Seven-day Medicines (b): Animal Fats (Vasā)

Animal fats are another kind of substances allowed for use within seven days. The Theravāda, the Dharmaguptaka, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinayas just state that these substances were allowed for use as oils, while the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya overtly lists it as one of the seven-day medicines.^[1]

Translation of the passages pertaining to animal fats in different Vinayas is as follows:

Theravāda—“… to consume the animal fats as medicines by using [them] as oils: [be it] bear fat, fish fat, Gangetic porpoise fat,^[2] pig fat, donkey fat–which is accepted in proper time, boiled in proper time, [and] mixed in proper time.”^[3]

Dharmaguptaka—“… five kinds of fat: brown bear fat, fish fat, donkey fat, pig fat, [and] alligator fat … [being] accepted in proper time, filtered in proper time, [and] cooked in proper time, they are consumed according to theteaching on oil.”^[4]

Mahīśāsaka—“… fats of ox, donkey, camel, sturgeon.”^[5]

Sarvāstivāda^[6] —“Four kinds of pure fat: bear fat, donkey fat, pig fat, [and] sturgeonfat.”^[7]

Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit)—“Five fats are to be made use of. What are the five? [They are] the fish fat, Gangetic porpoise fat, alligator fat, bear fat, and pig fat. … [Being] cooked in proper time, trickled in proper time, accepted in proper time, [and] taken possession of in proper time–they should be consumed by using as oils for seven days.”^[8]

Mūlasarvāstivāda—“There are five kinds of fat: one, fish fat; two, fat of finless porpoise;

(Chinese)—three, shark fat; four, bear fat; five, pig fat. … (Being) cooked in proper time, filtered in proper time, accepted in proper time, [and] taken possession of in proper time, [they] should be used according to the teaching on consuming oil. [They] are used in seven days; beyond seven days [they] should not be consumed.”^[9]

Mahāsāṃghika^[10] —“Fats [are] … fish fat, bear fat, brown bear fat, pig fat, [and] alligator fat.”^[11]

From the above passages, various animal fats were allowed for use as medicines in Buddhism. The lists of animal fats are similar in the different Vinayas, except that the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya contains two special fats–ox fat and camel fat–which are not mentioned in other lists.^[12] In the Shanjian lüpiposha 善見律毘婆沙 (Virtuous-Seeing: A Commentary of the Discipline),^[13] śiśumāra is explained as eyu 鰐魚, which means alligator or crocodile.^[14] Besides the above facts on these animal fats, the Samantapāsādikā, the commentary of the Theravāda Vinaya, also furnishes us with some explanations relevant to the rules on using such medicines. The Samantapāsādikā explains “to consume by using as oils” (telaparibhogena paribhuñjituṃ) as “to consume [the animal fats as medicines] by using [them] as oils in a period of seven days” (sattāhakālikātelaparibhogena paribhuñjituṃ) (V. 1090). The phrase “如服油法，七日服” (to consume in seven days according to the teaching on taking oil) in the Chinese version of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya helps support such rendering. In addition, the Samantapāsādikā explicates the phrase “accepted in proper time” (kāle paṭggahitaṃ) as “the meaning is: with regard to this and such like, having accepted, cooked, and filtered [the animal fats] when the midday has not passed.”^[15]

Fats of different animals have different properties, according to Āyurveda. In general, they are regarded as nourishing and strength-enhancing. They alleviate wind humour, and therefore they were used to cure wind diseases as stated in the Vinayas (Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 27. 295; Suśruta Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 45. 131; Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 5. 61).

Animal fats belong to the group of lipids in modern nutritional science. They produce a large amount of energy through metabolism. They have nutritional values and usages like ghee and butter, which have already been mentioned above in Section 4. 1. 1.

The animal fats listed in various Chapters on Medicine are summarised in the table below:

Theravāda:—
acchavasā (bear fat)
macchavasā (fish fat)
susukāvasā (Gangetic porpoise fat)
sūkaravasā (pig fat)
gadrabhavasā (donkey fat)

Dharmaguptaka:—
羆脂 (brown bear fat)
魚脂 (fish fat)
驢脂 (donkey fat)
猪脂 (pig fat)
失守摩羅脂 (alligator fat)

Mahīśāsaka:—
牛脂 (ox fat)
驢脂 (donkey fat)
駱駝脂 (camel fat)
鱣脂 (sturgeon fat)

Sarvāstivāda:—
熊脂 (bear fat)
驢脂 (donkey fat)
猪脂 (pig fat)
鱣脂 (sturgeon fat)

