This section is from the book "The Sushruta Samhita", by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna. Also available from Amazon: The Sushruta Samhita.
A compound consisting of asafoetida, Trikatu, Vachá, Ajamodá, Dhanyá, Aja-gandhdá, Dádimba, Tintidi, Páthá, Chitraka, Yava-kshára, Saindhava salt, Vid salt, Sauvarchala salt, Svarjiká-kshára, Pippali-mula, Amla-vetasa, S'athi, Pushkara-mula, Hapushá, Chavyá, Ajáji and Pathyá, powdered together and treated many times with the expressed juice of Mdtn-lunga in the manner of Bhávaná * saturation, should be made into boluses, each weighing an Aksha (two Tolás) in weight. One (such) pill should be taken (in an empty stomach) every morning in all diseases of the deranged Váyu. This compound proves curative in cough, asthma, internal tumour (Gulma), ascites, heart-disease, tympanites, aching pain at the sides, in the abdomen and in the bladder, in cases of an aversion to food, retention of stool, strangunary, enlarged spleen, piles, Tuni and Prati-tuni. 39.
* "Bhávaná" consists in soaking a powder or a pulverised compound with the expressed juice or decoction of any drugs or with any liquid and in getting it dry (generally). This process should be cotinued many times (generally seven times) in succesion.
From the symptoms or leading indications, exhibited in each case and from a close examination thereof, it should be inferred whether the Váyu alone has been deranged or whether it has combined with any other Dosha, or has affected any other fundamental principle (Dhátu) of the organism as well; and the medical treatment should follow a course, so as not to prove hostile to the Doshas or the Dha'tus (organic principles) implicated in the case, in its attempt to subdue the aggravated Váyu. In a case of cold, compact and painful swelling (appearing in any part of the body) owing to the combination of the deranged Váyu with fat, the treatment should be identical with that of a swelling in general. 40-41.
The deranged Váyu, surcharged with the local fat and Kapha gives rise to a swelling in the region of the thigh which is known as Uru-stambha; others designate it as Adhya-Váta. This disease is marked by lassitude and an aching pain in the limbs, by the presence of fever, horripilation and somnolence and by a sensation of coldness, numbness, heaviness, and unsteadiness in the thighs, which seem foreign to the body. 42.
The patient should be made to drink a potion consisting of the pulverised compound known as the Shad-dharana-yoga; or of the drugs constituting the Pippallyádi group, dissolved in (an adequate quantity of) hot water without using any oleaginous substance; or a lambative, composed of pulverised Triphalá and Katuka mixed with honey, should be used; or a potion, consisting of Guggulu or S'ilájatu dissolved in cow's urine, should be administered. These compounds subdue the aggravated Váyu surcharged with deranged fat and Kapha and prove curative in heart-disease, an aversion to food, Gulma and internal abscesses. A medicinal plaster composed of Karanja fruits and mustard seeds, pasted with a copious quantity of cow's urine should be applied hot to the affected part, which may be as well fomented with cow's urine mixed with alkali (Kshára); or the locality should be shampooed with articles devoid of any oily substance. The diet of the patient should consist of old and matured Syámáka, Kodrava,Uddala and Sáli rice with the soup of dry Mulaka or Patola, or of the flesh of animals of the Jángala group cooked without clarified butter or vegetables (S'ákd) cooked without salt. The use of oil and of lardaceous substances in general (Sneha-karma) should, however, be prescribed after the deranged fat and Kapha have (totally) subsided. 43.
Therapeutic properties of Guggulu:
- Guggulu is aromatic, light, penetrating into the minutest parts of the body, sharp, heat-making in potency, pungent in taste and digestion, laxative, emulsive, slimy, and wholesome to the heart (Hridya). New Guggulu is an aphrodisiac and a constructive tonic. Old Guggulu is anti-fat and hence reduces corpulency. It is owing to its sharpness and heat-making potency that Guggulu tends to reduce the Váyu and the Kapha; it is its laxativeness that destroys the Malas (refuge deposits in the Srotas) and the deranged Pitta; its aroma removes the bad odours of the Koshtha; and it is its subtle essence that improves the appetising faculty. Guggulu should be taken every morning with a decoction of Triphalá, Dárvi and Patola or with that of Kus'a roots *; it may also be taken with an adequate quantity of cow's urine, or with alkaline † or tepid water. The patient should take boiled rice with soup, milk, or extract of meat after the Guggulu has been digested. Diseases such as internal tumour (Gulma), urinary complaints (Meha), Udávarta, ascites, fistula-in-ano, worms in the intestines, itches, an aversion to food, leucoderma (Svitra), tumour and glands (Arvuda), sinus, Adhya-Váta, swelling (oedema), cutaneous affections (Kushtha) and malignant sores and ulcers readily yield to it, if used for a month (with the observance of the regimen of diet and conduct laid down previously). It also destroys the deranged Váyu incarcerated in the Koshtha, bones and joints, just as a thunderbolt will destroy trees. 44.
Thus ends the fifth Chapter of the Chikitsita Sthánam in the Sus'ruta-Samhitá which deals with the medical treatment of Mahá-Vaia-Vyádhi.
* Some explain that a third decoction should be that of Triphalá, Dárvi, Patola and Kus'a grass taken together.-Dallana.
The decoctions may be prepared separately with Triphalá, Dárvi, Patola and Kus'a. - Ed.
† Some read "Kshira" (milk) in the place of "Kshára" (alkali).
 
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