3a. Udararoga (gastroenterological diseases) in the Atharvaveda

The cause of abdominal distension might include accumulation of flatus, fat or fluid—the blocked fluid and gas in the GI tract cause abdominal distention. The abnormal muscle, tension and involuntary rigidity can be fatal. Palpable abdominal mass might be a symptom of the life-threatening disorder^[1]. Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayaṃ suggests that all type of stomach ailments is caused by mandāgni because of aggravated Dhātus causing abnormalities in this Prāṇa, Agni and Apāna. The eight kinds of doṣas are plīha, baddha, kṣata and Udaka.

In Mādhava Nidāna we find that swelling of abdomen is Udararoga. The symptoms include weakness, indigestion, inactivity, oedema, obstructed movement of flatus and faces, burning sensation, stupor. It is worth mentioning that in many Udara rogas there is no loss of digestive restrings and production of small quantity of Anna Rasa or Alpaudaka^[2].

But the Atharvaveda discusses Jalodara as a part of Udararoga. The treatment of Jalodara as symbolically described in Atharvaveda with a lot of rituals including the recitation of verses^[3]. According to Atharvaveda, bowel problem is a water-borne disease that causes enlargement of the stomach. Only saints who have command over Brahmatattva can save patients from disease. A patient then would live for 100 years. In the Atharvaveda, it is said that the disease is caused by God Varuṇa’s rage.

If any sinner breaks the rule of the Varuṇa, he attacks him with this disease named as ‘Jalodara’.

“ayaṃ devānāmasuro vi rājati vasāhi satya varuṇasya rājñaḥ |
tataspari brahmaṇā śāśadāna ugrasya manyorudimaṃ nayāmi ||”^[4]

In an entirely symbolic way, the patient is to be sprinkled over the head along with twenty-one tufts of Darbha grass with straws put out from the thatch of a house while reciting I.10 that tells the demon who tries to overpower the Gods that the wills of king Varuṇa may come true prevailing by his worship to get rid of the fury of the evil power^[5]. Let reverence be to your anger, o king Varuṇa the formidable power your vigil holds over every malice. I pray this man would live a hundred autumns. Since you have delivered a lot of untruth from your mouth, I release you from the king of truthfulness, Varuṇa. Formidable power shall release you from the universal energy^[6].

Water should be sprinkled upon the patient white reciting VI.24. The very water must be collected from the stream. The holy water flows from the Himalaya to the Sindhu. The holy water is thus prayed to cure all the diseases. The holy water may allow me to cure for heart disease and also sooth the pain my eyes and heal the deformity of the heels and the food. May the water of the holy Sindhu bless us with the remedy from all diseases^[7].

A piece of Palāśa wood of the size of four fingers should be utilized to obtain powder to anoint the patient and also drugs of clarified butter to be applied upon the head of the patient while reciting VI.127. The herb, the plant of neuralgia cures abscess of the Balāsa and maintains the flow of blood. The herb also takes care of the testicles. It also cures the neuralgia from limbs, disease in ears and discomfort in the eyes, also it is effective to treat the abscess and cardiac pain^[8].

A patient suffering from the disease of dropsy should be washed in the hut at a point of land between the rivers that flow into one another^[9].

In VI.96 it is said that the diseases dropsy can be cured by making incense with herbs which also regarded as including among the aṅholiṅgās. The herbs are prayed to let them free from any diseases. Prayers are done to make them free from the curse and then Yama and Varuṇa are prayed to forgive for any offences done against God. Kindly let soma purge us if we have done any offence whether in the state of waking or sleeping with eye, mind and speech^[10].

The great Agni is invoked and requested to harness of, loosen off, the sharp and halter of his power to cure diseases. Then the Agni is thanked to maintain dominion for this man, to harness incantation of the Gods and to shine the patient with excellent property to heal^[11].

The yellow and black eagles flying in the sky are prayed to descend from the abode of righteousness to heal with ghee in the earth. They are said to make the water rich with milk, herbs to pour honey for healing purpose. The Maruts swimming in the water would fill all the hollows to cure with its rain^[12].

According to the Kauśika Sūtra, during the recitation of VI.127, dregs of ghee is poured upon the head of the patient^[13]. Again, A hut is built at a point of land between two rivers that flow into one another. The patient suffering from dropsy is washed there with bunches of grass^[14].

Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha suggests that all the diseases are caused by Mandāgni. Uncooked and dirty food caused accumulation of the doṣas and the channels of water are blocked in the upper and lower parts of the body. In this way, Prāṇa, Agni and Apāna get localized in between the skin and muscles causing swelling of the stomach. These doṣas cause plīha, baddha, kṣata and Udara diseases. The symptoms include loss of hunger, burning sensation, indigestion, the difficulty of breathing, exhausting etc. The clinical features include in all kinds, there is stupor, debility, accumulation of faeces, poor digestive activity, burning sensation, oedema, distention of the abdomen and collection of fluid at the terminal stage^[15].

