Susruta Samhita - Mandhata Global

THE
SUSHRUTA SAMHITA
NIDANA STHANAM.
rMAPTER I.
Now wc shall discourse on the Vatavyadhi-
(discascs of the nervous system) Nidaaam*.
IVIctrical text:—HavinL; 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.O 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.