EE7.5 - Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

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Published in:
Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

this version: is the Yogic Treatments, 4th edition, version (obvious spelling, punctuation and typographical mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

Originally published in Bengali as Yaogika Cikitsá o Dravyaguńa,
© 1958 by Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha (Central)

Registered office: Anandanagar
                              P.O. Baglata, Dist. Purulia, W.B.
                              India
Camp office:          527 VIP Nagar, Tiljala
                              Kolkata 700100
                              India

All rights reserved by the publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

First Edition 1983
Third Edition:
    First printing 1993
    Second printing 1996
    Third printing 1999
    Fourth printing 2004
Fourth Edition 2008

Translated from the original Bengali by
Ác. Vijayánanda Avt., Ác. Acyutánanda Avt.

Published by:
Ác. Sarvátmánanda Avt.
Publications Secretary (Central)
Ananda Marga Publications

[dedication]

Published in:
Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

To the
sacred memory
of my most venerable maternal uncle,
the late Sharat Chandra Bose.

Preface

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

The object of the art of healing is to cure a patient, both physically and mentally. So the main question is not to uphold any particular school of medical science; rather, the key task is the welfare of the patient.

Just as diseased body organs can be restored to normal by administering medicines internally or externally, they can also be healed, more safely and more perfectly, with the help of yogic ásanas and mudrás. The aim of this book, therefore, is to make the general public aware of the yogic methods of treating the various illnesses.

My purpose is to let people cure themselves by practising the ásanas and mudrás described in this book. People are requested not to take the risk of practising ásanas and mudrás by themselves, but rather to do so under the guidance of an experienced ácárya [spiritual teacher]. Ananda Marga ácáryas will always be ready to help without any remuneration. Detailed instructions for practising the ásanas and mudrás, for bathing, etc. have been given in Part Three of Ananda Marga Caryácarya (Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, Caryácarya Part III [Ánandanagar: Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha, 1979]). If necessary, the reader may consult that book.

Along with the ásanas and mudrás, a list of some free or inexpensive and easily-available, but proven and useful, medicinal remedies, as well as the methods of their application, has been given in this book. The public can make use of these applications by themselves, or, if needed, may consult experienced ácáryas in this respect also.

Due to limitations of time, it is not possible for me to enter into personal correspondence with anybody. Any person having questions regarding the ásanas and mudrás and their performance, or the medicines and their applications, may contact their respective ácárya, or may get in touch with the secretary of their local village or district committee or of the Central Committee of Ananda Marga. So much for now.

Publisher's Note

Published in:
Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

We are happy to publish the Fourth Edition of Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies in the interest of our esteemed readers. In this edition the book has been thoroughly compared with the original Bengali book and a good number of mistakes have been rectified. Some lines which were missing in previous editions have been added. Also some additional footnotes have been included which will certainly help the readers. Certain scientific names of the herbs have been corrected in this edition. Most importantly, colour and black-and-white pictures of different herbal plants have been provided for the first time in this book in order to help the readers to recognize the plants properly. In all, we expect that this book will now be more useful to our esteemed readers.

We acknowledge with a deep sense of gratitude the help and cooperation rendered by the following persons for this edition: Ácárya Viitarágánanda Avadhúta took meticulous care to read the book and suggest some necessary rectifications. He also provided us with scientific names for some herbal plants for this book. Ácárya Púrńajiṋánánanda Avadhúta, Aravinda Das and Mádhava Basak went to several places to take pictures of the plants and contributed those for the book. Ácárya Hirańmayánanda Avadhúta and Gautam Guha also sent us certain important pictures used in this book. The rest of the tasks were undertaken by the staff of Publications.

The Sanskrit and Bengali pronunciation keys in the Roman Saḿskrta section are the past work of Publications staff and those who have kindly volunteered their efforts. For any mistakes, the Publications staff is fully responsible.

Explanatory Notes

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

1. Where no English term could be found for a medicinal plant or other item mentioned in the text, the item has been left in Bengali, and the scientific name or other explanation has been provided in the Bengali Glossary at the end of the book. In a few cases, no English name or scientific name could be found.

Scientific names also follow, in brackets, English plant names which might not be universally understood. (When such a scientific name follows an English term for a plant, patients are advised to identify their local plants by the scientific name before beginning treatment.)

Both Bengali words and Sanskrit words have been set in italics. Translations of Sanskrit words have also been provided in brackets following the word, except for ásanas, which are explained in Caryácarya Part III (Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, Caryácarya Part III [Ánandanagar: Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Samgha, 1979]).

The Sanskrita words púrńimá, amávasyá and ekádashii mean, respectively, the day of the full moon, the day of the new moon, and the eleventh day after either the full moon or the new moon.

2. The tola and the seer, Indian units of weight, have been used in this book. 1 tola = 11.664 grams. 1 seer = 80 tolas = 933.12 grams. 1 seer water at 4 degrees C occupies 0.93312 litre.

3. This book makes reference to the framework of ayurvedic medicine. Ayurveda considers the body to be composed of seven elements, or materials, derived one from the other in the following order: rasa, or chyle (the fluid essence of digested food), blood, flesh, fat, bone marrow, and shukra (for a definition of shukra, please see the Bengali Glossary). The body functions on the basis of three factors, or principles: váyu, pitta and kapha (please see the Bengali Glossary).

4. The term “non-vegetarian food” as used throughout the book should be understood to indicate meat, fish and eggs. Dairy products are not considered non-vegetarian.

5. The term “curd-water”, used frequently in the book, denotes a thin mixture of curd (yoghurt) in water.

6. Upaviśt́a Ud́d́ayana Mudrá is Ud́d́ayana Mudrá done kneeling, with the buttocks on the soles of the feet, and hands on the knees.

Dyspepsia (Indigestion)

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

Belching with a bad smell, watering of the mouth, distension of the stomach, loss of appetite, aversion to food, offensive internal gas, physical weakness, fretful temper, constipation or loose stool containing food particles.

When we take food it is converted into a juicy mass with the help of digestive fluids, then it is transformed into blood. Blood is the most important substance in the body. Fruits, roots, leafy green vegetables and other alkaline-type foods, after being digested, preserve the vitality of the blood by increasing its alkaline portion, whereas fatty and carbohydrate-type foods increase the acidity of the blood. If there occurs a disproportionate increase in the acidity of the blood, then the spleen, liver, heart, kidneys, etc., which are our blood-purifying organs, come under too much pressure. As a result, these organs, being over-worked in purifying the blood, become gradually so weak that they ultimately fail to do their task properly.

Since the different kinds of juicy fruits can be sufficiently digested in their own fluids, the liver bile does not have to make much effort to digest them. But in order to digest starches and carbohydrates, the saliva of the mouth must help at the preliminary stage. Chewing food brings an adequate quantity of saliva into the mouth. No sooner does the food mixed with saliva enter the stomach than the liver and the pancreas are enabled to start secreting their bile and digestive fluids. So unless food is chewed well, the liver can never function properly.

If the quantity of non-vegetarian food is large, then the internal organs will ultimately become weak due to the increasing acidity of the blood. Then when the food from the stomach, having already been partially digested by fluid from the liver, enters the duodenal canal, the weak pancreas will be incapable of secreting enough of its digestive fluid. As a result, the partially digested food does not become completely converted into rasa [chyle]. In consequence, the partially digested food gradually decomposes inside the duodenum and thereby partially blocks the intestine. This spoiled food creates a poisonous gas in the body which the respiratory system fails to purify. It also increases the acidic contents of the blood to an excessive degree. This state of health is called “indigestion” or “dyspepsia”.

Although dyspepsia is not itself fatal, it can be the cause of several fatal diseases. And in social life, dyspepsia aggravates peoples’ acrimonious tendencies and makes them extremely irritable. Stomach, intestinal and rectal ulcers, constipation and serious dysentery may arise from dyspepsia.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Mayúrásana, Padahastásana, Utkat́a (Shyana) Vajrásana, Ágneyii Mudrá and Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Evening – (With constipation) Agnisára Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogásana or Yogamudrá, and Bhújauṋgásana.

(With loose movement) Agnisára Mudrá, Sarváuṋgásana, Ágneyii Mudrá and Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Boiled old rice (grains a few years old), soup of green vegetables; in case of loose motion, curd (yogurt); in case of constipation, curd made from buffalo’s milk, mixed in water and taken with a little sugar. Remember that curd water is particularly beneficial for dyspepsia patients.

Dinánte ca pivet dugdhaḿ
Nishánte ca pivet payah,
Bhojanánte pivet takraḿ
Kiḿ vaedyasya prayojanam?

[Drink milk at the end of the day,
Drink water at dawn,
Drink curd-water after the noon meal,
Then what need for a doctor?]

Dyspepsia originates from unbalanced food habits. Eating when one is not hungry or only half hungry is harmful in this disease. So is eating rich food for days together, using intoxicants, eating tasty food out of greed alone, not taking rest after the meal before running off to the office, or taking a bellyful of food (according to the scriptures, it is desirable to fill the stomach halfway with food, one quarter with water, and to keep one quarter empty for free movement of air); refraining from doing physical labour and, over and above this, doing strenuous mental work or indulging in sex, is also harmful in this disease.

It is better not to eat breakfast or any afternoon snack till the disease is fully cured. However, if one feels hungry, one can have some sweet or sour juicy fruit, particularly of sub-acid type, such as mango, pineapple, jám, any kind of citrus fruit (though citrus fruits belong to the acidic group, their action on the body is alkaline), or, in case of constipation, papaya. It is important to remember that acidic foods such as lemon and curd (yoghurt) should be taken with a little water and salt.

All non-vegetarian types of food except for small fish, are harmful for dyspepsia patients. Meat and eggs are poison. All intoxicants aggravate constipation, hence they are not to be taken either.

With dyspepsia it is very essential to take a walk in the fresh air and to do a little physical labour every day. Sleeping in the daytime and staying awake at night are forbidden. It is better to take the evening meal before 8 p.m., and a short walk thereafter is very helpful.

Pulses are alkaline food but rich, so they are not to be eaten in cases of dyspepsia.

It is desirable to take food or to defecate when the main flow of breath is through the right nostril. Even after food, it is desirable if the flow of breath mainly through the right nostril continues for some time. Because that is the time when the digestive glands start secreting a sufficient quantity of fluids to help digestion.

Observing fast on ekádashii and regulation of the diet at night on púrńimá and amávasyá [i.e. taking just a little milk, fruit and dry things on those two nights] is desirable.

1. Take 1/16 tola asafoetida [Ferula foetida Regel], fried in ghee and mixed with an equal quantity of rock-salt, before meals.

2. Take shredded dry coconut or the flesh of mature coconut along with a prepared betel [Piper betle Linn.] leaf or with aniseed.

4. Take 1/16 tola (not more than that) of ash of a cowrie, wrapped in a betel leaf, after the evening meal every day.⁽¹⁾

5. For a few days take some myrobalan powder, mixed and ground with an equal quantity of aniseed powder and double the quantity of Káshii sugar [sugar refined by hand equipment and hence a reddish colour]. Do not used myrobalan seeds which, if dropped in water, float rather than sink.

(1) To prepare the ash, take the kind of cowrie with knots on it, dip it in lemon or lime juice, and burn it to ashes.

Hernia

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

When undigested food or accumulated and vitiated stool starts building up pressure, or the offensive internal gas caused by them puts a severe strain on the intestine, the intestine gets dislodged from its normal position, open a hold in the abdominal wall, and protrudes through it. This condition is called “hernia”.

If the dislodged intestine comes out through an opening left in the canal to the scrotum, it is called “inguinal hernia”. When it pushes out through the hole in the canal of nerve fibres and the muscular network controlling the legs, it is called a “femoral hernia”. Occasionally it pushes out through the navel opening of children, and this is called an “umbilical hernia”. As long as it is possible to push the protruded intestine back inside or to pull it back into position temporarily through suction, this condition, through painful, does not become fatal. But if the protruded intestine becomes hard like a rope and obstructs then normal functioning of the lower anatomy, then the disease can be said to have reached the critical stage. When the protruded intestine becomes trapped in the opening, causing severe suffering to the patient, then it is called a “strangulated hernia”.

Food enters the stomach and there gets partially digested. It then passes into the duodenum (upper intestine) for complete digestion. Too much non-vegetarian and fatty food aggravates the acidity of the blood. As a result, different hormone-secreting glands become weak, and the partially-digested food starts decaying inside the body, creating a foul and poisonous gas which, in turn, puts pressure and strain on the stool-filled intestine and forces its dislodgement. Therefore failure of the liver to digest all the food properly is the main cause of hernia.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Ashvinii Mudrá, Mayúrásana, Padahastásana, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá and [[Ágneyii Mudrá or]] Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Sarváuṋgásana, Ashvinii Mudrá and [[Ágneyii Mudrá or]] Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Because hernia originates from intemperate food habits, special care should be taken about food – especially regarding non-vegetarian food and all types of food which may cause constipation.

Hernia patients must never completely fill the stomach, in order to prevent pressure on the stomach. It is also desirable to take a small quantity of food a greater number of times, rather than to eat a large amount at one time. Drinking a small amount of water or lemon-water many times a day is also advisable. A hernia patient should also remember to maintain a slight but continuous feeling of hunger. Hernia patients should get out of the habit of straining while defecating.

For hernia patients, bending forward to lift heavy articles, jumping about excessively, over-eating out of greed and indulging in sex are all very harmful.

Appendicitis

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

Swelling of the appendix and simultaneous unbearable pain in the abdominal region; fear of eating in spite of appetite or desire for food.

Aversion to physical labour, spending much time indoors, not taking part in sports and exercises, constipation; such short-comings, along with overeating.

Ásanas, mudrás, diet and dos and don’ts are the same as for dyspepsia patients.

With appendicitis, fibrous foods, all types of non-vegetarian foods, atapa rice⁽¹⁾ and all foods that cause constipation are strictly forbidden.

(1) A fine-quality, very white type of rice, not boiled in the process of husking. –Trans.

Acidity

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Notes:

Physical weakness, acidic or watery belching, dizziness, burning stomach, heartburn, etc.

Oxygen inhaled in breathing enters the body and eventually turns into carbon dioxide. Through the influence of this carbon dioxide, the digestive fluid-secreting glands are activated. If food is taken irregularly and excessively day after day, or if food is forced down with little or no appetite, or if eating rich food becomes a steady habit, it becomes impossible for the digestive fluid to digest the food properly. Then, just as on the one hand the undigested or partially-digested food turns into poisonous gas, so on the other hand the secreted digestive fluid gradually turns into harmful acid.

The digestive fluids are themselves acidic, but under normal conditions when they digest food they themselves are digested. When, however, as a result of the aforesaid irregularities, they are unable to digest the food, the fluids themselves also remain undigested.

The cause of acidity, therefore, is the poisonous gas being produced by the decomposed food, together with the putrid acid produced by the deterioration of the undigested fluids.

The putrid acidic gas and fluids cause a burning sensation in the stomach. When they rise up to the chest they cause heartburn; when they reach the throat, burning is felt in the throat; when they rise further they cause dizziness.

Due to this excessive acidity, the blood becomes acid-dominated. Being overworked, the blood-purifying organs of the body also become weak, and the patient feels weak.

This over-acidity of the blood also causes swelling and consequent pain in different parts of the body, especially the joints. The name of this condition is “rheumatism”.

When a strong and continuous effort is being made by the body’s organs to purify the over-acid blood, this condition is called “colic” or “shooting pain.”

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Mayúrásana, Padahastásana, Ud́d́ayána Mudrá, Agnisára Mudrá or Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Agnisára Mudrá, Utkat́a Pashcimottánásana Sarváuṋgásana and Ágneyii Mudrá or Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

In acidity boiled old rice (grains a few years old), soup of green vegetables (no vegetables fried, parched, or taken in large quantity), juicy sweet or sour fruits, and curd-water are especially useful. Curd (yogurt) alone is not particularly beneficial for acidity patients.

For patients of acidity it is particularly important to walk in the open air, to eat less food than the appetite demands, and to drink plenty of water, in small amounts, at intervals throughout the day. Coconut and coconut-based foods and medicines are especially useful in this disease. Patients should refrain from eating breakfast and snacks. If the hunger is unbearable, the patient may eat a little bit of juicy fruit. A frequent symptom of this disease is that, due to old habits, the digestive glands discharge an excessive quantity of fluids, as a result of which the patient suddenly feels an extreme hunger at odd times, which is called “demon hunger”. That is why we find that a patient who is often in a depressed mood about his/her disease or goes around talking about the disease to everyone, when he/she sits down to eat, eats excessively. This symptom is the result of the secretion of digestive fluids at a particular time in accordance with the old habits of the patient. It is therefore desirable to be cautious about this “demon”, detrimental hunger. An acidity patient should never violate these dos and don’ts.

If due to the over-secretion of digestive fluids the patient suffers from “demon hunger”, it can be relieved by drinking a large glass of water. When the acidity patient feels pain, it is advisable to drink orange or tangerine juice mixed in tepid water. After the pain has subsided, lemon juice in cold water should be taken. As with dyspepsia, during mealtime and for an hour thereafter breath should be flowing through the patient’s right nostril.

At the time of severe colic pain, the dominant flow of breath should be changed from the nostril through which it was flowing at the time the pain started to the other nostril. Allowing the bile to accumulate by not taking something when one is hungry should never be permitted, because in that event the undigested bile itself will become the cause of acidity.

1. Eat some shredded dry coconut along with a prepared betel [Piper betle Linn.] leaf, or some flesh of mature coconut along with aniseed.

2. To get immediate relief from a distressing colic pain, equal quantities of chalk and átapa rice powder should be ground together, and 1/2 tola of the mixture should be taken.

3. Take with cold water 1/16 tola of the white portion of the ashes of the tamarind [Tamarindus indica Linn.] pod.

4. Take 1/16 tola of the ashes of white ákanda leaf and rock salt after burning them together in equal quantities in an enclosed earthen pot.

5. As with dyspepsia, it is desirable for acidity patients to observe fasting on ekádashii days and regulation of diet on púrńimá and amávasyá.

Haemorrhoids (Piles)

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Notes:

If there is contaminated gas and blood in the body which cannot get out, the veins and capillaries around the anus become swollen due to the pressure, and ultimately remain swollen. When this happens it is called “developed piles”. When developed piles appear outside the anus they are called “external”, and when they appear inside they are called “internal”.

When, under pressure of the apána váyu [vital energy controlling the lower abdominal organs], blood starts oozing out of the developed piles, they are called “bleeding piles”. But not all piles bleed. If, instead, they are painful, aching, burning or itching, they are called “dry piles”.

Constipation due to the defective functioning of the liver is the main cause of piles, but generally no serious ailment can develop for one reason only. Like other serious diseases, piles is a disease of the entire system, so there are many other reasons for its development also. The first and foremost of these reasons is lack of physical exercise and the second is sexual over-indulgence. Straining at stool often aggravates the disease. Remember that without constipation and defective functioning of the liver one can never suffer from piles.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Jánushirasana, Shalabhásana or Mayúrásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Padahastásana and Ashvinii Mudrá.

Evening – Agnisára Mudrá, Bhastrikásana, Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Shasháuṋgásana and Ashvinii Mudrá.

If the patient of piles feels hungry early in the morning, he or she may eat some sweet or sour juicy fruit. At noon take a lot of leafy vegetables, or soup made from leafy vegetables, along with a small quantity of rice or fresh rut́i [cápáti – flat bread made from whole-wheat flour]. Ol [arum, Amorphophallus campanulatus (Roxb.) Bl.], curd-water, soup, figs, mána kacu, pat́ol, tomato, spinach, green pumpkin (Benincasa hispida Cogn.), láu (Lagenaria siceraria Standl.), and núneshák are particularly beneficial. The patient should drink a glass of curd-water twice a day.

It is not possible to achieve a permanent cure by removing the developed piles through surgery or through stopping the bleeding by any method, because if the root causes are not eliminated, the disease may attack again at any moment, or the contaminated gas and blood in the body may cause some other disease. Therefore, though it may not be improper to employ some temporary expedient to stop severe bleeding at the critical stage, the liver has to be restored in order to obtain a permanent cure. If the liver becomes healthy, the piles will disappear without any treatment.

The patient has to be careful to have a sharp appetite at noon. With piles all extra-alkaline food must be carefully avoided. It is desirable for the patients to avoid eating plantain spathe, plantain flower, plantain fruit or meoyá fruit. At the critical stage of the disease fasting is always recommended. During fasting, plenty of water, and, if desired, sweet or sour citrus juices mixed in water may be consumed. Piles patients should not eat hot [i.e. spicy], salty or rough foods.

1. After defecation wash the anus with alum-water. If one applies slightly-warm neem ghee prepared from tender young neem [margosa, Azadirachta indica A. Juss.] leaves on the developed piles, the disease will be cured within a few days. It is desirable to use this neem ghee at bedtime also.

2. In the early morning take 2 tolas of dugdhakśiirá juice on an empty stomach. This will bring good results.

3. In cases of severe bleeding, drinking 1 tola of kuksimá, or in its absence durbá, juice twice a day will produce good results.

4. A very favourable result can be obtained if 1 tola of husked black sesame seeds mixed with 2 tolas of butter are taken early in the morning.

