Sleeping on the Floor in the Bhavaprakasha: Bhu-Shayya, the Eight Winds and the Palm-Leaf Fan

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ें: ज़मीन पर सोना: भावप्रकाश में भू-शय्या, आठ दिशाओं की हवा और ताड़ का पंखा

📖 28 min read · Bhavaprakasha, Purva Khanda, verses 272–292 and the half-line after them (printed pages 233–237 of a Hindi-commentary edition)

Sleeping on the Floor: The Bhavaprakasha's Two Answers

Verse 272 names four places to sleep and gives each a quality:

• Khatva, the cot: it calms all three doshas (tridosha-shamani).
• Tuli, the cotton mattress: it takes away vata and kapha.
• Bhu-shayya, the bed on the ground: brimhani, building (one more word in this line is left out; see What We Left Out).
• Kashtha-patti, the wooden plank: vatala, it raises vata.

Then the edition prints a bracket, anyah punar aha, "another says again", and a second voice: the ground bed raises vata and is very dry. So on sleeping on the floor the text holds two opinions, one after the other, and does not choose. What it says without any doubt comes next: sleeping on a good bed (su-shayya) is pleasing and brings nourishment, sleep and steadiness, and a bad bed does the opposite.

After the beds come pressing the limbs (samvahana); the strong breeze (pravata), still air and the sheltered room (nirvata); the east, south, west and north winds; the four corner winds; the wind from every side; the fans; the rule against sleeping by day except in summer; the people who may sleep by day anyway; habit; sleep after a meal; and a half-line about sitting that turns out to be Charaka's. That is the text's whole answer to sleeping on the floor: building in one voice, drying in another, and a good bed above both.

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 long daily routine that we are reading in order. The verses just before these, on what to do after eating, end with the advice to lie on the left side after a meal; this block begins, naturally enough, with the bed.

This page takes twenty-one numbered verses (272 to 292) and the half-line after them, on printed pages 233 to 237 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. The Bhavaprakasha text on Sanskrit Wikisource numbers the same stretch 201 to 222; we use our edition's numbers. The older texts are quoted from Wikisource's Sanskrit, with Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna's English for Sushruta, Vidyanath's for Vagbhata and the CSRTSDC's for Charaka.

Khatva, Tuli, Bhu-Shayya, Kashtha-Patti: Four Beds (Verse 272)

Verse 272
त्रिदोषशमनी खट्वा तूली वातकफापहा । भूशय्या बृंहणी … काष्ठपट्टी तु वातला ॥
tridosha-shamani khatva tuli vata-kapha-apaha; bhu-shayya brimhani … kashtha-patti tu vatala

In plain English: the cot calms the three doshas; the cotton mattress takes away vata and kapha; the bed on the ground is building; but the plank raises vata. Monier-Williams gives khatva as a bedstead, couch, cot, and tuli as cotton and as another name for a cotton quilt. Patti is the flat thing itself, from patta, the flat or level surface of anything, so kashtha-patti is a board of wood: our Hindi calls it तख्तेकी शय्या, the plank bed. Brimhani belongs to brimhana, which the dictionary renders nourishing: building up, the opposite of lightening.

Our edition's Hindi reads the first half as one bed, not two: तोशक बिछी खाट त्रिदोषको शमन करनेवाली और वात कफ की नाशक है, "a cot with a toshak (mattress) spread on it calms the three doshas and removes vata and kapha". The Sanskrit has two nouns, khatva and tuli, each with its own quality. Our reading, flagged: the commentator has put the mattress on the cot and given the pair both qualities. For the floor he is plain: जमीनकी शय्या बृंहण पुष्ट होती है, "the bed on the ground is brimhana, it nourishes".

A thick cotton mattress, hand-quilted and faintly striped, folded on a plank: the tuli of verse 272.

Anyah Punar Aha: A Second Voice on Sleeping on the Floor (Verse 273)

Verse 273, first half, after the bracket अन्यः पुनराह
भूशय्या वातलानीव रूक्षा …
bhu-shayya vatala-ativa ruksha … "the bed on the ground raises vata and is very dry …"

Our print reads vatalaniva, which makes no sense. The Wikisource text prints भूशय्या वातलाऽतीवरूक्षा and the Vachaspatyam, a nineteenth-century Sanskrit encyclopedia that quotes these lines under shayya, prints भूशय्या वातलातीव रूक्षा: vatala ativa ruksha, "vata-raising, very dry". Our edition's own Hindi agrees with them, not with its print: पृथ्वी की शय्या वातकी करनेवाली और बहुत रूक्ष, "the earth bed raises vata and is very dry". One letter, न for त, is all that separates the print from its own gloss. The third claim in the line is left out (see What We Left Out).

