Philosophy of Charaka-samhita
by Asokan. G | 2008 | 88,742 words
Ayurveda, represented by Charaka and Sushruta, stands first among the sciences of Indian intellectual tradition. The Charaka-samhita, ascribed to the great celebrity Charaka, has got three strata. (1) The first stratum is the original work composed by Agnivesha, the foremost of the six disciples of Punarvasu Atreya. He accomplished the work by coll...
Go directly to: Footnotes.
Twenty general physical attributes
Caraka gives a separate list of twenty general physical attributes. They are:
- heavy (guru),
- light (laghu),
- cold (艣墨迟补),
- hot (耻峁ａ箛补),
- viscous or unctuous (snigdha),
- dry or non- unctuous (谤奴办峁),
- inert or dull (manda),
- sharp or penetrative (迟墨办峁ａ箛补),
- stable (sthira),
- fluid (sara),
- soft (尘峁沝耻),
- hard (办补峁环颈峁嘺),
- non-slimy or clear (惫颈艣补诲补),
- slimy (picchila)
- smooth (艣濒补办峁ａ箛补),
- rough (khara),
- subtle (蝉奴办峁补),
- coarse (蝉迟丑奴濒补),
- dense (蝉腻苍诲谤补),
- liquid (drava).[1]
痴腻驳产丑补峁璦 also enumerates the same,[2] while 狈腻驳腻谤箩耻苍补 enumerates only ten, namely 艣墨迟补, 耻峁ａ箛补, snigdha, 谤奴办峁, 惫颈艣补诲补, picchila, guru, laghu, 尘峁沝耻, and 迟墨办峁ａ箛补.[3]
Dasgupta has suggested that Caraka has not enumerated these 驳耻峁嘺蝉 as belonging to substances, but only to food and drink that we take.[4] This is not credible because Caraka has clearly classified these twenty attributes into five groups and stated that each group is shared by a particular physical substance.[5] Moreover, he again gives a sub classification in accordance with their distribution among the three 诲辞峁蝉. In Rasavai艣e峁kas奴tra, it is stated that 艣墨迟补, 耻峁ａ箛补, guru, laghu, 尘峁沝耻, 办补峁环颈峁嘺, 办补谤办补艣补, and 艣濒补办峁ａ箛补 are tactile.[6]
Among the twenty attributes guru, 艣墨迟补, 耻峁ａ箛补, snigdha, and drava are the only attributes found included in the 痴补颈艣别峁办补's table. Accordingly, gurutva is used in the sense of weight. It is explained as the cause of motion for falling down of earthly and watery objects.[7] Gurutva is neutralised by conjunction, volition, and faculty (蝉补峁僺办腻谤补). For instance, a person does not fall from a swing because of his conjunction with it. The body of a person does not fall because the weight is counteracted by his volition. Similarly, the arrow shot does not drop, since its weight is neutralized by velocity.[8] 艢墨迟补 and 耻峁ａ箛补 are included in the specific quality of touch. Sneha is the specific quality of water which causes the thickening of powder[9] in such a way that its particles are held together.[10]
Dravatva is the attribute which causes the motion of flowing.[11] It is of two types: natural (蝉腻峁僺颈诲诲丑颈办补) and artificial (naimittika) Natural is the specific quality of water and artificial is the general quality of earth.[12]
础苍苍补峁僢丑补峁弓补 refers to laghutva and argues that it is nothing but negation of gurutva. Similarly, 尘峁沝耻tva and 办补峁环颈苍补迟惫补 are said as determining the relative compactness associated with conjunction of the component parts of the effect.[13]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
[2]:
A峁ａ弓膩峁単ah峁沝aya of 痴腻驳产丑补峁璦., Su, I. 18. See also A峁ａ弓膩峁単asa峁単raha of 痴腻驳产丑补峁璦., Su, I. p. 9.
[3]:
艣墨迟辞峁ａ箛补snigdha谤奴办峁惫颈艣补诲补picchalagurulaghu尘峁沝耻 迟墨办艣峁嘺 gu峁嚹佱弗 karma峁噛膩岣�, Rasavai艣e峁ka-s奴tra of Bhadantan膩garjuna., III. 111.
[4]:
HIPS, Vol. II, p. 369.
[5]:
See Infra, p. 135.
[6]:
Rasavai艣e峁ka-s奴tra of Bhadantan膩garjuna., II. 57.
[7]:
鈥�驳耻谤耻迟惫补峁� jalabh奴myo岣� patanakarmak膩ra峁嘺峁�鈥�. Pra艣astap膩dabh膩峁a., p. 640; See also 痴补颈艣别峁办补dar艣ana., V. i. 7, 18; V. ii. 3.
[8]:
Ny膩yakandal墨, Pra艣astap膩dabh膩峁a., p. 642.
[9]:
[10]:
TSA, p. 20.
[11]:
鈥�诲谤补惫补迟惫补峁� 蝉测补苍迟补苍补办补谤尘补办腻谤补峁嘺峁�鈥�, Pra艣astap膩dabh膩峁a., p. 641.
[12]:
Ibid, p. 641 - 42.
[13]:
TSA, p. 5.