Atharvaveda and Charaka Samhita
by Laxmi Maji | 2021 | 143,541 words
This page relates ‘Panduroga (anemia) according to Caraka� found in the study on diseases and remedies found in the Atharvaveda and Charaka-samhita. These texts deal with Ayurveda—the ancient Indian Science of life—which lays down the principles for keeping a sound health involving the use of herbs, roots and leaves. The Atharvaveda refers to one of the four Vedas (ancient Sanskrit texts encompassing all kinds of knowledge and science) containing many details on Ayurveda, which is here taken up for study.
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ṇḍܰDz (anemia) according to Caraka
The ٳܲ in the human body are affected by the pitta ṣa. Then the ٳܲ lose their effectiveness. Then these ṣa pollute the minerals in the body and the colour of the body changes. The body loses strength, sneha, Oja and other important things. Through this the patient loses red blood cells, fat, immunity, and the ability of the five senses. Thus, the patient is affected by ṇḍܰDz. Alkali, Ā, salt, atyuṣṇa, viruddha, bad diet, śī, māṣakalāṣa, tilakalka, tila, mustard oil should be consumed every day. Due to Grahaṇ� doṣa and other reasons one gets indigestion, the need to sleep during the day, laziness, lustfulness, disbalance of 貹ñ첹, suppression of natural urges, anxiety, the heart is affected by rage and sorrow. Due to these reasons pitta in the heart is aggravated. The strong wind in the body gets disrupted and affects the ten ī in the heart and this spreads throughout the body. The blood and air in the skin and flesh of the human body are infected by this kapha. The skin and flesh are also infected. Consequently, the colour of our skin changes to ṇḍ, , harita and different colours. This is called ṇḍܰDz or Anemia. The pre-symptoms of ṇḍܰDz are increased heartbeat, dryness, lack of perspiration and enervation. The general symptoms of ṇḍܰDz are ear pain, pain in pancreas, weakness, depression, insomnia, laziness, hallucination, body ache, fever, breathlessness, lack of appetite, rage, somnolence, pain in foot and thigh etc.
ṇḍܰDz is of five types�
Dr. Udaychand has said that soil-consumption related ṇḍܰDz is like chlorosis. Ślaiṣmika is a symptom of ṇḍܰDz like anemia. ٲ-Pittaja is a symptom of like jaundice. Vaidyācārya Kalikinkara Sensharma and Āyurvedācārya Satyasekhar Bhattacharya are of the opinion that the soil consumers have the infection in their air pitta kapha aggravated. Once this happens no other disease but ṇḍܰDz affects a person. For this, soil has been mentioned. According to Āⲹ Suśruta it is so called because of ṇḍtā. But here in addition to ṇḍ other colours are also present. Due to bad diet and habits, the air in our bodies is infected and it causes ٲᲹ-ṇḍܰDz. Due to this the skin becomes dry and dark. Also, ṅg岹, fever, toda, kampa, back pain, headache, enervation etc., occurs. Āⲹ Gaṅgādhara does not mention ṛṣṇa in his book but it is mentioned in the book Bhāvaprakāśa. Pittaja diet and habits the pitta in our bodies is infected and it causes pollution in the minerals in our blood and causes Pittaja-ṇḍܰDz. In pitta affected ṇḍܰDz, the patient’s skin colour turns pitta or harita and fever, vomiting, drowsiness, thirst, yellow excretion (both solid and liquid) occurs.
Śleṣmaja habits and diet infects the mucus in our bodies, and it causes Kaphaja-ṇḍܰDz. In this disease the body experiences, drowsiness, nausea, listlessness, breathing problems, cough, laziness, lack of appetite is observed. Diet that causes the body to increase the air, pitta and mucus in our bodies aggravates three ṣa in our bodies. Then Sānnipātika-ṇḍܰDz is caused. The men who have a habit of consuming soil will have one of the three ṣa neutralized. For example, if a person eats soil enriched with 첹ṣҲ rasa then he experiences flatulence. The one who eats ūṣa soil gets pitta doṣa. The one who eats soil enriched with sweet rasa will have kapha doṣa aggravated. Due to this reason the strength, effectiveness, Oja and īⲹ of the five senses is negatively affected. And strength, colour and agni-nāśaka cause ṇḍܰDz. The ṇḍܰDz that is caused by the erosion of soil results in worms inside stomach. Śdzٳ occurs in throat, pupil, eyebrows, navel, ṅg and legs.
