What to Do After Eating in the Bhavaprakasha: Shatapada, Vama Parshva and the Agastya Verse

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ें: खाने के बाद क्या करें: भावप्रकाश में शतपद, वाम पार्श्व और अगस्त्य का श्लोक

📖 27 min read · Bhavaprakasha, Purva Khanda, Dinacharya, verses 241–271 and the couplet after them (printed pages 227–233 of a Hindi-commentary edition)

What to Do After Eating, in the Bhavaprakasha's Order

The block opens with evam bhuktva, "having eaten in this way", and runs as one sequence:

1. Rinse (241). Take something dry, clear what stuck to the teeth, then do achamana, the ritual rinse.
2. The teeth (242–243). Ease out food from between the teeth slowly, or the mouth begins to smell; leave alone a coating that will not come off.
3. Eyes and Agastya (244). Touch the eyes with wet hands; remember Agastya and the others who "bring ease".
4. Two verses and five names (245–247). Vishnu is the self, the food and its change; Agasti, Agni and the submarine fire are asked to burn up the meal; five names are to be remembered every day.
5. The stomach (248). Stroke the stomach (udara) with your own hand and do light work, without dozing.
6. The clock (249). Kapha rises just after the meal, pitta while it is half-cooked, vata once it is digested.
7. Clearing kapha (250–268). Smoke, or something pungent or astringent, with a betel leaf among the choices, followed by seventeen verses on tambula.
8. A hundred steps (269–270). Walk a hundred steps slowly; sitting brings drowsiness, lying plumpness, strolling long life, and death runs after the runner.
9. The left side (271 and a couplet). Eight breaths on the back, sixteen on the right, thirty-two on the left, then sleep as you like, because the fire sits on the left, above the navel.

That is the text's answer to what to do after eating. Most of it is older than Bhavamishra, and what he changed, dropped and added is the story of this page.

Where These Verses Sit

The Bhavaprakasha is Bhavamishra's sixteenth-century compendium; our overview of the Bhavaprakasha describes the whole work. Its first part, the Purva Khanda, holds a daily routine (dinacharya) with a long passage on the meal, which we are reading in order: the verses on two meals and the order of tastes are in our page on bhojana vidhi, those on how much to eat in our page on kshirantam ahara.

This page takes thirty-one numbered verses (241 to 271) and one unnumbered couplet, on printed pages 227 to 233 of a Hindi-commentary edition. Every Sanskrit line printed here was read on that edition's page images or copied from a source we name; where the scan cannot be read with confidence, we say so. The Bhavaprakasha text on Sanskrit Wikisource numbers the same stretch 168 to 200; we use our edition's numbers.

Achamana, the Teeth and Wet Hands to the Eyes (Verses 241–244)

Verse 241
एवं भुक्त्वा समाचामेद्रूक्षग्रहणपूर्वकम् । भोजने दन्तलग्नानि निर्हृत्याचमनं चरेत् ॥
evam bhuktva samachamed ruksha-grahana-purvakam, bhojane danta-lagnani nirhrityachamanam charet
Our rendering: having eaten in this way, one should rinse, first taking something dry; having removed what stuck to the teeth during the meal, one should perform the rinse (achamana).

What is the "something dry" (ruksha)? The edition's Hindi note only repeats the phrase. We do not guess.

Verse 242
दन्तान्तरगतं चान्नं शोधनेनाहरेच्छनैः । कुर्यादनिर्हृतं तद्धि मुखस्यानिष्टगन्धताम् ॥
dantantara-gatam channam shodhanenaharech chhanaih, kuryad anirhritam taddhi mukhasyanishta-gandhatam
Our rendering: food that has gone between the teeth should be drawn out slowly with a cleaner; left there, it gives the mouth an unpleasant smell.

This verse is Sushruta's, word for word: Sutrasthana 46.483 (the verse number on Sanskrit Wikisource), in his chapter on food and drink. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna's English (Volume I, printed page 561) reads: Food adhering to the teeth should be gently drawn out by means of a tooth-pick, inasmuch as if not removed a kind of fetor is produced in the mouth. Our edition's Hindi gloss names the tool: सींकसे, "with a thin stick".

Verse 243
दन्तलग्नमनिर्हार्यं लेपं मन्येत दन्तवत् । न तत्र बहुशः कुर्याद्यत्नं निर्हरणं प्रति ॥
danta-lagnam anirharyam lepam manyeta dantavat, na tatra bahushah kuryad yatnam nirharanam prati
Our rendering: a coating stuck to the teeth that cannot be removed should be regarded as the tooth itself; one should not make repeated efforts to remove it.

