Explore the knowledge

Vahā, not further explained, is named among greens that provoke kapha.

The editor reports the author's definition of practical (vyāvahārika) health: balance in the body's seven dhātus, agni and the doṣas vāta, pitta and the rest, clarity of the senses, joy of…

The footnote says chitraka root becomes purified when kept in lime water.

Safflower leaves are listed among leaf vegetables said to remove kapha, to be hot and to be wholesome in vata disorders.

Poison put on the back of an elephant, horse or camel makes the animal discharge kapha from the mouth (its eyes turn red) and lose dhātu, while the rider gets eruptions and swelling on the…

The anal region has three folds (vali), lying one angula apart from the anal opening inwards, so that the three together span three angula; the piles described arise in these folds.

The publisher's note opens with the saying 'the body is indeed the first means of dharma' and says that a healthy body is necessary for religious practice, and that only through a healthy…

The introduction says that the treatment portion of the Kalyāṇakāraka resembles Caraka to a large extent, apart from the parts dealing with honey, wine and meat.

The editor reports the author's explanation of the word vaidya (chapter 1, verse 18): vidyā is omniscience (kevalajñāna), which reveals the characteristics of the soul (jīva) and all other…

Among the factors to be weighed in treatment, the introduction says time (kāla) is of three kinds: cold, hot and rainy.

Continuing the account of digestion, the introduction says the food is moved onward by a propulsive action, and samāna vāyu is needed for this and to keep the food moist; its actions of…

The child is bathed well with water boiled with kuberaksha (patala), arka, bamboo, gandharvahasta, aragvadha and bilva, and then anointed with oil cooked with vata-removing drugs.

The fifteen complications (vyapad) that the text says can follow errors in emesis and purgation, each described with its signs and treatment.

Enemas of old jaggery and sesame oil in equal measure with the stated liquid and various drugs, which remove various doshas, are to be given properly many times. The physician may use these…

Ultimate time is described as powerful and unavoidable, beginningless and endless, subtle, indivisible and formless, marked by vartanā, the moment-to-moment change it supports in all…

A child seized by the Pishacha graha is bathed well with water boiled with kuberaksha (patala), arka, bamboo, gandharvahasta, aragvadha and bilva.

Jīvantī, aloe (taruṇī), vidhārā, vandā, mañjikā, kundalatā, cañcu and kundru are described as binding the stool and producing vata; māriṣa, the two kinds of spinach, vahā and jīvantī as…

The anus has three folds (vali), one angula apart from the anal opening inwards, so that together they span three angula; all the piles described arise in these folds. Footnotes name the…

The colophon of manuscript 4, partly in Kannada and translated by the editor, gives the line of copying: Śrī Bālacandra Bhaṭṭāraka copied the work on Thursday, Jyeṣṭha śukla 2 of the Saumya…

Fifteen complications (vyapad) of emesis and purgation are named, arising from errors of the physician, patient or attendant: the emetic going down or the purgative going up; medicine…

The editor reports the author's two kinds of health: ultimate (pāramārthika) health, the imperishable, supra-sensory bliss of the soul that comes from destroying the eight karmas, and…

The Jinas describe health for a person capable of liberation as of two kinds: the ultimate (pāramārthika), which is primary, and the practical (vyavahāra), which is secondary.

Ultimate (pāramārthika) health, the bliss of liberation, which is primary, and practical (vyavahāra) health, which is secondary; practical health means balanced digestive fire and tissues,…