5. The developed piles will gradually disappear, if, applying a piece of shimúla cotton soaked in kuksimá juice on them like a bandage, they are exposed to the sun every day for a few days.

6. 2 tolas of myrobalan pulverized in cow’s urine, taken regularly along with cane guŕ [raw sugar] over a period of twenty-one days, by licking it, will have a wonderful effect.

7. Slowly sipping old raw sugar of dates, mixed in water, early in the morning, will relieve the severity of piles.

8. Vyápaka shaoca⁽¹⁾ before and after meals is a must for all piles patients.

(1) [[Regarding vyápaka shaoca, the author explains in Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 2, “The Body”: “Method of doing vyápaka shaoca: At first wash your genital organs; then hands up to elbows and legs up to knees; then, taking a mouthful of water, splash water on the eyes and face at least twelve times. Finally wash the ears and the neck. Do násápána (flushing the nostrils with water) also (only if your stomach is empty).” –Trans.]]

Dysentery

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Notes:

Repeated need to defecate but small movement, urge to strain while defecating, pain in the navel region, etc.

Undigested half-cooked or uncooked meat or pulses or such things, when mixed with contaminated air in the stomach, cause an abnormal reaction in the intestine, and when the pitta, in spite of its best efforts, fails to digest these things, they come out in the form of loose movement. But if this loose movement does not take its natural course, then those materials start to decompose inside the colon in an ugly way, and begin to decay the mucous membrane. Under those circumstances, the different fluid-secreting glands of the body engage in secreting more fluids in an effort to rectify the internal disorder. When these extra fluids come into contact with the undigested food and other contaminated matter, they turn into mucus. So in a case of dysentery the stool is full of mucus. The mucus is no disease by itself but is a natural system of healing the disease.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Padahastásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá and Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

All kinds of fried things, parched things, pulses, non-vegetarian foods, as well as foods containing ghee, oil or fat, are to be carefully avoided.

At the first attack of the disease, whether or not fever is present, the patient should take nothing but water mixed with citrus juice (orange or tangerine juice is best.)

After allowing the stomach to rest in this way for a day or two, the patient should then gradually take other foods. Hot and freshly-boiled rice, after being rinsed for about thirty seconds in cold water, with a little soup made from pat́ol, gándála, telákucá or thánkuni leaves; curd-water, etc., may be taken. Always keep in mind that with dysentery more attention is to be paid to selection of diet than to medicine. Roasted bel, or ripe banana peeled and fried in ghee, can be taken as breakfast or a snack. These foods serve as both food and medicine.

If the dysentery is a chronic case, the patient should have dinner before 9 p.m. and take perfectly hot luci [puri – unleavened bread puffed by deep frying] with a little bit of salt. As breakfast or a snack, chronic patients can take hot jilápii [a curly fried sweet]. If the patient takes aged tamarind [Tamarindus indica Linn.] chutney in very small quantity (not more than two tolas) with the noon meal, especially old tamarind chutney with ripe bananas, it will bring a good result.

It is very harmful for a dysentery patient to have his/her abdomen exposed to cold.

For a dysentery patient, curd (yoghurt) is more beneficial than milk, and curd-water is better than curd.

Wrapping a flannel cloth around the abdomen when the disease is in an aggravated state is an excellent precaution.

1. If there is profuse bleeding in an aggravated state of the disease, administering a small quantity of durbá juice or kuksimá-leaf juice in the morning, or morning and evening both, will bring good results.

2. Sucking 1/4 tola of acacia [Acacia arabica Willd.] bud ground with bat́ásá (small lumpy balls of powdered sugar and baking soda) is especially beneficial.

a. Take 1/2 tola of the aerial root (the tender part) of banyan (bat́er jhuri) ground in the water in which rice has been rinsed; or

b. Take about 2 tolas of juice from the leaves of mango, jám and ámarula, with goat’s milk; or

c. Take a small quantity of ámarula-leaf juice with sugar in the morning on an empty stomach.

d. Soak a little maorii [aniseed], masúr dal and michrii [rock candy] together in water overnight in a stone or glass pot and take them as a drink in the morning after drinking them together. Likewise, soak the ingredients in the morning and take the drink in the evening.

4. Take tender leaves of mango, jám and kayetbel, and pound them together to extract juice from them. Drink that juice with salt every morning on an empty stomach and the disease will be cured.

If you dip a piece of red-hot iron in that juice and drink the mixture, then all types of fever will be controlled.

5. If dysentery turns chronic, take tendrils of banyan-tree shoots, pound them to paste, and take the paste with water in which uncooked rice has just been washed. Continue taking this remedy for a few days and it will cure the disease.

Syphilis

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Notes:

This disease has been found in India only in recent times. A few centuries ago it entered India from Europe. Many are of the opinion that syphilis first originated in dogs, and through contact with them the human body got infected.

In the first stage the disease will appear in some part of the body, especially on the genital organs, as chancres. The surface around the chancres is quite hard. Generally there is no secretion of pus or fluid from these chancres. Then chancroid usually appears in the groin. In most cases these chancres and the chancroid dry up or heal within a short time. In this stage many people cannot recognize the disease for sure as syphilis, because not all boils are in fact syphilitic chancres and not all swelling of the groin (swelling of a gland in the groin) is chancroid.

In the second stage of the disease, sores of different forms, small or big according to the type of the disease, erupt on the body, and these sores start secreting fluids of different colours and displaying different symptoms. Syphilis which erupts due to disturbance of the váyu is called “váyu syphilis.” The sores of this type of syphilis are black in colour and cause piercing pain, throbbing and twinging. When the disease erupts in a body which has already been suffering from vitiation of the pitta, it is called “pitta syphilis.” Its sores are yellowish in colour, very ugly and dirty in appearance, and usually generate a sharp burning sensation. Similarly, when the kapha has gone bad, the disease is called “kapha syphilis.” In this disease, the mucus is a white colour, and the sores are bigger in size, produce profuse secretions and cause mainly itching sensations. The disease produced by the blood going bad is known as “blood syphilis.” Its sores are copperish or reddish in color and give out red secretions. When general disruption of váyu, pitta and kapha, all three, occurs, the syphilis is called “tridośaja syphilis.” In this type all the above symptoms are found in greater or lesser degree.

Even though syphilis and chancroid are closely related, and their causes and symptoms are more or less the same, they are two different diseases. It is not a fact that syphilis must cause swelling of the groin; the symptoms of chancroid as an independent disease are the swelling of the groin, the ripening of the swelling, and sores on different parts of the body, especially the sexual organs. The medical name of the syphilis germ is Spirillum pallida [Treponema pallidum], and that of the chancroid germ is Bacillus ducre.

Not keeping the sexual organs clean, excessive copulation, and contact with syphilitic men and women are the causes of this disease. Syphilis is generally widespread among prostitutes due to their promiscuous sexual activities, and from them healthy men get the infection. So it may generally be judged that syphilis has an inseparable relationship with bad character.

This disease can be transmitted to a healthy person through excessive association with syphilitic persons, using their clothing, eating their leftover food, or engaging in sexual relations with them. But the disease is not normally transmitted by mere association and eating together.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Mayúrásana, Padahastásana, Násápána and Shiitaliikumbhaka.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Naokásana, Utkat́a Pashcimottánásana and Agnisára Mudrá.

With syphilis, non-vegetarian food, onion, garlic, too much spice, all kinds of sweets, and milk products are to be strictly avoided. All types of alkaline foods and foods prepared with ghee are good. At lunch, it is good to take rice with ghee, and in the evening, rut́i. Vegetable soup and fruits and roots can be eaten in ample quantity. The patient should drink enough water every day. It is good not to take milk till the disease is cured, but one can take milk in increasing quantity as the disease heals.

A sun-bath should be taken every day at a fixed time in summer and winter, exposing the diseased parts of the body to the sun. The sores should be carefully washed with the juice of neem [Azadirachta indica A. Juss] leaves, or any other disinfectant lotion, on a regular daily basis, after which neem oil should be applied. Among the many processes for washing the sores, one of the best is to apply a finely-ground girimáti [red ochre] on the sores and to cover them with a wet cloth. The cloth should be soaked in water frequently. After doing this for an hour or an hour and a half, remove the girimáti and the cloth. In this way the sores will have a thorough cleansing.

Remember that it is injurious to health to suppress the secretion of fluid, blood or pus of any skin sores by external application of medicines. So in the preliminary stage of the disease, no external ointments should be used. Only after the disease is fully developed should neem oil or any other external medicine be applied.

Fasting is also very beneficial in this disease. Syphilis patients must fast on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá. A continuous fast for three or four days on lemon-water alone will bring immediate relief.

The patient should never completely fill the stomach at the evening meal, and that too should be finished by 8 or 8:30 p.m. Sleeping during the day, staying awake at night, and mingling with crowds should be avoided. Also, marriage and sexual relations are strictly forbidden for one-and-a-half or two years after the healing of the disease. All types of intoxicants are to be avoided like poison.

1. Applying lime paste on the chancroid and then raw sugar or honey on top of it will quickly cure it.

2. Soak a cloth in the juice of apámárga leaves, then dry it and tie it over the area of the sore.

3. Grind the root of bhuṋicáṋpá in water and then apply the paste on the chancroid as an ointment. The chancroid will soon subside.

4. The chancroid will subside if young hátishunŕá leaves ground in water are applied as ointment; it will ripen and burst if ointment of hátishunŕá root bark is applied. Sores will be healed if the bark is burnt to ashes and applied after mixing with sesame oil.

1. Green (unripe) areca nut [Areca catechu Linn.] ground in a stone vessel, if applied as a paste on the sores, will heal them.

2. Take white dhuná [resin of the shál tree] or the white part of dhuná, grind well and beat it with butter into a paste, then rinse it in water and again beat it well; apply the ointment on the sores. They will dry up within a very short time.

3. Roots of svet karavii [white oleander – Nerium indicum Mill. var. alba] well-ground to a paste in water, applied on syphilitic sores, will dry them up.

1. Syphilis germs will be destroyed by drinking 5 tolas of kuksimá juice every day at dawn; or

2. Drinking every morning at dawn 5 tolas of juice from mashed kalmii tips; or drinking every morning at dawn 5 tolas of the juice of krśńa tulasii [black basil – Ocimum sanctum Linn.] leaves; or drinking 5 tolas of anantamúla boiled in cow’s urine.

3. Both syphilis germs and mercury poison will be destroyed by eating 1/16 tola of apámárga [Achyranthes aspera Linn.] root stuffed and boiled in a green (unripe) papaya.

1. An application of buckiidáná [Psoralea corylifolia] ground into a paste in the urine of a black cow; or

2. An application of the leaves of papaya and bel ground together; will remove the mercury spots.

1. The patient should obtain 5 tolas of curd (yoghurt) and keep it overnight in a stone container. Early in the morning mix one drop (and not more) of trishirásiija (tekát́á manasá or nyáŕá manasá) juice in the curd and drink the mixture on an empty stomach. The patient will then soon feel nauseated and will have frequent bowel movements but should not worry. If the patient takes a bath after four or five hours and drinks a glass of michrii-water, the movements will stop. The patient should take nothing but barley-water that evening, and for a few days afterwards eat only a very light diet. This is an excellent process for destroying the poison of syphilis.

Extract neem juice by mashing or grinding the leaves. For one measure of neem juice take one-half that measure of sesame oil and mix them together. Boil the mixture down to one-half measure and do not boil further. Take care not to burn the oil.

Cancer

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Notes:

Tearing pain in the diseased region, a very intolerant temperament, hyper-sensitivity to touch, weakness and nausea, etc., are the main symptoms of this disease. In the preliminary stage of the disease the patient does not suffer from much pain, so in the beginning the disease is generally overlooked.

Cancer is a disease of the whole body as well as a tridośaja disease [involving disturbances of váyu, pitta and kapha]. This disease is a combined effect of many different factors. It is ordinarily observed that persons who suffer from constipation as a result of violating the health rules, and who likewise are lazy, lack self-restraint, sleep during the day and keep late nights, are most likely to be attacked by cancer.

When due to constipation, the blood and the muscle-fibre become worn out by the contaminated digestive fluids of the body and the contaminated air produced by them, cancer sets in. Parts of the internal organs of people who are extremely self-indulgent become weak. As a result of the attrition of shukra, their body loses its vitality. When such people eat too large a quantity of non-vegetarian food, their blood turns acidic and the disease gradually breaks out in the weaker parts of their bodies.

With those people who shun physical labour but take acidic food, chillies, or intoxicants and especially tobacco and similar things – there is every possibility that the disease will attack.

The appropriate ásanas and mudrás will have to be prescribed after ascertaining the reasons why the patient is suffering from the disease. Constipation is generally one cause of this disease, so special attention must be paid to regular clearance of the bowels.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Násápána, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá, Bhújauṋgásana and Karkat́a Práńáyáma.

Noon – Same as in the morning except Utkśepa Mudrá and Násápána.

Evening – Matsyendrásana, Padahastásana, Utkat́a Vajrásana and Karmásana.

If the patient is unable to perform the above four evening ásanas, he/she should practise Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Naokásana and Pashcimottánásana. If he or she is also unable to perform these, then he/she should do the same ásanas as at noon.

Taking vyápaka snána⁽¹⁾ every day is a must. If health permits it can be taken both at noon and in the evening.

In order to reduce the acidity of the blood and make the liver function normally, patients will have to eat alkaline foods as much as possible, that is, all kinds of fruits and roots, vegetable soups, etc. Depending on the condition of the liver, sufficient milk will also have to be consumed by patients. If the liver is bad, the patient should drink coconut milk, peanut milk or curd-water instead of cow’s milk. The evening meal should be finished before 8 p.m. Also the patient should let the breath flow through the right nostril for about an hour after each main meal. The patient should drink about two-and-a-half seers of water every day but never more than one-eighth seer at a time. Pineapple, jám, banana, all kinds of citrus fruits, and tomato are both food and medicine in this disease.

It is very good for cancer patients to take sun-baths. A sun-bath should be taken at sunrise and also between 9 and 10-11 a.m. in the summer or between 9 a.m. and 12 noon in the winter. After the sun-bath, the whole body of the patient should be wiped with a wet towel. Excellent results can be obtained if the patient applies river mud all over the body every day and afterwards bathes in the river. Sleeping during the day, staying awake at night, chillies, non-vegetarian food, and sexual relations are to be strictly avoided. Walking in open places as the strength allows, and, for those who are lazy by nature, doing some physical labour, are also necessary. Eating a piece of myrobalan after a meal is always helpful to clear the bowels. Patients should go to bed every night by 8:30 or 9 p.m so that they may get up very early the next morning.

(1) [[Regarding vyápaka snána, the author’s Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 3, “Different Yoga Practices” explains:
A bathtub is most convenient, but if this is not available, an earthen trough will suffice. If this is not available either, a wet towel can be used, soaking it repeatedly in water. Fill the bathtub with cold water, and sit in it undressed so that the area from the navel down remains submerged. Keep your feet dry and out of the tub. The area from the neck to the navel should be kept covered with a shirt or dry cloth. The crown of the head and the back of the head should be kept covered with a wet towel.
Now take another towel and rub the area from the right side of the abdomen to the groin seven or eight times. Do likewise on the left-hand side and horizontally from right to left and left to right. You should make sure that the towel on the head remains wet.
After this, wipe the abdomen, hands and thighs and take a full bath. If this is not possible, then leave the tub wearing a shirt.
This should be practised behind closed doors. In the absence of a bathtub or an earthen trough, a wet towel may be wrapped around the areas to be bathed, but in order to compensate, cold water must be poured constantly over the towel, and the towel which is to be used for the massage must be kept wet. After vyápaka snána, the thighs, pubic area and abdomen should be warmed with a dry towel.
Before and after this bath one should not eat, in order to allow the stomach to rest.
–Trans.]]

Leprosy

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Notes:

The Sanskrit word kuśt́ha means “skin disease.” So in Sanskrit prickly heat is also a kind of kuśt́ha. But what in modern Indian languages we take kuśt́ha [leprosy] to be is called in Sanskrit, bátarakta roga.

Leprosy comes about due to the disturbance of the seven constituent elements of the body. In other words, leprosy develops only when all seven elements of the body, that is, the chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow and shukra are defective.

Leprosy has three stages. In the first stage the patient starts getting a feeling of discomfort all over the body, suffers from pain in the joints, and feels feverish at odd times. Often he or she suffers from headaches, and sometimes sweats profusely, sometimes not at all. He or she also suffers from general debility.

In the second stage the patient feels piercing pain throughout the nervous system. Off and on small pimples come out on different parts of the body. Hair of the head and eyebrows falls out; parts of the lips, cheeks, nose and eyes become sunken or swollen. Various parts of the arms and legs also get swollen. While walking the patient sometimes feels as if some hard objects are lodging in the soles of the feet. In colloquial language this stage of the disease is called “plum-stone disease”, that is, the patient feels as if plum-stones are getting lodged in the soles.

In the third stage of the disease circular red spots appear on different parts of the body and gradually those places become numb.

When nutritious food and an adequate amount of green vegetables are lacking, and when milk, ghee and other fatty substances are lacking for days together, the blood becomes very weak. If in this condition a person continues for a long period to take those foods which are known to cause dysentery or constipation, or eats a large quantity of spoiled fish, meat, snails or shell-fish, or a large quantity of biláti, diḿle or súryi pumpkin, jhiḿge or white brinjal [white eggplant], then this disease gets a splendid opportunity to develop.

After the blood, the remaining six elements of the body gradually get contaminated, because when the blood is contaminated all the organs of the body become weak. And as a result of this disturbance of the seven elements of the body, the person’s immune system loses its strength. If in the long and bitter struggle which ensues between the white blood cells and the leprosy bacteria, the fat, flesh, blood and chyle of the body become spent, as a final result the extremities of the body will also become loosened and start falling off.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Padahastásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Naokásana, and Shiitalii Kumbhaka. Then massage the affected limbs.

Evening – Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Agnisára Mudrá, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá, Sarváuṋgásana and Mayúrásana.

The patient must strictly avoid all non-vegetarian food. All sorts of nutritious vegetarian food should be eaten if the condition of the liver allows. Ghee, butter, or olive oil should be an item of the daily menu. The patient should drink a large quantity of water (about four or five seers a day, but not much at a time) and should observe the rules of fasting.

Taking sun-baths is a must for every leprosy patient. Taking a dip-bath after applying river mud all over the body is desirable. As far as possible, the patient should live on fruits and roots, milk and vegetable soups. He or she should not succumb to eating out of greed. Crowds, too much food, intoxicants and sexual relations should be strictly avoided.

Generally leprosy is not a contagious disease, so it cannot be contracted simply by touching the secretions or blood of a patient. Unless the secretions or blood of a patient get some chance to mingle with the blood of a healthy person, or the leprosy bacteria enter a healthy person’s stomach from a patient’s leftover food or breath, there is no chance of the disease spreading.

Leprosy is mainly a disease of the poor. Unless the masses are provided with sufficient nutritious food, the spread of the disease among them cannot be totally checked.

For a patient, either the fruit or leaves of ucche – bitter gourd [Momordica dioica Roxb.] has fewer qualities – or paltá [leaves of pat́ol], neem [Azadirachta indica A. Juss.] or shobháiṋjana flowers, leaves or stems should be an item on the menu every day. Heleiṋcá, gimá, bráhmii or some other leafy vegetable should also be taken daily.

1. The disease can be cured by licking a little hariitakii curńa [myrobalan powder] with raw sugar every day.

2. Leprosy can be conquered by taking gulaiṋca extract daily after eating three to five myrobalan seeds; or

3. Drinking extracts of neem [Azadirachta indica A. Juss.] bark mixed with paltá extracts.

4. Good results can also be obtained by covering the diseased area with a poultice of neem leaves.

5. Also by drinking and digesting gulaiṋca extracts, then eating rice with ghee.

6. One can get rid of the disease by drinking some cow’s urine with turmeric every day at dawn for one month.

Emaciation

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Notes:

1. Babies produced from weak or sickly spermatozoa or ova will naturally be weak and emaciated.

2. If the baby does not get sufficient mother’s milk it generally remains emaciated.

3. When due to poverty parents are unable to provide enough milk for their children and consequently they are fed rice and pulse or plain barley from their early childhood, their digestive organs and livers in particular become very weak, and such children normally turn out emaciated.

4. If out of misguided love parents treat their children lavishly by feeding them ghee, butter, fish, meat and eggs right from baby-hood, or if due to poverty or due to some belief they feed their children non-vegetarian foods or spicy vegetable preparations instead of milk, fruits, roots, and other foods appropriate for children, then the livers and other digestive organs of their children, being overworked, lose their vitality and the children become thin.

Early morning – Karmásana, Bhújauṋgásana, Shalabhásana, Garud́ásana, and Ágneyii Mudrá.

If proper treatment is undertaken to rectify the root cause of the disease, adults will automatically develop fat and muscle. Patients must also drink a sufficient quantity of water (about four or five seers but not much at a time) and should take sun-baths. Patients should also spend sufficient time in the open air and in natural surroundings.

In the case of children under five, milk, fruits and roots should be their main food. The less starches, carbohydrates and fatty foods the better, because such foods weaken the undeveloped liver and digestive organs of children. Under no circumstances should children under five years be fed non-vegetarian food. From that age on, starches, carbohydrates and fatty foods may be given in gradually increasing amounts. But fruits and roots and all kinds of alkaline food are always the best diet for children. Due to poverty many parents cannot provide much milk for their children, though they require at least three-fourths seer to one seer every day.

