Fire is called sharper than caustic, curing from the root diseases that kshara, medicine or knife cannot cure. It is not applied to ligaments, bones and joints; the burning means are bone, metals, reeds, rods, ghee, oil, jaggery, cow dung and the like. It is avoided in summer and autumn except for urgent diseases, done then after counter-seasonal cooling measures. Burning reaches either the skin or the flesh, each with its own signs.
Names and synonyms
- Sanskrit
- अग्निकर्मदहनकर्म
- Hindi
- अग्निकर्म (दागना)
- English
- Cauterisation (agnikarma)
Ingredients and preparation
Ingredients
| Ingredient | As written in the text | Quantity as written |
|---|---|---|
| Iron (loha)लोहा (लोह) | संपूर्ण लोह (दहन के उपकरण) | Not stated |
| Ghee (ghrita)घी (घृत) | घृत | Not stated |
| Sesame oil (tila taila)तिल का तेल (तैल) | तैल | Not stated |
| Jaggery (guda)गुड़ (गुड) | गुड | Not stated |
| Cow dung (gomaya)गोबर (गोमय) | गोमय | Not stated |
How it is used
The lesion is burnt with the heated means of burning.
हडुी, संपूर्ण लोह, शर, शलाका, घृत, तैल, गुड, गोमय आदि दहन के उपकरण हैं।
अग्नि से जलाये हुए कोइर् भी रोग समूल नाश होते हैं (पुन: उगते भी नहीं है) अैर जो रोग ़ार, अैषधि व शस्त्रकर्म से भी साधयSource wording as converted, Chapter 21 · p. 477 · v. 17-20.Safety
- Needs a trained practitioner. This procedure or preparation is of a kind that should only be carried out under qualified supervision.
- Contraindication in the text: Not to be applied to ligaments, bones and joints, even when the patient is otherwise fit for cautery.
- Caution in the text: Cautery is not done in summer and autumn; if the disease is urgent and curable only by fire, it is done after counter-seasonal measures such as cool covering, cool food, a cool place and cool drinks.
- Caution in the text: Footnote 2 notes that another text does not forbid fire on vessels, ligaments, joints and bones, and explains that this holds only when the disease cannot be cured without fire and life is at risk; otherwise these sites are forbidden, or the author may simply hold a different view.
Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, older adults, kidney or liver disease and other medicines all call for professional advice before any traditional remedy is used.
Questions and answers
Why does the text rank cauterisation above caustic therapy?
Because diseases burnt with fire are destroyed from the root and do not recur, and diseases that kshara, medicine or knife cannot cure yield to it.
Detailed answer and sourcesAll references
Every page and verse of the source that this entry draws on.
Quick facts
- Content type
- Procedure
- Source pages with records
- 1
- Pages naming it
- 0
- Chapters
- Chapter 21
- Extraction tasks
- T23
- Record id
- method_agnikarma_p549