Finally, we may conclude that, In the Atharvaveda, the medication of this disease is described in this way as falsity which comes out of the tongue, all the burden of sin deposited in its way. Varuṇadeva who is the sole protector of righteousness, justice giver, oh! My life I will spare you from all sins. Again, the medication also says that oh! My life, I will spare you from the rage of the fire God and water God and good karma will come to you. Water borne diseases swell stomachs–so wind God must be propitiated.

Kauśika Sūtra also discusses the treatment of these diseases. If a male or a female suffers from this disease then the patient should take both with water in a pitcher mixed with twenty-one types of grasses along with their roots and hay^[16].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Mādhava-Nidāna of Mādhavakara with the Commentary Madhukoṣa by Vijayarakṣita & Śrīkaṇṭhadatta, Brahmanand Tripathi(ed.), trans. Kanjiv Lochan, Varanasi, Chaukhamba Surbharati Prakashan, 2018, pp. 579-583

[2]:

durbalāgniteti mando'gniryadyapyatra hetustathā'pyagneratiśayadaurbalyaṃ liṅgatvena jñeyam | udarāṇyaṣṭāviti yakṛ ddālyudarasya plīhodareṇa sārdhaṃ samānacikitsyatayā tathotpattiviṣiṣṭadakodarāt krameṇa bhūtadakodarsyāpi samānaliṅga- cikitsitatvenābhinnātvādaṣṭāvevodarāṇi bhavanti | (Mā. Ni. –II /Udara Nidānam/3-4); Mādhava-Nidāna of Mādhavakara with the Commentary Madhukoṣa by Vijayarakṣita & Śrīkaṇṭhadatta, Brahmanand Tripathi(ed.), trans. Kanjiv Lochan, Varanasi, Chaukhamba Surbharati Prakashan, 2018, p. 567.

[3]:

AV.I.10; VI.24,127; Acarya Vedanta Tirtha (ed.), Atharvaveda–Vol. 1, Delhi, Manoj Publication, 2012, pp. 40-41; 290-291; 356-357.

[4]:

AV. -I.10.1; K. L. Joshi (ed.), Atharvaveda Saṃhitā -Vol. I, Delhi, Parimal Publication, 2015, p. 18.

[5]:

Dr. V. W. Karambelkar, The Atharva-Veda and The Āyur-Veda, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 2003, pp. 144-145.

[6]:

ayaṃ devānāmasuro vi rājati vaśā hi satya varuṇasya rājñaḥ |
tataspari brahmaṇā śāśadāna ugrasya manyorudimaṃ nayāmi ||
namaste rājan varuṇāstu manyave viśvaṃ hyugra nicikeṣi dugdham |
sahasyamanyān pra suvāmi sākaṃ śataṃ jīvāti śaradastavāyam ||
yaduvakthānṛtaṃ jihvayā vṛjinaṃ bahu |
rājñastvā styadharmaṇo muñcāmi varuṇādaham ||
muñcāmi tvā vaiśvānarādarṇavān mahataspari |
sajātānugrehā vada brahma cāpa cikīhi naḥ || (AV. –I.10.1-4); Atharva-Veda-Saṃhitā along with Sāyaṇabhāṣya–Vol.–1, Ramswaroop Sharma Gaud (ed.), Varanasi, Chowkhamba Vidyabhawan, 2011, pp. 214- 221.

[7]:

himavataḥ prasravanti sindhau samaha saṃgamaḥ |
āpo ha mahyaṃ tad devīrdadan hṛddyotabheṣajam ||
yanme akṣyorādidyota pārṣṇyaiḥ prapadośca yat |
āpastat sarvaṃ niṣkaran bhiṣajāṃ subhiṣaktamāḥ ||
sindhupatnīḥ sindhurājñīḥ sarvā yā nadya sthana |
datta nastasya bheṣajaṃ tenā vo bhunajāmahai || (AV. -VI.24.1-3); K. L. Joshi (ed.), Atharvaveda Saṃhitā -Vol. I, Delhi, Parimal Publication, 2015, pp. 494-495.

[8]:

vidradhasya balāsasya lohitasya vanaspate |
visalpakasyoṣadhe mocchiṣaḥ piśitaṃ cana ||
yau te balāsa tiṣṭhataḥ kakṣe muṣkāvapaśritau |
vedāhaṃ tasya bheṣajaṃ cīprudurabhicakṣaṇam ||
yo aṃgayo yaḥ karṇo yo akṣyorvisalpakaḥ |
vi vṛhāmovilpakaṃ vidradhaṃ hṛdayāmayam |
parā tamajñātaṃ yakṣmamarāñcaṃ suvāmasi || (AV. -VI.127.1-3); Acarya Vedanta Tirtha (ed.), Atharvaveda–Vol. 1, Delhi, Manoj Publication, 2012, pp. 356-357.

[9]:

apsu ta iti vahantyormadhye vimite piñjulībhirāplāvayati | avasiñcati | Kauśika Sūtra 32.14-15; Atharvavedīya–Kauśika Gṛhyasūtraṃ (Dārilakeśavayosaṃ-kṣiptaṭīkaya sahitaṃ), trans. Udayanarayana Sinha, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series office, 2009, p.77.