If children get enough fruits and roots, vegetable soup and milk to eat, their emaciation will be cured. But it is a pity that in spite of being well-off, some gluttonous meat-eating parents and guardians deprive their offspring of their proper diet and feed them items like fish, meat, eggs, ghee and butter. Such a mentality is very injurious to their children.

With adults, when the root cause of emaciation is cured, the disease automatically disappears. If depending upon the condition of the liver and the other digestive organs, adults take enough nutritious food, do plenty of physical labour, drink water as directed and do sikta mardana⁽¹⁾ after each bath, they can become fat and happy within a short time.

(1) The author’s Caryácarya Part 3, “Different Yoga Practices”, explains: “Massage the body with a wet towel in the same manner as prescribed after ásanas.” Regarding the massage, please see Ananda Marga Spiritual and Social Practices, “Appendix: Massage”. –Trans.

Eczema

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Notes:

The symptoms of eczema are – the secretion of fluids from sores, itching, burning and throbbing, regular yearly reappearance of the disease, weakness of the body, intermittent fever, and, occasionally, as a result of a virulent attack of the disease, the eating away of the body down to the bones.

When the chyle, blood, flesh and fat, these four elements, all become disturbed, eczema appears. That is why this disease is worse and more harmful than leucoderma, or white leprosy. When, due to weakness of the blood (this weakness is causes in most if not all cases by an attack of dysentery, particularly when this disease has been suppressed by application of some astringent medicine), the skin, flesh and fat become weak and their immune systems lose their strength, the germs of eczema are enabled to settle in a person’s body. As a result of the continuous combat between the white blood cells and the eczema germs, the dead white cells and germs start oozing out of the body in the form of pus, or together with fluids or blood. The patient then suffers from continuous agony, because the exudation of the pus, fluid and blood actually starts deep inside the body.

Morning – Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá, Bhújauṋgásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Padahastásana and Shiitalii Kumbhaka.

All kinds of light, digestible and nutritious food, except sweets and non-vegetarian foods, can be taken by the patient. The patient should also consume sufficient water without fail. Fasting is to be observed on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá days.

Eczema patients must stay away from foods which cause dysentery or constipation. The diseased areas should also be given a daily sun-bath. Till the disease is completely cured, the temptation to take non-vegetarian food and intoxicants should be overcome.

1. Svet karavii [white oleander – Nerium indicum Mill var. alba] roots, made into paste in water, applied as an ointment; or

2. Taking 5 tolas of a mixture of káṋcá halud [raw turmeric juice] and curd (yoghurt), will yield good results.

3. Quick benefits can also be derived by applying musabbar mixed with coconut oil on the sores; or

4. By placing lime (mineral lime) and coconut oil together in a brass pot on the previous night, and the next morning beating the mixture into a foam. Apply the foam on the sores.

5. Take some sulphur and coal soot and grind it into a paste together with coconut oil, then apply as ointment on the sores; or

6. Grind the leaves of kelekoṋŕá into a paste in the acrid water from a water-pipe (tobacco pipe), then apply on the sores; this will bring relief even to severe types of sores. The area of the sores should be covered with a bandage of betel [Piper betle Linn.] leaves drenched in coconut oil or cow’s ghee.

Seminal Weakness

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Notes:

Discharge of semen before or after urination, discharge due to slight excitement or lustful thinking, decrease in memory power, headache, and weakness of the legs (particularly of the knees), are the symptoms of this disease.

Lack of proper sexual knowledge in adolescence or early youth, loss of semen through unnatural means, lack of restraint in married life, eating non-vegetarian food and using intoxicants from an early age, too little physical work and too much mental work, failing to follow the rules for fasting, bathing, taking water and sun-bathing – these are the causes of seminal weakness.

Treatment, diet, and dos and don’ts are the same as for impotence [see “Impotency and Infertility” chapter]. Low thinking, bad company, intoxicants and non-vegetarian food should be completely given up. Seeing pornographic pictures or films, reading pornographic literature, etc. are also to be forsaken.

1. One inch of tulasii [basil – Ocimum sanctum Linn.] root, if eaten after chewing very well along with a betel [Piper betle Linn.] leaf daily for about two weeks, will give excellent results.

2. Well-developed roots of the shimúla tree should be dried in the shade and ground into fine powder. 1/4 tola of this powder should be taken along with milk every morning.

Paralysis

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Notes:

The brain is the apparent controller of the body and its organs. With the help of afferent and efferent nerves, the brain receives impulses from and transmits them to all parts of the body. This nerve centre of the brain is again, broadly speaking, divided into two parts, the right and the left. The nervous system of the right side of the brain controls the left portion of the anatomy and that of the left side of the brain controls the right portion. If due to high blood pressure or some other cause any portion of the brain’s nervous system becomes damaged, the part of the body controlled by that portion of the nervous system also becomes inoperative. This inoperativeness of a particular part of the body is called “paralysis” or “palsy”.

Each specific part of the brain receives one specific impulse with the help of the afferent nerves. If, on account of high blood pressure or some injury, that portion of the brain becomes damaged; or the nerve-cells or nerve fibres are severed; or the afferent nerves of any part of the body become defective; then the afferent nerves cannot transmit the afferent sensation to the mind. This defect or shattered state of the nerves is the cause of loss of movement of the limbs. Similarly, if the nervous system which transmits the commands of the brain becomes damaged, or if the efferent nerves of that system develop any defect, then, as a result of the breakdown in the nervous transmission between the brain and some part of the body, paralysis strikes that part of the body.

In this regard, bear in mind that when the brain cells which receive or transmit a specific physical impulse or mental concept become defective, only the corresponding physical organs will become paralysed or corresponding conceptual area will be impaired. That is why it may be observed that a person who was learned in both English and Sanskrit may, due to an attack of mental paralysis [memory loss], forget all the Sanskrit he or she knew, but keep his/her knowledge of English intact. Nor is it the case that paralysis will always affect the whole right or the whole left side of the body. Owing to the reasons described earlier, an attack of paralysis can be limited to any particular limb – right or left. For instance, the right eye can be affected while the left eye remains normal, or the right side of the mouth may be paralysed whereas the other side is not.

The root causes of blood pressure-related diseases and paralysis are almost the same. This is because most defects of the nerves and their degeneration, can be traced to high blood pressure. But paralysis can also arise from other causes. For instance, paralysis also strikes those whose blood is over-acidic, and whose nerve-fibres consequently degenerate, due to greed, overeating, or too much fondness for non-vegetarian food.

The people who have an over-active mańipura cakra [psychic-energy centre located at the navel) also show a dominance of the lust and anger vrttis [mental propensities]. Such a type of person, though always found to be energetic, generally suffers from constipation owing to excessive anger and over-activity. If these pitta-dominated persons do not find a high ideal in their lives, they become weak in their lower bodies due to over-indulgence in sex and anger. Often the nerve-fibres of their lower bodies degenerate, and paralysis sets in there. If these pitta-dominated persons do have a high ideal in their lives and develop paralysis, it will afflict the upper portion of their bodies because of the over activeness of those parts.

Remember that in most cases constipation is found to be closely associated with paralysis.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Yoga Mudrá, Bhujauṋgásana, or any of these three which it is possible to do. Pakśabadha Práńáyáma.

With paralysis, alkaline foods such as fruits and roots, vegetable soup, and a sufficient quantity of lemon juice, should be taken. In a severe state of the disease, fasting on just lemon juice and water is advisable. The patient should drink about two-and-a-half seers of water every day, but never more than one-fourth seer at a time.

Non-vegetarian foods, sex, intoxicants, sleeping during the day, staying awake at night, etc., are to be strictly avoided. Taking vyápaka snána⁽¹⁾ is very beneficial. A sun-bath should be taken at a fixed time in summer and in winter. The patient should first take a sun-bath over the whole body, then, wiping off with a wet towel, should again take a sun-bath – this time exposing the diseased area only. After exposing the diseased area to the sun a few times in this manner for about fifteen or twenty minutes each time, the last step is to give that area a thorough massage, either with or without oil.

Gastric and Duodenal Ulcer

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Notes:

Indigestion and constipation, aversion to food, nausea after meals, and pain in the stomach immediately or one or two hours after taking food, are the symptoms of this disease.

Partially-digested food or its juice passes from the stomach into the duodenum or upper intestine for further assimilation. There the digestive fluids with the help of bile from the liver and digestive juices from the pancreas accomplish the task of digestion. But if, owing to defective working of these organs, the food is not completely digested here either, then it becomes spoiled and vitiated. At the same time, the unassimilated digestive fluids and bile also become spoiled and create an adverse reaction in the system. This spoiled digestive fluid and bile is the cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers. Habitually undertaking mental or physical exertion after a meal without having any rest slows down the blood circulation in the walls of the stomach and duodenum, due to which the membrane lining of the organs becomes easily susceptible to the acidic poison; and the ulcer appears.

If the acid-secreting organs of the body have to remain constantly active in order to digest non-vegetarian foods, or if, owing to constipation, dyspepsia or any other disease, the alkaline secreting glands become weak, then the alkaline secretions in the body cannot maintain a balance with the acids, and these extremely poisonous acidic fluids then go on with their work unimpeded. Wherever this excess acidic fluid gets an opportunity to accumulate, gradually an ulcer forms. In the stomach, in the duodenum, or wherever these fluids attack the membrane or the lining, they create wounds and there ulcers are formed – gastric (stomach) ulcers, duodenal ulcers and other types of ulcers.

If the blood loses its vitality due to excessive mental exertion coupled with a lack of physical labour; or due to the use of very strong and poisonous medicines (poisons are often used in large quantity in the form of medicines to destroy the germs of blood disease); or due to taking injections of poisonous medicines to cure or to prevent disease; or due to an unrestrained life; that weak blood makes the membrane of the duodenum weak and unable to fight the accumulated acidity, and it becomes ulcerated. If the ulcer is in the stomach, the patient suffers pain immediately after eating. But if that ulcer forms inside the duodenum, the pain starts after a short while but not immediately. In this case the pain originates to the right of the navel. With gastric ulcers, the consumed food has less opportunity inside the body to be digested, and therefore the patient becomes thin and worn out. But with duodenal ulcers, the change takes a long time to show externally.

Whatever may be the reason, if an ulcer is formed inside the body, blood oozing out of the wound tries to find an outlet and is emitted through vomiting, or through the anus or the urinary passage. That is why the patient feels nauseated when suffering from acute stomach or duodenal ulcers, and after vomiting always gets some relief. Often slightly darkish blood comes out with the vomiting [haematemesis]. In a severe state of the disease the stool of the patient also appears blackish. Even when the disease is not in the severe state, the stool comes out in pellets and a darkish colour. This disease generally attacks people in early youth and kills them at the end of youth or in middle age.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Yogásana, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhujauṋgásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Padahastásana, Ágneyii Mudrá [or] Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Naokásana, Pashcimottánásana, Karmásana, Agnisára Mudrá and Ud́d́ayana Mudrá.

In the severe state of the disease nothing except plenty of water and sweet or sour fruit juice should be taken. When blood is vomited, the patient should be fed durbá juice or kuksimá-leaf extracts only. When the patient is a little better, he or she should be given a small quantity of diluted milk with honey to drink. So long as the stool remain darkish, the patient should be given only different kinds of fruit juice, sweet or sour; the filtered juice of ripe tomatoes; the juice of any sweet citrus fruit; or well-boiled potatoes thoroughly mashed with diluted milk.

After the severe state of the disease has passed, the patient may eat soup or stew made out of potatoes, pat́ol, jhiḿge, dhundula or similar easily-digestible vegetables, along with boiled old rice (grains a few years old), etc. In this state, a small amount of pure, warm ghee should be taken with rice or fresh rut́i. So long as even a vestige of the disease persists the patient should never eat much at a time. Instead, food should be eaten several times a day, eating only a small quantity each time. The cure of this disease depends largely on the selection of diet – therefore, even after getting well, the patient should observe the dietary provisions strictly for a couple of years.

Acidity is the main cause of this disease, so it is desirable that food which can increase acidity be carefully avoided. An ulcer patient must give up non-vegetarian food and all types of intoxicants. Food which would stimulate or irritate the stomach should also be forsaken; extra-sweet, hot (spicy) and salty foods are unwholesome for an ulcer patient. Once the patient gets well, he or she will find alkaline food best. But it is better not to take fibrous food even after a complete cure. After normal health has been restored, the patient should include in the diet spinach, beto shák, mat́ar shák or jute leaves to help clear the bowels and to prevent the vomiting of blood. As a medicine, shushuni shák fried in ghee is also excellent. All ulcer patients must take daily at least two or three spoonfuls of honey mixed with water or milk. Habitually doing physical or mental work without taking rest after meals is most harmful.

Gall-Stones

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Notes:

The Sanskrit-derived word for gall-stone is pittáshmarii, ashma meaning “stone” in Sanskrit; so the colloquial term is pittápáthurii – páthar being the colloquial word for “stone.” The symptoms of stone formation in the gall-bladder are mainly pain on the right side of the navel region while eating, nausea after eating, and getting some relief after vomiting. When the disease has turned into a chronic one, loss of appetite and physical debility of the patient become very apparent.

The liver of the human being is a very important gland. The secretion of bile, the transformation of chyle into blood, and the purification of the blood, are all done by the liver. The bile secreted from the liver is first stored in the gall-bladder, and from there it is sent to the stomach and to the upper intestine. The impurities of the blood and the chyle are also sent into the stomach along with bile, and from there they pass through the intestine into the rectum and are emitted from the body as waste. If the impurities are too great in proportion to the chyle and the blood, especially if the acids are too great, these things are carried with the bile into the gall-bladder in very large quantity. And when the bile settles in the gall bladder, these impurities accumulate in a condensed form and gradually crystallize. In this way stones of different sizes and shapes are formed in the gall-bladder. When, after a meal, those stones block the bile-duct, the body’s organs apply great force to push the stones out into the stomach or intestine. This application of force causes pain.

In the first stage of the disease, the body’s organs can succeed in pushing out the stones in this way, but when the disease turns into a chronic one and the organs become weak, or the stones grow larger in size, it is no longer possible to push them out. This chronic state of the disease is truly fatal for the patient.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Yoga Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Padahastásana, Násápána, Ágneyii Mudrá or Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Intoxicants, non-vegetarian food, ghee and foods that may cause constipation should be strictly forsaken. The patient should drink plenty of water, about four or five seers a day, and should fast on ekádashii, amávasyá and púrńimá on water and lemon juice. Whenever the disease is particularly bad, the patient should take nothing but lemon-water. Fasting without water is strictly forbidden with this disease.

With this disease, the more rest that the liver gets the better. So fruit juice and alkaline foods are best for gall-bladder patients. The patient must also be sure to do sufficient physical labour, because gall-stones are the disease of the affluent. They are especially prevalent among rich housewives. With this disease, lemons are both food and medicine.

1. Boil a myrobalan seed in cow’s milk, then throw the seed away and drink the milk; or

2. Take equal quantities of myrobalan, muthá, lodhá and bat́phal [banyan fruits], mix them together and boil them and drink the extract. Take two tolas of the juice regularly.

These remedies will bring good results. The latter remedy can be used for diabetes also. The above medicines should be taken on an empty stomach early in the morning.

Chronic Gland Swelling

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Notes:

Inflammation of different glands and their surrounding areas, with simultaneous throbbing pain (this does not mean that pain will accompany the swelling in every case; and in chronic cases it is natural for there to be no pain); occasional fever, and aggravation of the swelling during the fever, are the symptoms of this disease.

1. The liver and the spleen become weak due to chronic fever, and as a result, the immune defenses of the blood and lymph become diminished. When this happens, the glands of the body do not get the necessary support from them, and the gland or glands which are neglected most have to strain to continue their activity. Because of this over-exertion, the glands start swelling and enlarging.

2. Lack of iodine in the food causes those glands which need iodine to become weak, and in that condition they eventually become swollen.

3. If the body becomes deficient in shukra, the last-derived of all the bodily elements, due to the wasteful discharge of semen, all the glands lose their vitality, because it is the shukra which helps the glands stay strong and healthy.

Some of the important glands need shukra and iodine more than others, and therefore any deficiency is more detrimental to them. The thyroid gland of the throat is one such gland, so it easily succumbs to attack for any of the causes mentioned above. The two main supporting arteries of the thyroid, named manya, also become incapable of carrying out their normal functions and start swelling. As a consequence the whole region starts swelling and enlarging. The name of this disease is “goitre”. This type of swelling may also occur at the base of the ears, in the armpits and in the groin.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Mayúrásana, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá, and Práńáyáma concentrating on the controlling point of the relevant glands.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Agnisára Mudrá and Matsyendrásana. The patient has to observe carefully the procedures for sun-bathing, drinking water and fasting (see Appendix.)

With this disease, iodine-containing foods such as milk and fruit should be taken in sufficient quantity. Bananas, papayas, pineapples, oranges, tangerines, jám and tomatoes are very good food for patients. The patient must also pay careful attention to the regular clearance of the bowels.

This type of disease, involving glandular swelling, is found on a larger scale in the interior part of a country than in its sea-coast regions. So if it is possible for a patient to go to some sea-coast place for a change of air, it will yield a good result. Since there is a lot of iodine in sea water, the air near the coast is always found to be full of iodine.

Excessive seminal loss, in the case of the male, may cause the thyroid gland to swell, so one should be careful to preserve one’s semen.

Women who have given birth to a large number of children, or who are having menstrual trouble, especially excessive bleeding, or who have breast-fed their children excessively, may also be affected by swelling of the thyroid gland.

There is not much to fear if the swelling has only been present for a short time, because taking precautionary measures in the preliminary stage will keep this disease from becoming incurable. But if the disease persists and turns chronic, the above-mentioned dos and don’ts will have to be faithfully observed for a long period.

Gonorrhoea

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Notes:

This disease has no name in ancient Sanskrit. Because of its many similarities with urethritis (meha), this disease has been called prameha in Bengali. But the English word, “gonorrhoea”, is more commonly used.

Burning sensation while urinating; the head of the penis swelling and becoming blood-red; passing of urine drop by drop or with a white or yellowish coloration; seminal discharge of a white colour at first and yellowish in the later stage of the disease; sores around the head of the penis or inside the urinary passage; the penis swelling and becoming hard, etc.; are the indications of gonorrhoea.

According to medical practitioners, this disease is spread by a bacteria called “gonococcus.” This disease originates with those males or females who are habitually unrestrained and unclean. And those who come in physical contact with such males and females also contract the disease. This disease is contracted by males from prostitutes, and innocent women may in turn be affected through physical contact with those males.

Generally speaking, before this disease is clearly expressed, patients suffer from tickling or itching sensations inside the urinary tract or inside the vagina. And if the patient scratches or in some way manipulates or rubs the genitals, he or she will feel a hot sensation and at the same time some temporary relief.

All nutritious foods that do not cause constipation can be eaten. Drinking of water and lemon juice in sufficient quantity is recommended, and the fasting rules must be observed carefully. Overeating, using intoxicating items, and eating non-vegetarian food should be carefully avoided. The buds, stems, and leaves of ucche, paltá, neem [Azadirachta indica A. juss.] and sajne (also flowers) are very good for this disease.

Though not fatal, gonorrhoea is more harmful than its simple fatality record, because it gradually poisons the life of the entire society. It is not easy to get complete cure from gonorrhoea. This disease sometimes remains latent for a long time, and a little intemperance will make it surface again. Therefore gonorrhoea patients should observe naeśt́hika Brahmacarya [strict abstinence from sexual intercourse] for a long period of time, to avoid having blind or deformed offspring. Even after achieving a complete cure from the disease, strict continence must be maintained for at least three years.

If pus from this illness somehow gets into the eyes, it may destroy the eyesight. So the hands should be washed with soap if they have been contaminated with the pus. The diseased area should be exposed to the rays of the sun after taking a regular bath. If the pain becomes unbearable, soak the genital organ in alum-water as hot as can be endured. For relief from pain, the penis can also be covered with a pack of yellow clay, leaving the urinary passage open. The clay pack can be intermittently replaced by a fresh one, throwing away the old pack as soon as it has dried up.

Gonorrhoea generates an unbearable burning pain in the genital organ – often with stoppage of urine or passing of urine mixed with blood. So to keep the urination clear and easy, any of the following steps should be taken:

1. Take 1/4 seer of fresh, unboiled milk along with 3/8 seer water as a drink very early in the morning every day.

6. Take with sugar 1 tola of aŕahara-leaf [aŕahara is a kind of pulse] extract.

7. Soak báblá gum in water overnight and drink it early in the morning with sugar-water; or take a powdered cubeb [Piper cubeba Linn. f.] along with 1/16 tola of michrii.

11. Grind the tender aerial root of a banyan tree into unboiled milk and drink it.

2. Grinding sugar and 2 flowers of palásha together and drinking them in cold water; or

3. Taking 1/16 tola of raw turmeric mixed with ámlakii [emblic myrobalan – Emblica officinalis Gaertn.] powder along with cold water; will cure urethritis.