Who is "another"? The bracket names no one. Sushruta's chapter of daily care has a comfortable bed but no ground bed, and Charaka's chapter on sleep has none either. The Vachaspatyam's copy carries the same bracket, अन्यः पुनराह, so it is not our edition's alone, but we could not find where the second voice comes from. What it does is clear enough. Brimhana (building) and ruksha (drying) pull in opposite directions, and vata is itself dry by nature. In the first voice the plank raises vata and the floor builds; in the second the floor itself raises vata. The Bhavaprakasha keeps both and leaves the reader with the disagreement.

Su-Shayya: Sushruta's Easy Bed, Rearranged (Verses 273–274)

Verse 273, second half, and 274, first half
सुशय्याशयनं हृद्यं पुष्टिनिद्राधृतिप्रदम् । श्रमानिलहरं … विपरीतमतोऽन्यथा ॥
su-shayya-shayanam hridyam pushti-nidra-dhriti-pradam; shrama-anila-haram … viparitam ato 'nyatha

"Lying on a good bed is hridya and gives nourishment, sleep and steadiness; it takes away tiredness and vata …; the opposite does the opposite." Almost every word is Sushruta's (Chikitsa Sthana 24.81), turned around:

Sushruta, Chikitsa Sthana 24.81
पुष्टिनिद्राधृतिप्रदम् … सुखं शय्यासनं दुःखं विपरीतगुणं मतम् ॥
… pushti-nidra-dhriti-pradam; sukham shayya-asanam, duhkham viparita-gunam matam

Sushruta's subject is "a comfortable bed and seat" (sukham shayya-asanam). The Bhavaprakasha drops the seat, keeps the bed, makes it a "good bed" and adds one word, hridya, which Monier-Williams gives as pleasing or dear to the heart. Bhishagratna's English for Sushruta reads: Lying down in an easy posture on a soft bed removes the sense of fatigue, pacifies or soothes the bodily Vayu, brings on sleep and lost recollections to the mind, and closes while lying down in a contrary manner is attended with contrary results.

"Lost recollections" is a surprise. The Sanskrit word is dhriti, which the dictionary gives as firmness, constancy, resolution, and our Hindi renders it धैर्य्य, steadiness: अच्छी शय्यापर सोना हृद्य पुष्टि निद्रा धैर्य्य इनको देनेवाली है. Bhishagratna's edition may have read smriti, memory, where ours has dhriti; we cannot check his Sanskrit, so we leave it as a difference, not a mistake.

The Vishnu Purana's Bed, and the Head Toward the East

The after-meal page found the Agastya verse in the Vishnu Purana, book 3, chapter 11, where the sage Aurva teaches King Sagara. The same chapter, sixteen verses later, puts the householder to bed. Verse 111: after washing his feet and eating in the evening, he goes to a bed that is not cracked and is made of wood. Verse 112 lists what the bed must not be:

Vishnu Purana 3.11.112
नाविशालां न वै भुग्नां नासमां मलिनां न च । न च जन्तुमयीं शय्यामधितिष्ठेदनास्तृताम् ॥
navishalam na vai bhugnam nasamam malinam na cha; na cha jantumayim shayyam adhitishthed anastritam

Not narrow, not bent, not uneven, not dirty, not full of insects, and not without a spread. Verse 113 then turns the head:

Vishnu Purana 3.11.113, first half
प्राच्यां दिशि शिरश्शस्तं याम्यायामथ वा नृप ।
prachyam dishi shirash shastam yamyayam atha va nripa, "the head toward the east is praised, or toward the south, O king".

The Purana's second half adds that the opposite brings illness; we report it as the Purana's claim, not ours. For the floor question the Purana is a third voice: its householder sleeps on a wooden bed, raised and spread, and the ground does not come into it at all.

