Kinds of nasya

Nasya is given with two kinds of medicines, unctuous (oil and the like) and dry (apamarga and the like). Unctuous nasya is of two kinds, marsha and avamarsha (pratimarsha), and dry nasya of two kinds, avapidana and pradhamana; since the other kinds such as purgative and nourishing nasya are all made with these, nasya is mainly fourfold. Avamarsha is to be used in head diseases from vata, pitta or both. Footnotes define nasya, marsha (10, 8 or 6 drops of fat for the best, medium and lowest dose), avapidana (with paste, decoction or juice of dry drugs) and pradhamana (dry powder blown into the nostril through a tube).