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XIII] The Theory of Rasas and their Chemistry 359 if different rasas are mixed together, the mixed rasa itself is not entitled to be counted as a separate rasa; for its qualities are just as the sum total of the qualities of the different rasas which are its constituents, and no independent work can be attributed to this mixed rasa (na samsystānām rasānām karmopadišanti buddhimantaḥ), as in the case of a compound of two or more substances, as mentioned above (vicāra).
Though on account of the predominance of one or the other of them they are called earthy (pārthiva), watery (āpya), fiery (āgneya), airy (vāyavya) or ethereal (ākāśātmaka), yet all substances are compounded of the five elements. All substances, whether animate or inanimate, are to be considered as medicines (auşadha), provided they are applied in the proper way (yukti) and for specific purposes (artha). A substance can be a medicine only when it is applied in the proper way and for specific purposes; nothing can unconditionally be considered a medicine. The medicative influence is exerted both by virtue of the specific agency of a substance (dravya-prabhāva) and by the specific agency of its qualities, as also by their joint influencel. The action of medicines is called karman, its potency vīrya, the place where they operate adhikaraṇa, the time of operation kāla, the mode of operation upāya, and the result achieved phala.
As regards the origin of rasas, it is suggested that water gets mixed with the five elements in the air and also after its fall on the ground. These rasas nourish the bodies of all plants and animals. All the five elements are present in all rasas; but in some rasas some of the elements predominate, and in accordance with this there are differences among the various rasas. Thus, with the predominance of soma there is a sweet taste, with the predominance of earth and fire an acid taste, with water and fire a saline taste, with air and fire, hot and pungent, with air and ākāśa, bitter, with air and earth, astringent. The different elements
1 The medicinal effect of substances may be distinguished from the medicinal effect of qualities, as when by certain stones (mani) poison may be removed or by the use of certain amulets certain diseases may be cured. Again, there may be cases where simply by the application of heat a certain disease may be cured, irrespective of the substance which possesses heat as its property. It seems that only the sense-properties and mechanical properties are here counted as gunas; other kinds of properties were considered as being due to the thing (dravya) itself. For, in addition to the sense-properties, the twenty qualities, guru, laghu, sīta, uşna, snigdha, rūkşa, manda, tīksna, sthira, sāra, mydu, kathina, visada, picchila, ślaksna, khara, sūksma, sthūla, sandra and drava, are counted as gunas (Caraka-samhitā, 1. i. 48; 1. 25. 35; 1. 26. II).