Samvahana: Pressing the Limbs (Verses 274–275)

Verse 274, second half, and 275, first half
संवाहनं मांसरक्तत्वक्प्रसादकरं परम् । प्रीतिनिद्राकरं … कफवातश्रमापहम् ॥
samvahanam mamsa-rakta-tvak-prasada-karam param; priti-nidra-karam … kapha-vata-shrama-apaham

"Pressing the limbs makes flesh, blood and skin clear, above all; it brings pleasure and sleep … and takes away kapha, vata and tiredness." Monier-Williams gives samvahana as rubbing the person, shampooing; our Hindi says the same and renders param as अत्यन्त, "exceedingly": संवाहन मांस रक्त त्वचा इनकी अत्यन्त प्रसन्नता करनेवाला.

This is Sushruta's Chikitsa Sthana 24.83 with its two halves swapped and one word changed. Sushruta ends prasada-karam sukham, "clearing, pleasant"; the Bhavaprakasha ends prasada-karam param, "clearing, above all". Bhishagratna's English for Sushruta keeps the older word: Shampooing (Samvahana) is pleasant, refreshing, soporific, and later It destroys the bodily Vayu and Kapha, removes the sense of fatigue and is soothing to the blood, skin and the muscles. His "shampooing" is the older English sense, the pressing and kneading of the body. Charaka lists the same pressing among the things that bring sleep back; see our page on Charaka on sleep.

Pravata and Nirvata: The Breeze, Still Air and a Sheltered Room (Verses 275–277)

Verse 275, second half, and 276, first half
प्रवात रौक्ष्यवैवर्ण्यस्तम्भकृद्दाहपित्तनुत् । स्वेदमूर्च्छापिपासाघ्नमप्रवातमतोऽन्यथा ॥
pravatam raukshya-vaivarnya-stambha-krid daha-pitta-nut; sveda-murchha-pipasa-ghnam, apravatam ato 'nyatha

"A strong breeze brings dryness, a dull complexion and stiffness; it dispels burning and pitta; it takes away sweat, faintness and thirst. Still air does the opposite." Monier-Williams gives pravata as a current or draught of air, windy weather or a windy place. (Our print drops the anusvara of pravatam; the Vachaspatyam's copy does the same.)

Sushruta, Chikitsa Sthana 24.84, first half
प्रवातं रौक्ष्यवैवर्ण्यस्तम्भकृद्दाहपक्तिनुत् ।
pravatam raukshya-vaivarnya-stambha-krid daha-pakti-nut

One word is different. Where the Bhavaprakasha has pitta, Sushruta has pakti, which Monier-Williams gives as digesting, digestion. Bhishagratna's English spells out Sushruta's meaning: A strong wind (Pravata) is parchifying in its effect and injurious to the complexion. It allays thirst and burning, but at the same time produces numbness of the body and destroys the digestive powers. So in Sushruta a strong wind dulls the digestion; in the Bhavaprakasha it dispels pitta. In print the two words look alike, पक्ति and पित्त, and we cannot say whether Bhavamishra changed the word or found it changed.

Verse 276, second half, and 277, first half
सुखं प्रवातं सेवेत ग्रीष्मे शरदि चान्तरा । निर्वातमायुषे सेव्यमारोग्याय च सर्वदा ॥
sukham pravatam seveta grishme sharadi chantara; nirvatam ayushe sevyam arogyaya cha sarvada

"Enjoy the breeze in summer and autumn, and in between; for long life and health, always keep to still, sheltered air." Sushruta's line (24.85) has manavah, "a person", where ours has chantara; Monier-Williams gives antara as in the middle, inside, within, among, between and in the meantime, now and then, so the new word adds "and in between", or "now and then", to the two seasons. Our Hindi simply skips the word: ग्रीष्म और शरदमें अच्छी तरह पर प्रवातका सेवन करे. For the second half Bhishagratna has The gentle breeze of summer and of autumn should be breathed and A seeker after health and a long life should reside in a chamber, not exposed to strong blasts of wind (Nivata). Nivata (Sushruta) and nirvata (ours) mean the same: the dictionary gives sheltered from the wind, calm and free from wind, sheltered, still.

Afternoon light through a carved sandstone jaali: a breeze through a screen, between verse 275's strong wind and verse 277's sheltered room.

Purvo Anilah: The East Wind and One Changed Ending (Verses 277–279)

Verse 277, second half, and 278
पूर्वोऽनिलो गुरुः सोष्णः स्निग्धः … विदाही वातलः श्रान्तिकफशोषवतां हितः । स्वादुः पटुरभिष्यन्दी …
purvo 'nilo guruh soshnah snigdhah … vidahi vatalah shranti-kapha-shoshavatam hitah; svaduh patur abhishyandi …

"The east wind is heavy, somewhat warm and oily …; it brings a burning feeling and raises vata; it suits people who are tired, kaphic or wasting; it is sweet, salty and clogging …" Our Hindi glosses soshna as कुछ गरम, "somewhat warm": पूर्वका वायु भारी कुछ गरम स्निग्ध.

