The commentary says that after the analysis of tastes, the regimen of the healthy begins, in the order stated earlier. 'Vṛtta' means conduct. Some read 'svastharakṣaṇīya' and explain it as the chapter in which the protection of the healthy is described.
What kind of person has been described as healthy in the Sūtrasthāna, the protection of that person is indeed the purpose of treatment.
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इदानीमतिदेशेन स्वस्थलक्षणं चिकित्साप्रयोजनं चाह- सूत्रेत्यादि| समुद्दिष्टः ‘समदोषः समाग्निश्च’ (सू. १५) इत्यादिना दोषधातुमलक्षयवृद्धिविज्ञानीयाध्याये| तादृशस्वस्थस्य रक्षणं भाविव्याधिनिवारणत्वेन पालनम्| हि स्फुटार्थः| ये तु ‘सूत्रस्थान’ इत्यादि श्लोकार्धं न पठन्ति ते ‘समदोषः’ इत्यादिकं सूत्रस्थानोक्तं स्वस्थलक्षणमत्रापि पठन्ति, अनुवादत्वेन न पौनरुक्त्यमिति मन्यन्ते| ‘चिकित्सायाः’ प्रयोजनं’ इत्यत्र ‘चिकित्सायाः परं वपुः’ इति केचित् पठन्ति||३||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says this gives, by reference, the definition of the healthy and the purpose of treatment. 'Described' refers to the passage 'with balanced doshas and balanced digestion' in the chapter on knowing the decrease and increase of doshas, tissues and wastes (Sūtrasthāna 15). Protecting such a healthy person means preserving him by preventing future disease. 'Indeed' makes the meaning clear. Those who do not read the half-verse 'in the Sūtrasthāna' read the definition 'balanced doshas' here too, taking it as restatement, not repetition. Some read 'the purpose of treatment' as 'the supreme body of treatment'.
Key terms
svastha
One who is healthy, balanced.
rakṣaṇa
Protection, preservation.
prayojana
Purpose.
Adhikarana ३ (४) · Śloka ४
तस्य यद्वृत्तमुक्तं हि रक्षणं च मयाऽऽदितः |
तस्मिन्नर्थाः समासोक्ता विस्तरेणेह वक्ष्यते ||४||
Meaning of the śloka
The regimen and protection of that person that I stated at the beginning: the matters there were stated in brief; here they will be stated in detail.
The commentary answers an objection: since the regimen of the healthy was already shown in the chapter on averting coming afflictions, why state it again? The verse replies that 'that person' is the healthy person, 'at the beginning' means in the chapter on preventing future affliction, and the matters there were stated only briefly, so here 'the regimen of the healthy' is to be supplied as stated in detail. Some read 'its detail will be stated', meaning the regimen's; others read 'and detail will be stated here' and explain that the detail of those matters will be given here.
Key terms
anāgatabādhā
Future affliction, the chapter on preventing it.
vistara
Detail, elaboration.
Adhikarana ४ (५) · Śloka ५
यस्मिन् यस्मिन्नृतौ ये ये दोषाः कुप्यन्ति देहिनाम् |
तेषु तेषु प्रदातव्याः रसास्ते ते विजानता ||५||
Meaning of the śloka
In whichever season whichever doshas become aggravated in embodied beings, against those, the corresponding tastes should be given by the knowing physician.
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ऋत्वाश्रयं स्वस्थवृतं सङ्क्षेपेणाह- यस्मिन्नित्यादि| देहिनामित्यत्र देहिशब्देनामेदोपचाराच्छरीरमुच्यते; न आत्मा, तस्य निर्विकारत्वात| तेषु तेष्विति धातुषु| ते ते रसाः तद्दोषप्रत्यनीका रसाः| अत्र रसशब्देन रसवन्ति द्रव्याणि भण्यन्ते, केवलरसस्योपयोगासम्भवात्| विजानता वैद्येन||५||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says this briefly gives the seasonal regimen. 'Embodied beings' by figure of speech means the body, not the self, since the self is unchanging. 'In those' means in the tissues. 'Those tastes' are the tastes that oppose those doshas. Here 'tastes' means substances possessing those tastes, since a taste alone cannot be used. 'Knowing' refers to the physician.
Key terms
ṛtu
Season.
rasa
Taste; here, substances having that taste.
