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XII] Practice of Medicine in the Atharva-Veda 297 is a charm for stopping blood from an injury of the veins or arteries or for stopping too much hemorrhage of women. In the case of injuries a handful of street-dust is to be thrown on the place of injury or a bandage is to be tied with sticky mud?. 1. 22 is a charm against heart-disease and jaundice-hairs of a red cow are to be drunk with water and a piece of a red cow's skin is to be tied as an amulet. It is prayed that the red colour of the sun and the red cow may come to the patient's body and the yellow colour due to jaundice may go to birds of yellow colour. I. 23, which mentions kilāsa or kuştha (white leprosy) of the bone, flesh and skin and the disease by which hairs are turned grey (palita), is a charm against these?. The white parts are to be rubbed with an ointment made of cow-dung, bhrnga-rāja, haridrā indravaruni and nilikā until they appear red. The black medicines applied are asked to turn the white parts black. I. 25 is a charm against takman, or fever-the patient has to be sprinkled with the water in which a red-hot iron axe has been immersed. The description shows that it was of the malarial type; it came with cold (sīta) and a burning sensation (soci). Three types of this fever are described: that which came the next day (anyedyuḥ), the second day (ubhayedyuh), or the third day (tytīyaka)3. It was also associated with yellow, probably because it produced jaundice. II. 9 and 10 are charms against hereditary (kşetriya) diseases, leprosy, dyspepsia, etc. Amulets of arjuna wood, barley, sesamum and its flower had also to be tied when the charm was uttered5. 11. 31 is a charm against various diseases due to worms. The priest, when uttering this charm, should hold street-dust in his left hand and press it with his right hand and throw it on the patient. There are visible and invisible worms; some of them are called algandu and others saluna; they are generated in the intestines, head and
1v. 12 is also a charm for the same purpose.
2 VI. 135-137 is also a charm for strengthening the roots of the hair. Kākamāci with bhrnga-rāja has to be drunk.
Namaḥ śttāya takmane namo rūrāya socişe krnomi
yo any'edyur ubhayedyur abhyeti trtiyakāya namo astu takmane. See also A.V. VII. 123. 10, where the third-day fever, fourth-day fever and irregular fevers are referred to.
The word kşetrīya has been irregularly derived in Påņini's rule, v. 2. 92 (kşetriyac parakşetre cikitsyah). Commentaries like the Käsika and the Padamanjarī suggest one of its meanings to be "curable in the body of another birth” (janmāntara-sarīre cikitsyah), that is, incurable. I, however, prefer the meaning "hereditary," as given by Sāyaṇa in his commentary on A.V. II. 10. I, as being more fitting and reasonable.
5 Yaksman is also counted as a ksetriya disease (11, 10. 6).