Sushruta, Sutrasthana 20.25, first half
वातलानां प्रशस्तश्च श्रान्तानां कफशोषिणाम् ।
vatalanam prashastash cha shrantanam kapha-shoshinam, "praised for vata people, for the tired, and for the kaphic and wasting".

Sushruta's east wind (Sutrasthana 20.23 to 25) is praised for people of vata nature: vatalanam is a genitive plural. Bhishagratna: It is highly efficacious to fatigued persons, as well as to those of a Vatala (nervous) temperament. The Bhavaprakasha's line has vatalah, a nominative: the wind itself raises vata. Our Hindi reads it that way, विदाही वातल होता है. One ending, and the east wind goes from good for vata people to bad for them. Our reading, flagged: the line is Sushruta's with that ending changed; whether by Bhavamishra or by a copyist before him, we cannot tell. Bhishagratna's English has one more surprise, The East wind, which is cool ... is heavy and charged with salt, where our text says somewhat warm.

The note on svadu explains how a wind can taste sweet: स्वादुर्भक्ष्यद्रव्येषु बाहुल्येन मधुररसजनकः, "sweet: in foods it mostly brings out the sweet taste". The rest of verse 278 and the first line of 279 name eight conditions the east wind is said to stir up. We leave them out. They are not Sushruta's: almost the same list stands in Vagbhata's Ashtanga Sangraha, Sutrasthana 12.87–88.

An empty rooftop terrace at sunrise, the sun pale in the haze: verse 277 begins its winds with the east.

Dakshina and Pashchima: South and West (Verses 279–280)

Verse 279, the south wind
दक्षिणः पवनः स्वादुः … वीर्येण शीतलो बल्यश्चक्षुष्यो न तु वातलः ॥
dakshinah pavanah svaduh … viryena shitalo balyash chakshushyo na tu vatalah

"The south wind is sweet … and light; cooling in its action (virya), strengthening, good for the eyes, and it does not raise vata." Sushruta's south wind (Sutrasthana 20.25–26) has one word ours lacks:

Sushruta, Sutrasthana 20.25, second half
दक्षिणो मारुतः श्रेष्ठश्चक्षुष्यो बलवर्धनः ॥
dakshino marutah shreshthash chakshushyo bala-vardhanah

Shreshtha, most excellent, best. Bhishagratna: It is the best of winds, gives vigour to the eyes, increases the strength. Vagbhata's Ashtanga Sangraha (Sutrasthana 12.89) keeps the word. The Bhavaprakasha drops it and adds instead that the south wind is cooling in its action.

Verse 280, the west wind
पश्चिमः पवनस्तीक्ष्णः शोषणो बलहृल्लघुः । मेदःपित्तकफध्वंसी प्रभञ्जनविवर्धनः ॥
pashchimah pavanas tikshnah shoshano bala-hril laghuh; medah-pitta-kapha-dhvamsi prabhanjana-vivardhanah

"The west wind is sharp, drying, strength-taking and light; it wears down fat tissue (medas), pitta and kapha, and feeds the storm-wind." Prabhanjana, "the breaker", is wind or the god of wind, storm, tempest, hurricane; here it stands for vata. Sushruta's west wind (20.27) dries up kapha and fat and, in a phrase Bhishagratna renders speedily diminishes the strength of a person, takes away the life-breath at once (sadyah prana-kshaya-karah). The Bhavaprakasha drops that sharpest phrase and adds pitta to what the wind wears down. The Sangraha goes the other way altogether: पश्चिमः शिशिरो, "the west wind is cool", and it takes faintness, burning and thirst away, among other things.