Adhikarana ५ (६-१२) · Śloka १३
प्रक्लिन्नत्वाच्छरीराणां वर्षासु भिषजा खलु |
मन्देऽग्नौ कोपमायान्ति सर्वेषां मारुतादयः ||६||
तस्मात् क्लेदविशुद्ध्यर्थं दोषसंहरणाय च |
कषायतिक्तकटुकै रसैर्युक्तमपद्रवम् ||७||
नातिस्निग्धं नातिरूक्षमुष्णं दीपनमेव च |
देयमन्नं नृपतये यज्जलं चोक्तमादितः ||८||
तप्तावरतमम्भो वा पिबेन्मधुसमायुतम् |
अह्नि मेघानिलाविष्टेऽत्यर्थशीताम्बुसङ्कुले ||९||
तरुणत्वाद्विदाहं च गच्छन्त्योषधयस्तदा |
मतिमांस्तन्निमित्तं च नातिव्यायाममाचरेत् ||१०||
अत्यम्बुपानावश्यायग्राम्यधर्मातपांस्त्यजेत् |
भूबाष्पपरिहारार्थं शयीत च विहायसि ||११||
शीते साग्नौ निवाते च गुरुप्रावरणे गृहे |
यायान्नागवधूभिश्च प्रशस्तागुरुभूषितः ||१२||
दिवास्वप्नमजीर्णं च वर्जयेत्तत्र यत्नतः |१३|
Meaning of the śloka
Because bodies are moist (praklinna) in the rains, and digestion is weak, the vāta and other doshas of all become aggravated. Therefore, to clear the dampness and remove the doshas, food to be given to the person (even a king) by the physician should be with tastes bitter, astringent and pungent, not liquid, neither very oily nor very dry, warm and appetising, as also the water stated at the beginning. Or one may drink boiled and cooled water with honey. On a day when the sky is overcast, with wind and very cold water everywhere, the herbs, being young, undergo burning (sour digestion); so the wise should not do excessive exercise; should avoid excess water drinking, dew, sexual intercourse and sun; should sleep on a raised place to avoid ground vapour; in a windless house with fire, heavily covered; should go about with elephant-like women perfumed with aguru; and should carefully avoid daytime sleep and indigestion.
The commentary says that after briefly stating the seasonal rule, the detail is given. Being very moist causes weak digestion, since water's quality increases in the rains. An objection: in the rains only pitta is aggravated (accumulated), not the other two; so why are vāta and others said to be aggravated? Answer: vāta aggravated in the pre-rain season continues since no pacifying cause is present, and kapha, though not accumulated, becomes aggravated through cloud moisture; so aggravation of all three is right. Or the aggravation of all three is from weak digestion, as it is said that the calming and aggravation of all doshas depend on digestion. 'Not liquid' means with liquid removed; others read 'slightly liquid'. The water is as described in the water section. 'Boiled and cooled' water is to relieve accumulated pitta, and the honey is to relieve the kapha that follows it. On the objection that another passage says not to drink water in the rains, the answer is that it means not to drink much. 'Young' means new; 'burning' is sour digestion. The exercise should be mild, to dry the body's dampness and kindle digestion. Dew is fine water drops without cloud; 'grāmyadharma' is sexual intercourse. 'On a raised place' is taken as a white house top; others say a couch. Sleeping in a cold windless house with fire is for calming vāta. Going with elephant-like women is to avoid mud and water; aguru is used because it removes cold. The 'and' in 'and indigestion' adds avoiding east wind and udamantha (a thin drink) and river water. Daytime sleep and indigestion are listed separately to stress avoiding them, since exercise and the like are already in the prohibited group.
In autumn (śarad) one should diligently take bitter, sweet and astringent things: milk, sugarcane products, honey, śāli rice, mung and the like, and meats of arid-land animals; wear white garlands and light clothing under the moon's rays in the early night; water, being clear, is wholly beneficial then; bathing in lakes with lotuses, blue lotuses and śāli plants; the moon's rays and sandalwood paste in the early night. One should drink bitter ghee and let blood, appropriately; and the pitta accumulated in the rains should be removed with purgatives. One should not use sharp, sour, hot, alkaline things, daytime sleep, sun, night waking or sexual intercourse. (A bracketed passage adds: sweet cold water, clean and pure as crystal, washed by autumn moon's rays, freed of poison by the rise of Agastya; sandal and camphor, light clean cloth, autumn garlands, and appropriate drinking of sīdhu; all that pacifies pitta.)
The commentary says the autumn regimen follows the rainy-season one. 'Products of milk and sugarcane' applies to both milk and sugarcane; 'honey' is kṣaudra; śāli rice is of various kinds; 'and the like' includes old barley and wheat; arid-land animals are deer and quail. White garlands are of white flowers; 'moon's rays' are moonlight; 'early night' is the first half of the first watch. Although water in autumn is said to be beneficial because it is clear, it is repeated as belonging to a separate context. 'Lakes' are those dug by the gods, and the reading 'śobhiṣu' for 'śāliṣu' is recorded; water with lotuses is especially pitta-relieving. 'Moon's rays in the early night' is repeated to say they must be taken only then, not all night, for fear of the kapha of the later time causing oozing. After pacifying pitta, purification is given: bitter ghee opposes kapha and blood; bloodletting is for spoiled blood; 'appropriately' means according to the patient's strength. Then the things to avoid: 'not use' means not take; 'sleep by day' is daytime sleep; 'also' indicates dew, east wind and the like from another treatise should be avoided.