4. Good results can be obtained by putting 1/16 tola of alum powder into the interior of a green (unripe) coconut, burying the coconut from the morning of one day till early morning of the next, then drinking the coconut water.

5. Take 5 tolas of water in which 8 to 10 leaves of red javá [china rose – Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn.] have been mashed until the water has become reddish, then strain out the leaves and take it with sugar as a drink, in order to relieve the disease.

6. All urethritis-type diseases can be cured by taking gulaiṋca extract with honey.

7. If the patient suffers from severe abdominal pain, an application of white sandal paste on the navel region will bring relief.

8. If the secretions or pus of gonorrhoea have gotten by chance into the eyes and have made them red or runny, application of a collyrium of apámárga will prevent blindness. Prepare a paste by burning a dry twig of apámárga in a candle flame, and mixing the ash with cow’s ghee. This paste should be applied to the eyes with a pigeon feather.

Diabetes

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Notes:

Incessant desire for urination, burning sensation in the urinary tract, continuous thirst and sweet taste in the mouth, attraction of flies and ants towards the urine, headache, dizziness, pale and dry skin, becoming old in appearance at a young age, discomfort all over the body, etc., taken together, are the indications of diabetes. It is often found that diabetic persons suffer from cataracts.

It is not always the case that sugar is present in the urine of diabetes patients. Diabetes with sugar in the urine is called somaroga or madhumeha. Diabetes without sugar is called mútrátisára or udakameha.

The debility of the mańipura cakra⁽¹⁾ is the main cause of diabetes. Amongst the pancreatic juices, one secretion helps in the digestion of food, and another separates the sugar content from non-vegetarian and starchy types of food. The sugar is then stored in a particular section of the liver and according to body requirements it is dissolved to generate heat and vital power to run the body mechanism. Chronic indigestion, constipation (here also the stool usually turns into pellets), mental exertion without any physical labour, use of intoxicants, and excessive seminal waste – all weaken the vitality of the liver. When such weakening takes place, the sugar contents of the food, failing to find a storage place in the liver, are assimilated into the blood and gradually accumulate. As a result, the blood gets polluted and loses its immune properties to a great extent. The natural reaction of the body in such a situation is to try to purify the blood by separating out its sugar content and expelling it with the urine. To dissolve the sugar, the human body needs plenty of water, and that is why diabetes patients suffer from a continuous thirst. Sugar emitted with the urine in a large quantity gradually reduces the vital energy of diabetes patients.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Upaviśt́a Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Jánushirásana and Ágneyii Mudrá or Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Pashcimottánásana, Bhastrikásana and Agnisára Mudrá.

As diabetes is basically a disease of liver and pancreas, care has to be taken to keep these organs in a healthy state, and to do so patients must select food that will keep their bowels clear, yet which is nutritious and easily digestible. All types of fruits are good for this disease, especially ripe bananas. Non-vegetarian food must never be eaten. Vegetable proteins are also acidic, hence they are to be eaten as sparingly as possible. It is therefore advisable to reduce the intake of rice and rut́i (made of wheat flour) and instead to use more foods such as vegetable soup, plantain soup, pat́ol, okra, dhundula, paltá, láu [Lagenaria vulgaris Seringe], plantain spathes and flowers, figs, etc., which contain alkaline properties.

Diabetes is the disease of intellectuals. Those who do physical labour seldom suffer from this disease. Undergoing mental exertion, remaining indoors for a long period, physical laziness, constipation, intemperance, etc., are reasons for the contraction of diabetes. As has already been said, diabetes is basically connected with the liver and the pancreas, hence only those foods should be selected which do not over-stimulate those vital organs. Similarly, work and exercise which will help to bring these organs into their normal state of health must be pursued more and more. For those who are adverse to physical labour, a cure from diabetes is next to impossible.

The human body also needs the nutrients offered by starchy and non-vegetarian types of food; therefore foods which are not acidic but rather alkaline, yet contain those nutrients, should be taken in greater quantity to meet those needs. This will include coconut, peanuts, curd (yogurt), bananas, etc. A drink of peanut extract and water without sugar and with little or no honey is ideal as both food and medicine for this disease.

Remember that insulin may increase the vitality of a patient but can never cure the disease.

Generally diabetes patients are a bit greedy, and sometimes they eat too much sweetened food, which brings on the disease. Diabetes patients must keep control over such temptations and should practise fasting.

In the severe state of the disease a continuous fast for two or three days taking nothing but a little juice of lemon or other fruit will definitely reduce the sugar content of the urine.

Sometimes sugar is completely absent in the urine. In this respect one has to remember that sugar may be found temporarily in the urine if the urinary bladder, kidney or some other internal organ is subjected to a blow. If in such cases insulin is given, it will actually harm the patient. Under such circumstances the best thing to do would be to treat the injury of the concerned organ appropriately, and then the urine of the patient will automatically become sugar-free.

1. Boil myrobalan, muthá, lodhá and banyan fruits in equal quantities and drink 2 tolas of the extract early in the morning for a few days regularly. This will bring a good result.

2. Crush about 1/8 seer of peyárá pátá [guava leaves] in water at night. The next morning strain the leaves out and drink the water. This will bring good results during the severe state of diabetes.

3. (a) 1 tola of yajiṋa d́umura juice with honey; or (b) 1 tola of telákucá leaf extract taken with honey early in the morning by licking it; will relieve diabetes.

4. (a) 1/16 tola of the inside of jám seeds with honey; or (b) dry shimúla root crushed with powder, to be licked with honey in a quantity of 1/16 tola; will yield excellent results in diabetes.

5. When the disease is worsening, 5 tolas of báṋsha leaves in half a seer of water, boiled down to 1/8 seer, and the leaves strained out, should be drunk for immediate results.

6. Boil gent́e durbá [see durbá in Glossary], yajiṋa d́umura, emblic myrobalan [Emblica officinalis Gaertn.], myrobalan, coriander seeds and gandha-muthá in equal quantities in half a seer of water. When boiled down to 1/8 seer, drink it. Do this every day for a week at break of dawn. This will bring beautiful results.

Deafness

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Notes:

At the initial stage the patient hears a buzzing sound in the ears, and gradually all other sounds become indistinct to him.

Deafness is not a disease by itself, unless it is congenital. It is an after-effect or reaction to some other ailment. Therefore one may find innumerable reasons behind deafness.

1. Excessive use of quinine or similar poisonous medicines for a long time reduces the power of hearing.

2. Due to lack of nutritious food, the auditory nerves of many persons of middle or old age weaken, and as a result they suffer from deafness.

3. Too much use of intoxicants increases acidity of blood, due to which hearing power is reduced.

4. Persons in whom kapha is the dominant principal sometimes suffer from excess accumulation of kapha in their system, which causes obstruction to the organs of hearing, and as a result deafness occurs.

5. The power of hearing is sadly reduced due to excessive seminal loss, and permanent deafness results.

6. Those who are in the habit of taking snuff or who blow their noses forcibly often obstruct the natural function of their auditory nerves and invite deafness.

7. A disturbance in the váyu or kapha obstructs the normal functioning of the auditory nerve-fibres and creates deafness.

8. Swelling of the inner ear or accumulation of pus inside the ear may cause deafness.

By treating the disease that the deafness originates from gradually, the deafness will be cured.

Rheumatism

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Notes:

Swelling and contractures of the muscles or of different joints, acute pain or deformity of the swollen parts, etc., are the symptoms of this disease.

The causes of this disease are just like those of acidity. That is to say, rheumatism occurs when the váyu bodily air is disturbed due to excess of poisonous acids in the body.

Rheumatism patients should drink a sufficient quantity of water (say four to five seers a day, but not much at a time), and should also observe the bathing and sun-bathing procedures. First the diseased limb should be exposed several times to the rays of the sun, and finally the entire body. The prescribed procedure for sun-bathing should be carefully followed, that is, exposing the particular limb or the entire body to the sun for fifteen to twenty minutes at a stretch at the time fixed for summer or winter months (see Appendix). When the particular limb or the entire body, as the case may be, has become sufficiently warm, the patient should retire to the shade and wipe the area with a wet towel. This can be repeated several times.

When a person’s system becomes acid-dominated, rheumatism is the consequence. Hence the more a patient takes alkaline types of food, the better. If three-fourths of the food is alkaline, it will cure rheumatism completely within a very short time. That is to say, all kinds of sweet and sour fruits, and roots, are good for a rheumatism patient. Fasting with lemon juice and water on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá days must be observed. Instead of cooked rice, it is better to take relatively dry food like rut́i at night. But it is always better for rheumatism patients to take as little as possible starchy and acidic food such as rice, rut́i, luci, etc., and instead to take fruits, roots, vegetable soups, etc., which are alkaline.

All remedies prescribed for acidity are also applicable in this disease. In addition –

1. When rheumatism first starts expressing itself, a mild purgative will cure it quickly. 10 or 12 tender leaves of sodála fried in ghee; or

2. 10 or 12 tender leaves of bichut́i fried in ghee – either of the two eaten with rice, will yield good results in the initial stages of rheumatism.

4. Ákanda gum with a little salt; rubbed on the rheumatic limbs, will give good results.

5. Rheumatism can be cured by placing a warm solution of sajne gum mixed with water and a little asafoetida [Ferula foetida Regel] on the affected limb, or by applying

6. Garlic, ginger and the root of apámárga, pounded together, to the affected limb.

7. Fry some pork in mustard oil and rub that oil on the limbs. This will ease the pain.

10. Gulaiṋca extract; duly cooled and taken in 5 tolas’ quantity every morning, will yield good results within a very short time.

11. Boil 2 tolas of triphalá in half a seer of water; and when it has boiled down to 1/8 seer and is still warm, add 2 tolas of ginger extract. Drinking this for three days will surely cure rheumatic fever as well as to elephantiasis, filaria, or any similar condition.

Hydrocele

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Notes:

See also “Gout, Elephantiasis and Hydrocele”.

Swelling of the scrotum, swelling and stiffening of the supporting ligaments and the blood vessels of the testicles, throbbing pain in the abdomen and in the scrotum, swelling of the scrotum due to accumulation of water, etc., are symptoms of this disease.

Generally there are two possible causes for this disease: (1) internal, and (2) external.

(1) In different parts of the body there are glands which act as storage places for shukra. In these glands the life-carrying spermatozoa are produced from the shukra. A male’s testicles are such shukra-producing glands.

When a man’s mind is subjected to lustful thinking or any sort of sexual passion, his testicles are stirred into action very quickly and start producing spermatozoa. The spermatozoa are then channelled along with the seminal fluid to their ultimate storage sacs. During intercourse or nocturnal emission, spermatozoa are emitted from the body in the semen. If, however, the semen cannot find an outlet for some reason or if its flow is unnaturally obstructed, then the semen becomes decomposed in the storage sacks. If under such circumstances a particular patient is found suffering from any kind of pitta defect, constipation, etc., which has already weakened his blood and his lower anatomy, then the decomposing semen becomes watery and the person suffers an attack of hydrocele. His testicles start swelling very slowly, and ultimately the swelling becomes permanent.

(2) Due to too much leaping about without wearing a kaopiina [laungot́á, a tight-fitting kind of underwear], or due to a sudden blow, the testes, along with their supporting ligaments and their blood vessels, may get swollen. This results in enlargement of the testicles and allows accumulation of fluids in them to form a hydrocele.

If people who do not take a dip bath [i.e., who splash water or shower without fully immersing themselves] also bathe in a standing position, the lower abdomen and back may remain completely dry. This dryness may irritate the nervous system and invite an attack of hydrocele.

Morning – Utksepa Mudra, Vasti Mudra, Vasti Kumbhaka, Ámbhasii Mudrá or Ámbhasii Práńáyáma, Sarváuṋgásana and Gomukhásana.

Evening – Upaviśt́a Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Agnisára Mudrá and Utkat́a Vajrásana.

Whenever an opportunity arises, the patient should perform vasti kumbhaka on an empty stomach. Rules of bathing and of drinking water should also be followed strictly.

If the condition of the liver permits, all types of nutritious food can be taken. However, a very close watch must be kept on the regular clearing of the bowels. Fast on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá.

Sexual thoughts and excitement are among the causes of hydrocele, so the more one can stay away from these things the better. Patients should use kaopiinas. Alternative applications of cold and hot compresses will give quick relief.

How to apply a compress: Lying in a supine position, apply an ice pack or an ice-cold water compress on the testes for fifteen to twenty minutes at a stretch. After the tissues have become thoroughly cooled, a warm flannel compress should then be applied to the skin for about one or two minutes to bring back its warmth. Again, apply the cold compress for fifteen to twenty minutes, following it with a warm compress as described above. At night, before retiring to bed, alternate cold and hot compresses should be applied a few times in a similar manner. The last compress of the night should be a cold one instead of hot to keep the tissues of the testicles cool for the night.

2. Dissolve ammonium chloride in water and use a wet bandage soaked in that solution; or

3. Pound opium and svet candan [white sandal] into paste together and apply the paste on the testicles; or

4. Grind leaves of mango, jám, kayetbel and lemon together into a paste, and apply it to the testicles, in order to relieve hydrocele.

5. Apply the root of Brahmayasti or bamunháti ground in the water with which rice has been washed; or

6. On any Tuesday, tie a root of a barren kul plant [Zizyphus mauratiana Lamk.] around the waist in such a manner that the root remains dangling down touching the testicles; these remedies will relieve hydrocele.

7. Good results can also be obtained in a very short time if one ties fibres of borácaka leaves around the waist.

Kidney-Stones

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Notes:

Difficulty in urinating, passing of urine drop by drop instead of in a flow, stoppage of urine, blood in urine, etc., are symptoms of kidney-stones.

The kidneys are located one on each side of the body, just below the liver and the spleen. When the liver, busy in its manifold duties, is not entirely capable of doing its job of purifying the blood, the remaining work is taken up by the kidneys. The kidneys, after filtering out the wastes and impurities and surplus water of the body, supply pure blood to nourish the body. The surplus water and waste materials are then accumulated in the collecting system of the kidneys and from there are passed on to the bladder. Ultimately these waste fluids are expelled from the body through the urinary tract as urine.

If the acid content of the blood becomes excessive or if the blood suffers from other poisonous contaminations, this upsets the heart, liver and kidneys. The harm may be so great that the heart becomes incapable even of exerting sufficient pressure to keep the blood circulating unobstructed through the blood vessels. If such a situation continues for some time, the different waste materials found in the urine (accumulated naturally in the collecting system of the kidneys and in the urinary bladder) become high in proportion to the surplus water found there. And when that urine becomes sedimented, the waste materials start crystallizing. These crystals or stones can occur in different sizes and kinds. During urination, the presence of these stones blocks or obstructs the natural flow of urine. In that situation the bodily organs try to eject these stones from the kidneys to assure the flow of urine. This very effort of the organs is very painful for the patient. So wherever urine containing such impurities gets a chance to settle, the impurities crystallize and form kidney stones.

1. Urinary trouble will be eased by soaking 2 tolas of linseed or kuláttha kalái overnight in 1/8 seer of hot water and drinking it in the morning; or

With this disease also, the patient must consume a great amount of water, and use plenty of lemon, and should never fast without water. The more one can fast on water and lemon juice, the better. Boil milk with a myrobalan seed and drink the milk after removing the seed; or mix myrobalan, muthá, lodhá and banyan fruits in equal quantity and drink 2 tolas of their extract. This will yield good results within a short time.

Tuberculosis

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Notes:

Rattle of the throat in the morning and evening, hoarse voice, dry cough; or sputum with flecks of blood, or bloody vomiting; feeling slightly feverish from evening on; pain in the chest and back; general debility; and sweating at night – especially sweating of the head – are the main symptoms of tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis germs are present in almost all human bodies in greater or lesser numbers. So long as the strength of the blood and vitality of the human body remain normal, tuberculosis germs cannot do any harm or cause any disease. If, however, the strength and purity of the blood break down for any specific reason, then the tuberculosis germs get a chance to settle in different glands and joints and start multiplying.

Persons with pure blood usually have sound lungs – that is why it is not possible for tuberculosis germs to attack them. But when the strength of the lungs declines due to weakening of the blood, the germs succeed in establishing a foothold in them. Under such circumstances, to maintain their own health, the lungs try to expel the germs. This attempt takes the form of coughing.

Such coughing is a natural phenomenon to keep the body free of mucus and is not at all harmful. The best way to recognize this harmless type of cough is that there is almost some phlegm or mucus coming out with it. But when the cough happens to be dry and persists day after day, then it should be understood that there must be something seriously wrong in the system or that the tuberculosis germs are trying to dig into the lungs with all their might. This condition is the first stage of tuberculosis. In this stage there is usually a feeling of general debility, accompanied by night sweats – other symptoms are not so fully expressed.

In the subsequent stage of the disease, nature starts forming mucus around the diseased parts of the body in order to keep the internal organs strong and active. That is why a little bit of mucus is usually brought up while coughing. After the germ has managed to acquire a firm foothold in the lungs, the mucus also shows some flecks of blood, and the patient suffers from pain in the chest and back. Due to obstruction of the natural movement of the body’s fluids, a rattling sound and hoarseness appear in the throat. In the evening a fever of 99-100 degrees F occurs. Sometimes the patient vomits blood also.

Begarodhát kśayácchaeva sáhasádviśamáshanát – that is, when the fluid elements or the vital energy of the body becomes obstructed, people suffer an attack of tuberculosis. When tuberculosis attacks as a result of such obstructions, patients become emaciated and lose strength of mind within a short passage of time.

The final essence of the human body is shukra. As butter is obtained by churning milk, similarly the essence of the blood turns into shukra. Due to the excessive wasting of this essence of the body, shukra, the blood becomes lifeless and the vital energy decreases. As a result, tuberculosis germs easily get a chance to acquire a foothold in the body.

If people labour beyond their capacity, whether just taking a risk, or driven by the mentality of gaining applause or by financial greed, then their vital energy is reduced and tuberculosis may attack.

If any person is long habituated to eating badly-combined foods, such as meat, fish, eggs and similar támasika foods immediately before or after milk, kśiira [a kind of rice pudding] and similar sáttvika⁽¹⁾ foods, then those foods create a favourable condition in the body for tuberculosis.

Overeating day after day when one is only a little hungry or not hungry at all is also a bad food habit. Such harmful habits encourage tuberculosis germs.

If one for a long time cannot obtain enough food or takes innutritious food, that is also a bad food habit. In most cases such habits are the main cause of tuberculosis.

One has to remember in this context that wild birds and animals hardly ever suffer from this disease, whereas it often breaks out among domestic animals such as cattle, horses, ducks, hens, etc. Those persons who have not suffered from tuberculosis even when they have been using the milk or meat of domestic animals for a long time can be presumed to possess exceptionally great vital energy.

Among the domestic animals, goats, sheep, dogs, cats and rabbits are seldom found to suffer from tuberculosis. That is why ancient people used to advise tuberculosis patients to live in close proximity to rabbits. In the Hindu Puranas [mythology] it is said that the moon also once suffered from this disease, and since that time has kept a rabbit on his lap to counter the disease. Therefore another name for the moon in the Puranas is “Shasháuṋka” (the Sanskrit word for “rabbit” is shasha).

Extreme mental exhaustion and despondency in life also destroy people’s vital energy, and as a result, tuberculosis may strike. Tuberculosis of the lungs, or pulmonary tuberculosis, can very quickly destroy the vitality. For this reason pulmonary tuberculosis is the most dangerous kind. However, tuberculosis germs can strike any part of the body, and the causes are the same wherever it strikes.

One who does not suffer from constipation nor wastes his semen seldom becomes a victim of tuberculosis. This is because, in the first place, in such persons there is no possibility for undigested food, stool or unassimilated pitta to cause any contaminated gas or to breed any kind of harmful bacteria. And in the second place, the sufficient supply of lymph provides vitality to the blood and thereby strength to the body.

[One who has control over the bowels grows stronger,
And one who has control over his semen enjoys long life.]

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Matsyendrásana, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá, Bhújauṋgásana and Váyavii Mudrá or Váyavii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Naokásana, Utkat́a Paschimottánásana and Agnisára Mudrá.

Due to deficiency in blood and in body fluids, tuberculosis patients lose vigour very quickly; so tuberculosis patients should take easily-digestible and nutritious foods. One should never eat very much food at a time. Foods that may cause constipation should be carefully avoided. Depending on the condition of the liver, one should drink sufficient cow’s milk, goat’s milk, peanut milk or coconut milk. Spices, meat, eggs, ghee and átapa rice should not be taken until the disease has been completely cured, because such types of food cause constipation.

As with most other diseases, acidic food should be avoided. Instead, alkaline types of food, such as sweet and sour fruits and roots of all varieties, and soup of green vegetables, are ideal for tuberculosis patients.

Critically-ill patients should not take anything other than lemon juice and fruit juices. Afterwards, as the critical stage of the disease abates, they should eat nutritious yet easily-digestible food of alkaline type as far as possible. Non-vegetarian may be permitted to eat soup of small fish made with a little spice. It is far better for tuberculosis patients to use honey than raw or refined sugar. At night, rut́i instead of rice should be served. They should also consume about two-and-a-half to three seers of water daily, but never more than one-eighth seer at a time. Fasting without water is strictly forbidden for all tuberculosis patients.

