Sushruta Samhita, Volume 6: Uttara-tantra

by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna | 1916 | 113,078 words

This current book, the Uttara-tantra (english translation) is the supplementary part of the Sushrutasamhita and deals various subjects such as diseases of the eye, treatment of fever, diarrhea, diseases resulting from superhuman influences, insanity, rules of health etc. The Sushruta Samhita is the most representative work of the Hindu system of m...

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Chapter XVIII - Preparations and medicinal measures for ocular affections in general

Now we shall discourse on the Chapter which treats of the preparations and uses of the medicinal measures (external applications) to be adopted or employed in treating ocular affections in general (Kriya-kalpa). 1.

Here follows a general exposition of the instructions which the sainted lord of Benares, the holy Dhanvantari of profound intellect imparted to his disciple the son of Vishvamitra (Sushruta) regarding the different medicinal measures (Kriya) such as Tarpana (soothing), Seka (sprinkling), Aschyotana (eye-drops), Puta-pakas Anjanas (eye-salves), etc., mentioned before in different places to be employed in diseases of the eye. 2–3.

The Tarpana Measure:—

The measure known as Tarpana should be employed in respect of an affected eye either in the fore-noon or in the after-noon under the auspices of propitious astral combinations, after having purged the head and bowels of the patient and subsequent to the digestion of any food previously taken. The patient should be laid on his back in a chamber not exposed to the rays of the sun, and the gust of the wind, and where the atmosphere is not charged with minute particles of floating dust. The region of his eye (i.e., eye-lids) should be thickly coated with powdered Masha pulse, pasted (with water) in the form of a circular wall which should be even, hard and compact. Then a quantity of the transparent upper layer of clarified butter should be stirred with the admixture of a quantity of lukewarm water and poured (Purana) into the cavities of the eye up to the eye-lashes and retained therein for as long a period as one would take to count five hundred, six hundred, eight hundred, and ten hundred syllables respectively in cases of healthy persons and persons with Kapha-origined, Pitta-origined and Vayu-origined diseases of the eye. According to certain authorities, the periods of such retention (of clarified butter) should vary with the seat of the affection (in the eye-ball). The clarified butter mentioned above should, according to them, be retained in the cavities of the eye for as long a period as one would take to utter three hundred, five hundred, seven hundred, one thousand, or eight hundred syllables respectively in cases of the diseases confined to the region of the Sandhi, Vartman, Shukla, Krishna, the eye in general (Sarva-gata) and the Drishti of the eye[1]. The clarified butter should then be secreted through the interior corner of the affected organ which should be purified by applying poultices of pasted barley. The Kapha, deranged by the use of this Sneha-Purana should be then conquered by making the patient inhale some kind of Kapha-subduing Dhuma (smoke). This rule[2] should be observed for one, three or five days in succession. 4.

Symptoms of satisfactory, excessive and defective Tarpana:—

Sleep at the first call, unembarrassed waking, cessation of secretion, clearness of vision, agreeable sensation, perceptible amelioration of the disease, and lightness of the organ are the symptoms which result from a proper and satisfactory Tarpana of the eye. Cloudiness of vision, a sense of heaviness in the affected organ, excessive glossiness (of the eye), lachrymation, itching, sliminess and an aggravation of the Doshas are the features which mark a case of severe and excessive Tarpana. A sense of dryness in the affected organ, cloudiness of vision, profuse lachrymation, sensitiveness to light and an aggravation of the disease are the evils which follow an act of defective Tarpana (of the eye). 5.

Treatment of excessive and defective Tarpana:—

Cases of defective and excessive Tarpana should be remedied with the application of medicinal snuffs, Anjanas, washes and inhalations of smoke and by adopting dry or emulsive measures, (as the cases may require). 6.

Cases for Tarpana:—

Shrivelling and depilation of the eye-lashes, cloudiness and darkness of vision, archedness of sight, absolute want of lachrymation, parchedness of the eye, hardness of the eye-lid and a severely diseased condition of the eye are amenable to the application of the Tarpana measure as giving tone to the eye. The Tarpana measure should not to be applied in a cloudy day, nor in a day excessively hot or cold. It should not be applied to the eye of a person engrossed by anxiety or fear, nor before the subsidence of the supervening symptoms (Upadrava) of the eye-disease. 7–8.