(Hemanta (early winter) is cold and dry, with weak sun and disturbed by wind. Then, on meeting the cold, vāta becomes aggravated; the digestive fire, seated in the abdomen and compressed inside by the touch of cold, quickly dries up the rasa; therefore oily food is then wholesome.) In hemanta, food that is rich in salty, alkaline, bitter, sour and pungent tastes, with ghee and oil, and not cold, is said to be wholesome. One should drink even sharp drinks, perfumed with aguru; bathe, after oil massage, in a comfortable warm tub; and lie in a large room with a coal-fired conveyance, spread with silk-covered bedding, covered with various such things, inside an inner house; embrace women fragrant with aguru smoke, with full thighs, hips and breasts; and, satisfied, indulge sexual intercourse freely. (A bracketed passage lists sweet, bitter, pungent, sour and salty foods and drinks; sesame, black gram, greens and curds; sugarcane products, śāli rice, fragrant new grains; forceful and aquatic meats, flesh of burrow-dwelling meat-eaters, water-birds and swimmers and walkers; clear liquors and whatever gives strength, to be taken as desired by one wanting nourishment at the onset of cold; and avoiding daytime sleep and indigestion.) The same regimen should be followed in śiśira (late winter).
The commentary says the winter regimen is now given. 'Not cold' means slightly warm; 'drinks' means liquors and the like; 'perfumed with aguru' means coated with aguru powder. The 'tub' is a stone-built vessel shaped like a trough. The 'coal-fired conveyance' is a cart with coals, describing the inner house; 'large' means spacious. 'Silk-covered bedding' is a silk-cloth cushion cover; 'silk' is illustrative, so blankets, hides and others from other treatises are included. 'By those' means cold-removing cloths from other treatises; the 'inner house' is a small house inside a large house, and it also includes an underground house. 'Embracing' means clasping. 'Full' means fleshy; 'thigh' is between knee and groin; 'hips' is the front of the waist. The commentary asks why the food described elsewhere for hemanta (milk, sugarcane products and the like) is not stated here; it answers that this is a general rule for calming vāta aggravated by cold, while another treatise's food is stated because, if the strong digestion in cold wind gets no such food, it consumes the tissues and vāta becomes severe (or else, because in hemanta the strong digestion tolerates unwholesome food). Kārttikakuṇḍa reads this passage differently and is not written. Since hemanta and śiśira are alike, the hemanta regimen is also for śiśira; the śiśira rule is stated separately. Some read a prohibition ('avoid east wind, dry food, vāta-increasing substances and cold baths'); the commentary rejects this as not from the sages, because the tradition is not remembered as unbroken and no parallel treatise states it.
(Kapha accumulated in hemanta, through the cold of cold-bodied people, becomes aggravated in vasanta (spring) by the heat and produces many disorders. Therefore one should avoid sour, sweet, oily, salty and heavy things, and carry out emesis and other procedures. One should give, appropriately, ṣaṣṭika rice, barley, cool mung, nīvāra and kodrava with soups of birds such as lāva and viṣkira, and with gruels. At the end of winter, use bitter things such as paṭola, neem and brinjal; take madhvāsava, ariṣṭa, sīdhu, mādhvīka and mādhava; and at the coming of flowers use exercise, massage, sharp smoking and gargles, and everything with comfortably warm water.) In vasanta, food that is sharp, dry, pungent, alkaline and astringent, slightly warm and without liquid, with much barley and mung and honey, is wholesome. Exercise here, arising from wrestling, walking and stone-striking, is wholesome; also rubbing, bathing, women and forests. One should also remove the kapha accumulated in hemanta with head-purging, emesis, decoction enemas and gargles. One should avoid sweet, oily things, daytime sleep and heavy, liquid things.
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वसन्तविधिमाह- औष्ण्यादित्यादि| कोष्णम् ईषदुष्णम्| अद्रवं द्रवरहितम्| यवमुद्गमधुप्रायं यवादिबहुलम्| व्यायामः शरीरायासजनकं कर्म| अत्र वसन्ते| नियुद्धादिकं व्यायाम इत्येतस्य विवरणम्| नियुद्धं बाहुयुद्धम्, अध्वा मार्गगमनं, शिलानिर्घातः पाषाणास्फालनम्| उत्सादनम् उद्वर्तनम्| वनिताः स्त्रियः| संशमनमभिधाय संशोधनमाह- निर्हरेच्चापीत्यादि| शिरोविरेकः नस्यम्| यद्यपि बाहुल्येन वाते निरूहोऽभिहितः, तथाऽपि सर्वदोषहरत्वात् कफेऽपि योज्यः| तथा च, - “बस्तिर्वाते च पित्ते च कफे रक्ते च शस्यते” इत्यादि| कवलो गण्डूषभेदः| वर्ज्यमाह- वर्जयेदित्यादि| मधुरादिवर्जनम् उत्क्लेशपरिहारार्थम्| केचिदत्र ‘हेमन्ते निचितः श्लेष्मा’ इत्यादिकं पाठं पठन्ति, स च ग्रन्थगौरवभयात् परित्यक्तः||३२-३९||-
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says the spring regimen is now given. 'Slightly warm' means mildly hot; 'without liquid' means lacking fluid; 'much barley and mung' means abundant in barley and the like. 'Exercise' is any bodily exertion; wrestling is fighting with arms; walking is travelling; stone-striking is throwing stones. 'Rubbing' is udvartana; 'women' means women. After stating pacifying measures, purifying ones follow: head-purging is nasya. Although decoction enemas are mainly given for vāta, they suit kapha too since they remove all doshas, as it is said enemas are praised in vāta, pitta, kapha and blood. A gargle is a kind of mouth-holding. Sweet and the like are avoided to prevent provocation. Some read the bracketed passage beginning 'in hemanta kapha accumulates'; the commentary omits it for fear of bulk.
