Chapter CXCV - Medical treatment of female complaints

Dhanvatari said:—Now hear me, O Sushruta, discourse on the threapeutics of diseases peculiar to the female sex. In all forms of Yoni-vyapat (such as Vaginitis, etc.,) measures calculated to subdue the deranged Vayu (soothe the irritated nerves) should be at once resorted to. A compound of Vacha, Upakunchika, Jati, Krishna, Vasakam, rocksalt, Aja-moda, Yavakshara, Chitrakam and sugar pasted with water and well stirred, and fried with clarified butter, alleviates pain at the sides and in the vagina, and removes hæmorrhoids and intestinal glands (Gulmas). A plaster of pasted Vadari leaves applied to the affected locality proves curative in rupture of the perineum and vagina; a plaster of Lodhra and Tumvi-phalam gives firmness to the vaginal muscles. A medicinal Ghritam prepared with the admixture of the expressed juice of Pancha-pallavas, Yashti, Arka, and Malati flowers, heated in the sun, removes the bad odours of the vagina and cures leucorrhœa. Java flowers pasted with Kanjikam, a Prastha measure ot Jyotishmati leaves pasted with the same substance, Durva grass pasted with water, Chitrakam pasted with sugar and water, and powders of Dhatri, Anjana and Abhaya taken with water arrest the catamenial flow. Errhines or potions of milk and Lakshana-juice during the menstrual period (four to twelve days after the suppression of the flow) lead to the conception of a male child. A half adakam measure of milk cooked with Ashvagandha and clarified butter should be taken by a woman desiring male offspring; by taking Vyosha and Kesharam with clarified butter even a a sterile woman may enjoy the pleasures of motherhood. Milk cooked in combination with the roots of Kusha, Kasha, Urubak and Gokshura and sweetened with sugar should be employed for the alleviation of uterine or abdominal colic of pregnant women. Plasters of Patha, Langali, Apamarga, or Kutaja applied to the surface of the reproductive organ of an enciente lead to a speedy and easy parturition. Potions containing Yavakshara and decoctions of Dashamulam tend to remove all post-parturient pain. Powders of Shali rice taken with milk should be regarded as possessed of a highly galactogougic virtue. For the purification of the milk of a wet nurse the expressed juice of Vidari flowers or of Karpasa roots, or Mudga soup, which acts as an elixir, may be given with advantage. A lambative composed of Kushtha, Vach, Abhaya, Brahmi, and Madhukam pasted together and mixed with honey and clarified butter should be given to a babe for the purpose of improving its intellect and complexion, and of increasing the duration of its life. In the absence of mother’s milk, goat’s milk or cow’s milk may be safely given to a child; and a swelling about its umbilicus should be alleviated by fomenting the part with a piece of heated clay. A compound of iron, Mustakam, and Ativisha should be administered in fever with cough and vomiting; a decoction of Musta, Shunthi, Visha, Aruna, and, Kutaja proves curative in dysentery. A compound of Vyosha, Matulunga and honey cures hic-cough and vomiting. A compound of Kushtham, Indra-yava, Siddhartha, Nisha and Durva proves efficacious in all forms of cutaneous affections; and a bath in a decotion of Mahamunditika and Udichya proves beneficial in deseases due to the influences of malig nant planets. The body of such a patient should be smeared with a paste of Saptachchhada, Abhaya, Nisha, and Chandanam, or he should be made to wear Vacha, Rudraksha, lotus seeds, Shankha, or iron on his person. Magical practices and offerings etc., for the good health and well being of a child, should be done by reciting the Mantra, Om, Kam, Tam, Pam, Sham, obeisance to Vainateya. Om, Haum, Ham, Hah. Om, Hrim, O ye malignant planets (disease-spirit), that afflict a child, graciously accept these offerings and renounce your hold upon the child. Shirisha-roots taken with the washings of rice tend to neutralise the effects of an imbibed poison; while white Varshabhu taken through the same medium proves curative in cases of snake-bite. A compound of Tanduliyam, chamber-soot, Nisha, and rock salt, pasted together with milk curd and taken with honey, acts as a good anti-toxic remedy. The expressed juice of Ankota-roots mixed with clarified butter acquires a good anti-toxic virtue. A medicine, which arrests disease and decay, is