The Puta-paka:—

The Puta-paka measure should be applied in the aforesaid cases. The Puta-paka is not applicable in cases where Nasya (errhines), Tarpana and the internal application of Sneha (Sneha-pana) are forbidden. After a complete subsidence of the Dosha, the Puta-paka should be applied to the (affected) eye in cases where the patient would be found capable of being treated with it. The Puta-paka measure may be divided into three classes, viz., Snehana (emulsive), Lekhana (scraping) and Ropana (healing) Puta-paka. The Snehana (emulsive) Puta-paka is recommended in cases marked by the extreme parchedness of the affected organ or locality, and Lekhana (scraping) ones are efficacious in cases of excessive applications of the Sneha to the eye; while the eye-sight is invigorated by the Ropana (healing) Puta-paka, which restores the Vata,[3] the Pitta and the blood of the affected locality to their natural conditions, and (consequently) heals the ulcer. 9–10.

Preparation of Snehana, Lekhana, and Ropana Puta-pakas:—

The Snehana (emulsive) Puta-paka should be prepared with the flesh (of animals frequenting marshy places) abounding in Sneha[4] and with the Vasa (lard), Majjan (marrow), and Medas (fat), and the drugs of the Madhura group and it should be retained in the eye so long as one would take to utter two hundred syllables. The scraping or Lekhana Puta-paka should be prepared with the flesh and the liver of an animal of the Jangala species and the drugs possessing the Lekhana or scraping properties, as well as powders of black iron (steel), copper, conch-shells, Vidruma (corals), Saindhva salt, Samudra-phena, Kasisa (sulphate of iron) and Srotonjana (pasted together) with the cream of curd. The affected locality should be exposed to a Lekhana Puta-paka as long as one would take to utter a hundred syllables at most. The healing or Ropana Puta-paka should be prepared by cooking the flesh of an animal of the Jangala group with breast-milk, honey[5], clarified butter and the bitter drugs, and should be retained in the affected eye for a period three times as much as the Lekhana-Puta-paka should be retained i.e., for a period as long as one would require to utter three hundred syllables. 11–13.

The fumigating measures mentioned in connection with the Tarpana of an affected eye, as well as the applications of Sneha and Sveda, should be resorted to in the cases of the application of the Puta-paka measures, except in cases of the application of the Ropana Puta-paka. Puta-paka applications may be made on one day only or may be continued for two or three days.[6] A strict regimen of diet and conduct should be observed for a period twice as long as the preparatory period (beginning with the time of administering the Sneha to the patient for preparing him for the application of the Puta-paka till the time of actually administering the Putapaka itself). 14–15.

Prohibition and Remedies for infringement:—

After the application of Tarpana and Puta-paka (to the affected eye) the patient should not catch glimpses of the light, fire, sky, looking-glass or any other luminous object; nor he should expose the eye to the blast of the wind. The unfavourable symptoms incidental to and induced by an infringement of the rules to be observed after the application of these two (Tarpana and Puta-paka) measures should be remedied with the applications of Anjana (collyrium), Ashchyotana and Sveda (fomentation) to the deranged bodily Doshas, underlying each particular case. 16–17.

Satisfactory, excessive and defective application Of Puta-paka:—

Freshness and clearness of the colour (of the cornea), capability of the organ (eye) to bear heat, light and wind, refreshing sleep and an unembarrassed gladsome wakening and a lightness of the organ are the benefits which are derived from Satisfactory Puta-paka applications. Darkness of vision, pain and swelling of the eye and the appearance of eruptions (Pidaka) in the affected organ, are the evils which mark an excessive application of the Puta-paka measure; while suppuration and lachrymations of the eye and a thrilling sensation (Harsha) in the affected organ, as well as a further aggravation of the Dosha (involved) are the characteristic features of a deficient Puta-paka application. 18.