Key terms
vasanta
Spring.
nirūha
Decoction enema.
kavala
Gargle, mouth-holding.
udvartana (utsādana)
Dry powder rubbing.
Adhikarana ९ (४०) · Śloka ४१
व्यायाममुष्णमायासं मैथुनं परिशोषि च ||४०||
रसांश्चाग्निगुणोद्रिक्तान् निदाघे परिवर्जयेत् |४१|
Meaning of the śloka
In the summer (nidāgha), one should avoid exercise, heat, exertion, sexual intercourse, and drying things, and tastes in which the quality of fire predominates.
The commentary says that since in summer the disorders become more severe from the use of exercise and the like, the summer regimen begins with the things to avoid. 'Exertion' differs from exercise in involving little trouble; 'hot' refers to sun and the like. Although sexual intercourse was earlier allowed in summer once a fortnight in the chapter on averting future affliction, here its complete prohibition is stated to show how very drying summer is. 'Drying' means that which dries; tastes in which fire predominates are pungent, sour and salty.
Key terms
nidāgha
Summer.
vyāyāma
Exercise.
maithuna
Sexual intercourse.
Adhikarana १० (४१-४५) · Śloka ४६
सरांसि सरितो वापीर्वनानि रुचिराणि च ||४१||
चन्दनानि परार्ध्यानि स्रजः सकमलोत्पलाः |
तालवृन्तानिलाहारांस्तथा शीतगृहाणि च ||४२||
घर्मकाले निषेवेत वासांसि सुलघूनि च |
शर्कराखण्डदिग्धानि सुगन्धीनि हिमानि च ||४३||
पानकानि च सेवेत मन्थांश्चापि सशर्करान् |
भोजनं च हितं शीतं सघृतं मधुरद्रवम् ||४४||
शृतेन पयसा रात्रौ शर्करामधुरेण च |
प्रत्यग्रकुसुमाकीर्णे शयने हर्म्यसंस्थिते ||४५||
शयीत चन्दनार्द्राङ्गः स्पृश्यमानोऽनिलैः सुखैः |४६|
Meaning of the śloka
In the hot season one should resort to lakes, rivers, step-wells, pleasant forests, excellent sandalwoods, garlands with lotuses and blue lotuses, palm-leaf fans and breezes, and cool houses; very light clothes; things smeared with sugar candy; fragrant, cool things; drinks; and thick drinks (manthas) with sugar. Cool food with ghee and sweet liquid is wholesome. At night, with boiled milk and sugar and honey, one should lie on a bed strewn with fresh flowers on a mansion roof, with the body wet with sandal paste, touched by pleasant breezes.
The commentary explains: 'lakes' are water bodies not dug by humans; a river is a nadī; a step-well is a small stone-built water body with steps; 'pleasant forests' are shady, delightful woods; 'excellent' means finest. Palm-leaf fans are fans made of palm leaves. 'Smeared' means combined; 'fragrant' means scented with camphor and the like; 'cool' means chilled. 'And drinks' by the word 'and' adds, in the view of some, water-rich liquor for those accustomed to liquor. Sweet liquid food is like rasāla drink. Manthas are saktu mixed with water and ghee. 'Boiled milk' is milk that has been cooked. Since it is said the food is wholesome at night, in the day it is the mantha and the like that are drunk; another treatise says: cold drinks by day, and food at night, with ghee and sugar, cold, with boiled milk. 'Fresh flowers' means new flowers; 'on a mansion' means on the top of a white house. 'Lie' is to be connected with night: at night on the roof, but by day in a cool house. Another treatise says: by day sleep in a cold house, at night, cooled by moonbeams, with sandal-smeared limbs on a windy rooftop. 'Pleasant' means producing comfort. Some hold many variant readings here; these are not written for fear of bulk.