[10]:

yā oṣadhayaḥ somarājñīrbahvīḥ śatavicakṣaṇāḥ |
bṛhaspatiprasūtāstā no muñcantvaṃhasaḥ ||
muñcantu mā śapathyā datho varuṇyā duta |
atho yamasya paḍvīśād viśvasmād devakilbiṣāt ||
yaccakṣuṣā manasā yacca vācopārima jāgrato yat svapantaḥ |
somastāni svadhayā naḥ punātu || (AV. -VI.96.1-3); K. L. Joshi (ed.), Atharvaveda Saṃhitā -Vol. I, Delhi, Parimal Publication, 2015, pp. 579-580.

[11]:

vi te muñcāmi raśanāṃ vi yoktraṃ vi niyojanam |
ihaiva tvamajasra edhyagne ||
asmai kṣatrāṇi dhārayantamagne yunajmi tvā brahmaṇā daivyena |
dīdihyasmabhyaṃ draviṇeha bhadraṃ premaṃ voco havirdāṃ devatāsu || (AV. –VII.83.1-2); Atharva-Veda-Saṃhitā along with Sāyaṇabhāṣya–Vol.–4, Ramswaroop Sharma Gaud (ed.), Varanasi, Chowkhamba Vidyabhawan, 2011, pp. 293-295.

[12]:

kṛ ṣṇāṃ niyānaṃ harayaḥ suparṇā apo vasānā divamut patanti |
ta āvavṛtrantsadanādṛtasyādid ghṛtena pṛthivīṃ vyū duḥ ||
payasvatīḥ kṛ ṇuthāpa oṣadhīḥ śivā yadejathā maruto rukmavakṣasaḥ |
ūrjaṃ ca tatra sumatiṃ ca pinvata yatrā naro marutaḥ siñcathā madhu ||
udapruto marutastāṃ iyarta vṛṣṭiryā viśvā nivataspṛṇāti |
ejāti glahā kanyeva tunnairuṃ tundānā patyeva jāyā || (AV. –VI.22.1-3);Veda Atharvaveda Saṃhitā, trans. Dilip Mukhopadhyaya, Kolkata, Aksaya Library, 2017, p. 429.

[13]:

pañcamena varuṇagṛhītasya mūrdhni sampātānānayati || (Kauśika Sūtra 26.39); Atharvavedīya–Kauśika Gṛhyasūtraṃ (Dārilakeśavayosaṃ-kṣiptaṭīkaya sahitaṃ), trans. Udayanarayana Sinha, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series office, 2009, p. 62.

[14]:

apsu ta iti vahantyormadhye vimite piñjulībhirāplāvayati | avasiñcati | (Kauśika Sūtra 32.14-15); Atharvavedīya–Kauśika Gṛhyasūtraṃ (Dārilakeśavayosaṃ-kṣiptaṭīkaya sahitaṃ), trans. Udayanarayana Sinha, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series office, 2009, p.77.

[15]:

rogāḥ sarve'pi mande'gnau sutarāmudarāṇi tu |
ajīrṇānmalinaiścānnairjāyante malasañcayāt ||
ūrdhvādho dhātavo rudhvā vāhinīrambuvāhinīḥ |
prāṇāgnyapānān sandūṣya kuryustvaṅ bhāṃsasandhigāḥ ||
ādhmapya kukṣimudaram aṣṭadhā tacca bhidyate |
pṛthagdoṣaiḥ samastaiśca plīhabaddhakṣatodakaiḥ |
tenārtāḥ śuṣkatālvoṣṭhāḥ śūnapādakarodarāḥ ||
naṣṭaceṣṭābalāhārāḥ kṛ śāḥ pradhmātakukṣayaḥ |
syuḥ pretarūpā puruṣā bhāvinastasya lakṣaṇam ||
kṣunnāśo'nnaṃ cirātsarvaṃ savidāhaṃ ca pacyeta |
jīrṇājīrṇaṃ na jānāti sauhityaṃ sahate na ca ||
kṣīyate balataḥ śaśvacchavasityalpe'pi ceṣṭite |
vṛddhirviśo'pravṛttiśca kiñcicchophaśca pādayoḥ ||
rugbastisandhau tatatā ladhvalpābhojanairapi |
rājījanma valījanma valīnāśe jaṭhare -jaṭhareṣu tu ||
sarveṣu tandrā sadanaṃ malasaṅgo'lpavahnitā |
dāhaḥ śvayathurādhmānamante salilasambhavaḥ || (Aṣṭā. S. –Nidānasthāna-12/1-10); Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha of Vāgbhaṭṭa Vol. II, trans. K. R. Srikantha Murthy, Varanasi, Chaukhambha Orientalia, 2018, pp. 220-221.

[16]:

ayaṃ devānāmityekaviṃśatya darbhapiñjūlībhirvalīkaiḥ sārdhamadhiśiro'vasiñcati || himavata iti syandamānādanvīpamāhārya valīkaiḥ | (Kauśika Sūtra 25.37; 30.13 for AV. I.10; II.24); Atharvavedīya–Kauśika Gṛhyasūtraṃ (Dārilakeśavayosaṃ-kṣiptaṭīkaya sahitaṃ), trans. Udayanarayana Sinha, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series office, 2009, pp. 58, 71.