Mūlasarvāstivāda (Sanskrit):—
matsyavasā (fish fat)
śuśukāvasā (Gangetic porpoise fat)
śuśumāravasā (alligator fat)
rikṣavasā (bear fat)
sūkaravasā (pig fat)

Mūlasarvāstivāda (Chinese):—
魚脂 (fish fat)
江豚脂 (fat of finless porpoise)
鮫魚脂 (shark fat)
熊脂 (bear fat)
猪脂 (pig fat)

Mahāsāṃghika:—
魚脂 (fish fat)
熊脂 (bear fat)
羆脂 (brown bear fat)
猪脂 (pig fat)
失修摩羅脂 (alligator fat)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See, for example, Taishō Tripiṭaka 1425. 244c20-c23. In addition, the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says clearly that wind diseases should be treated with oils or animal fats, while fever (i.e. diseases by bile humour) should be cured by ghee, water diseases (i.e. diseases by phlegm humour) by honey, and diseases due to a combination of three humours by these three medicines (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1425. 316c21-23).

[2]:

Susukā was rendered as alligator in Pali-English Dictionary. The English translation of the Theravāda Vinaya (The Book of the Discipline) also translated this term as alligator. This seemingly was adopted by Zysk (1991, 76). But this meaning is probably incorrect. The Mahāniddesa-Āṭṭhakathā (II. 396) explains it thus: “susukā is said as a fierce fish” (susukā vuccati caṇḍamaccho). This rendering can be supported by the related information in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya: By comparing the Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Bhaiṣajyavastu of this Vinaya, the term śuśukā should parallel with finless porpoise (江豚), which should refer to Gangetic porpoise. Hence the term susukā should mean Gangetic porpoise.

[3]:

Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka I. 200: “vasāni bhesajjāni acchavasaṃ macchavasaṃ susukāvasaṃ sūkaravasaṃ gadrabhavasaṃ kāle paṭiggahitaṃ kāle nipakkaṃ kāle saṃsaṭṭhaṃ telaparibhogena paribhuñjituṃ.”

[4]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1428. 869c15-17: “五種脂：羆脂、魚脂、驢脂、猪脂、失守摩羅脂... 時受時漉時煮，

如油法服”. 失守摩羅 should be śiśumāra (alligator). See Dash 2008, 571. In addition, there is another case in the Dharmaguptaka Bhaiṣajyaskandhaka concerning the use of human fat to treat pimples (Taishō Tripiṭaka 1428. 870c5-6). But there is no specification of the seven-day use for this case.

[5]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1421. 147b24: “牛、驢、駱駝、鱣脂。”

[6]:

This list of animal fats as medicines is found not in the Sarvāstivāda Bhaiṣajyadharmaka, but elsewhere in this Vinaya.

[7]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1435. 156c26 or 333c12-13: “四種淨脂：熊脂、驢脂、猪脂、鱣脂”.

[8]:

Gilgit Manuscripts III. 1.v: “pañca vasāḥ prasevitavyāḥ| katamāḥ pañca| matsyavasā śuśukāvasā śuśumāravasā rikṣavasā sūkaravasā ca| … kāle pakvāḥ kāle parisrutāḥ kāle pratigrāhitāḥ kāle’dhiṣṭhtāstailaparibhogena saptāhaṃ paribhoktavyā iti|” Śuśumāra seems to be a corruption of śiśumāra. Rikṣavasā should be ṛkṣavasā.

[9]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1448. 1c21-28: “有五種脂：一者魚脂，二者江豚脂，三者鮫魚脂，四者熊脂，五者猪脂。... 時煮、時漉、時受、時守持，應服。如服油法，七日服，過七日不應服。” The

Chinese list of animal fats differs from the Sanskrit list at the third item.

[10]:

The Chapter on Medicine parallel of the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya does not comprise a list of animal fats. This list comes from another part in this Vinaya.

[11]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1425. 318a19-20: “脂者... 魚脂、熊脂、羆脂、猪脂、失修摩羅脂”. 失修摩羅 should be śiśumāra.

[12]:

Moreover, the mention of using ox fat is unthinkable in a culture where ox/cow is regarded as sacred.

[13]:

This text is believed by scholars to correspond in part to the Samantapāsādikā.

[14]:

Taishō Tripiṭaka 1462. 795b1-2: “失守摩羅者，鰐魚也”.

[15]:

Samantapāsādikā V. 1089: “kāle paṭggahitan ti ādīsu majjhantike avītivatte paṭiggahetvā pacitvā parissāvetvā’ti attho.”