Charaka Samhita. Part I, Chapter 18 / Translation from Sanskrit, Introductory Article and Commentaries by D. Burba

The publication presents the first Ukrainian translation of the eighteenth chapter of the first part of the fundamental Sanskrit treatise on Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) Charaka Samhita. (For previous chapters, see two previous issues of the journal “Eastern World”, issues 2–4 for 2024, and issues for 2017). The text was most likely written in the 1st century CE. The translation is of great importance for acquaintance of Ukrainian readers with medical conceptions and life of Ancient India. The eighteenth chapter deals with so-called oedemas, which also include various tumours, granulomas, chemical and thermal burns, bloating, etc. The author believes that these diseases which differ in name and symptoms should still be called oedemas “because of as swelling as a characteristic sign in common”. All “oedemas” are divided into exogenous and endogenous. The former arise because of external influence of various traumatic factors on the human body, while the latter are formed inside the body. Their appearance can be provoked by improper administration of oleation, fomentation, emesis, purgation and enema, adoption of improper post-therapeutic dietetic programme, as well as some diseases. However, in Ayurveda, the main cause of disorders is considered to be an imbalance of doshas which are analogues of humors mentioned in the works of Hippocrates. The chapter describes complications from “oedemas” and provides their classification by location, shape and colour. The author of the manuscript acknowledges that there is no clear, established terminology for all diseases. Some diseases are defined as incurable; however, some of them are amenable to palliative treatment. It is interesting that one of the methods of treatment is such a traditional (since the times of the Atharvaveda) remedy as incantations. The chapter ends with a summary list of its content.