Uttaro Marutah: The North Wind Loses Its "A" (Verse 281)

Verse 281
उत्तरो मारुतः शीतः स्निग्धो दोषप्रकोपकृत् । क्लेदनः प्रकृतिस्थानां बलदो मधुरो मृदुः ॥
uttaro marutah shitah snigdho dosha-prakopa-krit; kledanah prakritisthanam balado madhuro mriduh

"The north wind is cold and oily and provokes the doshas; for the healthy it is moistening and strengthening, sweet and soft." Now Sushruta:

Sushruta, Sutrasthana 20.28–29
उत्तरो मारुतः स्निग्धो मृदुर्मधुर एव च । कषायानुरसः शीतो दोषाणां चाप्रकोपणः ॥ तस्माच्च प्रकृतिस्थानां क्लेदनो बलवर्धनः ।
… doshanam cha-aprakopanah; tasmach cha prakritisthanam kledano bala-vardhanah

Sushruta's north wind does not provoke the doshas (a-prakopana), and therefore (tasmat) it moistens and strengthens the healthy. Bhishagratna: It does not in any way enrage or agitate the deranged bodily humours. In healthy subjects it increases the strength. Vagbhata's Sangraha (12.90) has the same: दोषाणामप्रकोपनः. The Bhavaprakasha's wind provokes them, and the "therefore" has gone, so the line now says a wind that provokes the doshas is good for the healthy.

The edition saw the problem. Its note reads दोषप्रकोपकृत् आतुराणाम्, "provokes the doshas: of the sick". Monier-Williams gives atura as suffering, sick (in body or mind) and prakritistha as, among other senses, well, healthy. The note does not restore Sushruta's reading; it makes peace with the new one by splitting the wind in two, bad for the sick, good for the well. And the change is not Bhavamishra's alone: a medical verse that the Vachaspatyam quotes without naming its source also has the north wind provoking all the doshas (sarva-dosha-prakopana).

Agneya, Nairrita, Vayavya, Aishana: The Four Corner Winds (Verse 282)

Verse 282
आग्नेयो दाहकृद्रूक्षो नैर्ऋतो न विदाहकृत् । वायव्यस्तु भवेत्तिक्तः ऐशानः कटुकः स्मृतः ॥
agneyo daha-krid ruksho nairrito na vidaha-krit; vayavyas tu bhavet tiktah aishanah katukah smritah

"The south-east wind burns and dries; the south-west does not burn; the north-west is bitter; the north-east is called pungent." Each corner is named for its guardian: agneya is south-eastern, Agni's quarter, so its wind burns; nairrita is south-western, the quarter of Nirriti; vayavya is the northwest, the wind god's own; aishana is north-eastern, Shiva's quarter. Sushruta's passage stops at four winds and the Sangraha's at four; we found the corners in neither. Here are all eight, with the wind from every side:

The winds carry tastes: the east wind sweet and salty, the south sweet, the north sweet, the north-west bitter, the north-east pungent. The note on the east wind's sweetness (above) is the edition's way of making sense of that.

Vishvag-Vayu: Wind From Every Side (Verse 283)

Verse 283
विष्वग्वायुरनायुष्यः प्राणिनां बहुरोगकृत् । अतस्तं नैव सेवेत सेवितः स्यान्न शर्मणे ॥
vishvag-vayur anayushyah praninam bahu-roga-krit; atas tam naiva seveta sevitah syan na sharmane

"Wind from every side is not for long life; it brings many troubles to living beings; so do not sit in it at all; sat in, it is no shelter." Vishvak is going in or turned to both (or all) directions: a wind that seems to blow from every side at once. Sharman is shelter, protection, refuge, safety, so the last words say that such a wind gives no shelter, a neat turn on nirvata, the sheltered room of verse 277.

The verse has a cousin. The Vachaspatyam quotes a medical verse, without its source's name, that opens with the same three words, विष्वग्वायुरनायुष्यः प्राणिनां, and goes on नैकदोषकृत्, "makes not one dosha but many", where ours says "many troubles". We cannot tell which is older.

Vyajana: Six Fans (Verses 284–286)

Verse 284
व्यजनस्यानिलो दाहस्वेदमूर्च्छाश्रमापहः । तालवृन्तभवो वातस्त्रिदोषशमको मतः ॥
vyajanasya anilo daha-sveda-murchha-shrama-apahah; talavrinta-bhavo vatas tridosha-shamako matah

"The air of a fan takes away burning, sweat, faintness and tiredness; the air of a palm-leaf fan is held to calm all three doshas." Verse 285 goes on: वंशव्यजनजस्तूष्णो, the bamboo fan's air "is hot", and it stirs up one named condition, left out here. Then four more:

Verse 285, second half, and 286, first half
चामरो वस्त्रसम्भूतो मायूरो वेत्रजस्तथा । एते दोषजिता वाताः स्निग्धा हृद्याः सुपूजिताः ॥
chamaro vastra-sambhuto mayuro vetrajas tatha; ete dosha-jita vatah snigdha hridyah supujitah