Tuberculosis patients should never exert themselves physically. If the health-permits, it will of course be beneficial for them to take a walk through an open field in a light and happy mood. Taking vyápaka snána⁽²⁾ daily and having sun-baths in summer and winter at a proper time (See Appendix) are also very useful in the cure of the disease. As far as possible, sun-baths should be taken completely naked and over the whole body. After the sun-bath is over, the whole body should be wiped with a wet towel.

Patients should always try to retain confidence and strength of mind. They should not allow despondency about the disease to get the upper hand in their minds.

A patient’s bedroom and bed must be dry, and there must be good ventilation and lighting.

On the whole, the more patients remain in natural surroundings the better; they should guard against cold or sudden gusts of wind by covering their bodies with a wrapper of some kind. It will harm them if they are not allowed to take baths or if they are confined indoors for fear of their catching cold, because such restrictions will rapidly diminish their power of resistance.

Too much talking, sexual intercourse, eating together with healthy person, etc., are strictly forbidden. Removing the body hair is not advisable, but their bodies should always be kept very neat and clean.

Tuberculosis patients should also avoid staying awake at night, travelling from one place to another, and engaging in mental exertion. If they vomit blood, they should not get scared, but take vyápaka shaoca kriyá⁽³⁾ at once, washing the head, then place a wet towel on the chest and keep it there until they feel better, wetting the towel in cold water periodically and wringing it out.

1. Mix equal quantities of berelá, gámbhárii, shatamúlii, ashvagandhá and punarnavá, dried and powdered, and take 2 tolas of the mixture with honey. Soon after, the patient should drink a glass of goat’s milk, boiled just once. This will give quick results with tuberculosis.

2. It is desirable for patients to take every evening one spoonful of a mixture of baŕa elác, powdered along with the husk, and powdered cinnamon, mixed in equal quantities. Take it with honey. Similarly, every morning take a tola of the juices of bel, shiuli and kayetbel leaves, mixed in equal quantities.

3. Cut a golá pigeon⁽⁴⁾ into pieces, discarding the feathers, and dry the pieces in the sun. Powder these dried pieces and give tuberculosis patient 6 ratis (6 ratis = .73 gram) of the powder with honey every morning.

(1) Regarding támasika and sáttvika foods, see Caryácarya Part III, pp. 7-8 (Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, Caryácarya Part III [Ánandanagar: Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha], 1979]). –Trans.

(2) Regarding vyápaka snána, the author’s Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 3, “Different Yoga Practices” explains:
A bathtub is most convenient, but if this is not available, an earthen trough will suffice. If this is not available either, a wet towel can be used, soaking it repeatedly in water. Fill the bathtub with cold water, and sit in it undressed so that the area from the navel down remains submerged. Keep your feet dry and out of the tub. The area from the neck to the navel should be kept covered with a shirt or dry cloth. The crown of the head and the back of the head should be kept covered with a wet towel.
[[Now take another towel and rub the area from the right side of the abdomen to the groin seven or eight times. Do likewise on the left-hand side and horizontally from right to left and left to right. You should make sure that the towel on the head remains wet.
After this, wipe the abdomen, hands and thighs and take a full bath. If this is not possible, then leave the tub wearing a shirt.
This should be practised behind closed doors. In the absence of a bathtub or an earthen trough, a wet towel may be wrapped around the areas to be bathed, but in order to compensate, cold water must be poured constantly over the towel, and the towel which is to be used for the massage must be kept wet. After vyápaka snána, the thighs, pubic area and abdomen should be warmed with a dry towel.
Before and after this bath one should not eat, in order to allow the stomach to rest.
–Trans.]]

(3) [[Regarding vyápaka shaoca, the author explains in Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 2, “The Body”: “Method of doing vyápaka shaoca: At first wash your genital organs; then hands up to elbows and legs up to knees; then, taking a mouthful of water, splash water on the eyes and face at least twelve times. Finally wash the ears and the neck. Do násápána (flushing the nostrils with water) also (only if your stomach is empty).” –Trans.]]

(4) Regarding golá pigeon, the author’s Shabda Cayaniká Part 26, Discourse 233 explains that they are so called “because they live on the paddy corns of the corn bins” in the houses. (The Bengali word golá means “corn bin”.) –Trans.

Impotency and Infertility

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

Quick discharge of semen, absence of any pleasurable nervous sensation, loss of reproductive capacity, fathering stillborn or short-lived children, etc., are symptoms of this disease.

In most cases, if not all, impotency is a disease of the intemperate. There are various causes of this disease –

1. When the seminal receptacle is already full, a passionate thought will bring a seminal discharge in no time. This is called mental impotency.

2. Excessive accumulation of poisonous acid or pitta in the body can also effect a quick seminal discharge. Under such a condition the pitta of the male eliminates the possibility of conception by killing female ova. This is called pitta impotency.

3. If the male and female have a bitter relationship, the resulting mental conflict in the male can bring about a quick emission and destroy chances of conception. This is called conflict impotency.

4. If excessive waste of semen occurs due to the bad habit of masturbation during adolescence or youth, or due to lack of restraint in married life, the seminal fluid becomes thin and the symptoms of seminal weakness appear. This is also a kind of sexual debility, and it is called seminal infertility.

5. If one is engaged in much mental or spiritual effort and devotes much time to dhyána, dhárańá, and práńáyáma, then his shukra takes too much of an upward course, due to which his testes cannot produce sufficient spermatozoa: in the absence of passionate thoughts, spermatozoa cannot be formed. That is why it is usually observed that scientists and other intellectually-inclined men father no children; or if they do, the children are very short-lived. This is known as infertility due to an ascension of shukra.

6. Due to chronic venereal diseases such as gonorrhoea or syphilis, sometimes males and females suffer from impotency or infertility. This is called syphilitic impotency or infertility.

7. A serious lack of sexual restraint will make the nerves of the pelvis and genitals weak or damaged. The penis loses its power of erection and becomes very weak. This is called genital impotency.

8. If there is a congenital weakness of the genital organs, testes, ovaries, etc., this disease is called congenital impotency. This type of impotency is not curable without surgery or intense meditation. Of course, with the help of surgery or intense meditation, it is not impossible to convert a male person into a female or vice versa.

Females who lack sexual self-restraint may also suffer from infertility [analogous to seminal infertility in the male]. Such infertile females suffer from severe abdominal pain during intercourse and also from chronic constipation.

Over-indulgence in sexual intercourse may also bring frigidity to women. Such frigid women do not have any particular nervous sensation during sexual intercourse.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá, Mayurásana, Karmásana and Ámbhasii Mudrá or Ámbhasii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Padahastásana, Matsyendrásana and Vajrásana.

In the cases where impotency or infertility is just the result of some other disease, proper treatment of the original disease should be undertaken and the impotency or infertility will also disappear when the original disease is cured.

Depending upon the capacity of the liver, all kinds of nutritious foods should be taken. The patient should daily drink a sufficient quantity (four to five seers) of water. Fasting should also be observed on ekádashii, púrńima and amávasyá days as prescribed.

Sufficient butter or ghee should be taken along with rice or rut́i. If the liver is healthy, the patient should drink one seer of milk every day. With this disease, láu [Lagenaria siceria Standl.], green pumpkin [Benincasa hispida Cogn.] and kalmii shák can be considered excellent food.

As I have already said, impotency and infertility, in most cases if not all, are diseases of over-indulgence; so one should keep control over his/her thoughts and actions. The male should stay away from feminine company as long as the disease is not fully cured. During the disease naeśt́hika Brahmacarya [complete abstinence from sexual intercourse] must be observed. The prescribed rules for bathing and sun-bathing should be followed.

1. Máskalái fried in ghee and then boiled in milk and taken with sugar; or

2. 1 tola of shálama mishrii [[(a kind of Afghan fruit)]] taken with milk and michrii; or

3. 1 inch of basil [Ocimum sanctum Linn.] root chewed and eaten with betel [Piper betel Linn.]; or

4. Shimúla-root [Salmalia malabarica Schott & Endl.] powder taken with milk; will give relief in this disease within 2 to 3 weeks.

5. Rubbing the essence of nágeshvara (nágakeshara)⁽¹⁾ on the penis will give good results with impotency.

6. The powder of bhúmi kuśmáńd́a is an ideal medicine for seminal weakness, impotency, and infertility.

Method of preparation: Cut the bhúmi kuśmáńd́a [bulbous root like big-size ol] into pieces and dry the pieces in the shade. The next day, pour some more bhúmi kuśmáńd́a juice on these cut pieces and dry them again. Repeat the process for seven days. After the final drying, powder the pieces and mix 1/4 tola of powder with a tola of ghee and 2-1/2 tolas of milk. Drink this amount every day early in the morning. Generally this will cure impotency within 2 or 3 weeks.

7. Grind the root of puiṋ in water, and when it becomes a fine paste, mix it with 1/4 seer of water and drink it. Then take the soup of máskalái which has been soaked in water, with sugar. This will give excellent results with impotency.

8. Take regularly as medicine for 2 or 3 weeks puṋt́i fish or the middle portion of rui fish fried in ghee. This will cure infertility caused by overthin semen.

Blood Pressure Diseases

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Notes:

Lack of sound sleep, getting up a number of times at night to urinate, headache, dizziness, palpitation or pain in chest, etc.

1. Usually those who do little physical labour but at the same time have a lot of fatty foods such as oil, ghee, etc., in their diets become victims of high blood pressure. Fat, in the absence of any physical activity, does not get an opportunity to break down and be converted into heat or energy. The surplus fat turns the body into a mass of flesh and fat, and this exerts an undue pressure on the various organs and glands of the body.

When this surplus fat accumulates within the veins and arteries, it narrows the passage available for the blood. As a result, the blood vessels fail to help the heart in maintaining adequate blood circulation. Under such circumstances, to keep the blood circulation normal, the heart has to overwork.

2. Those who do not undertake much physical labour, but eat substantial quantities of nutritious food, suffer from excessive blood formation in their systems. This surplus blood, after being converted into flesh and fat, gradually obstructs the activity of the blood vessels, as previously described, and produces too high a pressure of blood on the heart.

Meanwhile, the different bodily organs and glands of those who have an excess blood supply and whose hearts are under too much pressure, become over-active, and it generates anger or sexual passion in them. So in people with this type of high blood pressure, sexual desire and anger grow along with the disease. Sometimes this extreme anger or desire causes death due to bursting of the blood vessels.

3. Those who shun physical labour, yet eat an abnormal quantity of animal or vegetable proteins, risk injury due to the surplus protein in their systems. Human bodies have no place to store surplus protein, because they have no need to store it. So the organs of the body try to expel it from the system.

This surplus protein decreases the alkaline portion of the blood and increases the acidic portion. Over-acidity of the blood weakens the blood-producing and blood-purifying organs such as the liver, kidneys, etc., and as a result the veins and arteries also get hardened and weak. These hardened, weak blood vessels cannot maintain the blood circulation, due to which the heart comes under heavy pressure. In this condition, to keep the bodily organs functioning normally, the heart has to over-exert. But the weak blood vessels cannot bear this over-activity of the heart: they burst and cause internal hemorrhaging.

4. For various reasons the blood-producing and blood-purifying organs may become weak. And when they become quite weak, one gets less than the required quantity of blood for the body. In this condition the patient suffers from a lack of sleep, headache, dizziness, serious physical weakness, etc. This is called low blood-pressure.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Agnisára Mudra, and Váyavii Mudrá or Váyavii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Karmásana, Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Agnisára Mudrá, and Upaviśt́a Ud́d́ayana Mudrá.

Wonderful results can be obtained if Iishvara prańidhána [meditation] is practised by patients as taught by an ácárya. In fact, so long as patients have not acquired the capacity to perform ásanas and mudrás, Iishvara prańidhána is the only medicine for the disease. With this disease, vyápaka snána⁽¹⁾ is especially helpful.

With blood pressure diseases all acidic foods are to be rejected and alkaline types of food are to be taken in increased quantity. As far as possible, foods such as rice, pulses and rut́i should be eaten in less quantity, and fruits, roots, and leafy vegetable soup should be taken instead. Non-vegetarian food should be avoided. Fried, parched and sweetened foods are also harmful. If one feels the need, a little raw sugar or honey can be taken.

The amount of physical labour should gradually be increased and mental exertion should be decreased. But those who are suffering from low blood pressure should decrease their physical labour until the disease is cured.

Fasting is very beneficial in this disease, so patients must fast on ekádashii, púrńima and amávasyá, taking only water. Those who are physically weak, however, can drink lemon juice with water. It is desirable for patients of low blood pressure to take milk, fruit juice, etc. on fasting days.

Those who suffer from high blood pressure due to too much fat should drink curd-water or coconut milk instead of milk. Patients should carefully abstain from using intoxicants and should be careful to avoid eating constipating or fattening foods. They should also stay away from anger and sex.

The dos and don’ts prescribed for heart disease should generally be observed here also.

2. Take one spoonful of sarpagandhá juice with a little honey twice a day; or

3. Take 1/16 or 1/8 tola of sarpagandhá root powder with a little honey and triphalá juice twice a day.

4. Powder of bhúmi kuśmáńda in 1/16 tola quantity should be taken twice daily with honey.

5. 1/16 or 1/8 tola of dried sarpagandhá root powder with michrii-water should be taken twice daily.

Elephantiasis

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Notes:

See also “Gout, Elephantiasis and Hydrocele”.

Swelling of the legs, gradual thickening and wrinkling of the skin, intermittent fever, and throbbing pain are the indications of this disease. Usually elephantiasis attacks the legs, but sometimes it attacks the arms also. The legs will grow to resemble those of elephants: that is why in English the disease is called “elephantiasis”.

By the side of the arteries there is another system of vessels called shukrabahá náŕii. These vessels, by carrying the most essential element of the body, the shukra, to various parts of the body, maintain the vitality of the nervous system, cells and glands. These shukrabahá náŕii supply shukra to the sperm-producing or ova-producing glands, and with the help of the spermatozoa or ova produced in those glands, help to maintain the immune power and the very existence of the body. If, due to constipation, too much pitta in the body, over-acidity, excessive seminal discharge, or malnutrition, or due to a woman’s giving birth to many children, the person’s blood has lost its vigour or become contaminated, then a certain type of microbe starts breeding in it. When these microbes enter the shukrabahá náŕii and get a chance to settle there, they obstruct the flow of shukra and cause the vessels to swell. This swelling of the shukrabahá náŕii takes the form of elephantiasis.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Padahastásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Utkat́ásana, Yogamudrá and Naokásana.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Matsyendrásana and Agnisára Mudrá.

Patients should properly follow the rules for bathing, drinking water and sun-bathing.

All kinds of nutritious food can be eaten if the condition of the liver permits. All kinds of fruits and roots, especially sour fruits, are good with this disease. Patients should observe fast on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá days.

Doing regular physical labour and control of diet and thought are essential for elephantiasis patients. Leaves of heleiṋcá and punarnavá are most beneficial in this disease.

As far as possible, patients should keep the diseased limbs wrapped in flannel cloth. Before retiring to bed, put a hot flannel compress on the diseased limbs. Good results are also obtained by keeping the affected limbs wrapped in kadam leaves, or, before retiring to bed for the night, wrapping the limbs in a bandage soaked in water mixed with ammonium chloride.

1. Very early in the morning take 1 spoonful of sesame oil or pure mustard oil, mixed with an equal quantity of gulaiṋca juice on an empty stomach; or

2. Take some myrobalan powder mixed with urine of a goat or a cow on an empty stomach at dawn; to help in recovery from elephantiasis.

Asthma

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Notes:

Difficulty in breathing, caused partly by kapha and partly by váyu, is the symptom of this disease. The attack is usually felt towards the end of the night.

When the fine bronchial tubes through which air flows to the lungs become full of phlegm or mucus due to weakness of the glands connected to the anáhata cakra,⁽¹⁾ the passage of air becomes obstructed. Due to contraction of the weak bronchial tubes, the carbon dioxide of the body cannot come out as it should, and that poisonous gas, trapped in the body, is to a large extent responsible for the breeding of disease germs.

The weakening of the glands connected to the anáhata cakra cannot alone be responsible for permanent respiratory trouble. When weakness of the glands related to the mańipura cakra⁽²⁾ – as a primary cause – and of those related to the vishuddha cakra⁽³⁾ – as a secondary cause – is added to the weakness of the glands of the anáhata cakra, then only does a respiratory disease express itself. If, due to weakness of the digestive fluids, the blood gets contaminated by acids, or if one is suffering from constipation, then different organs of the body also become weak. In such a condition, due to weakness of the lungs, the nervous system controlling the lungs also suffers from debility and finally the bronchial tubes as well become weak. That is the time when asthma becomes fully manifest.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Naokásana, Padahastásana, Matsyendrásana and Váyavii Mudrá. Vyápaka Snána⁽⁴⁾ should be taken at morning and noon.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Pashcimottánásana, Yogamudrá, Bhastrikásana and Ud́d́ayana Mudrá.

For breakfast patients should eat local sweet or sour fruits, or meoyá [dry] fruits soaked in water for a few hours. A little lemon juice should be consumed a number of times during the day. The patient should never completely fill the stomach. The bowels should be cleared carefully, because constipation aggravates asthma. As for food, a small quantity of hot boiled rice or rut́i, together with sufficient leafy-vegetable soup, milk, curd (yoghurt) or curd-water should be used. In fact all alkaline foods are beneficial in this disease. Ghee, oil, rice, pulses, rut́is, and all non-vegetarian foods are acidic, therefore the less these are taken the better.

Milk should be the main drink for asthma patients. It is better for them to finish the evening meal as early as possible, certainly by an hour and a half after sunset, that is, by 7:30 or 8 p.m., because it will keep the stomach light, having digested the food well before dawn. Then acute asthmatic spasms cannot occur. Remember that asthmatic spasms cannot occur when one’s stomach hungers for food, so in a severe attack of asthma, the more one fasts, the better.

Asthma patients should strictly abstain from all sorts of intoxicants. Anyone who drinks less than three-fourths seer of milk a day should not drink even one cup of tea. Also, all non-vegetarian types of food are to be rejected.

For a person who cannot avoid eating non-vegetarian food, a little soup of small and freshly-caught fish is permissible. In those countries where it is almost impossible to obtain vegetarian types of food, patients should use myrobalan or some other laxative agent after meals in order to save themselves from constipation. Sweet and fried foods are also harmful for asthma patients. In summer, winter and in all seasons, patients should take a long walk in the open air.

1. Excellent results can be achieved if the patient takes one tola of the branch roots of white punarnavá ground together in river water with 2 1/2 pieces of black pepper. Do this on an empty stomach while sitting facing north, on any Monday, after bathing.

2. Boil 5 tolas of cow’s ghee in a káṋsá pot. In another pot heat 2-1/2 tolas of ginger extract, and mix it into the boiled ghee and cover with a káṋsá plate. When the mixture has stopped simmering, take about 2 tolas and pour it into 1/8 seer of hot milk and give it to the asthma patient to drink when his/her suffering is acute. Plenty of mucus and phlegm will immediately be brought up, and the patient will feel relieved. If the mixture can be taken continuously for fifteen days, the disease will be completely cured.

3. Catch a frog and take out its heart. Cut the heart into four parts. For four consecutive mornings, after having a bath, eat one piece together with a banana on a completely empty stomach. It will bring good results.

4. Catch 6 or 7 cockroaches and boil them in half a seer of water. When the water has boiled down to 1/8 seer (10 tolas), strain it carefully and drink it hot twice a day, 5 tolas each time. This relieves asthma.

5. Burn a peacock feather to ashes and take 1/16 tola of the ashes by slowly licking with honey. This will relieve the suffering of asthma within a short time. 6.

6. Aged raw cane sugar and pure mustard oil mixed in equal quantities (preferably one tola each), if taken by licking them each day early in the morning for twenty-one days continuously on an empty stomach, will give excellent results in asthma.

(4) [[Regarding vyápaka snána, the author’s Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 3, “Different Yoga Practices” explains:
A bathtub is most convenient, but if this is not available, an earthen trough will suffice. If this is not available either, a wet towel can be used, soaking it repeatedly in water. Fill the bathtub with cold water, and sit in it undressed so that the area from the navel down remains submerged. Keep your feet dry and out of the tub. The area from the neck to the navel should be kept covered with a shirt or dry cloth. The crown of the head and the back of the head should be kept covered with a wet towel.
Now take another towel and rub the area from the right side of the abdomen to the groin seven or eight times. Do likewise on the left-hand side and horizontally from right to left and left to right. You should make sure that the towel on the head remains wet.
After this, wipe the abdomen, hands and thighs and take a full bath. If this is not possible, then leave the tub wearing a shirt.
This should be practised behind closed doors. In the absence of a bathtub or an earthen trough, a wet towel may be wrapped around the areas to be bathed, but in order to compensate, cold water must be poured constantly over the towel, and the towel which is to be used for the massage must be kept wet. After vyápaka snána, the thighs, pubic area and abdomen should be warmed with a dry towel.
Before and after this bath one should not eat, in order to allow the stomach to rest.
–Trans.]]

Leucoderma (White Leprosy)

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

Leucoderma, though identified as a disease of the leprosy group, is not as fatal as leprosy, nor are secretions of fluid present; and that is why leucoderma is not a contagious disease. Leprosy attacks due to the disturbance of all seven elements of the body, and severely affects the entire body and mind within a very short time; but with leucoderma, usually only three elements – blood, flesh and fat – become disturbed.

