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324 so through a deranged condition of the bodily humours or old age. And since it is the strength of a patient which makes all remedial measures (such as cauterisation, etc.) possible, it should be regarded as the grandest auxiliary to a medical treatment of whatsoever nature it may be.

Metrical Texts:—There are some men who are strong though thin; while others are weak, though stout; and accordingly a physician should determine the bodily strength of a patient by enquiring about the capacity of his physical endurance and labour. Sattvam or fortitude denotes a kind of (stoic) indifference of one's mind to sensations and sources of pleasure or pain.

A man of strong fortitude (Sattvika temperament) is capable of enduring everything, or any amount of pain by repressing his mind with the help of his will or intellect. A man of a Rajasika turn of mind (strong, active, energetic) may be made to patiently submit to a course of painful medical treatment by means of persuasive counsels and the logic of the inevitable, whereas a man of a Tamasika temperament (a worldly cast of mind characterised by Nescience) is simply overwhelmed at the prospect of bodily pain.

Later on, we shall have occasion to deal with the different types of physical treatment and of remedial agents in general. A particular country, or a season