"The whisk, the cloth fan, the peacock fan and the cane fan: their airs conquer the doshas, are smooth and pleasing, and are highly honoured." Six fans in all. Monier-Williams gives tala-vrinta as a palm-leaf used as a fan, fan (in general), vamsha as the bamboo cane or any cane, chamara as a chowrie and vetra as a kind of large reed. Our Hindi gives the household names, चवर की कपडे की मोरछल बेंतके पंखे की ये वायु, the chavar, the cloth fan, the morchhal of peacock feathers and the cane fan, and renders supujitah as श्रेष्ठ, "best". The word the south wind lost in verse 279 turns up here, for the fans, in the Hindi.

Sushruta's chapter of daily care (Chikitsa Sthana 24.82) has only two kinds. Bhishagratna: Fanning with Chowries (Vala-vyajana) is refreshing and keeps off flies and mosquitoes, while fanning (with ordinary fans) arrests perspiration, removes the sense of fatigue and fainting fits, and alleviates the burning, scorching and parched sensations. Bhavamishra keeps four of the five effects, drops the flies, and adds the palm leaf, the bamboo and the rest (the unnamed verse the Vachaspatyam quotes has the same fans, so he may not have been the first). He also used these lines twice: in the Madhya Khanda, in the chapter on jvara, they come back almost word for word, with thirst where ours has burning: व्यजनस्यानिलस्तृष्णास्वेदमूर्च्छाश्रमापहः.

Five hand fans: palm leaf, woven bamboo, cane, cloth and a white whisk (chamara). Verse 285 also names a peacock fan, not shown.

Divasvapna: Kapha Alone (Verses 286–287)

Verse 286, second half, and 287, first half
दिवास्वापं न कुर्वीत यतोऽसौ स्यात्कफावहः । ग्रीष्मवर्ज्येषु कालेषु दिवास्वप्नो निषिध्यते ॥
diva-svapam na kurvita yato 'sau syat kapha-avahah; grishma-varjyeshu kaleshu divasvapno nishidhyate

"Do not sleep by day, for it brings kapha; outside summer, sleep by day is forbidden." The older texts blame more than one dosha. Charaka (Sutrasthana 21.44) says kapha and pitta are provoked, श्लेष्मपित्ते; Vagbhata (Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutrasthana 7.57) has कफपित्तकरो हि सः, "it makes kapha and pitta"; Sushruta goes furthest, Day sleep is forbidden in all seasons of the year, except in summer, because all the Doshas of the body are aggravated by a sleep in the day (Sharira Sthana 4.38, Bhishagratna's English). The Bhavaprakasha keeps kapha alone.

The Vachaspatyam's copy of this line has one more twist. It prints यतोऽसौ स्यात् कफापहः, "for it takes kapha away", with प where ours has व. In a line that forbids day sleep, "it takes kapha away" is no reason at all, so on our reading the Vachaspatyam's is a misprint. For Charaka's reasons why summer is the exception (the dry season, rising vata, the short nights) see our page on Charaka's chapter on sleep.

Summer noon from a cool, dark room: a clay water pot in the doorway, the courtyard white with glare. Summer is the one season verse 287 leaves open for sleep by day.

Kamam Diva Svapayet: Who May Sleep by Day (Verses 287–289)

Verse 287, second half, and 288, first half
उचितो हि दिवास्वप्नो नित्यं येषां शरीरिणाम् । वातादयः प्रकुप्यन्ति तेषामस्वपतां दिवा ॥
uchito hi divasvapno nityam yesham sharirinam; vatadayah prakupyanti tesham asvapatam diva

"For those used to sleeping by day, vata and the rest are provoked if they do not." Charaka lists the habitual day-sleeper among those who may sleep (Sutrasthana 21.41); the Bhavaprakasha gives the reason. Then comes the longest verse of the block, which our edition splits between 288 and 289. In English: those given to exercise, the road and riding; the tired; those with loose bowels, colic, breathlessness, thirst, hiccups or wind; the wasted; those short of kapha; children; the old; those whose rasa is not yet digested; people who were awake all night; and people who have not eaten. Two more groups in the list are left out. Its last line:

Verse 289, second half
रात्रौ जागरितान्नरान्निरशनान् कामं दिवा स्वापयेत् ॥
ratrau jagaritan naran nirashanan kamam diva svapayet, "… people awake at night and those who have not eaten: let them sleep by day kamam."