At first, reddish-coloured spots appear on different parts of the body, such as the chest, face, heels, toes, fingers and lips. It appears as if the skin of those parts has become pale, and later those red spots become white. It has already been said that leucoderma is not a contagious disease, but those white patches look so ugly that people are frightened and look at leucoderma patients hatefully, as if they were sinners or criminals.

Contamination of the blood is the root cause of leucoderma. Where the skin has suddenly become weak due to excessive acidity of the blood, there the disease appears. We usually notice that if a person is suffering from chronic constipation, or if one has been treated with astringent medicines which keep the poison of dysentery inside the body, then that person may suffer from an attack of leucoderma as an after-effect of or reaction to the previous disease. That is why I previously felt obliged to express my opinion against using injections to stop dysentery.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Agnisára Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá, Bhújauṋgásana, and Ágneyii Mudrá or Ágneyii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Naokásana, Pashcimottánásana, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Agnisára Mudrá and Matsyendrásana.

At both times, after performing the ásanas, patients should do shiitalii kumbhaka and should give the affected areas a good massage.

Constipating foods should be strictly avoided. Foods which increase the amount of pitta should also be rejected. Fish, meat, eggs, ghee and large quantities of spices usually weaken the liver and bring about constipation, which is one of the causes of leucoderma. In this disease fish and other non-vegetarian foods are very harmful, hence they are to be avoided like poison. No matter how great is the desire for non-vegetarian dishes, patients shall have to control that desire. Leafy vegetables such as heleiṋcá, gimá, ámarula, bráhmii, etc., are most beneficial for leucoderma patients.

Leucoderma and dysentery are related diseases. Therefore, the dos and don’ts stipulated for dysentery should generally be observed for leucoderma also. It is desirable for patients to drink at least four-and-a-half seers of water a day – a small quantity at a time, many times during the day. Both sweet and sour fruit juices are very beneficial. It is also very desirable to fast on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá days. In summer and winter at the proper time, patients should take a sun-bath for ten to fifteen minutes and thereafter should sponge the whole body with a wet towel. This process should be repeated a few times. After the last sun-bath, instead of using a wet towel, patients should massage their bodies with olive oil, or, if this is not available, with mahuyá oil. One has to remember that sunshine is essential if one is to maintain the health of the skin and therefore sun-bathing is very beneficial for any disease produced by weakness of the skin.

It is not at all impossible to recover from leucoderma if the ásanas and other prescriptions given above are followed with patience.

Because three elements of the body are disturbed in this disease, care must be taken to control one’s diet and other habits. Sleeping during the day, staying awake at night, sexual intercourse, overeating, etc., have to be avoided at all costs.

1. Mix extract of ámrá bark in goat’s milk and drink the mixture every morning early; or

3. Take a ripe banana fried in ghee, together with a spoonful of dugdhakśiirá juice, every day in the morning.

4. Prepare a paste of buckiidáná by grinding it in water, and apply it to the affected skin; or

5. Procure a piece of cow’s bone and grind it in the juice of kálakesendá, and apply the mixture as an ointment on the affected area. This will yield good results.

6. To cure leucoderma within a very short time, grind 1/16 tola of white jayantii in cow’s milk, and drink that mixture on a Sunday.

Nocturnal Emission

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

Occurrence of nocturnal emission more than four times a month; weakness on awakening, especially weakness of the knees; voice becoming rasping for one’s age, or cracking; swelling of cheeks and neck; frequent colds; etc., are symptoms of this disease.

Generally a portion of the semen produced in the body is surplus. In single men, this surplus semen is expelled with the urine or during three or four nocturnal emissions per month. In married men it is discharged during intercourse. This discharge is harmful neither physically nor mentally. But if the discharge becomes greater than this, or if one does not enjoy any nervous pleasure during the discharge or if the semen becomes watery, or if one does not wake up after a wet dream, then it must be taken as a serious disease.

Generally nocturnal emission is a disease of adolescence and early youth. It can have various causes –

1. If due to the bad habit of masturbation a large amount of semen is wasted or the semen becomes thin, one will contract this disease.

2. If the genital organ is not kept clean, a particular kind of microbe can start breeding and cause nocturnal emission.

3. The disease may occur if, due to lack of knowledge about sex or due to any other reason, personal hygiene is not maintained properly; or

4. If, at a young age, a boy does not take part in sports, perform ásanas or enjoy the outdoors, and instead studies excessively; or

5. If the nerves of adolescents or youths are stimulated by reading erotic literature or seeing erotic pictures and films.

6. The disease can occur when one lacks control over his thoughts or lacks concentration on the Supreme and lets his vrttis (mental propensities) run towards sensual experience.

7. Eating too much spicy food, non-vegetarian food or rich food, or eating late at night, can make the stomach hot. In such cases, or if one suffers from constipation due to a defect of the liver, the shukra cannot ascend from the lower to the upper part of the body. Instead, it flows out of the body and causes this disease.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Mayurásana, Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Naokásana, Pashcimottánásana, Ámbhasii Mudrá and Ámbhasii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Matsyendrásana, Agnisára Mudrá, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá, Gomukhásana, and Vajrásana.

Patients will have to stop eating non-vegetarian food at night and reduce the amount they eat during the day. A suitable quantity of fruits, roots and milk can be taken. All kinds of intoxicants should be avoided. Láu [Lagenaria siceraria Standl.], green pumpkin [Benincasa hispida Cogn.], kalmii shák and sháṋkálu [Pachyrrhizus erosus] are good in this disease.

Taking vyápaka snána⁽¹⁾ now and then is good for patients. If health permits, patients should bathe at least twice a day. Patients should also drink four to five seers of water a day. Doing ample physical labour and walking or running in the open air in the morning and evening is a must in this disease.

To keep the disease hidden from others out of shame is very harmful. Therefore, as soon as the symptoms become apparent, the advice of appropriate persons should be sought and acted on.

Patients should observe the rules of fasting on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá, and should live as far as possible in natural surroundings.

Nature’s rules should be observed in all respects, whether in food, in behaviour or in one’s daily life. At the beginning of adolescence and youth, one has to acquire a correct knowledge about the arrangements that nature has made to meet the demands of human bodies and minds, because through such knowledge one can protect oneself from the onslaught of disease.

Due to the quick development of physical energy at this age, nature has provided necessary hair at the joints of the body to keep the body heat balanced and, because of the possibility of rubbing, to keep the skin healthy. So when people remove this hair owing to lack of proper knowledge, they harm themselves both physically and mentally.

Dinner should be finished by 8:30 or 9 P.M., and one should not retire to bed within one-and-a-half hours after dinner. After a meal the breath should flow freely through the right nostril for some time.

Excessive mixing of the sexes, reading or seeing pornographic books, pictures and films, are to be strictly avoided. Water should be used after urination, and the genital organ should be kept clean, keeping the foreskin pulled back. When bathing, the joints, especially the groin and the armpits, should be properly cleaned. It is very important to take vyápaka shaoca⁽²⁾ before and after every meal, before and after study, and before going to bed. Remember not to take the disease lightly, because nocturnal emission effects a pervasive waste of shukra, the most essential element of the body, and causes all the organs of the body to become weak. It is shukra that nourishes all the brain cells and nerves. Therefore, too much loss of shukra makes the brain weak; the memory becomes short; in adolescence one becomes mentally old; one suffers from palpitation in the chest for no reason; and courage and spiritedness are lost.

1. Eating an inch of basil [Ocimum sanctum Linn.] root with betel [Piper betle Linn.] every morning for 10 to 15 days, chewing carefully, will cure the disease.

2. Taking 1 tola of basil-leaf juice on an empty stomach every day in the morning for 10 to 15 days will also cure the disease.

3. The disease will be cured if one regularly chews a piece of myrobalan after one’s principal meal.

(2) [[Regarding vyápaka shaoca, the author explains in Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 2, “The Body”: “Method of doing vyápaka shaoca: At first wash your genital organs; then hands up to elbows and legs up to knees; then, taking a mouthful of water, splash water on the eyes and face at least twelve times. Finally wash the ears and the neck. Do násápána (flushing the nostrils with water) also (only if your stomach is empty).” –Trans.]]

Female Diseases

Published in:
Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

Normally menstruation occurs once in a lunar month. Though as a rule, it occurs every twenty-eight days, the interval may be twenty-nine or thirty days for some and twenty-six or twenty-seven days for others, according to the woman’s physical condition. Usually menstruation lasts for three to five days. If the menstruation does not follow the above pattern according to the lunar month or if it lasts for a week or two; or if it sometimes occurs and sometimes does not; or if sometimes there is excessive bleeding and sometimes very little; then it may be termed “irregular menstruation.”

In a healthy woman the menstrual discharge is usually about one-fourth seer. If for any reason the quantity is less than normal, it is called “hypomenorrhoea.”

If there is no menstrual discharge on the fixed date, or if the menstruation stops for two or three months in spite of the woman not being pregnant, then the condition is termed “amenorrhoea.”

In tropical countries a woman’s fertility lasts from the age of twelve or fourteen up to the age of forty-five or fifty-five, and in cold countries it lasts from fourteen or sixteen up to fifty or sixty. A regular interval of monthly menstruation and a regular amount of discharge throughout these years is a sign of good health. Every month in a fertile woman the uterus prepares its endometrium (uterine lining) to be the first home for a possible embryo. All of the glands that maintain the youth of the body help directly or indirectly in this work of forming the embryo. These glands also cooperate in providing blood to the uterus to develop the embryo. When the sperm comes into contact with the ovum and an embryo gets an opportunity to form, that blood supply is used in building the body of the embryo. But if, for any reason, no embryo is formed, then the uterus, now full of blood, breaks up the endometrium, and the accumulated blood, not being of any other use to the body, is expelled with the remains of the endometrium. This unnecessary blood is called “menstrual discharge.”

Anaemia is the main cause behind all types of abnormal menstruation – menorrhagia [excessive flow], hypomenorrhoea, and irregular menstruation. When women suffer from anaemia, the glands that help maintain youth also suffer from debilities and as a result the endometrium cannot develop. And in the case of anaemia, sufficient blood cannot be stored in the uterus to form an embryo. This condition brings about hypomenorrhoea. When, owing to the meagre blood supply or to any defect in the organs of the body (conditions which may be found in both thin and fat women), very little blood is stored in the uterus; and the woman also suffers from upward-moving váyu; then her menstrual flow may stop completely, and this is called “amenorrhoea.” In such a situation, the accumulation of impure blood may create many disorders in the body which can lead to premature death. This type of woman with a weak constitution often also suffers from tuberculosis, asthma and similar chronic diseases. Amenorrhoea can cause hysteria or even temporary insanity. A woman may also become irritable in disposition due to the disease.

The reasons behind irregular menstruation are liver defects, constipation and excessive sex.

When the blood becomes over-acidic and weakens the liver and other blood-purifying organs, the poisons of the body are thoroughly flushed out along with the menstrual discharge. This state is called “menorrhagia.”

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Padahastásana, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá, and Ámbhasii Mudrá or Ámbhasii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Karmásana and Kákacaiṋcu Mudrá.

During the menstrual period only easily-digestible and nutritious food should be eaten. All types of fruit juice, milk, leafy vegetables and vegetable soups are excellent foods during this period. Non-vegetarian food, too much fried or parched food, and too much ghee, oil or spicy food are to be rejected. Of spices, asafoetida [Ferula foetida Regel] and clove are very useful, but they should not be taken in large amounts.

During the menstrual period sleeping during the day, staying awake at night and hard physical labour should be avoided. Bending forward to lift heavy loads is forbidden, because such pressure may displace the blood-filled uterus. Warming oneself by the fire is also forbidden, because staying too long in the heat of the fire may excite the body and mind. Women who have no one to assist them in cooking may cook meals outside the kitchen in the open air, using a portable stove. As much as possible they should keep away from the food; otherwise there is a high possibility that the menstrual discharge will come in contact with the food and contaminate it.⁽¹⁾ To keep the body completely free of excitement, menstruating women must not touch adult males. In order to save their husbands and children from any harmful effect from their menstrual discharge, they should sleep on separate beds. And those beds should be kept dry, warm and comfortable.

Women should keep away from strenuous acts such as singing, dancing and blowing conch-shells during their menstrual period, and for the sake of their minds and bodies should keep engaged in light, restful chores or amusing conversation. Finally, they should utilize as much of the day as possible in Iishvara prańidhána [meditation] as taught by an ácárya/á.

In so many cases at present we see that the above dos and don’ts are not being followed, and this is leading women in greater numbers to suffer from menstrual problems.

There is no objection to bathing during the menstrual period, but bathing in very cold water is to be avoided. On the first day of menstruation one may bathe in normally-cool water unless it is uncomfortable. On the second and third day one should bathe in sun-warmed water.

During menstruation, using tampons of cotton or linen which block the vagina is harmful. Instead, women should wear shorts over a kaopiina [a tight-fitting kind of underwear] or a cotton pad.

A woman with a healthy liver may consume butter or ghee with rice. A menstruating woman should drink sufficient water, say four or five seers a day, but not much at a time. Those who are suffering from menorrhagia should, during a time of excessive bleeding, lie in bed with the legs raised and the head slightly lowered.

1. If due to excessive bleeding a woman becomes too weak, she should drink 2 tolas of kuksimá juice or durbá juice along with a little honey every day during her menstrual period.

2. Take 3 or 4 d́álim [pomegranate – Punica granatum Linn.] flowers ground in raw milk twice a day during the period.

4. The juice of vásaka leaves with sugar; every day during the menstrual period.

Unbearable pain in the abdominal region, which begins before the commencement of the menstrual discharge and subsides as soon as the menstruation is over; and irregular menstruation – too little or too much discharge – are the main symptoms of this disease.

Women who are adverse to physical labour, and who generally are from rich or upper middle-class families, are found suffering from this disease. Due to lack of physical labour, or due to physical debility for any reason, the uterus and the ovaries become weak and cannot stand the pressure of blood during the menstrual period. As soon as the blood starts entering the uterus, both the uterus and the ovaries start reacting adversely and that adverse reaction expresses itself as pain in the abdomen.

Women doing adequate physical labour seldom suffer from this disease. If mental dissatisfaction is added to the lack of physical labour, then the disease is aggravated. When women in upper-class society are compelled to lead dissatisfied sex lives on account of various social restrictions, they also suffer from this disease. This disease is one of the reasons for infertility.

Special attention should be paid to see that the food is alkaline. All types of fruits, and vegetable soups, are good in this disease. Fried, parched and non-vegetarian food, too much oil, ghee, garlic and onions, and too-spicy foods are to be avoided. Even after recovering from the disease, a woman should not have intercourse with her husband for at least four months.

During the painful stage of the disease, the patient should apply a hot compress to her abdomen. And during menstruation she should not eat anything except milk and other liquid food.

1. 10 to 12 ashoka flowers without stems should be boiled in a mixture of 4 seers of water and 1/2 seer milk, until the mixture boils down to 3/8 seer. This preparation is called ashokakśiira, and it should be taken for three continuous days, 1/8 seer per day.

2. Tying the root of a [[cárá bel]] around the waist will relieve the pain of this disease.

3. Remove the bark of a ghoŕánim root and boil 3 or 4 tolas of the root in water. Drink that preparation during the menstrual period every morning and it will clear up menstrual troubles.

If one suffers from a discharge without any reason or provocation, it is called “leuccorrheoa.” If the discharge is yellowish, reddish, blackish or foamy; or if it resembles the water in which meat has just been washed, it is called “bloody leucorrhoea.” And if the discharge is whitish, it is called “white leucorrhoea.” White leucorrhoea is very common.

1. Abortion or miscarriage;
2. Constipation;
3. Too many medicines or injections;
4. Excessive sexual intercourse; and
5. Anaemia.

If a woman suffers from anaemia for whatever reason, the organs of the body become incapable of supplying an adequate amount of blood to the uterus. In such a case, the inadequate supply of blood get mixed with other fluids of the body, turns whitish, and is flushed out of the uterus – and the woman suffers from white leucorrhoea.

Abortions and miscarriages also make women anaemic and cause leucorrhoea. Similarly, too much administration of medicines and injections weakens the blood, and leucorrheoa is the result.

Excessive sexual intercourse invites constipation, which pollutes the blood and brings on acidity, and this causes leucorrhoea. Virgins with the unnatural habit of masturbation invite a similar reaction, and leucorrhoea may occur.

When both the liver and pancreas become weak, the blood will show an increase in acidity, and generally blood leucorrhoea occurs. In bloody leucorrhoea, unlike white leucorrhoea the patient may not be suffering from anaemia, but her blood will be more polluted.

If due to ignorance adolescent girls and unmarried women leave the vagina unclean, they suffer from a certain type of discharge. This discharge is not actually leucorrhoea; it should be considered an ordinary discharge. However, if care is not taken in good time, it may turn into incurable leucorrhoea later on.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá and Ámbhasii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Karmásana and Kákacaiṋcu Mudrá.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Karmásana, Gomukhásana, Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Ámbhasii Mudrá or Ámbhasii Práńáyáma, Agnisára Mudrá, and Upaviśt́a Ud́d́ayana Mudrá.

Evening – Karmásana, Gomukhásana, Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Kákacaiṋcu Mudrá.

In all types of menstrual trouble – dysmenorrhoea, leucorrhoea or any other female disease – a woman should not practise ásanas or mudrás during her menstrual period. Instead, she should perform práńáyáma only.

Of the many causes of this disease, the main cause is unrestricted sexual activity. So for those who want to be cured, control over sexual activity – by both husband and wife – is necessary. Anaemia is the root cause of white leucorrhoea, so the patient should make a special point of taking easily-digestible and nutritious food. If the patient cannot tolerate milk, she should take curd-water or coconut milk, instead.

For adolescent girls suffering from abnormal discharges, attention should be given to the maintenance of their personal hygiene, together with the practice of ásanas and mudrás. Leucorrhoea occurs if contaminated matter gets a chance to accumulate inside the genital organ. So both males and females should use water after urinating. Adolescent girls suffering from this disease should wash internally either with soap and water or with water which has been boiled with neem [Azadirachta indica A. Juss] leaves. The fingernails should be cut short, otherwise women may injure themselves internally.

1. Grind 4 red javá [China-roses – Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn.] in the water in ámáni.⁽²⁾ If taken in 1/2 tola quantity every day during the menstrual period, this will cure all kinds of menstrual troubles.

2. Ashokakśiira [see Remedy 1 for dysmenorrhoea (cramps) above] gives good results with all menstrual troubles.

3. Take the root of white ákanda and grind it in the raw milk of a black cow on a Sunday. The patient should drink 1/4 tola of the preparation every day during menstruation. This will give good results.

Heavy feeling in the abdomen, difficulty in defecating and urinating, anaemia, white leucorrhoea, pain in the back and waist, pain like the pain of cramps, etc., are the symptoms of this disease.

The uterus lies in a suspended position supported by a few ligaments behind the navel region. So it is not at all unusual for the uterus to get displaced or to change sides. Since the uterus is situated in between the urinary bladder and the rectum, any displacement of it may hinder defecation or urination. The uterus has an elastic quality and can shrink and expand. This is why a positional change of the uterus may cause great disorder in the lower trunk.

Though constipation is not the only cause of this disease, it is the main one. Because, due to accumulation of stool, the colon gets swollen, putting pressure on the uterus, and causing it to change its position. Again, though there are many reasons for constipation, excessive sexual activity is the main one.

During menstruation, when the uterus remains full of blood, bending forward to do any heavy chore, or lifting heavy pots from the stove, may also lead to the displacement of the uterus.

Due to excessive sexual intercourse, the nervous system of the lower portion of the body may suffer from all-round debility. Consequently, those few ligaments that keep the uterus suspended also become weak, and thereby become a factor in the displacement of the uterus.

Too much use of medicines and injections also weakens the blood and nerve-cells, due to which dislodgement of the uterus may occur. Anaemia and nervous debilities caused in this way are two of the many causes of displacement of the uterus.

Repeated induced child-births, short-cutting the body’s normal child-bearing forces, may also weaken the nerves of the lower body. This enhances the chance of displacement of the uterus.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Padahastásana, Shalabhásana, Ud́d́ayana Mudrá, Bandhatraya Yoga Mudrá and Ámbhasii Mudrá or Ámbhasii Práńáyáma.

Evening – Padahastásana, Pashcimottánásana, Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyamudrá and Kákacaiṋcu Mudrá.

Taking vyápaka snána⁽³⁾ is very beneficial with this disease. See restriction on ásanas given under “Treatment”, Section C of this chapter.

With this disease patients should be allowed to rest as much as possible. Sexual intercourse should be completely stopped. If the uterus is found to be totally displaced; or if there is acute burning; or if the displacement arises from a tumor in the uterus or in the abdomen; then adopting the above steps will bring good results.

But some women in this situation undergo surgery to remove the uterus or ovaries. Obviously, such surgery cannot bring about a cure. Rather, this is like trying to cure a headache by cutting off the head. The loss of these important glands makes a woman sexually neuter and brings about great changes in body and mind. Different mental disorders appear, and often the woman goes mad. So as soon as a woman realizes that she has a displaced uterus, she should be especially careful to avoid constipation and to see that her urination remains normal.