We did not find this gentle line in Sushruta. The scan spaces it "manye tadantavat", which makes no sense; the Wikisource text has the reading above. And the Hindi gloss on it has two blank gaps where type seems to have dropped out, so that as printed it says the coating should be removed, while the gloss on the next line says not to try hard. We follow the Sanskrit. Vidyanath's notes to Vagbhata give verse 242's habit in prose (Remove the residue of food by cleaning the teeth with the help of tooth pricks.), a translator's summary, not a verse.

Verse 244, first line
आचम्य जलयुक्ताभ्यां पाणिभ्यां चक्षुषी स्पृशेत् ।
achamya jala-yuktabhyam panibhyam chakshushi sprishet
Our rendering: having rinsed, one should touch the two eyes with both hands, still wet.

Here the Wikisource text adds a line about rubbing the palms together and putting them to the eyes, with a promise attached. Our print goes straight on to Agastya, and so do we.

A lota and a bowl of water on a basin's stone ledge: verse 241 asks for the rinse (achamana) once the teeth are clear.

The Agastya Verse Is Aurva's: Vishnu Purana 3.11 (Verses 244–246)

The second line of verse 244 turns to memory: bhuktva cha samsmaren nityam agastyadin sukhavahan, "having eaten, always remember Agastya and the others, who bring ease". The next two verses supply the words.

Verse 245
विष्णुरात्मा तथा चान्नं परिणामश्च वै यथा । सत्येन तेन मद्भुक्तं जीर्यत्वन्नमिदं तथा ॥
vishnur atma tatha channam parinamash cha vai yatha, satyena tena mad-bhuktam jiryatv annam idam tatha
Our rendering: as Vishnu is the self, and the food, and its change, so by that truth may this food I have eaten be digested.

Verse 246
अगस्तिरग्निर्बडवानलश्च भुक्तं ममान्नं ज्वलयत्वशेषम् । सुखं च मे तत्परिणामसम्भवं यच्छन्त्वरोगं मम चास्तु देहम् ॥
agastir agnir badavanalash cha bhuktam mamannam jvalayatv ashesham, sukham cha me tat-parinama-sambhavam yacchantv arogam mama chastu deham
Our rendering: may Agasti, Agni and the submarine fire burn up the whole of the food I have eaten, grant me the ease that comes of its change, and may my body stay free of illness.

Neither verse is Bhavamishra's own. Both come from the Vishnu Purana, book 3, chapter 11, where King Sagara asks about a householder's conduct and the sage Aurva answers. In Aurva's account of the meal the prayer is verse 95 of the chapter (the Purana's text on Sanskrit Wikisource):

अगस्तिरग्निर्वडवानलश्च भुक्तं मयान्नं जरयत्वशेषम् । सुखं च मे तत्परिणामसम्भवं यच्छन्त्वरोगं मम चास्तु देहे

The wording is close, and one difference matters. The Purana asks the fires to digest (jarayatu) the food; our print asks them to burn it up (jvalayatu), and its Hindi gloss agrees, rendering it as burning to ash. The Wikisource Bhavaprakasha reads jarayantu, "may they digest". Both words fit the metre, so the metre cannot choose.

Verse 245 is the Purana's verse 97 with small changes, one of which matters: the Purana's विष्णुरत्ता तथैवान्नं, "Vishnu is the eater, and also the food", becomes vishnur atma, "Vishnu is the self". Our print also puts verse 97 before verse 95.

Why these three? Agni is fire itself, and Agastya is the sage verse 244 names first. The third, the submarine fire in Monier-Williams's gloss, has a link to the speaker. Summarising a Mahabharata legend, Monier-Williams writes that from Aurva's wrath came a flame that threatened to destroy the world, and that the world was spared because Aurva, at his kinsmen's urging, did cast it into the ocean, where it remained concealed, and having the face of a horse. The same entry adds that Aurva was afterwards preceptor to Sagara. So the prayer is taught by the sage whose own anger, in the legend, became the fire under the sea that it asks to consume a meal. The Purana does not point this out; we do.

Dusk over a calm sea. Verse 246 calls on Agasti, Agni and vadavanala, the fire said to live under the ocean.

