Atharvaveda and Charaka Samhita
by Laxmi Maji | 2021 | 143,541 words
This page relates ‘Treatment of Ashmari (stone disease)� found in the study on diseases and remedies found in the Atharvaveda and Charaka-samhita. These texts deal with Ayurveda—the ancient Indian Science of life—which lays down the principles for keeping a sound health involving the use of herbs, roots and leaves. The Atharvaveda refers to one of the four Vedas (ancient Sanskrit texts encompassing all kinds of knowledge and science) containing many details on Ayurveda, which is here taken up for study.
Go directly to: Footnotes.
Treatment of śī (stone disease)
The Atharvaveda describes the treatment of stone disease or śī. ṣṭṅg ṛdⲹ has been said to be the cause of stone disease, when the (ٲ) covers the mouth of the bladder and dries up the urine (inside); then urine getting mixed with pitta, kapha or semen, gives rise to the formation of śī (stone, calculus) just as Gorocanā (ox gall) gets formed from pitta (bite) in the (bite) in the (body of) ox; all of these are having kapha as their receptacle (their mass). Its premonitory symptoms are distention of the bladder, severe pain in and around the site of stone, urine emitting the smell of goat, difficulty for the elimination of urine, fever and loss of appetite[1]. According to Āⲹ Suśruta, the stone is a terrible disease. It is as deadly as Yama. In the initial stage, it is cured with medicine but if it increases it is cured by surgery[2]. According to Āⲹ Suśruta, mixing honey with crushed Gokharu seeds and mixing it with goat’s milk for a week destroys the stone[3]. It has been said in the ṣṭṅg ṛdⲹ, that the extract of the root of the horseradish tree sings in a little hot water and pushes the stone out. The Atharvaveda mentions the names of some medicines, which are beneficial in the case of stone. Namely-ղṇa tree is beneficial for stone disease. Take one hundred grams of ղṇa tree bark and heat it four times in water. When the water is halved, you have to drink that water twice a day. In this way, after playing for five to six days, the stone melts and goes out with the urine. Other medicines are Arjuna, Guggulu, Pītudāru, Pūtadru, Vetasa, and ś etc. There are some medicines in Atharvaveda which are added to prevent vomiting. Namely�ī, ū and Yabāṣa.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
yadā rmukha� basterāvṛtya pariśoṣayet |
mūtra� sapitta� sakaphaṃsaśukraṃvā tadā kramāt ||
sañjāyate'śmarī ghorā pittādgoriva rocanā |
śleṣmāśrayā ca sarvā syāt athāsyā� purvalakṣaṇam || (ṣṭ. H. �ԲٳԲ-9/6-7); ṣṭṅg ṛdⲹ� of Vāgbhaṭṭa Vol. II, trans. K. R. Srikantha Murthy, Varanasi, Chaukhambha Krishnadas Academy, 2018, p.85.