called a Rasayanam. Persons desiring to use a Rasayanam should take Abhaya (Myrobalans) with rock salt, sugar, Shunthi, Rasna, honey and treacle respectively during the rains, autumn, winter, spring and summer. A single Abhaya taken after the completion of digestion, two Vibhitakis taken immediately before eating, and four Dhatris taken with honey and clarified butter immediately after eating enable their users to live up to a hundredth year. Ashvagandha taken with milk and clarified butter conquers a host of bodily ailments. By taking the expressed juice of Mandukapadi, Vidari, Amrita, as well as sesame, Dhatri and Bhringaraja, one is able to live up to a hundredth year. A compound of Trikatu, Triphala, Vanhi, Guduchi, Shatavari, Vidanga, and iron-powders (oxide of iron) taken with honey serves to kill a host of diseases. A compound of Triphala, Kana, Shunthi, Guduchi, and Shatavari, treated in the manner of a Bhavana with the expressed juice of Bhringaraja etc., acts as a general prophylaxis against disease. By daily taking Vidari-powders with honey, a man is enable to visit ten women, each night. A medicinal Ghritam cooked with the addition of ten times as much milk, or a Shatavari-paste taken with sugar, honey and Pippali, acts as a good stomachic and digestant. Massage, lubrication of the body with oil or Ghritam, and applications of errhines, emeties and purgatives constitute what is technically known as the Pancha Karma. There are six seasons of the year, and each season lasts for a period of two months, in which warming one’s self in fire or basking in the sun, and use of honey, milk or its modifications should be respectively used. Sexual congress is beneficial in winter (December, January); day sleep is injurious in spring (April and May). Exposure to moon-beams in Sharat (October and November) and excessive sleep during the rains should be avoided. Shali rice, Mudga pulse, rain water and boiled water are always wholesome. Oil expressed out of Nimva, Atasi, Kusumbha, or Shigru seeds, as well as mustard oil, Mula oil, and Jyotishmati oil prove efficacious in cases of intestinal worms, cutaneous affections, urinary and kidney complants and the type of Cephalagia due to the action of the deranged Vayu and Kapham. Dadima, amalaki, Kola, Karmarda, Piyalakam, Jamvira, Nagaram, amratakam, and Kapittham generate the Pittam, destroy the Vayu, and produce diseases, which are caused through the agency of the deranged Kapham. Kala Jimuta, Ikshaku, Kutaja, Kritabadhanam, and Dhamargava combinedly form one of the most patent of emetic compounds, and should be always used for the purpose of inducing vomiting. A compound consisting of Vacha, Indrayava and Madana may be used for emetic purposes in the morning. Easy (loose) motions of the bowels should be attributed to the action of the (deranged) Pittam, normal motions of the bowels indicate a state of normal equilibrium among the fundamental principles of the organism, while constipation of the bowels is brought about through the agency of the deranged Vayu and Kapham. In cases, which indicate the predominance of the deranged Pittam, purgings should be induced with the help of Trivit. A compound consisting of Trivrit, Nagaram, and rock salt pounded together and taken with sugar and honey, or that composed of Haritaki and Vidanga pounded together and administered through the vehicle of cow’s urine acts as a purgative. Eranda oil in combination with a decoction of Triphala, twice as much as the former, acts as a good purgative. In diseases indicating an extreme predominance of the deranged Vayu, the patient should be first fed and then caused to belch out the ingested food. Hollow bamboo, stems, to the lengths of six, eight, and twelve fingers respectively, and with apertures to the girth of a Karkandu fruit, should be cut out and used for the purpose of applying enematas; the patient to be thus treated should be laid on his back during the application. This rule should be likewise observed in applying enematas of the Niruha class. The full, middle, and small doses of clysters (fluid to be syringed into the rectum) must not exceed six, three, and a halp Pala weights respectively. One part of Pathya, two parts of Aksha, and four parts of Dhatri pounded together and treated with the expressed juice of Shatavari and Bhringaraja in the manner of a Bhabana cure all distempers of the body.