garded as the only wine fit for use. Wines may be divided into a variety of species according to their different tastes and strength. The potency of a wine promoted by the bodily heat of a man courses upward through the arteries, and ultimately reaches the heart; and thence, through its own subtility and expansiveness, permeates the entire organism and gradually attacks and overwhelms the organs of sense perception, dethrones the mind from her throne of reason, usurps the permanent seat of intellect, and thus brings on intoxication.*[1] A man of phlegmatic temperament (Kapha-prakriti) can carry his wine well, and symptoms of intoxication usually appear later in him. A man of bilious temparament (Pitta Prakriti), under such circumstances, gets easily intoxicated, while the man whose temperament is marked by a predominance of Vayu is often found to be tipsy after his first cup. A man of a Sattvika frame of mind exhibits under the influence of wine, a decided predilection for fine dress, jollity, and acts of purity and compassion. He sings, or reads, or evinces a strong desire for female company. A man of a Rajasika frame of mind becomes extremely melancholy or pugnacous in his cups, indulges in despondent reveries, and evinces suicidal tendencies; while wine in a subject of a Tamasika cast of mind exhibits the latent and innate
- ↑ *These couplets emphatically prove that the framers of ancient Ayurveda were fully conversant with the circulation of the blood — Tr.
