Objectionable proportions:—Now we shall enumerate the names of substances which become unwholesome by being mixed in objectionable proportions. Two oily substances (such as oil and clarified butter) or honey and any of the oily substances, mixed in equal proportions, should not be taken; nor should rain water be drunk immediately after having taken honey and clarified-butter.
Incompatible tastes, potencies and chemical actions:—Now we shall describe the substances enumerated in couples, and possessed of different tastes, which prove incompatible to each other through their respective tastes, potencies and chemical actions (Vipaka). Sweet and acid tastes, or sweet and saline tastes should be deemed incompatible to each other in respect of their potencies and inherent properties. Sweet and acrid tastes are incompatible to each other in all the above three respects.
Similarly, sweet and bitter, or sweet and astringent things should be deemed incompatible to each other in respect of their tastes, and chemical action. Acid and saline things are incompatible to each other as regards their flavours. Acid and acrid things are incompatible as regards flavour and chemical action. Acid and bitter, or acid and astringent things, are incompatible to each other, both as regards their respective flavours, potencies, and digestive or chemical transformations.