At the end of the heat, the tastes that are always wholesome are the three heavy ones: milk, meat soups (warm), oils and ghees; and whatever is nourishing and also mucus-producing (abhiṣyandi). The physician who knows the method should suppress, by a vāta-relieving method, the vāta accumulated in summer that is becoming aggravated. Here one should avoid river water, dry, hot, udamantha and sun, exercise, daytime sleep and sexual intercourse; and should avoid new grain, dry things, cold water and saktu; also barley, ṣaṣṭika, wheat and śāli that are not new. One should use a bed with a soft upper layer, in the middle of a mansion and in a windless place. The rainwater of that time, mixed with poisonous creatures' dung, urine, saliva and spit, is poison-like, contaminated by wind spoiled by poison and by the first rains; it is to be avoided in all uses at that time. One should drink, appropriately, ariṣṭas, āsavas and maireyas with relishes, aged, in the rains, but avoid them at night. By decoction enemas and other enemas and other vāta-relieving means one should calm aggravated vāta and follow the rainy-season regimen.
The commentary says that having taught the summer regimen, the early rainy-season regimen is now given. The 'three heavy tastes' are sweet, sour and salty. 'Whatever is nourishing and mucus-producing' is given to nourish one wasted by the taking-away (ādāna) period; nourishing is to build up the very thin. 'Whatever' means satisfying. Although milk and the like are already included as sweet, they are listed again to stress their great benefit. 'Accumulated in summer' means gathered during the hot season; 'becoming aggravated' means going into aggravation; 'vāta' is the wind; 'by a vāta-relieving method' means oleation, sweating and the like. 'Who knows the method' means skilled in procedure. Here too some read variants, which are omitted for fear of bulk. An objection is raised: in the rainy, winter and summer seasons the doshas are accumulated, so purification is used for those who avoid it; but in autumn, spring and early rains the doshas are aggravated; so how is the stated method meaningful? A quoted maxim says doshas removed in the accumulation stage do not go to worse states. The reply: not so; where aggravation follows accumulation because of another cause, purification is stated as the method for each dosha's aggravation and accumulation; but where accumulation arises in one following the seasonal regimen, the pacifying regimen is done.
The commentary says that having explained the seasonal regimen, the health gained by one who follows it is now stated. 'This' means the one just described. 'Season-produced' means made by the cold, heat and the like of the season. 'Diseases' means fever and the like. Kārttikakuṇḍa reads 'doṣān' (doshas) instead of 'diseases' and explains it as the aggravated vāta and other doshas. Others read 'ṛtakṛtān' and explain that the syllables 'vi' are lost before 'kṛta', so that it means doshas made by seasonal disturbance would not be attained.
Hereafter we shall describe the twelve variations of meals (aśana-pravicāra). Among them, the twelve are: cold, hot, oily, dry, liquid, dry-solid (śuṣka), once-a-day, twice-a-day, with medicine, of reduced quantity, for pacifying the doshas, and for sustaining (health).
The commentary says that, wishing to describe the variations of meals, the text says 'hereafter'. Aśana is food; 'pravicāra' here means separate arrangement. An objection: since the twelve meal variations concern disease, stating them in the regimen of the healthy is unsuitable. The reply: even in the healthy, meal variations are proper according to differences of age and constitution, and of what suits or does not suit. The twelve meal divisions are then stated; 'among them' means among those twelve, and the twelve kinds of food (cold and so on) are for sustaining.
Key terms
aśana-pravicāra (aśanapravicāra)
Variations or arrangements of meals.
vṛtti
Sustenance, maintenance.
Adhikarana १४ (५७) · Śloka ५७
तृष्णोष्णमददाहार्तान् रक्तपित्तविषातुरान् |
मूर्च्छार्तान् स्त्रीषु च क्षीणान् शीतैरन्नैरुपाचरेत् ||५७||
Meaning of the śloka
Those afflicted by thirst, heat, intoxication (mada) and burning, those suffering from raktapitta or poison, those afflicted by fainting, and those wasted through women, should be treated with cold foods.
The commentary says that in the chapter on the healthy the twelve foods are dealt with in order, beginning with cold. 'Cold' applies to each item from thirst to wasted: those troubled by thirst and the rest should be treated with cold foods and drinks, cold to the touch and cold in potency. Mada is a disorder arising from liquor and blood. The plural 'foods' includes drinks as well.
Those afflicted by kapha and vāta disorders, those who have been purged, those who have drunk oleation, and those with a body not moist, should be treated with hot foods.
The commentary says the subject of hot food is stated. 'Afflicted by kapha and vāta disorders' means seized by kapha and vāta diseases. 'With a body not moist' means those whose bodies are free of dampness.
The commentary says the subject of oily food is stated. 'Of vāta constitution' would already imply dry bodies, since vāta types have dry bodies; the separate mention is to include those who are not of vāta constitution but have become dry-bodied from some cause, and should be treated with oily food.
Those overcome by fat (medas), the oily-bodied, those afflicted by prameha, and those with bodies overtaken by kapha, should be treated with dry foods.
