Virya (potency)

Built from passages of the source by the curated extraction. Pending human review.

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Names and synonyms

Sanskrit: द्रव्यवीर्य
Hindi: वीर्यशक्तिऔषधि की शक्ति
English: Viryaviryapotency
Romanized: virya

What the text says

Each statement reports the source, with its chapter, page and verse. Traditional descriptions are not presented as proven medical facts.

Classification2

The text names the qualities that count as potency (virya) as unctuous, sharp, slimy, dry, hot, cold, clear and soft.
Appendix: Hitahita · p. 609Sanskrit verseTraditional description
The potencies are named as unctuous, sharp, slimy, soft, dry, hot, cold and clear (nirmalata); these eight qualities named as potency are said to rest in substance, not in the tastes.
Appendix: Hitahita · p. 625Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Other1

Quoting Sushruta, the text says the eight qualities called potency also rest in substance; they do not occur in the tastes, since qualities are said to have no qualities.
Appendix: Hitahita · p. 610Sanskrit verseTraditional description

Questions2

What does the hitahita chapter, quoting Sushruta, say about substance, taste, potency and vipaka?हिताहिताध्याय सुश्रुत को उद्धृत करते हुए द्रव्य, रस, वीर्य और विपाक के बारे में क्या कहता है?Why does the author say the medicines in the text are not complete?लेखक के अनुसार ग्रंथ में कही गई औषधियाँ पूर्ण क्यों नहीं हैं?

Discussed in topics2

Points to know about purificationसंशोधन सम्बन्धी ज्ञातव्य बातें The author's expression of humilityलघुता प्रदर्शन

Sessions1

Wholesome and unwholesome thingsहिताहिताध्याय

Questions and answers

Why does the author say the medicines in the text are not complete?

Substances and their tastes, potencies, post-digestive effects and specific actions are countless and cannot all be told in a short treatise.

Detailed answer and sources

What does the hitahita chapter, quoting Sushruta, say about substance, taste, potency and vipaka?

There is no vipaka without potency, no potency without taste and no taste without substance; substance is the most important, because taste, potency and vipaka depend on it, and the eight qualities called potency rest in substance, not in the tastes.