THE
SUSHRUTA SAMHITA
NIDANA STHANAM.
CHAPTER I.
Now we shall discourse on the Vatavyadhi- (diseases of the nervous system) Nidanam*[1].
Metrical text:— Having clasped the feet of the holy Dhanvantari, who had arisen out of the primordial ocean with the pitcher of ambrosia on his head, and who was the foremost of all knowers of truth, Sus'hruta interrogated him as follows : — "Tell me,0 thou, the foremost of discoursers, all about the different locations and functions of the bodily Vayu (nerve force), both in its normal and agitated conditions, (as well as when it changes its natural seat through a concourse of disturbing or aggravating causes). Instruct mc on the nature of distempers, which result from its deranged condition." 2.
The holy Dhanvantari, the greatest of all healers, having listened to the foregoing words of Sus'hruta, replied as follows: — This vital Vayu (nerve force), which courses through the body, is self-begotten in its origin, and
- ↑ *The term Nidanam, usually translated as Pathology, is meant to include factors, which fall within the respective provinces of Pathology, Etiology, Symptomology and Pathognomy as well. For the meaning and functions of Vayu see Introduction vol. I. pp. xli. — xlii.
