Head-purging nasya is used in the many kapha diseases above the collar bone (the commentary: throat, nose, eyes and so on), and can also be given with dry drugs. Four drops of the purging liquid are put into each nostril as the first, lightest dose; the middle dose is double and the best dose double again. Three fixed doses serve the three purposes of loosening (utkleda), cleansing (shodhana) and pacifying (samshamana), and the physician sets the dose by the rise of the doshas, since the dose itself brings about the cleansing. When it acts properly the ears, throat, lips, eyes, mouth, palate and nose are cleansed together with the strong kapha. A footnote reports other opinions on the doses and quotes a verse from another text.
Names and synonyms
- Sanskrit
- शिरोविरेचन नस्यविरेचन नस्य
- Hindi
- शिरोविरेचन नस्य
- English
- Head-purging nasya (shirovirechana)
Ingredients and preparation
How it is used
Drops of the purging liquid into each nostril; it can also be given with dry drugs.
भावार्थ : शिरोविरेचन द्रव को एक-एक नाक के छेदों में चार-चार बिन्दु डालना चाहिए। यह
Indicated for, as the text says
- Kapha disorders(ऊधर्वजत्रुशलेष्मोद्धवेषु बहुरोगचयेषु / ऊधर्वजत्रुगत नाना प्रकार के कफजन्य रोग)
- Throat disorders (kantharoga)(गला (भावार्थ))
- Nasal disorders (nasaroga)(नाक (भावार्थ))
- Eye disorders (netraroga)(आँख (भावार्थ))
Quantities are reported exactly as the source states them. They are historical measures, not dosage advice.
भावार्थ : इस प्रकार हमने प्रतिमर्श नस्य का निरूपण किया, अब आगे शिरोविर‘चन काSource wording as converted, Chapter 23 · p. 556 · v. 71-74.Safety
- Needs a trained practitioner. This procedure or preparation is of a kind that should only be carried out under qualified supervision.
- Caution in the text: The dose is to be fixed by the physician according to the rise of the doshas, since only a proper dose cleanses the doshas.
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
What are the two basic kinds of nasya, and at which nine times is pratimarsha given?
Oleating (snehana) nasya and head-purging (shirovirechana) nasya. Pratimarsha, a kind of oleating nasya, is given on rising, on going out, after cleaning the teeth, after day sleep, after walking, after passing urine, after vomiting, after meals and in the evening.
Detailed answer and sourcesAll references
Every page and verse of the source that this entry draws on.
Extraction notes
- Its uses are given in verse 60 (PDF 626). Supervision is flagged because it is a head purgation. Footnote 1 on PDF 629 reports other opinions on the dose; footnote 2 gives करोति as a variant reading for भिषक् in verse 73.
Quick facts
- Content type
- Procedure
- Source pages with records
- 1
- Pages naming it
- 0
- Chapters
- Chapter 23
- Extraction tasks
- T26
- Record id
- method_shirovirechana_nasya_p628