Mode of preparing Puta-paka:—

Now I shall describe the mode of preparing a Puta-paka remedy. Two Vilva (Pala) measures of cleansed and pasted meat, one Pala measure of the medicinal drugs pasted together and one Kudava (half a seer) measure of liquid ingredients should be mixed together (and made into a ball), well covered with the leaves of Kadali, Kasmari, Eranda, Kumuda or of Padma plant. Coated with clay, it should be duly scorched in the burning charcoal (fire) of catechu wood or in that of Kataka, Ashmantaka, Eranda, Patala, Vasaka, Vadara, Kshira -exuding trees, or in the fire of the dried cakes of cow-dung. When well cooked the ball should be taken out of the fire and broken and its contents with-drawn and squeezed. The fluid extract should then be collected and applied (to the affected organ) in the manner of applying a Tarpana. 19.

The mode of application:—

The patient being laid on his back at the time, the fluid extract in both the cases (Tarpana and Puta-paka) should be dropped cold into the Kaninika (Cornea) of the eye in cases of derangement of the blood and the Pitta; it should be used lukewarm when the Vayu and the Kapha would be found to have been aggravated. A burning sensation in the affected eye as well as its consequential inflammation would result from the use of too hot (warm) or strong or keen-potencied (Tikshna) extract for the purpose. A thrilling sensation (Harsha), pain and numbness in the locality and lachrymation from the affected organ originate from the use of a cold and mild-potencied Puta-paka or Tarpana eye-drop. Redness and contraction of the eye attended with a jerking and throbbing sensation therein are the effects of an excessive (over-dose) application of the Puta-paka and Tarpana, whereas a deficient (under-dose) use of them produces an aggravation of the deranged bodily Doshas in the locality. Properly applied, they alley the burning and itching sensation, swelling, pain, lachrymation and mucous secretion, as well as the (unnatural) coating and redness in the affected eye. As every one is desirous of avoiding the aggravation of Doshas, so the Puta-paka and Tarpana measures should be applied in such a way as would give health and happiness (to the eye). The evils resulted by a course of injudicious application of Puta-paka or Tarpana, are to be remedied with the application of errhines (Nasya), Dhuma and Anjana remedial to the specific deranged bodily Dosha or Doshas involved in each case. 20.

The affected eye should be fomented before the use of a Puta-paka or a Tarpana measure with a piece of cloth soaked in hot water (and rinsed). Fumigation of the affected organ in the end should be prescribed in a case marked by an aggravation of the deranged Kapha of the locality. 21.

Ashchyotana and Seka:—

Properly prepared and applied, the Ashchyotana and Seka measures would respectively subdue cases of slight and violent attacks of the eye. Like the Puta-paka measure these two also are devided into three classes viz., (Lekhana, Snehana and Ropana). Seven or eight drops of the medicinal fluid should be used in Lekhana -Ashchyotana (for the purpose of scraping the affected eye); ten drops in the Snehana (for emulsive purposes) and twelve drops in the Ropana - Ashchyotana (for the purpose of setting up a granulative process in a local sore or wound). The maximum period for which an (affected) eye should be subjected to the Seka measure is twice as long as is enjoined in respect of a Puta-paka measure,[7] or until the disease is gradually and wholly removed.[8] Both the Ashchyotana and the Seka applications should be made in the morning or evening or at noon (in accordance with the aggravation of the deranged Doshas),[9] or whenever there would be pain (in the affected eye).[10] The symptoms of proper and improper (excessive and deficient) applications of a Sneha (emulsive) Seka are identical with those of Tarpana. 22-23.

Shiro-vasti:—

The serious diseases peculiar to the head readily yeild to and are conquered by the application of Sh iro-vasti, which also produces the very good effects known as the Murdha-tailika ones peculiar to the use of (emulsive) Shiro-vasti. The patient having been treated with purgatives and emetics (according to requirements) should be given a proper diet according to the nature of the disease, and made to sit erect in the evening, when an animal bladder (the bladder of a goat being usually used for the purpose) filled with the proper Sneha, should be placed on his crown and firmly tied up with a bandage. The Sneha-filled bladder should be so retained on the head ten times as long as is necessary for Tarpana measure, according to the nature of the disease. 24–25.

Anjana:—

Proper Anjana for Lekhana(scraping), Ropana (healing), or Prasadana (invigorating) purposes should be applied after the cleansing (purging, etc.) of the system in cases where the deranged bodily Doshas would manifest themselves in the region of the eye only. 26.

