This section is from the book "The Sushruta Samhita", by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna. Also available from Amazon: The Sushruta Samhita.
The Pinyaka (levigated powder or cake of linseed or mustard pressed in an oil-mill), the Tilakalka (the levigated powder of sesamum of which the oil has been similarly pressed out), and the Sthunika-shuska-Shaka (leaves and stems of plants pasted and made into pills or balls) tend to enrage all the deranged humours.
Sthunika balls are long retained in the stomach in an undigested state, thus giving rise to a distension of that organ, and tend to enrage or aggravate the bodily Vayu. Moist Sindakis are the (leaves and stems of the Mulaka, etc. slightly boiled and pasted with pungent and aromatic spices and then made into balls.) There are two kinds of Sindakis the dry and the moist. They generate the Vayu and are appetising, and tend to impart a greater relish to food. All sweet or palatable potherbs are purgative and heavy of digestion, produce a state of dryness in the organism, are generally indigestible and long retained in the stomach in an undigested state, causing it to distend. They are marked with a shade of the astringent in their taste.
Of flowers, leaves, fruits, stems and bulbs, each succeeding one is heavier (of digestion) than the one immediately preceding it in the order of enumeration. Potherbs and leaves of edible plants which are found to be rough or putrified or worm-eaten, as well as those growing on an improper or incongenial soil, or making their appearance in an unnatural season of the year, should be rejected as unfit for use. This ends the description of the Pushpa-shakas.
Now we shall discourse on the virtues of edible bulbous plants or herbs (Kandas). The bulbs of plants and creepers such as the Vidari-kanda, Shatavari, Visha (bulbs of the lotus plant), Mrinala (the upper stem of the lotus plant),.Shringataka, Kasheruka, Pindaluka, Madhvaluka, Hastyaluka, Kasthaluka, Shankhaluka, Raktaluka, Indivara and Utpala etc. alleviate haemoptysis, are cooling in their potency, sweet in their taste and heavy of digestion. They tend to increase the semen in large quantities and augment the quantity of milk in the breast of a human mother. The bulb known as the Vidari-Kanda has a sweet taste, and acts as a constructive tonic and is spermatopoietic. It is cooling in its potency, beneficial to the voice, and imparts strength to the system. It is extremely diuretic and subdues the Vayu and Pittam. The Shatavari has a sweet and bitter taste and is spermatopoietic. It subdues the Vayu and Pittam, the one belonging to the large-sized species being palatable and appetising and tonic. The latter improves the intellect and proves curative in cases of mesenteric diarrhoea (Grahani) and piles, and is spermatopoietic, rejuvenating, restorative, and cooling in its potency. The under-sprouts of this creeper (large-sized Shatavari) have a bitter taste and subdue the Pittam and Kapham. The Visham * proves curative in cases of haemoptysis, and is long retained in the stomach in an undigested state, though it falls under the category of substances which can be but partially digested. It is tasteless or insipid, generates the Vayu, and is hard to digest, producing a condition of dryness in the organism. The bulbs known as the Shringataka and the Kasheruka are heavy of digestion, are long retained in the stomach in an undigested state, and are cooling in their potency. The Pindalukam generates the Kapham, is heavy of digestion, and tends to enrage or agitate the bodily Vayu. The Surendrakanda is pungent in digestion, generates the Pittam and subdues the Kapham. The sprouts of the Venn are heavy of digestion, and tend to enrage the Kapham and Vayu.
* Bulbs of lotus plants - though certain authorities aver that the inner lining or membranous fibres of a lotus-stem are called Visha, the outer covering being known as the Mrinalam.
The bulbs (Kanda) known as Sthula-Kanda, Shurana-Kanda, and Manaka, etc. have a slightly astringent and pungent taste, and tend to produce a state of dryness in the organism. They are heavy of digestion, and subdue the Pittam, and are long retained in the stomach in an undigested condition.
The species known as the Manaka is sweet, and cooling in its potency and heavy of digestion, while the one called the Sthula Kanda is not inordinately heat-making in its potency. The species Surana is usually found to be curative in cases of piles and rectal polypi and condylomata. The bulbs of such aquatic plants as the Kumuda, Utpala and Padma have an astringent taste and are sweet in digestion. They are cooling in their potency and tend to enrage the Vayu and pacify or subdue the deranged Pittam. The bulb known as the Vrahakanda is pungent in taste and digestion, and is possessed of spermatopoietic, tonic, rejuvenating and restorative properties. It subdues the Kapham, and proves efficacious in cases of Meha, skin diseases (Kushtham), and in ailments due to the presence of parasites in the intestines. The top-piths of such trees, as the Tala, Narikela, Kharjura etc., are sweet in taste and digestion. They prove curative in cases of haemoptysis, and are spermatopoietic. They subdue the Vayu and generate the Kapham in the body. Edible bulbs, which are extremely tender or immature, diseased, decomposed or sprouting in an improper season of the year, or are worm-eaten, should be rejected as unfit for use. This finishes the description of the bulb group.
 
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