Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/137



CHAPTER IV.

Now we shall discuss the Chapter which deals with General Explanations (PrabhaSaniya-madhyayam).

The endeavours of a man who has studied the entire Ayurveda (shastra) but fails to make a clear exposition of the same, are vain like the efforts of an ass that carries a load of sandal wood (without ever being able to enjoy its pleasing scent).

Authoritative verse on the subject:—A foolish person who has gone through a large number of books without gaining any real insight into the knowledge propounded therein, is like an ass laden with logs of sandal-wood, that labours under the weight which it carries without being able to appreciate its virtue.

Hence the preceptor will clearly explain each shloka or a half or a quarter part thereof as contained in the present work, divided into a hundred and twenty chapters (as well as in the concluding portion of the Uttara-Tantram appended to it); and the student or the disciple shall attentively hear everything explained or discoursed on by the preceptor. Since it is extremely difficult to classify drugs, taste, virtue (Guna), potency (Virya), transformatory or reactionary effect