Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/481

Chap.XLI.] ness, dryness and emaciation of the body, and increases the speculative or contemplative faculty of the mind.

Akashiyam Drugs:— A thing or substance, which is smooth, unctuous, and is subtle in its nature, soft or pliant in its consistency, expansive (in the internal organism), porous, soundy and non-slimy in its character without any definite taste, is called a substance of the dominant principle of sky (Akashiyam). Such a substance produces softness, lightness and porosity of the body.

It may be inferred from the foregoing illustrations that there is not a single substance in the world but is endued with certain curative virtues. Drugs or substances, used in specific combinations and according to the indications of a disease under treatment, prove curative in virtue of their native virtues and potencies. The time, during which a drug or a medicine exerts its curative virtues, is called its Kala or the period of action. That which immediately results from the use or application of a medicinal remedy is called its Karma or physiological action. The principle, in virtue of which the action is performed, is called its potency or Viryam. That, in which the action takes place, is called its receptacle or Adhikaranam. The means by which it is effected is called its agency or Upaya, while that what it accomplishes is called its therapeutic effect or Phalam.

Of these the drugs of purgative virtue are possessed