A Lekhana-Anjana should be prepared with the drugs of one or more tastes (Rasa) except the sweet one and should be used in five different ways according to the nature of the Dosha or Doshas involved in each case.[11] The Dosha accumulated in the regions of the eye and the eye-lids, in the ball, the passages, and in the capillaries of the eye, as well as in the gristle of the nose would be secreted through the mouth, the nostrils and the corners of the eyes by the application of a Lekhana Anjana. A Ropana-Anjana should be prepared with the drugs of bitter and astringent tastes (Rasa) mixed with (a little quantity of) clarified butter and is good for healing purposes. Owing to the presence of the Sneha, it is cooling in its effect and consequently gives natural colour and vigour to the eye. A Prasadana-Anjana, prepared with the drugs of sweet taste and with (a profuse quantity of) Sneha, imparts tone and vigour to the eyesight and should be used with advantage for all soothing purposes connected with the organ. The application of the different kinds of Anjana should be made in the morning, evening or in the night[12] in accordance with the nature of the deranged bodily Dosha or Doshas involved in each case. 27-30.

Forms of Anjana:—

The forms in which an Anjana may be, are those of pills, liquid (Rasa-kriya) and powder[13] each succeeding, one being more efficacious than the one preceding it, in the order of enumeration. 31.

Their sizes and doses:—

The size (dose) of a Lekhana, Prasadana and Ropana Varti (Pill) should be equal to that of one and a half and twice as much as a Kalaya pulse for ocular affections in general. As regards the application of Rasa-kriya-Anjana in these disorders the quantity to be used in a dose should be equal to that of the Varti in the different cases respectively. As regards the dose of the powders (to be used in eye-diseases) it should be respectively twice, thrice and four times as much as would be contained at the end of a Shalaka (rod). 32.

The materials of the vessel and rod for the use of an Anjana:—

The vessels containing the different kinds of Anjana should be according to the different kinds of Anjana themselves, and these vessels as well as the Shalaka (rod) for the use should be made of gold, silver, horn, copper, Vaidurya (a kind of precious stone), bell-metal and iron respectively (in accordance with the different tastes of the drugs the Anjanas are made of).[14] The end of the rod should terminate in a bud-shaped ball with the girth of that of a Kalaya pulse, its entire length measuring eight fingers only. It would be well polished, slender at the middle and capable of being easily handled. A rod prepared of copper, precious stones such as Vaidurya, etc., and horns or bones, etc.,[15] will prove beneficial. 33.

How to apply an Anjana:—

The lids of the affected eye (of the patient) should be slantingly drawn apart with the left hand, and the Anjana should be carefully applied by holding the rod with the right hand and by constantly moving the rod from the Kaninika to the Apanga and vice versa (along the inner side of the eye-lid). This process should be repeated (twice or thrice) according to requirements. The Anjana should be applied with the finger when it would be necessary to use it on the outer side of the eye-lid. The Anjana in no case should be thickly painted in the corners of the eye (i.e., in the Kaninika and the Apanga from fear of hurting them), nor the organ should be washed till all the aggravations of the deranged (bodily) Dosha in the locality are completely removed there form, in as much as it might bring on a fresh aggravation and impair the strength of the eyesight. After the subsidence of the deranged local Dosha and of lachrymation, the eye should be first washed with water, and Pratyanjana should then be used in accordance with the nature of the specific deranged bodily Dosha or Doshas underlying in each case. 34.