If a woman between the ages of sixteen or seventeen and thirty or thirty-five is unable to conceive in spite of having sexual intercourse, this may be considered a case of sterility or infertility. However, the sterility may or may not be that of the woman. Often it is due to sterility of the male partner that society considers a woman sterile.

1. The ova, produced in the ovaries, pass through the Fallopian tubes to reach the uterus. When the Fallopian tubes are weak, diseased, or blocked by contaminated matter, the ova either fail to reach the uterus or die on the way. Consequently, conception cannot take place even if living spermatozoa are present in the uterus.

2. The ovaries, the ova-producing organs, are situated a little above the groin on either side. Due to lack of physical labour, anaemia, physical debility or any other physical defect, or any congenital defect, the ovaries may not be able to produce ova, or only overly-weak ones. When this takes place, women will be sterile or give birth to still-born babies.

3. In the case of women who are very bad-tempered, that is, dominated by the váyu or pitta factor a little of the pitta can enter the uterus and be stored there. This poisonous pitta kills the sperm and destroys the chance of conception.

4. Excess body fat can cause the female genitals to become somewhat misshapen. As a result, the sperm cannot reach their destination and conception cannot take place. To such women intercourse becomes frustrating, and their sexual dissatisfaction makes them both over-desirous and quarrelsome, and destroys the peace of their domestic life.

5. Excessive intercourse makes the nervous system of the lower portion of the body weak and insensitive, and conception cannot take place. For just this reason, prostitutes are generally infertile.

6. Excessive acidity of the body, many a time, does not allow the foetus to draw the fluids or blood necessary for its development, so the foetus dies a premature death; that is, the woman tends to have still-births. Women who are excessively fond of eating non-vegetarian food but do not undertake adequate physical labour suffer from over-acidity of the blood.

7. Those males who develop the unnatural habit of wasting their semen excessively before they attain the age of twenty-five or twenty-six tend to lose their capacity to produce healthy sperm. The sperm of such persons cannot produce an embryo.

8. In the case of males who, even after attaining adulthood, live intemperately, the testes cannot produce healthy sperm; in this case also conception cannot take place.

9. If a male suffers from excessive pitta secretion, that pitta destroys the ova in the uterus and does not allow any embryo to be formed.

10. If the spermatic duct becomes diseased, weak, hardened or full of impurities, then a person becomes infertile, and conception cannot take place.

The causes behind sterility and infertility are many. Therefore one particular remedy cannot be applied in all cases. The original defect in the male or female which has caused the sterility should be treated properly. Removing the defect or defects will bring good results with the sterility.

Inability to bear a second child, after bearing one, should be treated in just the same manner.

Many people think that infertility can occur due to leucorrhoea or displacement of the uterus. But this impression is not entirely correct. Because even during such conditions the link between the ovaries and the uterus through the Fallopian tubes remains unaffected. But it is true that, if these diseases are present, the chance of still-births is greater.

If the testes of the male or the ovaries of the female are underdeveloped for congenital reasons, that type of sterility if very difficult to cure.

Very often the opening of the vagina becomes flaccid or stretched, and the vagina almost protrudes. In such cases, for good results in a short time, patients should take vyápaka snána regularly and perform Utkśepa Mudrá, Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma and Bhújauṋgásana.

Whatever the reason for sterility or infertility, taking vyápaka shaoca⁽⁴⁾ is very beneficial.

1. A pregnant woman can avoid miscarriage if an entire root of svet apámárga [white apámárga plant] or a root of white aparájitá plant is worn around the patient’s waist.

Many women give birth to still-born children; some children die a few minutes before or after delivery.

In case of this tendency (when it is apparent that the child in the womb is alive), for a few days before the delivery the would-be mother should keep her hair untied and loose, and should tie a root of white jayantii plant in her hair and keep it there continuously till the child is born. In this way she can avoid a still-birth.

At present a large number of women in society suffer from one female disease or other. The main reasons are:

Though female diseases may not be obviously fatal, they slowly sap the vitality of the individual, and children, who are the hope of society, are born with mental and physical defects which remain throughout their lives. What a terrible situation this is for society can easily be imagined. On account of female diseases women often die prematurely. In most cases, if not all, lack of self-control by the male is one of the causes of female disease. It is certainly not desirable for women to go to their graves prematurely due to the intemperance of men. Sexual over-indulgence is also harmful to the men, because it causes excessive wastage of shukra, which [in the lymph stage] nourishes the brain. Remember that self-control is the greatest thing in life.

(1) This passage refers especially to problems that arise when cooking on a wood or coal stove, and when preparing food on the floor. –Trans.

(2) “Rice is to be cooked at night and kept in an earthen pot, adding some water, tamarind juice and a little salt if needed. The following morning, the fermented product should be kneaded well and then strained through a piece of cloth. The liquid thus obtained is called ámáni. It is an alcoholic drink and slightly intoxicating but it also has medicinal properties.” (Shrii P.R. Sarkar, Natural Medicine, 2009, “Respiratory Diseases, Fever, Female Diseases, Infant Care, Other Diseases”)

(3) [[Regarding vyápaka snána, the author’s Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 3, “Different Yoga Practices” explains:
A bathtub is most convenient, but if this is not available, an earthen trough will suffice. If this is not available either, a wet towel can be used, soaking it repeatedly in water. Fill the bathtub with cold water, and sit in it undressed so that the area from the navel down remains submerged. Keep your feet dry and out of the tub. The area from the neck to the navel should be kept covered with a shirt or dry cloth. The crown of the head and the back of the head should be kept covered with a wet towel.
Now take another towel and rub the area from the right side of the abdomen to the groin seven or eight times. Do likewise on the left-hand side and horizontally from right to left and left to right. You should make sure that the towel on the head remains wet.
After this, wipe the abdomen, hands and thighs and take a full bath. If this is not possible, then leave the tub wearing a shirt.
This should be practised behind closed doors. In the absence of a bathtub or an earthen trough, a wet towel may be wrapped around the areas to be bathed, but in order to compensate, cold water must be poured constantly over the towel, and the towel which is to be used for the massage must be kept wet. After vyápaka snána, the thighs, pubic area and abdomen should be warmed with a dry towel.
Before and after this bath one should not eat, in order to allow the stomach to rest.
–Trans.]]

(4) [[Regarding vyápaka shaoca, the author explains in Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 2, “The Body”: “Method of doing vyápaka shaoca: At first wash your genital organs; then hands up to elbows and legs up to knees; then, taking a mouthful of water, splash water on the eyes and face at least twelve times. Finally wash the ears and the neck. Do násápána (flushing the nostrils with water) also (only if your stomach is empty).” –Trans.]]

Obesity

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Notes:

Fat is an indispensable element of the human body. Without fat, the natural activity of the bones and muscles could not be sustained for a single moment. But when this very fat abnormally accumulates beyond the ordinary requirement of the body, it causes all the organs of the body to become incapacitated. This state is called obesity.

Lack of physical labour, and at the same time eating lots of curd (yoghurt), milk, butter and other high-calorie foods; eating large quantities of sweets and large quantities of mucus-producing foods (fish, tamarind, etc.) are the main causes of obesity. And especially if, along with the above reasons, a particular person undertakes too much mental exertion, then in most cases he/she becomes obese.

Persons who do physical labour need nutritious and nonvegetarian types of food, milk and ghee. Those who do mental work and don’t undertake much physical work require very little non-vegetarian, sweet and fatty foods. But sensual persons, for the sake of taste-satisfaction, take large quantities of food which they do not need or need very little of.

In the world today a handful of people who do no physical work, but live by their wits, have appropriated to themselves most of the wealth of humanity, so they are able to buy comparatively expensive foods, and use them to satisfy their taste buds. As a result, they, on the one hand, swell with unnecessary fat, while, on the other hand, those people doing hard manual labour are forced to live in poverty and deprived of the ghee, butter and sweets they need to maintain their bodies; they have nothing to compensate properly the energy they expend, and they become weak, emaciated and broken in health. On account of malnutrition and excessive hard labour, they fall victim to tuberculosis. Remember that in tropical countries non-vegetarian food is generally like poison, but for those doing a great amount of physical labour, a little such food does no harm to their bodies, nor does it exert its harmful influence on their minds.

So my point is that obesity is primarily a disease of well-off, non-labouring society. High-salaried office workers, rich businessmen and parasitic politicians are those who suffer most from obesity.

It should be borne in mind that the fat stored in the human body is nothing but its work energy in latent form. When fasting or doing physical labour, it becomes liquefied, then transformed into vital energy or work energy. So when people perform little manual labour, their fat becomes their enemy and pushes them to their death.

When this fat accumulates in the abdominal region, it causes sterility in women and impotency in men. That is why we find that in most cases obese people have no children. Too much accumulation of fat on the chest and abdomen disturbs the váyu; and then, as long as the liver is not affected, the person suffers from “demon hunger”; so much so that in homes where the person is entertained, he or she becomes famous for his or her voracity. Another distinguishing mark of such people is that they are most greedy for those foods which are most fattening; that is, when invited outside, they will never even by mistake eat much in the way of vegetable preparations – instead they will eat a lot of luci, fish, meat and sweets.

As they grow older and their livers become weak, they will lose that voracious appetite. Then they will sorrowfully say to people that they cannot consume food as they used to. Their muscles become flaccid and they begin to suffer from acidity, constipation or intestinal troubles. Fat accumulated on the chest affects the heart and lungs and makes it difficult for these organs to function. Victims’ respiration becomes troublesome, they tire out very easily, gasp for breath, and sit down sweating profusely. Fat accumulated in the blood vessels causes patients to suffer from high blood pressure, which may finally lead to an internal haemorrhage by bursting the blood vessels of the brain or of any part of the body, causing death or paralysis.

Excessive fat creates disorder in the normal functioning of the liver as well as in the breathing. Fat also creates constipation, seminal diseases, abnormal menstruation, and different kinds of intestinal disease.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá and Bhújauṋgásana.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Yogamudrá, Bhújauṋgásana and Padahastásana.

Evening – Matsyamudrá, Naokásana, Pashcimottánásana and Matsyendrásana.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá, Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Karmásana and Garud́amudá [Garud́ásana].

Evening – Naokásana, Pashcimottánásana, Matsyendrásana and Kurmakásana.

Some obese people try simply to eat less, surmising that in doing so they will be able to lose weight. This is not a correct approach, because such dieting can weaken the patient to such an extent that he or she cannot even get up or walk. What the patient needs is a simple, carefully selected diet. For instance:

1. One should drink about four or five seers of water daily, but not much at a time. As far as possible the patient should always mix lemon juice with the water.

2. Completely stop taking non-vegetarian food, ghee and oil. Three-fourths to a seer of diluted milk should be taken, a little at a time, a number of times during the day.

3. Depending upon the appetite, all kinds of fruit in plentiful quantity, preferably sour juicy types, can be taken. These fruits are very beneficial for the obese.

4. Reduce or eliminate rice, rut́i and pulses, and instead eat green vegetables and soups made from them in greater quantity.

5. One must reduce the use of raw and refined sugar, but may use a little honey – nor more than three spoonfuls a day.

Rules of fasting and sun-bathing should be observed by patients. Generally speaking, obesity is the disease of the sedentary and the greedy. So as far as possible, simple food should be eaten. Instead of luci and puri, dry rut́i should be taken. And patients should give up their habit of sitting and giving orders, and instead should do the work by their own physical efforts.

Heart Disease

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Notes:

Strong beating sound in the chest, chest pain, breathing troubles, trembling of arms and legs, etc., are the symptoms of this disease.

1. Persons who keep their stomachs full and heavy need a greater blood supply for their stomachs, and their hearts have to overwork in order to keep up that extra supply. Consequently their hearts become weak.

2. Persons above thirty-five or forty years of age who consume an excessive quantity of non-vegetarian food out of greed may also suffer from heart disease; because non-vegetarian food increases the acidity of the blood, and this compels the heart to overwork in order to purify the blood; and the heart becomes weak. An increase in the acidity of blood also gradually weakens other organs of the body, and those weaknesses directly or indirectly weaken the heart.

3. Taking excessive fatty and oily food and not undertaking a proportional amount of physical labour loads the human nervous system down with fat, and as a result it becomes impossible for the nerves to properly assist the heart. As a result the heart becomes weak. Fat accumulated in the nerves and blood vessels terribly hampers the blood circulation, and in order to maintain the circulation, the heart is forced to overwork. As a consequence the heart soon becomes weak.

4. Due to debility of the liver, surplus fat of the body may get a chance to accumulate in the nerves and blood vessels, and the heart naturally becomes weak. Usually patients of this condition have chronic dysentery also.

5. Another reason for heart disease is the practice of eating too much food at one sitting with little or no appetite; because taking a large quantity of food enlarges the stomach, and that enlarged stomach starts putting pressure on the heart above it. Persons who do not have breakfast and an afternoon snack usually eat heavy meals at lunch and dinner. If such a habit continues day after day, their stomachs get enlarged and they suffer from heart disease.

6. Constipation is another reason for heart disease. If the bowels are not cleared, the accumulated stool decays inside the body and breeds a certain type of germ. If these germs get a chance to strike the heart, the patient suffers from heart disease.

7. Ill-tempered persons also run the risk of heart disease, because in anger the flow of blood to the head and face becomes suddenly accelerated (which makes these people turn red). To supply this extra blood, the heart has suddenly to work very hard. That is why persons who are habitually ill-tempered suffer from weakness of the heart. For the same reason, extreme shyness may make the heart weak.

8. In extreme fright also, the blood all of a sudden leaves the other parts of the body and rushes towards the heart in great quantity. It is difficult for the heart to stand this pressure, so in extreme fright the heart pounds or palpitates, and often even stops beating and causes death. (People have often been known to die of heart failure in fear of imaginary ghosts; and just before death or immediately thereafter, such terror-stricken people suffer from bleeding from the mouth and nose, and other people see it and think that the victims have really been killed by ghosts.) So fearful persons are often found to be suffering from heart disease.

9. For the same reason, indulgence in sex causes the heart to strain and the breathing to become heavy. So habitually passionate people also suffer from heart disease. Too much seminal loss in young people also brings about heart disease.

10. Use of wine, tobacco, viŕi, cigarettes and other intoxicants in excessive quantity brings about constipation, which is one cause of heart disease. Moreover, intoxicants increase the acidity of the blood, weaken the glandular system, and ultimately prevent the active cooperation of the heart and the glands, causing them to fall sick.

11. When a person suffers from some devitalizing or chronic disease for a long time, his or her blood will become weak. And to revitalize that blood, the person’s heart has to overwork, and gradually the heart becomes weak. That is why with beriberi, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diabetes, gonorrhoea, syphilis and female disease, the longer a patient suffers, the more the heart becomes weak, and when it becomes extremely weak it stops and the patient dies.

Morning – Utkśepa Mudrá (don’t drink too much water), Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Váyavii Mudrá or Váyavii Práńáyáma, and Padahastásana.

Evening – Yogamudrá, Diirgha Prańáma, Bhújauṋgásana, Padahastásana and Váyavii Mudrá or Váyavii Práńáyáma.

Remember that patients should practise no ásanas and mudrás other than Utkśepa Mudrá when the disease is critical. Only after some improvement in the disease should these ásanas and mudrás be practised. When patients are more or less cured, they should practice Karmásana instead of Padahastásana. The practice of vyápaka snána⁽¹⁾ is also especially helpful in this disease.

Only fruits and milk should be taken with this disease. Breakfast and afternoon snacks should also be composed of fruits and milk only. At noon a very small quantity of easily-digestible and non-constipating food should be taken; it is better to refrain from eating rice or rut́i but a little boiled rice can be taken. At the evening meal nothing except fruits and milk should be taken. (Patients should not eat bananas after sunset.) Those who cannot digest milk or who for some reason are unable to procure it, may drink curd-water instead. One should not add salt to food while eating. Care should be taken to let the breath flow through the right nostril for some time after a meal.

Patients’ main concern should be to keep their digestive tracts clear, to increase the alkalinity of their blood, and to protect the heart from overworking. That is why complete rest is essential for heart patients. Patients should lie in Shavásana all the time when they are critically ill. They should not endeavour to get up from bed even for defecation and urination.

Patients should never eat a lot at one sitting – rather they should eat a small quantity at a time, several times. When patients are critically ill they should eat nothing but milk, fruit juice (especially orange/tangerine and tomato), milk or water with honey, and the juice of spinach, kalmii, beto, punarnavá, shushuni or shulphá. When thirsty, drink water with a little lemon juice.

Sleeping during the day, keeping late nights, and greedily eating a full stomach of food are all very dangerous for heart patients. Dinner invitations usually involve rich food, so patients should not accept dinner invitations. They should go to bed between 8 and 8:30 in the evening.

One should again remember that eating a small quantity of spinach, beto, kalmii, shulphá, shushuni or punarnavá – leafy vegetables – is good for heart patients. Baŕa elác is also particularly helpful in curing this disease. Utmost attention must be paid to clearing the bowels.

Heart patients should sleep at least nine hours a night. The mind should always be held back from anger and lust. Physical and mental exertion, garrulousness and sex should all be strictly avoided.

1. Every day in the morning and before retiring to bed at night, patients should take a spoonful of baŕa elác, powdered along with the husk, with honey. This will give good results.

2. The juice of shulphá greens mixed with honey is very useful in heart disease.

3. A spoonful of cinnamon powder with a little honey, taken twice a day, will bring excellent results.

4. Take 1/16 tola of bhúmi kuśmáńd́a powder with a little honey twice a day.

Ear-Aches, Mumps, Etc.

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Notes:

Take a few mature, fresh leaves of white ákanda and slowly fry them in pure cow’s ghee as parat́há is fried. Then extract juice from these fried leaves, add warm ghee to it and pour three drops of that mixture into the affected ear three times daily – in the morning, evening and before bed. Continue using the medicine till the disease is completely cured. This remedy is very useful in diseases like mumps and pus-forming diseases of the ears.

Eosinophilia (Polypus)

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Notes:

Take a little camphor and some máskalái beans and boil them mildly at a low temperature in pure mustard oil in a thin brass pot. In case a brass pot is not available, use an iron, copper or silver pot. Once this preparation has been made, put that boiled oil and those máskalái beans in a glass jar, corking it firmly and tightly, so that it can be preserved for up to a month if necessary. Be particular to use a good, solid cork, for if the cork is not firm and solid, the camphor may evaporate.

Now prepare a leaf-packet of a green banyan leaf and pour that prepared mixture into it. Now light a mustard oil lamp and hold that leaf-packet over its flame. When the packet becomes somewhat scorched and its contents start dripping, catch the mixture in a pot. Now keep some warm water ready at hand. Dip your little finger in that oil, push the finger inside each nostril as deep as possible, and rub. Having rubbed both the nostrils well in that fashion, take warm water (as warm as you can endure), and draw it in through the nostrils and expel it through the mouth. Repeat the use of the water, and again repeat, for a total of three times through both nostrils.

Having used the water three times, use your little finger again to rub the oil inside the nostrils, and repeat the drawing of the water, as hot as bearable, three times.

Repeat the alternation of oil and water for a total of six times, in two instalments of three times each. While expelling the water through the mouth, insert your middle finger inside your throat.

Now holding a mouthful of warm water, splash your eyes repeatedly with the same warm water from the pot. Thereafter your morning vyápaka shaoca⁽¹⁾ should be completed as usual.

As long as the disease is not fully cured, use this remedy in the aforesaid manner three times a day – in the morning, in the evening, and before bed.

When suffering from násáshula, or if the nose, throat and lungs are all weakened at the same time, this remedy will also yield a good result.

In násáshula extra flesh grows inside the nose, throat or lungs. People who use snuff suffer mostly from this disease. It is true that patients do not die of this disease, but they endure much agony from it. When the disease becomes chronic, the patient becomes nasal.

Those who are accustomed to smoke viŕi and cigarettes suffer most from cancer. With cancer also this remedy yields results. But before using this medicine, patients of either disease should strictly give up the habits of smoking viŕi and cigarettes, taking snuff, etc.

Tonsilitis

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Notes:

Treatment: First practice Shivásana for five minutes, then Matsyamudrá for five minutes, and thereafter Matsyendrásana for a maximum of one minute in each position. The performance of all three Ásanas will make one round.

Practise three rounds. Take your usual massage,⁽¹⁾ and after that do Shavásana for at least 100 seconds. Then take a stroll for a few minutes. Ten minutes after the stroll, drink some warm water.

If you feel any pain while pressing hard the spot located two fingers’ width up, on the left or right side of the urinary passage, then you should drink half a glass of slightly-warm water, mixing one teaspoonful of baked clove powder in it.

If pain is felt while inhaling at a spot three fingers’ width up, on the left or right side of the urinary passage, when those regions are pressed hard with the thumb, then in that case also, ten minutes after your stroll you should take one teaspoonful of baked clove powder in tepid water.

(1) [[Regarding the massage, please see Ananda Marga Spiritual and Social Practices, “Appendix: Massage”. –Trans.]]

Boils

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Notes:

Often we see that even though a boil has ripened, it does not show any opening. If in that case fresh pigeon droppings are applied on the boil, it will burst and an opening will show within a few hours.

