1891.] Dr. Hoernle— An instalment of the Bower Manuscript. 
175 
(Verse 6.) Where the lions, with thick manes brighter than the 
rays of the moon, and shoulders besmeared with the matter oozing from 
the sides of the heads of elephants in rut, do not brook even the thun¬ 
der of masses of clouds, but roar with mouths like mountainous caverns ; 
(Verse 7.) On that mountain, which is, as it were, the cream of 
the whole earth and , through its gifts of the riches of the world, the 
benefactor of all creatures ,—on its summit, delightful with its trees bear¬ 
ing flowers and fruits at all seasons, there dwell the following Munis of 
enlightened mind : 
(Verse 8.) Atreya, Harita, Parasara, Bhela, Garga, S'ambavya 
Susruta, Vasislitha, Karala and Kapya. Hundreds of times they used 
to roam about, in company of one another, enquiring into the tastes, 
properties, 8 forms, powers and names of all medicinal plants. 
(Verse 9.) Having observed a plant with leaves dark-blue like 
sapphire, and with bulbs white like jasmin, crystal, the white lotus, moon- 
rays, conch-shell or mica, and having his attention aroused thereby , 
Susruta approached the Muni Kasiraja with the enquiry, what it could be. 
Then that holy man replied to him as follows: 
(Verse 10 and 11.) “Of yore the lord of the Asuras himself drank 
the forth-churned nectar; his head the holy Janardana (Vishnu) cut off. 
(no The pharynx remained attached to the severed head; from it drop 
fell on the ground, and those were its {garlic s) first origin. 
8 I propose to read guna (as in verse 13). The MS. reading gann yields no satis¬ 
factory sense. Guna refers to the five elements : earth, water, fire, air and ether, 
which are the constituents of all material objects, and after which, according as one 
or the other predominates in an object, the latter is named. See Susruta I, 41. 
Virya or ‘power’ is that quality by which a drug produces its effect, According to 
some, virya is of two kinds : heating and cooling; others enumerate eight kinds : 
ushma or heating, sita or cooling, snigdha or emmollient, ruksha or drying, visada or 
clearing, pichchhila or lubricating, mridu or mild, and tikshna or sharp. Rasas or 
‘ tastes ’ are said to be five : madhura or sweet, ambla or acid, katu or acrid, tikta or 
bitter, kashdya or astringent, lavana or saline. See Susruta I, 40, 41, 42. The follow¬ 
ing table shows the reducing effects of the tiryas and rasas on the three humours 
according to the Susruta :— 
Humour 
reduced by virya 
or rasa. 
Wind 
ushma, snigdha ^ 
madhura, amla, 
lavana. 
Bile { 
sita, pichchhila, ( 
madhura, tikta, 
mridu ( 
kashdya. 
Phlegm | 
ushma, ruksha, ( 
katu, tikta, 
visada, tikshna ( 
kashdya. 
It will be observed that the effects mentioned in verse 15 agree with this tabic. 