Forbidden Cases:—

The application of Anjanas is prohibited in cases of persons suffering from fever, Udavarta, and the diseases of the head and during fits of anger, grief, fear, weeping and intoxication, as well as in cases of the retention of stool and urine, in as much as it might produce (in these cases) lachrymation, Shula (aching pain), redness, pain, blindness (Timira), swelling in the locality, as well as giddiness. An application of the Anjana in a case of insomnia might be followed by the loss of the eyesight[16]. The application of an Anjana in a windy day may impair the eye-sight. Application to the eyes affected with dust or smoke, may bring on redness, Adhimantha (Ophthalmia) and local secretion. Applied after the use of an errhine (Nasya) it may usher in an aching pain and swelling in the eyes. It leads to the aggravation of the disease, if applied in any disease of the head. The application of an Anjana would be abortive, nay, it would rather aggravate the Dosha, if applied before sun-rise, after a bath, or in a very cold day, owing to the fixedness of the deranged bodily Dosha. Similarly, the application of an Anjana would fail to produce any effect in a case of indigestion, owing to the sluggish condition of the internal passages of the body (during the continuance of the disease). The application of an Anjana in an aggravated stage of the deranged bodily Doshas, ushers in the distressing symptoms peculiar to each of them. Hence, the application of an Anjana should be carefully made in such a manner as not to induce any of the aforesaid evils, and these rules should be specially observed in connection with a Lekhana-Anjana. These distressing symptoms should be treated with washes (lotions), Ashchyotana, plasters, Dhuma (fumigation), Nasya and Kavala (gurgle) with due regard to the specific nature of the deranged bodily Dosha or Doshas involved in each case. 35–36.

Symptoms of satisfactory, excessive and deficient use of a Lekhana-Anjana:—

Lightness, whiteness and pristine clearness of the eye, marked by the improved power of vision and absence of secretion and all other distressing symptoms, are the indications which point to the fact that the eye has been satisfactorily purged of the accumulated Doshas (by the proper application of a Lekhana Anjana). An excessive purging of the eye (by the excessive use of a Lekhana Anjana) begets such local evils as the deep discolouration of the external coat of the eye, its sense of looseness in the socket, lachrymation, archedness of the organ and a sense of constant dryness in its cavity. The medical treatment in such instances consists in the employment of soothing (Santarpana) and other Vayu-subduing remedies. An insufficient or deficient application of the Lekhana Anjana leads to the aggravation of the local deranged bodily Dosha which should be fully secreted out by employing medicinal errhines, Anjana and local fumigation. 37–39.

Symptoms of satisfactory, excessive and deficient use of Prasadana (Snehana) and Ropana Anjanas:—

The action of the satisfactory application of a Prasadana (Snehana) Anjana is to soothe the eye, to impart a healthy tone to the organ of sight, to restore its natural colour and gloss, and to make it strong and unclouded and free from the aggravation of any Dosha. Any excess in the application is followed by results identical with those of excessive application of Tarpana (soothing measures)[17] to the organ, and the remedy consists in employing mild but parching remedies antidotal to the deranged bodily Dosha (Kapha) involved in the case. The symptoms which mark a satisfactory and excessive application of a Ropana (healing) Anjana, as well as the medical treatment to be applied in cases of excess, are identical with those mentioned in connection with the satisfactory and excessive application of the Prasadana (soothing) Anjanas (respectively). Deficient applications of both the Snehana (soothing) and the Ropana (healing) Anjanas (in respect of ocular affections) are sure to prove abortive in their effects. Care should, therefore, be taken to apply it properly, if it is hoped to get the wished-for result. 40–43.

Thousands of remedial measures and remedies may be devised and employed in the manner of the Puta-paka and other measures on the basis of the fundamental principles herein inculcated. 44.

Now we shall describe the recipes and preparations of several principal Anjanas fit for the use of kings and crowned heads for the purpose of giving strength to the eye-sight and for the amelioration of ocular affections (Kacha, etc.) amenable only to the palliative measures. Eight parts of Rasanjana (Antimony) having the hue of a (full-blown) blue lotus flower, as well as one part each of (dead) copper, gold and silver should be taken together and placed inside an earthen crucible, It should then be burnt by being covered with the burning charcoal of catechu or Ashmantaka wood, or in the fire of dried cakes of cow-dung and blown (with a blow-pipe till they would glow with a blood-red effulgence) after which the expressed juice (Rasa) of cow-dung, cow’s urine, milk-curd, clarified butter, honey, oil, urine, lard, marrow, infusion of the drugs of the Sarva-gandha group, grape-juice, sugarcane-juice, the expressed juice of Triphala and the completely cooled decoctions of the drugs of the Sarivadi and the Utpaladi groups, should be separately sprinkled over it in succession alternately each time with the heating thereof, (or to put it more explicitly, the crucible should be taken down after being heated and then one of these draughts should be sprinkled over its contents and then again heated and again sprinkled over with another draught, and so on). After that, the preparation should be kept suspended in the air for a week, so as to be fully washed by the rains. The compound should then be dried, pounded and mixed together with proportionate parts (quarter part) of powdered pearls, crystals, corals and Kalanu-sariva. The compound thus prepared is a very good Anjana and should be kept in a pure vessel made of ivory, crystal, Vaidurya, Shamkha (conch-shell), stone, gold or silver or of Asana wood. It should then be purified (lit. worshipped) in the manner of the purification of the Sahasra-Paka-Taila described before. It may then be prescribed even for a king. Applied along the eye-lids as a collyrium, it enables a king to become favourite with his subjects and to continue invincible to the last day of his life free from ocular affections. 45.