Angaraka, Agasti, Pavaka, Surya and the Ashvins (Verse 247)

Verse 247
अङ्गारकमगस्तिं च पावकं सूर्यमश्विनौ । पञ्चैतान् संस्मरेन्नित्यं भुक्तं तस्याशु जीर्यति ॥
angarakam agastim cha pavakam suryam ashvinau, panchaitan samsmaren nityam bhuktam tasyashu jiryati
Our rendering: Angaraka, Agasti, Pavaka, Surya and the two Ashvins: whoever remembers these five every day, what he eats is quickly digested.

This verse is not in the Purana chapter, and we did not find it in any older source we read. The two Ashvins count as one of the five. Monier-Williams gives angaraka as heated charcoal and the planet Mars (the Hindi gloss says मंगल, Mars); pavaka is pure, clear, bright, shining, a name of Agni; Surya is the sun; and the Ashvins are considered as the physicians of heaven. Our reading, flagged as ours: a live coal and a fire, the sun, a pair of healers, and Agastya, the one name in all three verses that call on helpers (244, 246 and 247).

Stroking the Udara, and a Note on Atandrita (Verse 248)

Verse 248
इत्युच्चार्य स्वहस्तेन परिमार्ज्य तथोदरम् । अनायासप्रदायीनि कुर्यात्कर्माण्यतन्द्रितः ॥
ity uchcharya sva-hastena parimarjya tathodaram, anayasa-pradayini kuryat karmany atandritah
Our rendering: having said this, and having stroked the stomach (udara) with one's own hand, one should do work that brings no strain, without dozing.

This is the Purana's verse 98 with one verb form changed (parimrijya to parimarjya). The Purana's next line fills the rest of the day with the pastime of good books, so there atandrita reads as "unflagging". Our edition's note (ka) reads it narrowly:

अतन्द्रितः निरन्तरं जाग्रत् तिष्ठेन्न तु स्वप्यात् । भुक्तमात्रस्य तु स्वपाद्धन्त्यग्निं कुपितः कफः इति वचनात् ।
Our rendering: atandrita means to stay continuously awake, not to sleep, because of the saying "for one who has just eaten, kapha stirred up by sleep kills the fire".

Vagbhata agrees in verse: at Ashtanga Hridaya Sutrasthana 8.54 everyone is to avoid talking, the road and lying down (भाष्याध्वशयनं त्यजेत्) after eating or drinking, and Vidyanath's English, under Soon after taking food and drinks—, has the plain line Should not sleep. The Harita Samhita (first section, chapter 23, verse 47, on Sanskrit Wikisource) adds a detail: after rinsing, the stomach is stroked with the right hand.

भुक्त्वोपरि समाचम्य मार्जयेद्दक्षिणाकरैः पुनर्दक्षिणहस्तेन मार्जयेदुदरं सुधीः

Kapha, Then Pitta, Then Vata: the After-Meal Clock (Verse 249)

Verse 249
जीर्णेऽन्ने वर्धते वायुर्विदग्धे पित्तमेधते । भुक्तमात्रे कफश्चापि क्रमोऽयं भोजनोपरि ॥
jirne 'nne vardhate vayur vidagdhe pittam edhate, bhukta-matre kaphash chapi kramo 'yam bhojanopari
Our rendering: when the food is digested, vata increases; while it is half-cooked (vidagdha), pitta grows; and just after eating, kapha. This is the order after a meal.

The note (kha) explains vidagdha: विदग्धे किञ्चित्पक्वे किञ्चिदपक्वे, "partly cooked, partly uncooked". The verse is Sushruta's again, Sutrasthana 46.484, and Bhishagratna's English keeps the verse's order, last stage first: The Vayu is increased after the completion of digestion, the Pittam, during the continuance of the process, while the Kapham is increased immediately after the act of eating.

The last quarter is where Bhavamishra changes it. Sushruta's line ends तस्माद्भुक्तेरितं कफम्, "therefore the kapha stirred by eating ...", and runs on into his next verse, which says what to do about it. Bhavamishra closes the line with kramo 'yam bhojanopari, "this is the order after a meal", and turns Sushruta's pittam eva tu into pittam edhate, "pitta grows". The neat ending has a cost, which the next verse shows.

Clearing Kapha: Dhuma, Five Aromatics and a Missing Word (Verses 250–251)

The edition heads the next two verses भुक्तमात्रे सञ्जातस्य कफस्य प्रतीकारमाह, "he states the counter to the kapha that arises just after eating".