The list is Sushruta's, not Charaka's. Sushruta's Sharira Sthana 4.38 allows day sleep, in Bhishagratna's words, after the fatigue of a long journey, riding, or physical labour, or on an empty stomach, and 4.48 adds thirst, colic, hiccups, food not yet digested (ajirna) and loose bowels. But Sushruta sets limits: the sleep is for one muhurta (Bhishagratna attaches it to the last group: who may sleep for a Muhurta), and Those who have kept late hours in the night may sleep in the day for half the time they have watched in the night (and no more). The Bhavaprakasha keeps the people and drops both limits. It ends instead with kamam, which Monier-Williams gives as according to wish or desire and at will, freely, willingly, but also indeed, really, surely. Our Hindi takes the strong sense: इनको दिनमें अवश्य सुलावे, "these should certainly be put to sleep by day".

The verse is also the only one here in a long metre, shardula-vikridita, nineteen syllables to the quarter, among anushtubh verses of eight; Wikisource keeps it whole as one verse (its 218). Charaka's own list, with singing, study and grief in it, is read on our nidra page; for exercise in this same routine, see our page on vyayama in the Bhavaprakasha.

Satmya: The Habit Verse and Its Missing Line (Verse 290)

Verse 290
दिवा वा यदि वा रात्रौ निद्रा सात्मीकृता तु यैः । न तेषां स्वपतां दोषो जाग्रतां चोपजायते ॥
diva va yadi va ratrau nidra satmikrita tu yaih; na tesham svapatam dosho jagratam chopajayate

"For those who have made sleep a habit, by day or by night, no harm arises, sleeping or waking." Satmya is habit, habituation. The verse is Sushruta's (Sharira Sthana 4.41) with its middle line taken out:

Sushruta, Sharira Sthana 4.41
निद्रा सात्म्यीकृता यैस्तु रात्रौ च यदि वा दिवा । दिवारात्रौ च ये नित्यं स्वप्नजागरणोचिताः । न तेषां स्वपतां दोषो जाग्रतां वाऽपि जायते ॥

The dropped line is दिवारात्रौ च ये नित्यं स्वप्नजागरणोचिताः, "and those always used to sleeping by day and waking by night". Our edition's note puts its sense back in four words, स्वपतां दिवा । जाग्रतां रात्रौ: "sleeping: by day; waking: at night". It is the second time in this routine that the note has restored what the verse lost.

The Hindi, though, goes wrong: उन सोनेवालों को दोष नहीं होता ॥ और जागने वालोंकोउत्पन्न होता है, "for those sleepers no harm arises, and for the wakers it does". Sushruta's last line ends va 'pi jayate, "or even waking", so its one na covers both, and Bhishagratna agrees: A day sleep may not prove injurious to those who are habituated to it and conversely keeping late hours at night may not tell upon the health of those to whom it is customary. On our reading the Bhavaprakasha's cha upajayate made the line easy to misread, and our commentator misread it.

Bhojananantaram Nidra: Sleep After a Meal (Verses 291–292)

Verse 291
भोजनानन्तरं निद्रा वातं हरति पित्तहृत् । कफं करोति वपुषः पुष्टिसौख्यं तनोति हि ॥
bhojanantaram nidra vatam harati pitta-hrit; kapham karoti vapushah pushti-saukhyam tanoti hi

"Sleep right after a meal takes away vata and pitta, makes kapha, and spreads plumpness and comfort through the body." This sits oddly beside its neighbours. The edition's note on verse 248 (read on our after-meal page) says to stay awake after eating, because sleep then stirs up kapha; verse 271 lies the eater on the left side and then says "sleep as you like"; verse 286 forbids day sleep outside summer. Verse 291 lists the extra kapha beside plumpness and comfort, as if it were a gain. The text points several ways, and we do not reconcile it. We could not trace the verse to an older source.

Verse 292, first half
शयनं पित्तनाशाय वातनाशाय मर्दनम् ।
shayanam pitta-nashaya vata-nashaya mardanam, "lying down for pitta, rubbing (mardana) for vata".

The line reads like a proverb, and Monier-Williams gives mardana as crushing, grinding, rubbing. Its second half pairs a cleansing procedure with kapha and a fast with a named condition; we leave it out. We could not trace this verse either.

