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Caraka opposes the view of those who think that the body is nothing but a collection of srotas, for the simple reason that the substances which pass through these srotas and the parts of the body where they are attached are certainly different from the svotas themselves. ‘There are separate srotas for the flow of prana, water, food-juice, blood, flesh, fat, bony materials, marrow, semen, urine, excreta and sweat; vata, pitta and slesman, however, flow through the body and all the channels (sarva-srotamsi ayana-bhiitani). For the supply of materials for the suprasensual elements of the body, such as manas, etc., the whole of the living body serves as a channel. The heart is the root of all 1 dhmanad dhamanyah sravandat srotamsi saranat Sirah. Caraka-samhita, 1. B00 TT: Belbid sit Sena 8 Dosandm tu sarva-sarira-caratvena yatha-sthiila-sroto ’bhidhane ’pi sarva- srotamsy eva gamanartham vaksyante. . .vdtadindm api pradhana bhitadhamanyah santy eva. Cakrapani’s comment on ibid. 4 Ghara-parinama-raso hi srotasam chidra-riipam panthadnam vind gantum na Saknoti, na ca srotas chidra-pathena gamanam vind tad-uttarottara-dhatutvena parinamati, etc. Gangadhara’s Falpa-kalpa-taru on ibid. 5 Gangadhara, in commenting on this passage (Caraka-samhitd, 111. 5. 7), ‘‘ tadvad atindriyanam punah sattvadinam kevalam cetanavac chartram ayana-bhi- tam adhisthana-bhitam ca,” says, ‘‘mana atmda srotra-sparsana-nayana-rasana- ghrana-huddhy-ahankaradinam kevalam cetanadvat sajivam Sarira-sroto "yana- bhittam adhisthana-bhitam ca.’ There are several passages in Caraka where we hear of mano-vaha currents (currents carrying manas); if manas, buddhi, ahankara, etc. can all be carried in currents, they must be considered as having some material spatial existence. These manas, buddhi and ahankadra may be atindriya, but they are not on that account non-physical. 348 Speculations in the Medical Schools [cH. prana channels, i.e. the channels of the prana vayu; for vayu in general moves through all parts of the body. When these are affected, there is either too much or too little respiration; the respiration may be very slow or very quick, and it is attended with sound and pain. From these signs therefore one can infer that the prana channels have been affected. The source of water channels is the palate, and the seat of thirst is in the heart (kloma)'. When these are affected, the tongue, palate, lips, throat and kloma become dried up, and there is great thirst. The stomach is the source of all currents carrying food, and, when these are affected, there is no desire for food, but indigestion, vomiting and the like. The heart is the source, and the ten dhamanis are the paths, of the chyle (rasa) currents. The liver and spleen are the source of blood currents. The tendons and skin are the sources of flesh currents. The kidneys are the sources of fat channels; fat and pelvis, of bone channels ; the bones and joints, of marrow channels; the testes and penis, of semen channels; the bladder, the pubic and the iliac regions, of urine channels; the intestines and the rectum, of the excreta channels, and the fat and pores of hairs, of perspiration channels?. It is curious, however, to note that, in spite of the fact that here the sivas and dhamanis are regarded as synonymous, their number is differently counted in Iv. 7. 13, where it is said that there are two hundred dhamanis and seven hundred Sirds, and the finer endings of these are counted as 29,956. It is reasonable to suppose, in accordance with the suggestions found in the Atharva- Veda, that, though the dhamanis and sirads were regarded by Caraka as having the same functions, the former were larger than the latter’. Gangadhara, in commenting on this passage, says that Siras, dhamanis and srotas are different on account of their being different in number and of their having different functions and different appearances. It is well known that a distinction between Siras and dhamanis is drawn by Susruta, to which I shall presently refer, but Caraka positively denies any such distinction; and this 1 Caraka-samhita, 111. 5. 10. Cakrapani explains it (kloma) as hrdaya-stham pipasa-sthanam, and Gangadhara as the point of conjunction between the throat and the heart (kanthorasoh sandhih). 2 The synonyms for srotas given by Caraka are sira, dhamani, rasa-vahini, nadi, panthd, marga, sarira-chidra, samvrtdsamvrtani (open at the root, but closed at the end), sthana, Gsaya and ntketa. 3 There is one passage of Drdhabala (Caraka-samhita, v1. 29. 23) which seems to draw a distinction between sivas and dhamanis; for there, as a symptom of a disease, it is said that the sirds have expanded (aydama) and the dhamanis have become contracted (sankoca). XIII] The Circulatory and the Nervous System 349 is accepted by his commentator Cakrapani also!. Gangadhara is unable to point out any passage in Caraka to prove his opinion or to state more explicitly what is the difference of functions and appearances between the dhamanis and sivas. In fact Gangadhara’s remarks are directly borrowed from Susruta, 111. 