The commentary says the subject of dry food is stated. 'Overcome by fat' means with bodies pervaded by fat; 'overtaken by kapha' means pervaded by kapha; 'oily' means oily-bodied. Kārttikakuṇḍa reads 'stout' in place of 'oily' and explains that, since 'overcome by fat' already gives stoutness, the separate word is to state dry food especially in stoutness caused by fat-vitiation.
Key terms
rūkṣa āhāra (rūkṣānna)
Dry food.
meha
Prameha, a classical group of urinary disorders.
medas
Fat tissue.
Adhikarana १८ (६१) · Śloka ६१
शुष्कदेहान् पिपासार्तान् दुर्बलानपि च द्रवैः |६१|
Meaning of the śloka
Those with dry bodies, those afflicted by thirst, and the weak, with liquid foods.
The commentary says the subject of dry-solid food is stated. 'Praklinna' bodies are those such as people with skin disorders, whose bodies are oozing; 'with wounds' means those with weeping wounds. In the chapter on the care of the wounded, food with more liquid is said for those with wounds; that refers to non-weeping, clean wounds. If 'moist-bodied' were taken as a qualifier of 'with wounds', then those without wounds but with moist bodies could not be given dry food, which is not intended; so it is not a qualifier. Here dry food is fixed because of the wetness.
Key terms
śuṣka āhāra (śuṣkānna)
Dry, solid food.
vraṇa
Wound.
praklinna
Moist, oozing.
Adhikarana २० (६२) · Śloka ६२
एककालं भवेद्देयो दुर्बलाग्निविवृद्धये |६२|
Meaning of the śloka
A once-a-day meal should be given for increasing weak digestive fire.
The commentary says that even at one time, only a reduced quantity of food is to be given, from the statement to be made later. Some read 'for one who is weak, for the increase of digestion' and then take 'weak' to mean weakness of digestion arising from weakness of the body.
Key terms
ekakāla
Once a day (one meal).
agni
Digestive fire.
Adhikarana २१ (६२) · Śloka ६२
समाग्नये तथाऽऽहारो द्विकालमपि पूजितः ||६२||
Meaning of the śloka
For one with balanced digestion, food twice a day is also praised.
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समाग्नय इत्यादि| न केवलं द्विकालमपि तु ‘अन्नेन कुक्षेर्द्वावंशौ’ इत्याद्युक्तमात्रान्वितोऽपीत्यशब्देन समुच्चीयते||६२||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says not only twice a day but also with the quantity stated in the passage that begins 'two parts of the stomach with food'; the word 'also' adds this.
Key terms
dvikāla
Twice a day (two meals).
samāgni
One whose digestion is balanced.
Adhikarana २२ (६३) · Śloka ६३
औषधद्वेषिणे देयस्तथौषधसमायुतः |६३|
Meaning of the śloka
To one who dislikes medicine, food combined with medicine should be given.
The commentary says the subject of food of reduced quantity is stated: for one with weak digestion and one with disease, reduced-quantity food should be given, but only once a day, from the earlier statement.
Key terms
mātrāhīna āhāra
Food in reduced quantity.
mandāgni
Weak digestion.
Adhikarana २४ (६४) · Śloka ६४
यथर्तुदत्तस्त्वाहारो दोषप्रशमनः स्मृतः |६४|
Meaning of the śloka
Food given according to the season is said to pacify the doshas.
The commentary says 'thereafter' means after the dosha-pacifying food just stated. 'For sustenance' means for maintaining the body. 'Of the healthy' means those with balanced tissues and balanced doshas by constitution. 'For all' means a food with all tastes in balance is remembered for them.
Hereafter we shall describe the ten times of medicine (auṣadha-kāla). The ten times of medicine are: abhakta (without food), prāgbhakta (before food), adhobhakta (after food), madhyebhakta (in the middle of food), antarābhakta (between meals), sabhakta (with food), sāmudga, muhurmuhuḥ (again and again), grāsa (with morsels) and grāsāntara (between morsels).
The commentary says the ten times of medicine are given: medicine of ten kinds, beginning with abhakta, is to be used at these times. Each time is then defined separately. In place of 'abhakta' some read 'nirbhakta'.
Key terms
auṣadhakāla
Time of taking medicine.
abhakta
Without food.
sāmudga
Before and after food.
Adhikarana २७ (६६) · Śloka ६६
तत्राभक्तं तु यत् केवलमेवौषधमुपयुज्यते ||६६||
Meaning of the śloka
Of these, abhakta is that in which medicine alone is taken.
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तत्राभक्तमित्यादेरौषधकालोद्देशस्य प्रपञ्चमाह- तत्राभक्तमित्यादि| तत्र तेष्वभक्तादिषु मध्ये यत् केवलमन्नरहितमौषधमुपयुज्यते तदभक्तम्||६६||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says this expands the summary statement. Among these, the medicine taken alone, without food, is abhakta.
