Madya Varga ( Wines And Spirits)

All species of wine are acid in taste, and appetising. They generate Pittam, and impart a greater relish to one's food. They act as mild purgatives, subdue the deranged Vayu and Kapham, and are pleasing, exhilarating and diuretic.

They are light in digestion and give rise to a kind of re-actionary acidity. They are keen and heat-making, stimulate the sense organs, expand the joints and increase the discharge of urine and stool. Now hear me specifically describe the properties of each kind of wine.

Metrical Texts

The wine know as the Madvirkam and prepared on the juice fruits as grapes and raisins, does not gives to any sort of reactionary acidity after its use, and accordingly is not forbidden by learned physicians even in cases of haemoptysis. It has a sweet taste, and leaves an astringent after-taste. It is parchifying, light and easy of digestion, acts as an aperient, and proves curative in chronic fevers, phthisis and other wasting diseases.

The wine prepared from the juice of the date palm (Kharjuram) possesses properties, which are slightly different from those of the preceding kind. It tends to enrage the bodily Vayu, is clear, and imparts a relish to one's food, and reduces fat and Kapham. It is light, 58 has a sweet and astringent taste, is pleasing and aromatic and increases the agility of the limbs and organs.

The wine known as the Sura (made of rice-paste and other fermenting drugs) proves curative in cough, piles, chronic indigestion and diarrhoea, and retention of urine. It subdues the deranged Vayu and is tonic and appetising. It purifies the breast milk of a woman and proves beneficial in all types of diseases of the blood, as well as in wasting diseases. White Sura is used with benefit in all cases of cough, piles, diarrhoea, dyspnoea and catarrh. It builds up new sugar and tissues, and increases the quantity of blood. It is in its effect, and increases the quantity of Kapham in the body. The wine known as the Prasanna (the cream or the limpid surface of Sura) may be taken with advantage in vomiting, non-relish for food, aching or colic pain at the sides or about the cardiac region, constipation, suppression of stool and urine or flatus, as well as in all cases of obstinate constipation and derangement of the bodily Vayu. The wine prepared from barley Yavasura) generates Pittam and tends to enrage the bodily Vayu. It is dry and slightly generates Kapham. The wine prepared from Madhulika (a kind of small barley) is heavy and generates Kapham in the body. It is long retained in the stomach, and arrests the evacuation of stool and urine. The Ahshiki (wine prepared from the bark of Vibhitaka trees etc.) is parchifying, digestant, and slightly produces Kapham. It is possessed of aphrodisiac properties. The wine known as the Kohala brings on the simultaneous derangement of the three fundamental bodily humours, is pleasant to the taste, acts as a purgative (Bhedya) and is possessed of aphrodisiac properties. The wine known as the Jagala (the underlying dregs or residue of wine) is astringent and heat-making in its potency, and acts as a digestant. It is parchifying, and proves beneficial in cough, thirst and phthisis. It is pleasant to the taste, cures diarrhoea, distention of the stomach, piles and oedema. It forms and subdues the deranged Vayu as well. The wine known as the Vakkasa long undigested in the stomach owing from the juice timeing pithless. It is a good appetiser and tends to enrage the deranged Vayu, and acts as a purgative and diuretic tonic. - A.T.) It is heavy and slightly intoxicating. The wine known as the Guda Sidhu (prepared with the boiled juice of sugar-cane and Dhataki flowers, etc. has a sweet and astringent taste, and acts as an appetiser and digestant. Sugar wine (Sharkara Sidhu) is sweet in its taste, increases one's relish for food, is appetising and diuretic. It subdues the deranged Vayu and is exhilarating, sweet in digestion, and increases the action (lit: rouses up) of the sense organs. The wine known as the Pakka Rasa Sidhu is possessed of properties similar to the preceding kinds (Sharkara Sidhu). It improves the complexion and imparts strength to the system and relish to one's food. It is pleasant, laxative, appetising and proves beneficial in cases of Kapham and piles and reduces swellings. The wine known as the Sheeta Rasika Sidhu (prepared from the unboiled juice of Sugar-cane in contradistinction with the preceding kinds prepared from the boiled juice of sugar-cane), acts as an anti-epispastic, and a digestant and vocal tonic, proves curative in oedema and abdominal dropsy, improves the complexion, removes the suppression of flatus, urine and stool (Vivandha), and proves beneficial in cases of piles. The wine known as the Akshika Sidhu (prepared from a decoction of Vibe the wine treacle etc. and improved with the limpid Dhataki) proves beneficial in cases of ulcer and jaundice. It is light and astringent, and has a sweet and astringent taste. It subdues the deranged Pittam and purifies the blood. The wine known as the Jamvava Sidhu (wine prepared from the expressed juice of the Jambalin fruit, a decoction of coriander seeds, treacle and Dhataki flowers, etc.) is anuretic, reduces the quantity of urine, has an astringent taste, and tends to enrage the bodily Vayu. The wine known as the Surasava (Asava distilled with wine instead of with water) is keen, pleasant, and diuretic. It subdues the deranged Vayu and Kapham, or the deranged Vayu alone, and is palatable, and possessed of a more durable intoxicating pow,er. The wine known as the Madhvasava wine is light, tends to disintegrate the knotty accumulations or collections of phlegm (Chhedi), and proves curative in Meha (unhealthy discharges from the urethra), cutaneous affections, and poisoning (antitoxic). It has a taste blended of the sweet and the astringent, is keen and anti-epispastic, and does not generate an abnormal quantity of Vayu in the system. The wine known as the Maireya (prepared from the Paishtisura, treacle-made spirit and honey) is keen, and has a sweet and astringent taste. It is intoxicating, and proves curative in piles, Kapham and Gulma (abdominal glands) . It is antifat and a vermifuge, and is heavy in digestion, and subdues the deranged Vayu. Wines prepared from the juice of grapes or sugar-cane (Ikshu or Dhrakshasava) are tonic and choleric. They subdue the deranged Pittam, and serve to improve the complexion. Sidhu (wine) prepared from the Madhuka flowers is parchifying, takes a long time to be digested, and is followed by an acid re-action. It improves the strength and digestive capacity, and has an astringent taste. It subdues the deranged Kapham, and serves to aggravate the Vayu and Pittam. Wines prepared from the distilled juice of bulbs or roots should be deemed as possessed of properties pertaining to them individually. New wine is heavy, bad smelling, insipid, unpleasant, unpalatable, and tends to increase the slimy secretions of the organs. It enrages the deranged humours of the body, takes a long time to be digested, and is followed by an acid re-action. Old Wine is sweet-smelling, acts as an appetiser, and brings on a relish for food. It is pleasant and a vermifuge, and cleanses the internal channels of the organism. It is light and subdues the deranged Vayu and Kapham.