9. 3, without acknowledgment, and it is very surprising that he should not know the difference of views on this point between Caraka and Susruta and should try to support Caraka by a quotation from Susruta on the very point on which they materially differ. Susruta refers to Caraka’s view that sivas, srotas and dharmanis are the same and opposes it, saying that they are different in appearance, number and functions. Dalhana, in explaining this, says that the siras carry vata, pitta, slesman, blood, etc., and are rosy, blue, white and red, whereas the dhamanis that carry sense-im- pressions of sound, etc. have no distinctive colour, and the srotas have the same colour as the dhatus which flow through them. Again, the principal strds are forty in number, the principal dhamanis twenty-four and the principal srotas twenty-two in number. The sivas permit us to contract or expand our limbs or perform other motor functions, and they allow the mind and senses to operate in their own ways and serve also to fulfil other functions of moving rapidly (prasyandana), etc., when vayu works in them. When pitta flows through the sirds, they appear shining, create desire for food, increase digestive fire and health. When slesman passes through them, they give an oily appearance to the body, firmness of joints and strength. When blood passes through them, they become coloured and filled also with the different dhadtus and produce the sense-cognition of touch. Vayu, pitta, slesman and blood—any one of these may flow through any and every siva?. The dhamanis are more like sensory nerves, since they carry sensations of sound, colour, taste and smell (Sabda-riipa-rasa- gandha-vahatvadikam dhamaninam). 'The srotas carry prana, food, water, chyle, blood, flesh and fat®. It is on account of their close proximity, similar functions, fineness (sauksmyat), and also because of the fact that they have been referred to in similar terms by older authorities, that they have sometimes been regarded as perform- ing the same work, though their functions are really different*. 1 na ca Carake Susruta iva dhamani-sird-srotasam bhedo vivaksitah. Cakra- pani’s commentary on Caraka, Ul. 5. 3. 2 Susruta-samhita, 111.7. 8-17. 3 Dalhana on ibid. 111. 9. 3. 4 Ibid. 350 Speculations in the Medical Schools [cH. Dalhana, in explaining this, says that, as, when a bundle of grass is burning, the burning of each separate blade of grass cannot be perceived on account of their contiguity, so the s7ras, dhamanis and srotas are situated so close to one another that it is very difficult to observe their separate functions and work. Sira, srotas, marga, kha and dhamani are the general names used to denote the canals or ducts of the body}. It is on account of the similarity of action of all these ducts that their functions are sometimes confused. The dhamanis start from the navel; ten proceed to the upper part of the body, ten to the lower part and four crosswise (tir- yag-gah). Those ten which go to the upper part of the body, branch out, are divided into three classes, and are thirty in number. Of these there are altogether ten for carrying vata, pitta, kapha, Sonita and rasa, two for each; there are eight for carrying Sabda, riipa, rasa and gandha, two for each; there are two for the organ of speech, two for making noise (ghosa), as distin- guished from speech; two for going to sleep, two for being awake; two for bearing tears, two for carrying milk in women, and it is the same two dhamanis that carry the semen in men. It is by these dhamanis that the body on the upper side of the navel (e.g. sides, back, chest, shoulders, hands, etc.) is held fast to the lower part. The carrying of vata, etc. is the common quality of all these dhamanis. Those dhamanis which branch out downwards are thirty in number. They eject vdta, urine, excreta, semen, menstrual blood, etc. downwards. They are connected with the place of pitta (pittasaya), draw downwards the materials not fit for being ab- sorbed, and nourish the body with the assimilable products of digestion. The dhamanis connected with the pittasaya carry the food-juice throughout the body, as soon as it is digested by the action of heat, by supplying it to the upper circulatory dhamanis and through them to the heart, which is designated as the seat of rasa (rasa-sthana)?. Ten dhamanis carry vata, pitta, sonita, 1 Thus Dalhana remarks: akasiyavakasanam dehe namani dehinam Sirah srotamsi margah kham dhamanyah. 2 Susruta, Sarira, 1x. 7 and 8; see also Dalhana’s commentary on it. The apertures of some dhamanis by which the food-juice is circulated through the body are as fine as lotus fibres, and some grosser than them, as the apertures of lotus stalks.