Verses 250–251
धूमेनापोह्य हृद्यैर्वा कषायकटुतिक्तकैः । पूगकर्पूरकस्तूरीलवङ्गसुमनःफलैः ॥ फलैः कटुकषायैर्वा मुखवैशद्यकारिभिः । ताम्बूलपत्रसहितैः सुगन्धैर्वा विचक्षणः ॥
dhumenapohya hridyair va kashaya-katu-tiktakaih, puga-karpura-kasturi-lavanga-sumanah-phalaih, phalaih katu-kashayair va mukha-vaishadya-karibhih, tambula-patra-sahitaih sugandhair va vichakshanah
Our rendering: having driven it off with smoke, or with pleasant things that are astringent, pungent and bitter (areca, camphor, kasturi, clove and nutmeg), or with pungent and astringent fruits that clear the mouth, together with the betel leaf, or with fragrant things, the wise person ...

Driven off what? Apohya, "having driven off", has no object here. In Sushruta it has one: the kapha (kapham) at the end of the line Bhavamishra rewrote, so that Sushruta's lines run on, "therefore the kapha stirred by eating, having driven it off with smoke ...". The edition's note puts the noun back: अपोह्य कफं दूरीकृत्य, "apohya: having driven the kapha away". Bhishagratna's English shows Sushruta whole: Hence, the Kapham is to be subdued after the close of a meal, then a list that includes or by chewing a betel leaf prepared with broken areca nut, camphor, nutmeg, clove, etc., or by smoking.

The note names areca as kramuka and the "flower-fruit" (sumanah-phala) as jatiphala, nutmeg, adds cardamom (ela) and haritaki among the fruits, and says the smoke is that of aguru and the like.

The list is Sushruta's (Sutrasthana 46.485) with one change: पूगकङ्कोलकर्पूरलवङ्गसुमनःफलैः has kankola (Monier-Williams: cubeb) where Bhavamishra has kasturi. Kasturi usually means musk, but Monier-Williams also lists the plant Hibiscus Abelmoschus and gives lata-kasturi as musk-creeper, a kind of aromatic medicinal plant. Sushruta's own betel recipe (Chikitsa Sthana 24.21) names katukahva, and Bhishagratna's English reads A betel-leaf prepared with cloves, camphor, nutmeg (Játi), lime, araca-nut, Kakkola and Katukáhva (Latá-kasturi), etc., should be taken (chewed after meals). So Bhavamishra's kasturi may be the plant rather than the deer's musk; our edition does not say.

Tambula in the Bhavaprakasha: When the Text Says to Chew (Verse 252)

Verse 251 brought in the betel leaf (tambula; Monier-Williams: betel, (esp.) its pungent and aromatic leaf). The text now gives it seventeen verses (252 to 268), the longest stretch of the block. The first says when.

Verse 252, second line
सभायां विदुषां राज्ञां कुर्यात्ताम्बूलचर्वणम् ॥
sabhayam vidusham rajnam kuryat tambula-charvanam
Our rendering: in the assembly of the learned and of kings, one should chew tambula.

The first line lists the other occasions: on getting up from sleep, after a bath, after a meal, after vomiting and in battle, plus one we leave out. Four of them are older. Sushruta's Chikitsa Sthana 24.23 has पथ्यं सुप्तोत्थिते भुक्ते स्नाते वान्ते च मानवे, "wholesome for a person who has woken, eaten, bathed or vomited", and the Ashtanga Sangraha, Sutrasthana 3.37, repeats that line word for word. Bhishagratna's English of the Sushruta verse says the leaf proves wholesome after a bath, after meals, after anointing as well as after rising from sleep, with "anointing" where the Sanskrit on Wikisource has vante, after vomiting; his edition may have read another word. Besides the occasion we leave out, what Bhavamishra adds is company: battle, and the assemblies of scholars and kings.

The Leaf: Bangla Paan and the Old, Pale Leaf (Verses 253–258)

Verse 253 lists the leaf's qualities: sharp, hot, appetising, astringent, laxative, bitter, alkaline, pungent and light, with two further effects left out here. Sushruta's own description of the leaf (Sutrasthana 46.279) overlaps only in part: sharp, hot, pungent, raising pitta, fragrant, clearing, bitter, good for the voice, settling vata and kapha.

