Page:Sushruta Samhita Vol 1.djvu/152

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
48
THE SUSHRUTA SAMHlTA.
[Chap.VI.

and this constant or perpetual revolution is called the wheel or Cycle of time (Kala-Chakra) by certain authorities.

The six seasons such as, the Rains, etc., have been again adverted to in this chapter for the purpose of fully describing the accumulation, excitation aggravation) and pacification of the bodily humours, such as wind, etc. According to some, the rainy season consists of two months known as Bhadra and Ashvina; Autumn consists of the two months of Kartika and Margashirshya; Hemanta consists of the two months of Pousha and Magha; spring consists of the two months of Phalguna and Chaitra; summer, of Vaishakha and Jaistha; and Pravrit, of Ashadha and Shravana.

Oshadhis (Medical plants and cereals) sprout during the rains and are enfeebled in their properties. Water becomes muddy or turbid and the earth is covered over with fresh deposits of washed off or silted mud. The sky becomes overcast with clouds, and the wind, charged with an excess of humidity, dulls the appetite and organisms of beings. Hence the food of beings which principally consists of tender and new-grown vegetables of feeble potency, considerably vitiated by the turbid water partaken of as drink during the season, proves acid in its digestive reaction, and germinates excessive bile in the human system. In autumn the sky becomes cloudless, the mire is dried