For the ṇḍܰDz patient who excessively ingests pitta enriched victuals will have his pitta polluted which will infect his flesh and blood. This causes Kāmalāroga. Kāmalāroga causes the eyes, skin, nails, and mouth to turn inordinately yellow. Blood is released with human excreta and it turns pittavarṇa. Spotted marks appear all over the skin. The symptoms of Kāmalāroga are , indigestion, weakness, despondency, lack of appetite, loss of perception through sense organs. Kāmalāroga is caused by many pittas. Kāmalāroga is of two types� ṣṭ-śākhāśrita (located in belly) and śākhāśrita (located in periphery). Kāmalāroga is not cured for many days, so the minerals of the body are lost and it leads to kuṣṭhasādhya kumbha峾-roga. For the Kāmalāroga, patients whose excreta and eyes turn black and also suffer from oedema, the patient is liable to die quickly. Five instances of ṇḍܰDz are incurable; if the ṇḍܰDz has endured for a considerable length of time, if the minerals in the patient’s body dries up, if the ṇḍܰDz has not been cured for some time, if oedema becomes a symptom, if all the substances of the patient turns pitta, the patient whose mucus is yellow and whose excrement is little and dry, the patient who is poor and whose skin is white, whose body seems smeared with some paste, the one who is vomiting, is enervated, suffers from extreme thirst, whose blood is thinned, whose blood turns white, in all these instances the ṇḍܰDz is incurable.
For general treatment of Kāmalāroga and ṇḍܰDz, the following may be practiced. The patient suffering from ṇḍܰDz should be given emetic and purgation therapies with unctuous and hard drugs for the purging the patient’s body. Again, the patient suffering from Kāmalāroga should be given purgation therapy with mild and bitter drugs. Once the patient’s Koṣṭha subsides, both maladies can be treated with the following medicines: old Ś type rice, barley and wheat mixed with ūṣa (vegetable soup) of Mudga, ḍhī and Ѳū and meat soup of animals living in arid zones. For oleation therapy, the patient suffering from ṇḍ and 峾 should be given ʲñⲹ-ṛt, پٲ-ṛt and kalyāṇaka-ṛt.
Other than this, in both maladies, different blended drugs are used like dāḍimādya-ṛt, 첹ṭu徱-ṛt, pathya-ṛt, 岹Գī-ṛt, ṣ�-ṛt, 徱-ṛt etc. Ჹdi-ṛt [ṛt�] means Ჹ, հ, Nimba, Beḍelā, ۲ṣṭ. The mixtures of these are taken one ser, māhiṣa-ṛt four ser, milk sixteen ser. These then should be mixed together and the medicine is prepared. This ṛt is an excellent curative for jaundice.
Other purgative therapies and other medicines can be used to treat these two diseases, like boiling Ჹīٲī immersed in cow urine and drinking it with cow urine. This can cure kapha-ṇḍܰDz. հ첹ṭu-powder must be consumed with paste of Bilva-patra. This neutralizes Kāmalāroga.
The patient afflicted with ṇḍܰDz must undertake a treatment process lasting a week where he must consume Ჹīٲī with cow urine and after digesting this he should have meals with milk or saccharin added with meat soup. Iron powder should be made to absorb cow urine for seven nights. The doctor should administer this decoction with milk for lessening the effects of ṇḍܰDz. One part of each of the powders of Śṇṭ, ʾ貹ī, Marica, Ჹīٲī, īٲ첹, Āī, Musta, վḍaṅg and Citraka and nine parts of the powder of iron should be mixed together. Ingesting this concoction with ghee and honey cures anemia, cardiac maladies, and problematic epidermal diseases like leprosy, piles and jaundice. This recipe was given by Kṛṣṇātreya who is also known as navāyasa-ūṇa.
Regarding the liquid diet of ṇḍܰDz patients it has been said: ʲñū boiled water and food is good for the patient, for Kāmalāroga patients, raisin and Ā juice should be given. For the treatment of the patient of ṇḍܰDz the following medicines should be used: when the ṇḍ is of پ첹 type the therapy should be dominated by unctuous medicines like oil, ghee etc. when the ṇḍ is a Paittika type medication should be dominated by bitter and cooling drugs. For Kaphaja ṇḍ pungent, bitter and hot drugs should be used. For Sānnipātika ṇḍ all the medication mentioned above must be blended together.
Soil consuming ṇḍܰDz patient are treated by physician depending on how well they can accept the treatment. Through sharp medication the physician cleanses the patient’s body of soil. After this process patient is administered various types of medicated ghee like—vyoṣādya-ṛt for boosting his strength. If the patient doses not cease consuming soil then drugs like վḍaṅg, Elā, پṣa, and Nimba should be mixed with the mud. In śākhāśrita 峾 the stool is like sesame paste, white in colour because of stoppage of Pitta by impaired Kapha. To remove this obstruction the physician prescribes hot spicy medicine to bring pitta from Ś to the intestine. In Ჹī첹 ٲ and Pitta colour of persons skin changes to yellow, blue or green. The treatment is done with the following: Oleation with buffalo milk, ghee mixed with ḍūcī juice and milk; Agastya Ჹīٲī; cleansing with Ā juice mixed with niśotha powder. After this the patient is given diet rich in sweet taste which causes ٲ and Pitta[2].
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
[2]:
C. 侱쾱ٲٳԲ–XX.2-68; Baidyacharya Kalikinkar Sensarma & Ayurbedacharya Satyasekhar Bhattacharya (eds.), Caraka-Samhita–Vol. II, trans. Kabiraj Jasodanandan Sirkar, Kolkata, Deepayan Publication, 2013, pp. 553-567.