Verse 254 says what the leaf removes (kapha, the smell of the mouth, waste, vata, fatigue) and what it gives:

मुखवैशद्यसौगन्ध्यकान्तिसौष्ठवकारकम्
mukha-vaishadya-saugandhya-kanti-saushthava-karakam
Our rendering: it brings clearness and fragrance to the mouth, lustre and grace.

That half-line is Sushruta's word for word (Chikitsa Sthana 24.22), and it returns unchanged, eight verses later, as the first half of verse 262. Verse 255 follows Sushruta's next line (the jaws and teeth, the tongue, excess saliva), drops his "voice", and ends on a claim we leave out.

Verses 256 to 258 have no source we could find. The fresh leaf (256) is sweet with an astringent after-taste, heavy, raises kapha and is "mostly like a leaf vegetable".

Verse 257
वङ्गदेशोद्भवं पर्णं परं कटुरसं सरम् । पाचनं पित्तजनकमुष्णं कफहरं स्मृतम् ॥
vanga-deshodbhavam parnam param katu-rasam saram, pachanam pitta-janakam ushnam kapha-haram smritam
Our rendering: the leaf grown in Vanga (Bengal) is very pungent and laxative, digestive, raises pitta, is hot and takes away kapha.

The edition's Hindi gloss renders the first words as बङ्गला पान अत्यन्त कटुरस, "Bangla paan, extremely pungent". And the old leaf (258), not pungent, small (khullaka; Wikisource: kshullaka), thin and pale, is "especially good"; any other is lesser. So the text ranks them: the fresh leaf heavy, the Bengal leaf strong, the old pale leaf best.

Fresh dark green betel leaves beside older pale ones: verse 256 calls the fresh leaf heavy, verse 258 calls the old pale leaf best.

Puga, Khadira and Churna: Areca, Catechu and Lime (Verses 259–263)

Verse 259
पूगं गुरु हिमं रूक्षं कषायं कफपित्तनुत् । मोहनं दीपनं रुच्यमास्यवैरस्यनाशनम् ॥
pugam guru himam ruksham kashayam kapha-pitta-nut, mohanam dipanam ruchyam asya-vairasya-nashanam
Our rendering: areca (puga) is heavy, cold, dry and astringent, takes away kapha and pitta, is mohana, kindles appetite, is tasty and takes away a bad taste in the mouth.

The word to stop at is mohana, which Monier-Williams defines as depriving of consciousness, bewildering, confusing, perplexing. The modern review cited further down opens its summary on the same point: Areca nut is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances with several hundred million users worldwide, predominantly in southern Asia.

Verse 260 sorts the nut: areca with a hard centre, or boiled, is said to settle all three doshas; the juicy kind is heavy, clogging (abhishyandi) and "greatly destroys the fire".

Verse 261
खदिरः कफपित्तघ्नश्चूर्णं वातबलासनुत् । संयोगतस्त्रिदोषघ्नं सौमनस्यं करोति च ॥
khadirah kapha-pitta-ghnash churnam vata-balasa-nut, samyogatas tri-dosha-ghnam saumanasyam karoti cha
Our rendering: catechu (khadira) takes away kapha and pitta; lime (churna; Monier-Williams: chalk, lime) takes away vata and kapha; together they take away all three and bring good spirits (saumanasya).

Verses 262 and 263 add a timetable: more areca in the morning, catechu at midday, lime at night. The Ashtanga Sangraha (Sutrasthana 3.38) gives the mixture as द्विपत्रं एकं पूगं च सचूर्णखदिरं च तत्, two leaves and one areca with lime and catechu, and Vidyanath's note to Vagbhata has it in English: two betel leaves along with one betel nut, slaked lime and the extract of khadira. The modern description of a quid has the same parts: chewing betel quid, containing fresh, dried or cured areca nut, catechu, slaked lime and flavouring ingredients wrapped in betel leaf. Leaf, nut, catechu, lime: verses 259 to 263, item for item.

Tip, Stalk and Vein: Two Reasons for One Rule (Verses 263–266)

The end of verse 263 and the start of 264 make a rule about the leaf itself:

आयुरग्रे यशो मूले लक्ष्मीर्मध्ये व्यवस्थिता । तस्मादग्रं तथा मूलं मध्यं पर्णस्य वर्जयेत्
ayur agre yasho mule lakshmir madhye vyavasthita, tasmad agram tatha mulam madhyam parnasya varjayet
Our rendering: life sits at the tip, fame at the stalk, Lakshmi (fortune) in the middle; therefore one should discard the tip, the stalk and the middle of the leaf.