Spasmodic Fits

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Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

1. The nágdoná plant (which grows about two feet in height, with thorns⁽¹⁾ and very strong-smelling leaves) is an excellent medicine for nerves. If, when a child suffers from spasmodic fits, leaves of this plant are pounded to paste and the child is made to smell the paste, the convulsions will be cured. There is no other medicine for this disease.

2. If the patient’s face, hands and feet are washed with water in which potatoes have just been boiled, this will also control the convulsions.

(1) There are thornless varieties of nágdoná which are thought to serve the purpose. –Trans.

Gout, Elephantiasis and Hydrocele

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Notes:

See also “Hydrocele” and “Elephantiasis”.

Take some kadamba leaves or white ákanda leaves ripened yellow (the ákanda leaf turns yellow when full mature). Warm the leaves on the fire and apply them to the affected region as a fomentation for some time. Afterwards bind the leaves over the affected place with a warm cloth, and it will cure the disease.

Epilepsy

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Notes:

Shalabhásana, Bhújauṋgásana, Matsyamudrá, Sarváuṋgásana, Matsyásana and Mayúrásana.

Food prepared and cooked in ghee or oil is strictly forbidden. All sorts of boiled foods can be taken, especially various types of green vegetables such as spinach, nat́e, colá, mat́ar and heleiṋcá.

Every morning and evening take a stroll for some time, or run. If necessary take someone with you.

Low Blood Sugar

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Notes:

Matsyendrásana, Utkat́a Kurmakásana, and Padahastásana. Táńd́ava dance for males (see an ácárya for instructions).

Little fat, no sugar (a little honey or flower nectar⁽¹⁾ is all right). No tinned fruit. Less white flour and more whole-wheat flower, plenty of fresh fruits of any taste, more green vegetables, less potato. No alcohol or tobacco or drugs. No animal product except curd (yoghurt).

Fast walking or running is desirable. Taking a bath daily in water of body temperature is good.

Appendix

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Notes:

“Ápashcavishvabheśajii” – that is, “Water is medicine for all diseases.” Truly, all types of disease can be relieved if one knows how to use water properly. To maintain the internal functions of the body without hindrance and to maintain the internal liquid balance, everyone should drink a sufficient quantity of water every day. A healthy person can consume three or four seers of water a day, a sick person four or five seers, and a person suffering from skin disease, five or six seers. These amounts of water help cure a disease to a great extent.

Drinking water is good, but water with a little lemon and a little salt is still better.

People should not taint their sex lives by over-indulgence. Everyone should remember that shukra is the ultimate element of the body, and if it is absent or somehow impaired, all the elements of the body may become impaired and invite attacks of various diseases.

Intercourse more than four times a month leads to wastage of shukra, which culminates in debility of the nerve-cells, nerve-fibres, glands, etc. People may become aware of the physical debility caused by this immoderate loss of shukra belatedly, but they will begin to feel the mental and spiritual loss right away. That is why it is not at all desirable for adolescents and young people to remain ignorant of sexual matters.

And when it comes down to a choice between restraint and lack of restraint, it is better not even to stipulate four times a month, but simply to say: the more restraint the better.

Soil possesses great curative properties. With cuts, scratches, sores and boils, if soil is applied properly, it can be especially helpful in curing the disease and drawing out the poisonous substances.

If the mud pack starts cracking within about three hours after drying, or if the pack becomes stale, then the pack should be thrown away. The wound should then be cleansed carefully with some antiseptic, and after giving it a sun-bath, a fresh pack should be applied.

Healthy persons or persons suffering from skin disease should smear their bodies with yellow soil, massage themselves, then immerse themselves in a river or in a pond. This will certainly give good results. It is desirable for everyone to use this mud-massage now and then when they bathe. Those who are suffering from leprosy or other diseases characterized by contaminated sores should definitely have such a mud-massage followed by a bath every day.

The meaning of átapa snána is “sun-bathing,” but sunshine is not the same for all countries at all times. Therefore, it is not possible to fix the best time for sun-bathing. But at the present time, in the plains of Bihar, a sun-bath can be taken during the summer until 10 a.m. and during the winter between noon and 2 p.m.

During the sun-bath, the diseased parts of the body are exposed to the sun’s rays while the remaining parts are kept in the shade. When the affected area becomes hot after leaving it in the sun for fifteen to twenty minutes, it should be brought into the shade and the procedures described below followed.

1. If there is rheumatism or gout in that part of the body, that part should, under advice, be massaged with oil for four or five minutes.

2. If it is a skin disease, then that area should be massaged with neem [Azadirachta indica A. Juss.] oil for four or five minutes.

3. In the case of other diseases, the affected area should be massaged with a cool, wet towel that has been wrung out.

After the temperature of the area has come down to normal, it can once again be exposed to the sun’s rays. After leaving it in the sun for fifteen or twenty minutes, again cool the area by massaging with oil or a towel in the aforesaid manner. Exposure to sun and massage can be done in the same manner again and again. But during the last massage, instead of using oil, it is desirable to wipe with a wet towel in all cases except that of skin disease.

If a healthy or sick person so desires, he or she may take a sun-bath over the entire body. In this case, after the completion of the sun-bath, the whole body must be thoroughly wiped off with a wet towel. When taking a sun-bath over the entire body, one should wear little or no clothes and keep the back to the sun. If the diseased area is in the front portion of the body, that is to say, the face, chest, stomach, etc., then it can be kept uncovered but the remaining portions must be kept covered.

One should always remember, “Expose the stomach to fire and the back to sun;” that is, if you need to warm yourself at a fire, keep the stomach towards the fire, never the back.

Pure, fresh air has the power to cure diseases. It is advisable to breathe in as fully as possible, because when we do so, the air gets an opportunity to penetrate the lungs completely. It is better to take a walk in the fresh air than to ride a vehicle. If the body does not work up a sufficient sweat, then you should know that you have not taken the air properly.

During fasting the body’s organs get a good rest, and the healing process is more rapid. It is possible for one to get relief even from chronic skin diseases if one goes on a long fast and drinks plenty of water with lemon juice.

Only persons in very good health and with good energy should fast without water. Persons suffering from gall or kidney-stones should never undertake a waterless fast. Sick persons and people in mediocre health should observe fasting taking plenty of lemon juice and water. Persons who are very weak may take a small quantity of fruit and milk. Persons who, for whatever reason, do not fast on ekádashii, púrńimá and amávasyá should at least abstain from taking rice, fried vegetables, pulses and non-vegetarian food on those days. They should also take just a little milk, fruit and dry things on the evenings of púrńimá and amávasyá.

Mental purity helps particularly in keeping a person healthy. Impure thoughts increase the acidity of the blood and invite disorders of the stomach, heart and brain. That is why every human being should make as strong a habit as possible of selfless service and Iishvara prańidhána [meditation]. The best way to attain mental purity is to follow the principles of Yama and Niyama. (For a fuller explanation of Yama and Niyama, see A Guide to Human Conduct.)⁽¹⁾

Yama is divided into five parts (1) Ahiḿsá, (2) Satya, (3) Asteya, (4) Brahmacarya and (5) Aparigraha.

1. Ahiḿsá – Not to inflict pain or hurt on any living thing in the world by thought, word or action is Ahiḿsá.

3. Asteya – To renounce the desire to acquire or retain the wealth of others is Asteya. Asteya means “non-stealing.”

4. Brahmacarya – To keep the mind always absorbed in Brahma (the Supreme Entity) is Brahmacarya.

5. Aparigraha – To renounce everything excepting the necessities for the maintenance of the body is known as Aparigraha.

Niyama is also divided into five parts – (1) Shaoca, (2) Santośa, (3) Tapah, (4) Svádhyáya and (5) Iishvara Prańidhána.

1. Shaoca is of two kinds – Purity of the body and of the mind. The methods for mental purity are kindliness towards all creatures, charity, working for the welfare of others and being dutiful.

2. Santośa – Contentment for things received unasked-for is Santośa. It is essential to try to be cheerful always.

3. Tapah – To undergo physical hardship to attain the objective is known as Tapah. Upavása (fasting), serving the guru (preceptor), serving father and mother, and the four types of yajiṋa, namely, pitr yajiṋa, nr yajiṋa, bhúta yajiṋa and adhyátma yajiṋa (service to ancestors, to humanity, to lower beings and to Consciousness), are the other limbs of Tapah. For students, study is the main Tapah.

4. Svádhyáya – The study, with proper understanding, of scriptures and philosophical books is Svádhyáya. The philosophical books and scriptures of Ananda Marga are Ánanda Sútram and Subháśita Saḿgraha (all parts) respectively. Svádhyáya is also done by attending dharmacakra (group meditation) regularly and having satsauṋga (spiritual company), but this kind of Svádhyáya is intended only for those who are not capable of studying in the above manner.

5. Iishvara Prańidhána – This is to have firm faith in Iishvara (the Cosmic Controller) in pleasure and pain, prosperity and adversity, and to think of oneself as the instrument, and not the wielder of the instrument, in all the affairs of life.

Human life is short. It is wise to get all the instructions regarding sadhana (intuitional practice) as soon as possible.

(1) Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, A Guide to Human Conduct [Anandanagar, India: Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha, 2004.]

Glossary and List of Bengali Plant Names

Published in:
Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies

Notes:

We have included here all the Bengali plant names given in the original book, even in cases where only the English equivalent, and not the Bengali name, has been used in the main text of this English version of the book.

Words in this glossary/list have been alphabetized according to the English alphabet, not the Bengali. Accented letters have been treated the same as unaccented (e.g., Á the same as A).

ÁDÁ. Ginger, Zingiber officinale Rose.
ÁKANDA. Calotropis gigantea (Linn.) R. Br.
ÁKANDA, SHVET. White ákanda, Calotropis procera R. Br.
ÁM. Mango, Mangifera indica Linn.
ÁMLAKII. Emblic myrobalan, Emblica officinalis Gaertn.
ÁMRÁ. Spondius pinnata Willd.
ÁMRULA (ÁMRULA SHÁK). Oxalis corniculata Linn.
ANANTAMÚLA. Hemidesmus indicus R. Br.
ÁNÁRAS. Pineapple, Ananas sativus Schult.
APÁMÁRGA. Achyranthes aspera Linn.
APARÁJITA, SVET APARÁJITA. Clitoria ternatea Linn. var. alba.
ÁPHIḾ. Opium, Papaver somniferum Linn.
AŔAHAR. Cajanus indicus Spreng.
ASHOKA. Saraca indica Linn.
ASHVAGANDHÁ. Withania somnifera Dunal.
ÁTAPA RICE. A fine-quality, very white type of rice, not boiled in the process of husking.

BÁBLÁ. Acacia, Acacia arabica Willd.
BAHEŔÁ. Terminalia belerica Roxb.
BÁMUNHÁT́I. See BRAHMAYASTI.
BÁṊSH. Bamboo. Bambusa bambos Druce. Probably other species of the Bambusa genus also would serve the purpose.
BAŔA ELÁC. Greater cardamom, Amonum subulatum Roxb.
BAT́. Banyan, Ficus bengalensis Linn.
BEGUN. Brinjal, eggplant, Solanum melongena Linn.
BEL. Marmelos fruit, wood apple, Aegle marmelos Corr.
BEŔELÁ. Sida cordifolia Linn.
BETO (BETO SHÁK). Chenopidium album Linn.
BHÚMI KUŚMÁŃD́A. Ipomoea paniculata R. Br.
BHUṊICÁPÁ. Kaempferia rotunda Linn.
BICHUT́I. Targia involucrata Linn.
BORÁCAKA (BOŔÁCAKRA). Sansevieria roxburghiana Schult.
BRAHMAYASTI (BÁMUNHÁT́I). Clerodendron indicum Linn.
BRÁHMII (BRÁHMII SHÁK). Bacopa monnieri (Linn.).
BUCKIIDÁNÁ. Seed of buckii. Buckii is Psoralea corylifolia Linn.

CANDAN. Sandal, Santalum album Linn.
CHÁṊCI KUMŔÁ. Green (unripe) pumpkin, Benincasa hispida Cogn.
CHOT́A ELÁC. Cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum Maton.
COLÁ. Cicer arietinum Linn.
CUBEB. Jawa pepper, Piper cubeb Linn. f.

DÁLIM. Red pomegranate, Punica granatum Linn.
DÁRUCINI. Cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum Bl.
DHANE. Coriander, Coriandrum sativum Linn.
DHUNDUL. Luffa cylindrica Linn.
DUGDHAKŚIIRÁ. Euphorbia hirta Linn.
DURBÁ. Cynodon dactylon (Linn.) Pers.

GÁMBHÁRII. Gmelina arborea Roxb.
GÁṊDÁL. Paederia foetida Linn.
GHOŔÁNIM. Melia azedarach Linn.
GIMÁ. Mollugo oppositifolia Linn.
GOLMARIC. Black pepper, Piper nigrum Linn.
GULAIṊCA. Tinospora cordifolia Miers.

HARIITAKII. Myrobalan, Terminalia chebula Retz.
HARIDRÁ (HALUD). Turmeric, Curcuma longa Linn.
HÁTISHUNŔÁ. Heliotropium indicum Linn.
HELEIṊCÁ. Enhydra fluctuans Lour.
HIḾ. Asafoetida, Ferula foetida Regel.

IIKŚU. Sugar cane, Saccharum officinarum Linn.
IISABGUL. Psyllium, flea seed, Plantago oveta Forsk.

JAVÁ. China-rose, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn.
JÁM. Eugenia jambolana Lam.
JÁMIR LIME. Citrus limon (Linn.) Burnf.
JAYANTII, SVET JAYANTII. Sesbania sesban (Linn.) Mear.
JHIḾGE (JHIḾGÁ, JHIUṊE). Luffa acutangula Roxb.

KADAM (KADAMBA). Anthocephalus A. Rich. cadamba Miq., a.k.a. Anthocephalus indicus A. Rich.
KÁLA KESENDÁ. Cassia sophera Linn.
KALMII (KALMII SHÁK). Ipomoea reptans (Linn.) Poir.
KÁṊSÁ. A particular alloy translated “white brass” or “bell-metal” (because vessels of this metal ring when struck). It is widely used for cooking vessels in India.
KÁṊT́ANAT́E. Amaranthus spinosus Linn.
KAPHA. See VÁYU, PITTA, KAPHA AND RAKTA.
KARALÁ. Bitter gourd, Momordica charantia Linn.
KARAVII, SVET KARAVII. White oleander, Nerium indicum Mill. var. alba.
KAYETBEL. Feronia limonia (Linn.) Swingle.
KELEKOṊŔÁ. Capparis zeylanica Linn.
KRŚŃA TIL. See TIL, KRŚŃA.
KUKSIIMÁ. Vernonia cinerea Less.
KUL. Jujube, Zizyphus mauratiana Lamk.
KULÁTTHA KALÁI. Dolichos biflorus Linn.

LÁU. Lagenaria siceraria Standl.
LAVAUṊGA. Clove, Syzygium aromaticum (Linn.) Merr. & L.M. Perry, a.k.a. Eugenia caryophyllata.
LUCI. Hindi puri, unleavened bread puffed by deep frying.
LODHÁ. Symplocos racemosa Roxb.

MAHUYÁ. Madhuca indica J.F. Gmel.
MÁNA KACU. Alocasia indica Schott.
MAORII. Aniseed, Pimpinella anisum Linn.
MASINÁ. Linseed, Linum usitatissimum Linn.
MÁSKALÁI. Black mung bean. Phaseolus radiatus Linn. Very similar to mug, mung bean, which is another species of Phaseolus.
MASÚR DÁL. Lens culinaris Medic.
MAT́AR. Pea, Pisum sativum Linn.
MAT́AR SHÁK. Pea leaves.
MEOYÁ. A dried fruit.
MICHRII. Rock candy.
MIŚT́I NEBU. Citrus limettioides Tanaka.
MUSABBAR. A paste prepared from the juice of ghrta kumárii, i.e., Aloe indica Royle, a.k.a. Aloe vera Linn.
MUTHÁ (GANDHA-MUTHÁ). Cyperus rotundus Linn.

NÁGDONÁ. Artemisia vulgaris Linn.
NÁGESHVARA (NÁGA KESHARA). Mesua ferrea Linn.
NÁLTE (NÁLITÁ, PÁT́). Jute, Corchorus capsularis Linn.
NAT́E. Amaranthus tristis Linn.
NIM. Neem, margosa, Melia azadirachta indica A. Juss.
NUNESHÁK. Portulaca oleracea is known as baŕa nuniyá or baŕa nuneshák. Portulaca quadrifolia is known as chot́a nuniyá or chot́a nuneshák. It is not clear whether the author intended to prescribe only one of the two species. Probably either of the two would serve the purpose.

PÁLAḾ (PÁLAḾ SHÁK). Spinach, Spinacia oleracea Linn.
PALÁSH. Butea monosperma Kuntze, a.k.a. Butea monosperma (Lamk.) Taub.
PALTÁ. Pat́ol latá, “leaf of PAT́OL”.
PÁN. Betel, Piper betle Linn.
PARAT́HÁ. Flat bread prepared like a RUT́I, but usually folded into a triangular shape and fried in ghee or oil.
PAT́OL. Trichosanthes dioica Roxb.
PÁTHARKUCI. Kalanchoe pinnata Pers.
PEṊPE. Papaya, Carica papaya Linn.
PEYÁRÁ. Guava, Psidium guajava Linn.
PIṊÁZ. Onion, Allium cepa Linn.
PITTA. See VÁYU, PITTA, KAPHA AND RAKTA.
PUNARNAVÁ. Boerhaavia diffusa Linn.
PUṊI (PUṊI SHÁK). Basella alba Linn.
PURI. Similar to LUCI, but sometimes stuffed.

RAKTA. See VÁYU, PITTA, KAPHA AND RAKTA.
RASUN. [[Garlic,]] Allium sativum Linn.
REŔI. Castor, Ricinus communis Linn.
RUT́I. Hindi cápáti, flat bread made from whole-wheat flour.

SAJNE. Moringa oleifera Lam.
SARPAGANDHÁ. Rauwolfia serpentina Benth.
SARŚAP. Mustard, Brassica campestris Linn.
SHÁL. Shorea robusta Gaertn.
SHÁLAM MISHRII (SÁLEM MISHRII). Eulophia campestris Roxb.
SHÁṊKÁLU. Yam bean (name used in some countries), Pachyrrhizus erosus Urban.
SHATAMÚLII. Asparagus racemosus Willd.
SHIMÚLA. Salmalia malabarica (D.C.) Schott & Endl.
SHIULI. Nyctanthes arbortristis Linn.
SHOBHÁIṊJANA. Moringa oleifera Lam.
SHUKRA. This term comprises a large class of substances in the body. “This vital fluid has three stages: lymph, or práńarasa (lasiká); spermatozoa; and seminal fluid.” (P.R. Sarkar, “Life, Death and Saḿskára” in Idea and Ideology, 7th edition, 1993)
SHUKRABAHA NÁŔII. Literally, “SHUKRA-carrying vessels”.
SHULPHÁ. Anethum sowa Kurz.
SHUSHUNI (SHUSHUNI SHÁK). Blepharis edulis Pers.
SIKTA MARDANA. Massage the body with a wet towel in the same manner as prescribed after ásanas. (For massage after ásanas, see Ananda Marga Spiritual and Social Practices, 2nd ed., Part II appendices.)
SOṊDÁL. Cassia fistula Linn.
SUPÁRI. Areca nut, Areca catechu Linn. Areca nut is sometimes called “betel nut” because it is often taken with betel (Piper betle Linn.), but it is not botanically related to betel.

TELÁKUCÁ. Coccinia indica W. & A.
TEṊTUL. Tamarind, Tamarindus indicas Linn.
THÁNKUNI. There are two species, Centella asiatica (Linn.) urban and Centella japonica. It is not clear whether the author intended to prescribe only one of the two species. Probably either of the two would serve the purpose.
TIL, KRŚŃA. Black sesame. Sesame is Sesamum indicum DC.
TRIPHALÁ. Emblic myrobalan (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.), myrobalan (Terminalia chebula Retz.) and BAHERÁ (Terminalia belerica Roxb.) in equal portions.
TOMATOES. Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
TRISHIRÁSIIJA. Euphorbia antiquorum Linn.
TULASII. Basil, Ocimum sanctum Linn.
TULASII, KRŚŃA. Black basil, Ocimum sanctum Linn.

UCCHE. Momordica dioica Roxb. (M. charantia Linn. is karalá, M. cochinchinensis Spreng. is known as buno ucche).

VÁSAKA. Adhatoda vasica Nees.
VÁYU, PITTA, KAPHA AND RAKTA. Váyu comprises (1) the ten basic energy flows in the body, performing specific functions; (2) the gas that is created in the digestive tract, lungs, etc., when the energy flows become distorted. Pitta is the expression of the luminous (fire) factor in the human body, responsible for digestion and preservation of body heat. Examples of pitta are the liver bile and pancreatic juice. Kapha denotes mucus, phlegm, and all physical factors (such as some factors of the blood) which tend to create mucus. Rakta is blood. For further explanation of váyu please see P.R. Sarkar, “Life, Death and Saḿskára”, in Idea and Ideology.
VIŔI. A kind of slender cigarette rolled in a tree leaf, usually inhaled. (Most viŕi are rolled from tendu leaves from the tree Diospyros melonoxylon Roxb.)