Ashmari (urinary stone) is described as kapha that hardens in the bladder into a dense stone. Kapha predominates in every stone, but four kinds are named after the leading factor: kapha, pitta, vata and semen. Stones are said to be common in children, and the semen stone to occur only in grown men.
Also described as
The text gives signs of hard-to-cure and incurable stones, calls ashmari a grave, death-like disease, and says a soft stone yields to medicines while a hard, grown one needs surgery; at its onset the patient is first purified.
Summary of stone treatment: medicated ghees, decoctions, alkalis, milks, linctuses and especially uttara basti.
Names and synonyms
- Sanskrit
- अश्मरीअश्मरीरोग
- Hindi
- अश्मरीपथरीगुर्दे की पथरी
- English
- Urinary stoneurinary stonekidney stonecalculus
- Romanized
- ashmaripathri
Types described in the text
Kapha-type stone
कफाश्मरी
Heavy, large and pale white; blocking the urinary outlet it makes the bladder heavy, with pain as if it were being split.
Pitta-type stone
पित्ताश्मरी
Red, black and yellow, shaped like a marking-nut (bhallataka) stone; blocks the urine, the bladder burns as if cooked by heat, with burning of the body, thirst and repeated distress from hot vata.
Vata-type stone
वाताश्मरी
Rough, dark, beset with thorn-like points, like a kadamba flower; blocks the bladder mouth and the urine with great pain; the patient cannot lie or sit, runs about, rubs navel and penis, puts a finger into the anus, clenches the teeth and falls to the ground as if senseless.
Semen stone
शुक्राश्मरी
Formed from retained semen at the bladder mouth between scrotum and penis; swells the scrotum; when pressed there it dissolves for a while but soon gathers and grows again; occurs only in grown men.
What the text says
Each statement reports the source, with its chapter, page and verse. Traditional descriptions are not presented as proven medical facts.
Definition1
A footnote explains that kapha going into the bladder with urine hardens there like stone into a dense mass, which is called pathari or ashmari.
Classification1
All stones arise with kapha predominant, yet by primary and secondary emphasis four kinds are named: kaphaja, pittaja, vataja and viryaja (from semen).
Causes2
Stones of all three doshas are said to occur especially in children because of much day sleep, a very narrow urinary passage, rich pleasant food and the natural increase of kapha.
The semen stone is said to arise when the urge of semen is held back: the semen leaves its place, finds no way out, is driven by vata into the mouth of the bladder between scrotum and penis, and dries there into a stone.
How it develops2
A footnote adds that even a pitta stone has kapha as its root cause, since a dense stone-like mass cannot arise from the other doshas without kapha; it is named after pitta only because pitta is primary in it.
A footnote explains that holding back the urge narrows the outlet, so the semen cannot get out.
Treatment principle3
A soft stone is said to be cured by medicines; a hard, grown stone is cured by breaking it open with care and taking it out, so it is curable by surgery.
As soon as a stone arises, the patient is first to be purified by emesis, purgation and the like.
The physician is told to overcome even a stone harder than rock with ghees, decoctions, alkalis, milks and linctuses made from stone-destroying drugs, and especially with uttara basti.
Prognosis4
In children a stone can be taken out very easily, because the body and bladder are small, the flesh is scant and an instrument can be used easily.
A stone with terrible pain, blood-mixed urine passed with great difficulty and ulcers in the urinary passage is said to be incurable or hard to cure, and the skilled physician should treat it after careful thought.
A patient with swollen navel and scrotum, blocked urine and extreme pain from gravel and stones is to be given up as incurable.
Ashmari is likened to thunderbolt, poison, fire and a snake as quickly fatal, a form of death and one of the gravest diseases.
Other1
The semen stone swells the scrotum and occurs only in young adult men, not in children.
Where else is this mentioned?
Named 10 times on 5 pages. These are automatic name matches, so a few may refer to something else with the same name.
- Book page 57Chapter 4… उत्पन्न करते हैं। शरीर में शोषोत्पादक हैं व कठिनता से पचने योग्य हैं। पथरी रोग (मूत्रगतरोग) आदि को दूर करने वाले हैं। मूत्रगत दोषों को दमन करने …
- Book page 222Chapter 13×5… वा:। क्रमेण तासामत उच्यते विधि:॥ 6॥ भावार्थ - सर्व प्रकार के अशमरी1 (पथरी) रोगों में कफ की प्रधानता रहती है। अर्थात् सर्व अशमरी रोग कफ से उत्पन …
- Book page 224Chapter 13… बीच में अर्थात् बस्ति के मुख में प्रवेश करके, वही रुककर शुष्क होने से पथरी बन जाता है, इसी को शुक्राशमरी कहते हैं। यह अणडकोश में सूजन उत्पन्न कर …
- Book page 225Chapter 13×2… शीघ्र मृत्युकारक है। यह रोग अत्यन्त विषम महारोगों की गणना में है। वह (पथरी) कोमल हो (सक्र नहीं) तो औषधि प्रयोग से ठीक होती है। यदि सरुत हो गयी ह …
- Book page 226Chapter 13… पदाथोँ को पीने आदि कायोँ में प्रयोग करने से, पित्त से उत्पन्न अशमरी (पथरी) सदा नाश होती है। जैसे कि दुष्ट मंत्रियों से राजा की राजय संपत्ति नष् …
Questions and answers
Which diseases does the Kalyanakarakam call the major diseases (mahamaya)?
Prameha, kushtha, udara, vatavyadhi, mudhagarbha, haemorrhoids, urinary stone and fistula-in-ano.
Detailed answer and sourcesWhat are the four kinds of ashmari, and which dosha does the text find in all of them?
Kaphaja, pittaja, vataja and shukraja (from semen); kapha predominates in every stone.
Detailed answer and sourcesWhy does the text say a stone in a child is easy to remove?
Because the child's body and bladder are small, its flesh is scant and an instrument can be applied easily.
Detailed answer and sourcesWhen does the text say a urinary stone yields to medicine, and when does it call for surgery?
A soft stone is cured by medicines; a hard, grown stone is broken open with care and removed, that is, by surgery.
Detailed answer and sourcesAll references
Every page and verse of the source that this entry draws on.
- Chapter 13 · p. 222 · v. 6
- Chapter 13 · p. 222 · v. 7
- Chapter 13 · p. 222 · v. 8-9
- Chapter 13 · p. 223 · v. 13
- Chapter 13 · p. 223 · v. 10-12
- Chapter 13 · p. 224 · v. 14
- Chapter 13 · p. 224 · v. 15
- Chapter 13 · p. 224 · v. 15-16
- Chapter 13 · p. 224 · v. 17
- Chapter 13 · p. 225 · v. 18
- Chapter 13 · p. 225 · v. 19
- Chapter 13 · p. 225 · v. 20
- Chapter 13 · p. 227 · v. 34
Quick facts
- Content type
- Condition
- Categories
- Kidney and urinary
- Source pages with records
- 5
- Pages naming it
- 5
- Chapters
- Chapter 13
- Extraction tasks
- T11
- Record id
- condition_ashmari