Bhadrodaya-Anjana:—

The drugs known as Kushtha, Chandana, Ela, Patra, Yashti-madhu, Rasanjana, flowers of Mesha-shringi, Chakra (Tagara), the seven kinds of jewels[18], the pollens of the flowers of Utpala, Bnhati, Kantakari and of lotus, Naga-keshara, Ushira, Pippali, the shells of hen’s eggs, Daru-haridra, Haritaki, Gorocona, Marica, marrow or kernel of Vibhitaka-seeds and the flesh of lizards (which are found to scale the walls of rooms), should be powdered together in equal parts and should be preserved in a vessel and purified (sanctified) in the preceding manner. This Anjana is called the Bhadrodaya- Anjana and should always be used by a king. 46.

Equal parts of Chakra (Tagara), Marica, Jata-mamsi and Shaileya with Manah-shila equal to the combined weight of the preceding drugs, four parts of Patra with Rasanjana (antimony) twice the combined weight of all the preceding drugs and Yashti-madhu of equal[19] weight with the last-named drug (Rasanjana) should be powdered together and used as an Anjana in the foregoing manner. 47.

Manah-shila, Deva-daru, the two kinds of Rajani, Triphala, Trikatu, Laksha, Lashuna, Manjishtha, Saindhava, Ela, Makshika, Savaraka Rodhra, dead iron and copper, Kalanu-sariva and the outer shells of hen’s eggs taken in equal parts should be powdered together, resolved into a paste with milk and made into pills of adequate size. Diseases of the eye such as the itching sensation in the eye, Timira, Shuklarma and Raktaraji readily yield to the curative efficacy of this Anjana. 48.

An Anjana should be prepared by collecting lampblack on a vessel made of Indian bell-metal, and mixing it with one part each of Yashtimadhu, Saindhava, Tagara and roots of Eranda, as well as two parts of Brihati. This compound should be pasted together with goat’s milk and thinly plastered on a copper plate. This process should be continued for seven times in succession and dried in the shed. It should then be made into Vartis and (used as such) would relieve pain in the eye. 49.

One part each of Haritaki, Yashti-madhu with sixteen parts of Marica should be pounded and pasted together with cold water. It should then be made into Vartis and would be efficacious in all sorts of ocular affections. An experienced physician may with care and discretion prepare Pindanjanas with the drugs antidotal to the specific Dosha or Doshas involved in the case, in the manner of preparing the Rasa-kriya preparations. 50–51.

 

Thus ends the eighteenth chapter of the Uttara-Tantra in the Sushruta Samhita whieh deals with the preparations and uses of the medicinal measures to be used in different ocular affections.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

According to some, the ‘Purana’ should be retained in the eye for a period required to count one thousand syllables in cases of Sarva-gata and eighteen hundred words in cases of Drishti-gata eye-diseases.

[2]:

According to Gayadāsa, this rule should be observed for one, three, or five days in cases of the preponderance of Vāyu, Pitta and Kapha respectively, and according to Jejjata, in cases of mild, moderate and severe attack respectively.

[3]:

A different reading, mentioned by Dallana, does not read “Vāta.”

[4]:

In place of “snehamāṃsa”meaning flesh abounding in Sneha, a different reading “sarpirmmāṃsa” (i.e., clarified butter and flesh) is quoted by Dallana.

[5]:

In place of “madhvājya” (honey and clarified butter) Dallana quotes a variant “medhyājya”—lit. sacred clarified butter i.e., clarified butter prepared from cow’s milk.