Asinam Churnitam: Charaka's Doze, One Letter Later

The half-line after verse 292 (our print, and the Vachaspatyam's copy)
आसीनं चूर्णितं यत्तु नाभिष्यन्दि न रूक्षणम् ।
asinam churnitam yat tu nabhishyandi na rukshanam

A half-line with no other half. To see what it is, put it beside Charaka:

Charaka, Sutrasthana 21.50 (word for word Ashtanga Hridaya, Sutrasthana 7.55–56)
रात्रौ जागरणं रूक्षं स्निग्धं प्रस्वपनं दिवा । अरूक्षमनभिष्यन्दि त्वासीनप्रचलायितम् ॥
ratrau jagaranam ruksham snigdham prasvapanam diva; aruksham anabhishyandi tv asina-prachalayitam

Charaka names three things: staying awake at night is drying, sleeping by day is oily, and the third, asina-prachalayita, is neither. Monier-Williams gives prachalayita as nodding the head (while asleep and in a sitting posture); the CSRTSDC renders the line napping in sitting posture does not cause either roughness nor unctuousness and Vidyanath, for Vagbhata, Dosing in sitting posture does neither causes roughness nor unctuousness. Our nidra page reads the verse closely.

The Bhavaprakasha keeps only the third thing. The Wikisource text prints it आसीनं घूर्णितं यत्तु नाभिष्यन्दि न रूक्षणम्: ghurnita, from a root the dictionary gives as to move to and fro, shake, be agitated, roll about, is the sway of a nodding head, Charaka's doze in other words. But with the first half gone, "neither clogging nor drying" has lost the two things it was neither of.

Our print, and the Vachaspatyam's copy, have churnitam instead, with च where Wikisource has घ. Monier-Williams gives the word as pulverised, smashed. Our Hindi then makes the best of it: बैठना और मर्दन न अभिष्यन्दि है न रूक्ष है, "sitting and rubbing are neither clogging nor drying". The doze has become a rub. The bracket that follows in both copies, अपरानप्युदरेऽन्नस्य संस्थापनहेतूनाह, "he gives other causes of the food settling in the stomach", reads the line as advice about the meal. Our reading, flagged: the line is Charaka's doze in a chair; a lost first half and one letter turned it into a rub after a meal.

Verse by Verse: The Source Map

The whole block as a map. "Partly" means the same words or frame with something changed, dropped or added; "none found" means nothing in the texts we read: Sushruta's Sutrasthana 20, Sharira Sthana 4 and Chikitsa Sthana 24, Charaka's Sutrasthana 21, Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hridaya (Sutrasthana 7) and Ashtanga Sangraha (Sutrasthana 12), the Vishnu Purana 3.11 and the verses the Vachaspatyam quotes. Twenty-three rows: none the same, seventeen partly, six with nothing found.

Two patterns stand out. Where the Bhavaprakasha borrows, it borrows mostly from Sushruta, in three places: the daily-care chapter (Chikitsa Sthana 24) for the bed, the pressing, the breeze and the fan; Sutrasthana 20 for the winds; and the sleep verses of Sharira Sthana 4 for who may nap. And where it changes a word, the change tends to flip the sense: vatalanam to vatalah, aprakopana to prakopa-krit, the doze to a rub.

What We Left Out

We left out, and say so here: one word in verses 272, 274 and 275, the same word each time, and its match in Sushruta; one condition named in verses 273, 277, 279 and 285, the same one each time; the eight conditions of the east wind's list (278 and 279); two of the groups in the list of who may sleep by day (288 and 289); and the second half of verse 292. The verses give no quantities of anything, and we add none. Nothing on this page is a preparation.

Questions We Could Not Settle

• Who is the "another" of verse 273, and where does that second voice on the floor bed come from?
• Is the floor bed building (272) or drying (273)? The text keeps both.
• Is vatalah in verse 278 Bhavamishra's own word, or a slip for Sushruta's vatalanam?
• Did Bhavamishra make the north wind provoke the doshas, or find it so in a verse like the one the Vachaspatyam quotes?
• Where do the four corner winds, with their tastes, come from?
• Does kamam in verse 289 mean "as they like" or "by all means"?
• Where do verses 291 and 292 come from?
• Ghurnitam or churnitam? The metre cannot choose: both words weigh the same.

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Sushruta's chapter of daily care, the source of several of these verses, is also the source of our page on washing the feet (Chikitsa Sthana 24.69–73).

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