A strange reason: if life is at the tip, why throw the tip away? The next line gives a second reason that runs the other way:

पर्णमूले भवेद्व्याधिः पर्णाग्रे पापसम्भवः । चूर्णं पर्णं हरत्यायुः शिरा बुद्धिविनाशिनी
parna-mule bhaved vyadhih parnagre papa-sambhavah, churnam parnam haraty ayuh shira buddhi-vinashini
Our rendering: in the stalk of the leaf lies illness, at its tip the origin of sin; lime and leaf take away life; the vein destroys the intellect.

So the same three parts hold first life, fame and fortune, then illness, sin and a threat to life: on our reading, two traditions joined by one "therefore". The third item differs between printings. Ours has churnam parnam, lime and leaf (the Hindi gloss agrees); Wikisource has पर्णमध्यं हरत्यायुः, "the middle of the leaf takes away life", which keeps the pattern of tip, stalk and middle.

Then the juices, in the rest of verse 265 and the start of 266: the first is like poison, the second loosens the bowels and is hard to digest, and from the third on it may be swallowed, sudha-tulyam rasayanam, "like nectar, a rasayana", the classical word for a rejuvenating preparation, here spent on a mouthful of betel juice.

The Text's Own Warning: Iti or Ati? (Verses 266–268)

Having praised the leaf at length, the text turns on it. The second line of verse 266: tambulam natiseveta na virikto bubhukshitah, "one should not use tambula too much, nor when purged, nor when hungry".

Verse 267
देहदृक्केशदन्ताग्निश्रोत्रवर्णबलक्षयः । ... स्यादिति ताम्बूलचर्वणात्
deha-drik-kesha-dantagni-shrotra-varna-bala-kshayah ... syad iti tambula-charvanat
Our rendering: the decline of the body, the eyesight, the hair, the teeth, the digestive fire, the hearing, the complexion and strength, and three named conditions (left out here), come from chewing tambula.

Our print reads syad iti, which makes the list follow from chewing as such. The Wikisource text ends the line स्यादतिताम्बूलचर्वणात्, with ati, "from too much chewing", and our own edition's Hindi gloss agrees with it: बहुत ताम्बूल के चर्वण से, "from chewing much tambula". One vowel decides whether the harm follows chewing or over-chewing. The line before says "not too much", so ati is the likelier reading; either way, it is the text warning against its own leaf.

Verse 268, first line
ताम्बूलं न हितं दन्तदुर्बलेक्षणरोगिणाम् ।
Our rendering: tambula is not wholesome for those with weak teeth or ailing eyes.

The second line names three more states, विषमूर्च्छामदार्तानां, and two groups we leave out. That quarter-line is Vagbhata's word for word: Ashtanga Hridaya Sutrasthana 2.7 (विषमूर्च्छामदार्तानामपथ्यं ...), which Vidyanath heads Contra-indications for betel chewing. Sushruta's own list follows his recipe, at Chikitsa Sthana 24.24. Bhavamishra's addition to the older lists is the first group, weak teeth: Sushruta names the weak in general (durbala), not their teeth.

What Modern Research Says About Areca Nut

In 2004 the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, reviewed betel-quid and areca-nut chewing (Monographs, Volume 85). Its overall evaluation reads:

Betel quid with tobacco is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Betel quid without tobacco is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Areca nut is carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).

It adds that a common component of all betel-quid preparations is the areca nut. Group 1 is the agency's highest classification. The verdict covers the areca nut on its own and the quid made from it, with or without tobacco: the same nut, catechu and lime that verses 259 to 263 combine, and whose juice verse 266 says may be swallowed from the third on.

So the plain statement, which no verse on this page changes: we do not suggest chewing areca nut (supari), betel quid or any packaged mixture made with areca, with or without tobacco. A classical text describing a habit is not evidence that the habit is safe.

Shatapada: Walking a Hundred Steps After Eating (Verse 269)

Verse 269, first line
भुक्त्वा शतपदं गच्छेच्छनैस्तेन तु जायते ।
bhuktva shatapadam gacchech chhanais tena tu jayate
Our rendering: having eaten, one should walk a hundred steps slowly; by that there arises ...

