Caraka, the master physician, is believed to have lived in the first century AD. The Samhita– composed by him forms the bedrock of ayurvedic practice today. His contribution to India’s cultural inheritance was profound. Caraka Samhita– was, in fact, a revision of an older text Agnivesa– Tantra, which was written several centuries before Caraka’s time. Caraka’s revision became so popular that it was translated into Tibetan, Arabic, English and many Indian languages. The Legacy of Caraka retells the Samhita– in a new format. Instead of adhering to the sequence of the Stha–nas in the original, the author has retold the Samhita– through thematically structured chapters, in contemporary idiom. The retelling has involved some degree of restructuring and condensation but has ensured that whatever is stated can be traced back to the original. In a detailed introduction, the author has commented on specific aspects of Caraka’s philosophy, concepts and practice, as seen from the point of view of modern medicine. This book will be of special interest to students of a–yurveda, medicine and other sciences, and those interested in the history of science in India
Author(s): M. S. Valiathan
Publisher: Universities Press (India)
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: 0
Tags: Medicine, Ayurveda, Caraka. Carakasamhita
Preface
An appreciation
List of illustrations
Introduction
I. Caraka and his legacy
II. Atharva Veda to Caraka Atharvan echoes in Caraka - Human body in Atharva veda
III. Diseases in Caraka's period
IV. Doctrines and concepts
V. Five evacuative procedures (pañcakarma)
VI. Procedures for rejuvenation and enhanced virility (rasāyana and vājīkaraṇa)
VII. Medicinal plants
VIII. Food and drinks
IX. Habitat
X. Learning to be a physician
SECTION 1 : Mind and matter
1. Āyurveda
2. Drugs formulations in therapeutics
3. Sense perception and well-being
4. Life in accord with the seasons
5. Suppression of natural urges; comments on physical miscella
6. The medical quartet
7. Three desires
8. Lubricants in therapeutics
9. Fomentation
10. Evacuative therapy
11. Imbalance of doṣas - varied expressions
12. Slimming and building up in therapeutics
13. Obesity and leanness; stray remarks on sleep
14. Blood
15. Food as the source of man and his diseases
16. Rasas
17. Food and drink
18. The fate of food and drinks in the body
19. Physicians
20. Rasas, Dosa and a Healthful Diet
21. Epidemics
22. Norms for the quantity of meals
23. Body
24. Disease
25. Infestation by worms (krmi)
26. Training of a physician
27. The body and its knower
28. Conception
29. Genesis of the embryo
30. Pregnancy
31. Antenatal and postnatal managemen and care of the baby
32. The individual and the cosmos
33. A count of body parts
34. The spectre of death
SECTION 2 : Rejuvenant and virile therapy
35. Rejuvenant therapy (rasāyana)
36. Virile therapy (vājīkarana)
37. Fevers (jvara)
38. Pitta-induced bleeding disorders (rakta pitta)
39. Gaseous and hemorrhagic lumps of the abdomen (gulma)
40. Polyurias (pramehas)
41. Skin disorders including leprosy (kuṣ ṭha)
42. Phthisis (śosa)
43. Insanity (unmāda)
44. Epilepsy (apasmāra)
45. Chest injuries and their sequelae (ksata ksī na)
46. Swelling (śvayathu)
47. Abdominal disease with distension (udara)
48. Piles (arśa) Congenital piles nt
49. Digestion and digestive disorders (grahaṇi)
50. Disorders of pallor (pāṇḍuroga) (anemias)
51. Hiccup; shortness of breath (hikkā; śvāsa)
52. Cough (kāsa)
53. Diarrhea (atisāra)
54. Vomiting (chhardi)
55. Cellulitis (visarpa)
56. Thirst (tṛ ṣ ṇā) Missing
p.413-420 missing
57. Poisoning (viṣa) Types
58. Alcoholic disorders (madātyaya)
59. Sores and injuries (vraṇa)
60. Three regional disorders (basti
61. Numb and immobile thighs (ūrustambha)
62. Disorders of perturbed vata (vātavyādhi)
63. Disorders of perturbed vāta and blood (vātaśoṇita) Clinical
64. Disorders of the reproductive system
65. Drugs for evacuation
66. Evacuative procedures (pañcakarma) and formulations
Epilogue
Botanical names
Glossary
