Chapter CLXXIX - The Nidanam of minor affections

NOW hear me, O Sushruta, discourse on the Nidanam of Kshudra Roga. Painless, shiny, erythematous eruptions of the same colour with the surrounding skin and to the size of Mudga pulse, which are often found to attack infants, are called Ajagallikas. They are due to the action of the deranged Vayu and Kaphah. Confluent erythematous eruptions, resembling barley corn and cropping up from underneath the flesh are called Yavaprakshas. This disease is due to the action of the deranged Vayu and Kaphah. Thick, raised, circular patches of erythematous pustules marked by the presence of a little pus in their inside and brought about through the agency of the deranged Vayu and Kaphah, are called Antralajis. Pustules resembling ripe Audumvara fruits in colour, and characterised by dilated mouths and an intolerable burning sensation are called Vivritas, which are due to the action of the deranged Pittam. Crops of five or six 'pustules which are hard, confluent and resemble the back of a tortoise in shape, are called Kachchhapikas. Pustules with pointed and jagged tops like those of an ant-hill and appearing on the shoulders, neck and extremities, or about the armpits are called Valmikas, which should be understood as of a Sannipatika origin. Crops of pustular eruptions, arranged in the manner of lotus seeds and brought about through the agency of the deranged Vayu and Pittam are called Indraviddha (Herpes) The disease in which circular patches of painful and elevated pustules appear on the skin are called Gardhavikas which are due to the deranged Vayu and Pittam. A hara, glossy, slightly painful swelling, appearing about the mandibles, is called Pashana Gardhava (Parotitis) which is due to the deranged Vayu and Kaphah. Firm and extremely painful pustules, which appear within the ducts of the ears, are called Panasikas. A thin (non-elevated) and nonsuppurating swelling, attended with fever and a burning sensation, which shifts from one part of the body to another in the manner of erysipelas, is called Jala-Gardhava. A nodular boil, attended with fever and extreme pain which appears on the head through the concerted action of the three Doshas, is called Irivellika. Black and extremely painful belbous eruptions on the arms, sides, or shoulders, or about the arm-pits are called Kakshas. Such belbous eruptions occurring singly on the skin are called Gandha mala. Both these diseases are of a Pittaja origin. Belbous eruptions about the armpits, which cause the sloughing off of the local flesh and which are attended with fever and an intolerable burning sensation in their inside are called Agni Rohinis, which should be understood as of a Sannipatika origin, which usually terminate in death on the seventh, tenth, or fifteenth day of the attack. The disease of the flesh of the finger-nail caused by the deranged Vayu and Pittam, and which is characterised by the inflammation and suppuration of the affected parts is called Chippa (onycha). Large, nodular abscesses resembling a Vidarika in shape and occuring in the femoral regions or about the arm-pits, are called Vidarikas. They are of a Sannipatika origin. The deranged Vayu and Kaphah, by taking recourse to the flesh and veins, produce a kind of tumours, which, bursting, secrete a kind of secretion resembling a compound of honey and sugar in colour. They are called Sharkararvudas. Long pedestrian journeys tend to enrage the Vayu of the feet which produces cracks in the soles. This disease is called Padadari. Constant contact of mire or of mud produces a kind of painful exyma in regions between the toes which is called Alasa. The deranged Vayu and Pittam, by finding lodgment in the follicles of hairs, tend to cause their falling off and to prevent their reappearance. This disease is called Indralupta (alopacea). In the disease known as Darunaka (dandruff) the scalp becomes rough and encrusted. Crops of profusely secreting pustular eruptions on the scalp due to the action of the deranged Kaphah, or of parasites or diseased blood in the locality, is called Arunshika. In consequence of grief, fright or of over-fatiguing physical exercise, the increased bodily heat and the aggravated Pittam, by taking recourse to the head, tend to produce premature greyness of hair. This disease is called Palityam. The deranged Vayu and Kaphah, as well as the diseased blood, give rise to a kind of pustular eruptions on the faces of young persons which are called Mukha-dushika’s (acne). Circular patches of itching, grey-coloured pustules on the skin, resembling the thorns of lotus stems, are called Padmini Kantakas (Lupus), Black, glossy, painless, and slightly elevated spots on the skin, which are mostly congenital, are called Jutumanis (moles). More or less extensive areas of painless, black or twany coloured spots on the skin are called Nyachchhas (Chlasma). Brown or twany brown coloured spots on the skin of the face are called Vyangas (Tans). The disease in which the prepuce is found to entirely encase the glan penis in consequence of the aggravation of the Vayu through onanisam or coitus is called Parivartika (Phymoses). Sexual congress with girls with extremely narrow or constricted vulva, or with those who have not attained puberty, leads to bursting or retro-flexion of the prepuce, leaving the glan-penis exposed. This disease is called Avapatika (para-phymosis). The deranged Vayu, by taking recourse to the prepuce, makes it closely adhere to the glan penis, completely covering the Meatus. This disease is called (stricture of the urethra) Niruddha-prakasha in which the urine dribbles out with pain. Voluntary suppression of urgings towards defecation tends to enrage the Apana Vayu which produces constriction of the rectum. This disease is called Sanniruddha Guda (Rectal constriction) in which scanty stools are expelled with the greatest difficulty. Urine, perspiration and particles of fecal matter lying deposited about the anus of infants in consequence of the neglect to cleanse the parts give rise to a sort of Erythematous eruptions which are called Ahiputanas (Erythema). They are apt to become confluent and secrete a kind of discharge on scratching. Dusts and other filthy matter lying deposited in the integuments of the scrotum give rise to a sort of erythematous eruptions which are called Vrishana Kachchhu. Violent purging of stool, or excessive straining at the time of bearing down the stool, produces protrusion of the anus in a weak subject. This disease is called Guda-Bhransa (Prolapsus Ani.) An excruciating pain with an itching sensation about the protruded part in the same disease, attended with fever and suppuration of the anus, constitutes what is known as Shukara-danshtra in the parlance of the Ayurveda.