Medicine without food is greater in potency and destroys disease surely and quickly; but children, the old and women, being tender, on taking it (without food) suffer great weakness and loss of strength.
The commentary states the quality and scope of abhakta. 'Vanitā' means woman; 'tender' means delicate. By forbidding abhakta medicine to the weak and old and so on, the text shows that abhakta applies to others. The passage 'Of these, abhakta' is the definition (bhāṣya); 'greater in potency' and the rest are the qualities; the reverse of weak, old and delicate persons is the scope. Kārttikakuṇḍa first states the nature of all the times and then gives all the qualities and scopes.
Key terms
vīrya
Potency.
mṛdu
Tender, delicate.
Adhikarana २९ (६८) · Śloka ६८
प्राग्भक्तं नाम यत् प्राग्भक्तस्योपयुज्यते ||६८||
Meaning of the śloka
Prāgbhakta (before food) is what is taken before the meal.
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प्राग्भक्तस्येति भक्तस्यादावित्यर्थः||६८||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says 'before the meal' means at the beginning of the meal.
Key terms
prāgbhakta
Medicine taken before food.
Adhikarana ३० (६९) · Śloka ६९
शीघ्रं विपाकमुपयाति बलं न हिंस्यादन्नावृतं न च मुहुर्वदनान्निरेति |
प्राग्भक्तसेवितमथौषधमेतदेव दद्याच्च वृद्धशिशुभीरुकृशाङ्गनाभ्यः ||६९||
Meaning of the śloka
It is digested quickly, does not harm strength, being covered by food it does not come out through the mouth again and again; medicine taken before food thus: it should be given to the old, children, the timid and the thin.
The commentary states the quality and scope of prāgbhakta. Because it is covered by food, it does not come out repeatedly from the mouth. 'Digested' here means comfortably transformed. 'And not' connects with 'comes out'. 'From the mouth' means the cavity of the mouth. The medicine is the one called prāgbhakta.
Key terms
prāgbhakta
Medicine taken before food.
vipāka
Digestion, transformation.
Adhikarana ३१ (७०) · Śloka ७०
अधोभक्तं नाम- यदधो भक्तस्येति ||७०||
Meaning of the śloka
Adhobhakta (after food) is what is taken below (after) the meal.
What is drunk after using food (adhobhakta) destroys diseases in the upper body and gives strength against many kinds of disorders; but what is drunk in the middle (of the meal) destroys the diseases that overcome the middle of the body, because it is of a non-spreading nature.
The commentary gives the qualities of adhobhakta and madhyebhakta. 'Gives strength' applies to the upper body only. 'In the middle' is to be read with 'of the meal'. 'Non-spreading' means having a nature of not spreading out. The 'middle region' is the abdomen. 'Overcoming' means pervading.
Key terms
ūrdhvakāya
The upper body.
madhyadeha
The middle of the body (the abdomen).
avisāri (avisāribhāva)
Non-spreading nature.
Adhikarana ३४ (७३) · Śloka ७३
अन्तराभक्तं नाम - यदन्तरा पीयते पूर्वापरयोर्भक्तयोः ||७३||
Meaning of the śloka
Antarābhakta (between meals) is what is drunk between the earlier and the later meals.
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अन्तराभक्तमाह अन्तराभक्तमित्यादि| अन्तराभक्तं यत् पूर्वापरयोर्भक्तयोरन्तरा मध्ये पीयते, पूर्वापरयोरिति प्रातःसायन्तनयोर्भेजनयोरित्यर्थः||७३||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says antarābhakta is the medicine drunk in the middle of the earlier and later meals, that is, between the morning and evening meals.
Key terms
antarābhakta
Medicine taken between two meals.
Adhikarana ३५ (७४) · Śloka ७४
सभक्तं नाम - यत् सह भक्तेन ||७४||
Meaning of the śloka
Sabhakta (with food) is what is taken together with food.
The commentary says sabhakta is medicine cooked with the food, or combined with food.
Key terms
sabhakta
Medicine taken together with food.
Adhikarana ३६ (७५) · Śloka ७५
पथ्यं सभक्तमबलाबलयोर्हि नित्यं तद्द्वेषिणामपि तथा शिशुवृद्धयोश्च |
हृद्यं मनोबलकरं त्वथ दीपनं च पथ्यं सदा भवति चान्तरभक्तकं यत् ||७५||
Meaning of the śloka
Medicine taken with food is always suitable for the weak and for women, for those who dislike medicine, and for children and the old. That which is heart-pleasing, strengthens the mind, kindles digestion and is always suitable is the medicine given between meals (antarābhakta).
The commentary gives the quality and scope of the between-meals and with-food medicines. 'Heart-pleasing' means good for the heart; 'strengthening the mind' means creating capacity of the mind. 'For the weak and women' is read as 'women and the weak'; 'those who dislike it' means those who dislike medicine.