Many households know the habit by its Marathi name, shatapavali, "a hundred steps" after dinner. The rule is Sushruta's first: his Sutrasthana 46.487 reads भुक्त्वा राजवदासीत यावदन्नक्लमो गतः ततः पादशतं गत्वा वामपार्श्वेन संविशेत्, in Bhishagratna's English: Then the eater should take rest, like a king, till the sense of drowsiness incidental to eating is removed. And: After this he should walk a hundred paces and lie down in a bed on his left side. Bhavamishra keeps the steps and the left side and drops the king: in his version there is no sitting at all, and the next verse has a hard word for it.

The second line of verse 269 says what the walk does, and the printings split:

• Our print: the first word breaks over a line end and we cannot read it with confidence; the line ends शैथिल्यं ग्रीवाजानुकटीमुखम्. The Hindi gloss reads it as a warning, बहुत चलनेसे शरीरका संधान ..., "from walking a lot", the joints of the body, neck, knees, waist and face grow slack.
• The Wikisource text: अन्नसंघातशैथिल्यं ग्रीवाजानुकटीषु च, "a loosening of the food mass, and in the neck, knees and waist".
• Two nineteenth-century dictionaries quoting the verse: the Vachaspatyam prints अङ्गसङ्घातशैथिल्यं ग्रीवाजानुकटीमुखम्, a loosening of the body's frame; the Shabdakalpadruma prints अन्नसंघातशैथिल्यं ग्रीवाजानुकटीसुखम्, the food mass loosened and ease in the neck, knees and waist.

One reading makes the walk a benefit, another a harm. Vagbhata tips the balance. At Ashtanga Hridaya Sutrasthana 8.52 he lists what a drink after the meal does, and the list includes the same phrase, अन्नसङ्घातशैथिल्यविक्लित्तिजरणानि च: the loosening of the food mass, its softening and its digestion. Monier-Williams gives samghata as close union or combination, collection, cluster, heap, mass and shaithilya as looseness, laxity; Vidyanath's English is freer (Helps in proper digestion, assimilation and instant diffusion of the food taken.). Our reading, flagged: the line most likely says the hundred steps loosen the food mass, and our edition's gloss, which reads a harm from walking too much, follows a different word.

A hundred steps is not a journey. Vagbhata forbids the road (adhvan) after eating, which Vidyanath renders Should not walk long distances or travel by vehicles. His note at the end of that chapter says Walk about hundred yards., a translator's summary, not a verse.

An empty verandah, long enough for the hundred slow steps (shatapada) of verse 269.

Sit, Lie, Stroll or Run: Verse 270 and the Harita Samhita

Verse 270
भुक्तोपविशतस्तन्द्रा शयानस्य तु पुष्टता । आयुश्चङ्क्रममाणस्य मृत्युर्धावति धावतः ॥
bhuktopavishatas tandra shayanasya tu pushtata, ayush chankramamanasya mrityur dhavati dhavatah
Our rendering: for one who sits after eating, drowsiness; for one who lies down, plumpness; for one who strolls, long life; and for one who runs, death runs too.

The edition explains the stroller in a bracket: चङ्क्रममाणस्य पदशतं शनैर्गच्छतः, "one who walks a hundred steps slowly". Tandra is, in Monier-Williams, lassitude, exhaustion, laziness. So the verse sets itself against Sushruta's "sit like a king": here the sitter gets drowsiness, the very state Sushruta's sitter (in Bhishagratna's English) was waiting to lose.

The frame of four postures and four results is not Bhavamishra's alone. The Harita Samhita (first section, chapter 23, verse 43, on Sanskrit Wikisource) has it with different results:

भोक्तोपविशति स्थौल्यं बलमुत्तानशायिनः आयुर्वामकटिस्थस्य मृत्युर्धावति धावतः
Our rendering: the one who sits after eating gets bulk, the one lying on his back strength, the one resting on his left side long life, and for the runner, death runs.

The last quarter is the same word for word. But in the Harita Samhita long life goes to the person resting on the left side; in the Bhavaprakasha it goes to the one who strolls. The sitter gets bulk in one and drowsiness in the other (one dictionary quoting the Bhavaprakasha even prints tundam, a paunch, for tandra). Six verses later the same Harita chapter lists running among the things to avoid just after a meal. Our page on vyayama in the Bhavaprakasha reads the same book on exercise in general.

