obstruction.
sattvaM (sattvam)
The patient's mental disposition, to be assessed before treatment.
This closing verse summarizes seasonal disturbances. Excess of a season's own qualities refers to the characteristics just described, or alternatively to excessive cold, heat or rain. The statement that the doshas become aggravated applies to every category. Contrary qualities are first explained as inadequate cold and similar deficiencies; others understand them as heat during a cold season, cold during a hot season, or absence of rain in the rainy season. Irregularity is explained as the appearance of one season's signs in another: rainy-season signs in sharad, sharad signs in hemanta, and similarly in either forward or reverse seasonal order. Others define irregularity as the presence or absence, within a single season, of the entire set of characteristics described for the seasons. Counting excess, contrariety and irregularity separately for each of the six seasons gives eighteen seasonal disturbances.
Key terms
svaguNairatiyukteShu (svaguṇairatiyukteṣu)
Seasons having an excess of their characteristic qualities.
viparIteShu (viparīteṣu)
Seasons with contrary qualities, with different explanations preserved in the commentary.
viShameShu (viṣameṣu)
Seasons exhibiting irregular combinations or timing of seasonal signs.
The text prescribes removing shleshma in vasanta, removing pitta in sharad, and pacifying vayu during the rainy season, before disorders develop markedly.
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હરેદ્વસન્તે શ્લેષ્માણમિત્યાદિ સુગમમ્||૩૮||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentator states that the verse beginning with removal of shleshma in vasanta is readily understandable and provides no further explanation.
Key terms
shleShmANaM (śleṣmāṇam)
Shleshma or kapha, whose seasonal removal is prescribed here.
shamayedvAyuM (śamayed vāyum)
One should pacify vayu, distinguished here from the removal prescribed for the other doshas.
Adhikarana પુષ્પિકા · Śloka ૬
ઇતિ સુશ્રુતસંહિતાયાં સૂત્રસ્થાને ઋતુચર્યા નામ ષષ્ઠોઽધ્યાયઃ ||૬||
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इति सुश्रुतसंहितायां सूत्रस्थाने ऋतुचर्या नाम षष्ठोऽध्यायः ||६||
Meaning of the śloka
Thus ends the sixth chapter, entitled Ritucharya, in the Sutrasthana of the Sushruta Samhita.