[6]:

Dallana explains that the application of the Puta-pāka measure should be made for one day only in Kaphaja eye-diseases, or if the Puta-pāka be a Lekhana one; and it should be continued for two days in Pittaja eye-diseases, or if it be a Snehana one; and for three days in Vātaja eye-diseases, or if it be a Ropana Puta-pāka.

[7]:

The period for which an affected eye should be subjected to the Āścyotana measure, is not given in the text, but Dallana says that it should be the same as observed in cases of Puta-pāka. Some, however, hold that in cases of both Seka and Āścyotana the period would be twice as that for Puta-pāka.

[8]:

This rule for subjecting the affected eye to the measure till the disease is gradually and wholly removed is for Seka and Āścyotana only 5 but according to some it is a general rule which applies also to cases of Puta-pāka and Tarpana, etc.

[9]:

The Lekhana-seka and Āścyotana should be applied in the morning in the aggravation of Kapha, while the Snehana one should be applied in the afternoon in the aggravation of Vaiyu, —the Ropana ones being applied at noon in the aggravation of Blood and Pitta.

[10]:

Dallana holds, that both the Seka and Āścyotana measures may be applied whenever there is pain in the affected eye, but others hold that this rule applies only in cases of Seka.

[11]:

In cases of the derangement of the local Vāyu, the Anjana should be prepared with the drugs of acid and saline tastes (Rasa); in the derangement of the Pitta with those of astringent taste; in Kapha with those of astringent, bitter and pungent tastes In cases of the derangement of the blood, the Anjana should be like that in the derangement of Pitta, and in cases of the derangement of two or three Doshas simultaneously, the Anjana should be prepared with drugs of two or three of the tastes required.

[12]:

The Anjana should be applied in the morning, in the evening and in the night respectively in the cases of the derangement of the Kapha Vāyu and the Pitta. According to the others, the Śodhana, the Ropana and the Snehana Anjanas should be respectively used in the morning, in the evening and in the night. Others, however, are of opinion that these different times should be judiciously selected in the different seasons of the year according to requirement.

[13]:

Dallana says that Pill-Anjanas, Liquid-Anjanas and Powder-Anjanas should be prescribed in cases of severe, intermediate and mild attacks respectively.

[14]:

According to Dallana the Anjana of sweet taste should be placed in a golden vessel, that of acid taste in a silver vessel, that of saline taste in a vessel made of horn (of a sheep), that of astringent taste, in a vessel either of copper or iron, that of pungent taste in a vessel made of Vaidurya, and that of bitter taste should be placed in a vessel made of bell-metal. The Śalākā (rod) for the use of the different kinds of Anjana should be also accordingly prepared.

According to Nimi, however, as quoted by Dallana and Śrikantha Datta, in their commentaries, the Ropana, Lekhana and Prasādana Anjanas should be placed in a vessel and used with a rod prepared respectively of iron, copper and gold. The other materials may be, however, used with discretion by an experienced physician.

[15]:

The word ‘api’ in the text shows that a rod of gold may also be used with benefit—Dallana.

[16]:

In some editions there is an additional text—“nidrākṣayaṃ ca kurute niṣiddhe yuktamañjanam” supplies a complete verb and makes the sense complete. The line means—“the application of an Anjana in a forbidden case produces loss of sleep (insomnia) in addition (to redness, pain etc, mentioned in the preceding line)”.

[17]:

See Śloka 5 of this Chapter,

[18]:

The seven kinds of gems are (1) Padmarāga, (2) Marakata, (3) Nila, (4) Vaidurya, (5) Muktā (pearl) (6) Pravāla and (7) Hema (gold).

[19]:

According to some the weight of the Yashti-madhu to be used in this Anjana should be equal to that of all the other drugs combined.

Other Ayurveda Concepts:

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Discover the significance of concepts within the article: ‘Preparations and medicinal measures for ocular affections in general’. Further sources in the context of Ayurveda might help you critically compare this page with similair documents:

Dosha, Seka, Sveda, Shirovasti, Medical treatment, Remedial measure, Palliative measures, Forbidden cases, External application, Tarpana measure, Diet and conduct regimen.

Concepts being referred within the main category of Hinduism context and sources.

Anjana, Putapaka.

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