Vama Parshva: Eight Breaths, Sixteen, Thirty-Two (Verse 271 and the Couplet)

Verse 271
श्वासानष्टौ समुत्तानस्तान् द्विः पार्श्वे तु दक्षिणे । ततस्तद्द्विगुणान् वामे पश्चात्स्वप्याद्यथासुखम् ॥
shvasan ashtau samuttanas tan dvih parshve tu dakshine, tatas tad-dvigunan vame pashchat svapyad yatha-sukham
Our rendering: lying on the back, eight breaths; twice that on the right side; then twice that again on the left; after that, one may sleep as one likes.

The numbers double: eight, sixteen, thirty-two, fifty-six breaths in all, the longest stretch on the left. The Harita Samhita (chapter 23, verse 46) has the order without the counting:

भोजनोर्ध्वं चंक्रमते शतपादं शनैः शनैः पश्चादुत्तानशयनं ततो वामे क्षणं स्वपेत्
Our rendering: after the meal one walks a hundred steps, slowly, slowly; then lies on the back; then sleeps a moment on the left.

Then the reason, in a couplet our edition prints without a number (the Wikisource text numbers it 200):

वामदिशायामनलो नाभेरूर्ध्वेऽस्ति जन्तूनाम् । तस्मात्तु वामपार्श्वे शयीत भुक्तप्रपाकार्थम् ॥
vama-dishayam analo nabher urdhve 'sti jantunam, tasmat tu vama-parshve shayita bhukta-prapakartham
Our rendering: in living beings the fire (anala) is on the left, above the navel; therefore one should lie on the left side, for the full digestion of what has been eaten.

Sushruta says "lie down on the left side" and gives no reason. The couplet supplies one, and it is written differently from everything around it. Its neighbours are in the eight-syllable anushtubh; counted by syllable weight, both halves of the couplet weigh twenty-seven matras, the pattern of the arya family called upagiti. That, with the missing number, suggests a line brought in from elsewhere, though we could not find where. The Marathi word vamkukshi, a short rest on the left after lunch, names the same habit. For where the Bhavaprakasha places the digestive fire, see our page on jatharagni in the Bhavaprakasha.

One tension remains. The note on verse 248 says to stay awake after eating; verse 271 ends "then sleep as you like", without saying whether it means the afternoon or the night. Our page on nidra in the Charaka Samhita reads the classical argument about sleeping by day.

A rope charpai with one pillow: verse 271 counts breaths on the back, then the right side, then the left.

Bhuktva, Verse by Verse: the Source Map

The whole block as a map. "Same" means the same words, or nearly; "partly" means the same idea or frame with something changed, dropped or added; "none found" means nothing in the other texts we read: Sushruta's Sutrasthana 46 and Chikitsa Sthana 24, the Vishnu Purana 3.11, Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hridaya (Sutrasthana 2 and 8) and Ashtanga Sangraha (Sutrasthana 3), and the Harita Samhita's chapter 23. Thirty-two rows: three the same, seventeen partly, twelve with nothing found.

Two patterns stand out. The meal half of the block (241 to 251) is almost all borrowed, from Sushruta and the Purana. The betel half (253 to 267) is mostly new, or from sources we did not find: the Bengal leaf, the old pale leaf, areca's mohana, the timetable, the leaf's parts and the three juices.

What We Left Out

We left out, and say so here: one occasion in verse 252's list; one word and one effect in verse 253; the last claim of verse 255; the three named conditions of verse 267 and two of the groups in verse 268; and the line the Wikisource text adds to verse 244, with its promise about the eyes. The verses give no quantities of anything, and we add none; the "two leaves and one areca" of the Ashtanga Sangraha is quoted as history, not as a measure. Nothing on this page is a preparation.

Questions We Could Not Settle

• What is the "dry thing" of verse 241? The edition does not say.
• Is the kasturi of verse 250 musk or the musk-creeper? Bhishagratna's gloss on Sushruta's recipe points to the plant.
• Does verse 246 ask for "burn" (our print) or "digest" (the Purana)?
• Verse 265: "lime and leaf" (our print) or "the middle of the leaf" (Wikisource)?
• Verse 267: iti or ati? Probably ati.
• Verse 269: what is the first word of the second line in our print?
• Where does the couplet on the left side come from? We could not trace it.

From Our Shelf

A short note on what we make, kept apart from the reading above. Ayurveda Hub is a small Indian maker of everyday household and grooming goods. The single item below has nothing to do with this page; if it does not interest you, please skip it.

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More to Read on This Topic

Charaka's list of eight things to hold in the mouth, among them the betel leaf, is read in our page on Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 5, which carries its own areca note.

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