Key terms
hṛdya
Pleasing or beneficial to the heart.
dīpana
Digestion-kindling.
pathya
Wholesome, suitable.
Adhikarana ३७ (७६-७७) · Śloka ७७
सामुद्गं नाम - यद्भक्तस्यादावन्ते च पीयते ||७६||
दोषे द्विधा प्रविसृते तु समुद्गसञ्ज्ञमाद्यन्तयोर्यदशनस्य निषेव्यते तु ||७७||
Meaning of the śloka
Sāmudga is what is taken at the beginning and at the end of the meal. When the dosha has spread in two directions (upward and downward), that which is used at both the beginning and the end of food is called samudga.
The commentary says sāmudga is now described. 'Spread in two directions' means spread upward and downward. It is connected: for the dosha so spread, the one called samudga is used. An objection: since 'at the beginning and the end of the meal' is already given in the definition, 'at both ends of the meal' is redundant. Answer: the repetition is so that powders, pastes and the like are also called samudga; otherwise, following 'drunk' from the previous statement, only a drink would be called samudga.
Key terms
sāmudga
Medicine taken both before and after food.
dvidhā pravisṛta doṣa
Dosha spread both upward and downward.
Adhikarana ३८ (७८-७९) · Śloka ७९
मुहुर्मुहुर्नाम - सभक्तमभक्तं वा यदौषधं मुहुर्मुहुरुपयुज्यते ||७८||
श्वासे मुहुर्मुहुरतिप्रसृते च कासे हिक्कावमीषु स वदन्त्युपयोज्यमेतत् ||७९||
Meaning of the śloka
Muhurmuhuḥ (again and again) is medicine, with or without food, that is used repeatedly. In breathlessness (śvāsa), and in cough that is excessively spreading again and again, and in hiccup and vomiting, they say this should be used.
The commentary says muhurmuhuḥ medicine is medicine given again and again, whether with or without food. It is to be used in breathlessness, cough and the like.
Key terms
muhurmuhuḥ
Medicine taken repeatedly.
śvāsa
Breathlessness or breathing disorder.
hikkā
Hiccup.
Adhikarana ३९ (८०) · Śloka ८०
ग्रासं तु- यत्पिण्डव्यामिश्रम् ||८०||
Meaning of the śloka
Grāsa (with morsels) is that which is mixed with the lumps of food.
With the morsels (grāsa), powders that kindle the digestion in those with weak digestion, and also aphrodisiacs (vājīkaraṇa), one should try to use; between morsels (grāsāntara) one should give emetic smokes and, in breathlessness and similar conditions, licked preparations of proven, well-known qualities.
The commentary says this gives the scope of these two. 'Weak digestion' means weak digestive fire. Emetic smokes are those made from sinew, hide, hoof and the like.
Key terms
vājīkaraṇa
Aphrodisiac or virility-promoting measures.
leha
Licked (linctus) preparation.
vamanīya dhūma
Emetic smoke.
Adhikarana ४२ (८३) · Śloka ८३
एवमेते दशौषधकालाः ||८३||
Meaning of the śloka
Thus these are the ten times of medicine.
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साम्प्रतं सङ्ग्रहमाह- एवमित्यादि||८३||
Meaning of the commentary
The commentary says this gives the summary.
Key terms
daśauṣadhakāla (daśauṣadhakālāḥ)
The ten times of medicine.
Adhikarana ४३ (८४) · Śloka ८४
विसृष्टे विण्मूत्रे विशदकरणे देहे च सुलघौ विशुद्धे चोद्गारे हृदि सुविमले वाते च सरति |
तथाऽन्नश्रद्धायां क्लमपरिगमे कुक्षौ च शिथिले प्रदेयस्त्वाहारो भवति भिषजां कालः स तु मतः ||८४||
Meaning of the śloka
When stool and urine have been passed, the senses are clear, the body is very light, the belch is clean, the heart is quite clear, the wind moves downward, there is desire for food, fatigue has gone and the abdomen is relaxed, then food is to be given; that is considered the time by physicians.
The commentary says that after showing the times of medicine, the time of food is now given, since food is beneficial. (A bracketed line says food eaten at the right time in each season brings comfort, so the text fixes that time.) 'Stool and urine passed' means they have been evacuated. 'Clear senses' means clear sense organs. 'Body very light' means free of heaviness. 'Clean belch' means without sweet or sour smoky smell. 'Heart quite clear' means free of agitation. 'Wind moving downward' means passing downward. 'Desire for food' means longing for food. 'Fatigue gone' means without exertion or tiredness. 'Abdomen relaxed' means loose, not stiff, when hunger arises. Food should be given by the physician; that alone is the time, and the word 'but' is for emphasis. The mention of the physician shows that food examined by the physician is to be eaten.
Thus ends the sixty-fourth chapter (the second from the beginning, among the Tantrabhūṣaṇa chapters), named Svasthavṛtta, in the Uttaratantra of the Suśruta Saṃhitā.