Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/425

Chap.XXXV.] The one known as Vishama (irregular) should be corrected by a diet consisting' of emollient, acid or saline substances. In a case of abnormally keen digestive fire, the medical treatment should consist in prescribing purgatives and a diet in the composition of which sweet, cooling, and fatty or albuminous matters largely enter. The same treatment should be adopted in (Atyagni) as marked in cases of voracious appetite, and a diet consisting of buffalo-milk, or its curd (Dadhi) and liquid buffalo- butter should be prescribed for the patient in addition. Emetics should be administered in a case of dull or sluggish digestion (Mandagni), and the patient should be restricted to a diet consisting of articles of a pungent, astringent or bitter taste.

Metrical Texts:—The fire, that burns within a person, is godly in its subtle essence, and possesses the divine attributes of atom-like invisibility, weightlessness, etc., and is the digestant of food. It takes up the lymph chyle of different tastes for the purpose of digestion, and is invisible owing to its extremely subtle essence. The three vital Vayus known as Prana, Apana and Samana, located in their own spheres within the organism, feed it and keep it burning.

The three stages of man may be roughly described as (1) infancy or childhood, (2) youth or middle age, and (3) old age or dotage. Childhood extends up to the