In the ancient teachings of the Garuḍa Purāṇa, the sage Dhanvantari expounds upon the nature of wasting diseases and the intricacies of digestion. He describes how, for those afflicted by wasting, food is digested within the gut, mingling with sour juices, yet it fails to nourish or strengthen the limbs. The essence of the food, known as rasa, does not transform into blood or flesh; instead, it remains trapped, obstructed on all sides, manifesting only as a condition of wasting. Dhanvantari advises that when the signs of disease are few, not severe, and the six senses remain strong, it is best to avoid treatment. But when these signs are pronounced, treatment must be undertaken. When all the bodily humors are disturbed and the fat is depleted, the voice becomes hoarse—thin, dry, and unsteady. The throat turns pale, and relief comes from oily and warm substances if wind is the cause; but if bile is disturbed, there is constant burning and dryness in the palate and throat. If phlegm predominates, the throat feels smeared, the mouth emits gurgling sounds, and when all these signs are present together, the wasting deepens. Sometimes, the disease rises violently, as if filled with smoke, showing symptoms of phlegm. Such wasting is difficult to cure and should be avoided, especially when all signs manifest together. Thus ends this portion of the Śrī Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa. Continuing, Dhanvantari explains the causes of loss of appetite, as taught by Suśruta. He reveals that loss of appetite arises from the humors residing in the tongue and heart. When all humors combine and mental distress occurs, a fifth type of loss of appetite appears. In disorders of wind and other humors, the mouth tastes astringent, bitter, and sweet in succession. Just as the mind loses all taste during grief or anger, so too can various humors and other corruptions create this fifth type. When the upward-moving air is afflicted by all the humors, it expels everything suitable for digestion, bringing rapid distress, loss of luster, excessive salivation, and successive loss of appetite. Pain quickly arises in the navel and back, and food is expelled to the side. With interruptions, the body vomits astringent, frothy matter, accompanied by noisy, difficult belching. Wind causes cough, dryness of the mouth, and affliction of the voice. When bile is the cause, the expelled matter is like saline water, smoky, greenish-yellow, and when mixed with blood, it becomes sour, sharp, bitter, with a grassy smell, causing burning and ripening. Phlegm produces an unctuous, thick, yellow discharge, and mucus appears like honey—sweet, salty, abundant, excessive, and causing horripilation. When swelling, sweetness, drowsiness, nausea, exhilaration, and cough accompany these signs, and all are present together, the condition must be discarded. If everything about a person becomes repulsive to the senses—sight, hearing, and so forth—due to wind and other humors, or from food corrupted by worms, the disease manifests with pain, trembling, exhilaration, especially in worm-induced cases. Dhanvantari then turns to the causes of heart disease and related conditions, including those caused by worms. He describes five types located in the heart, each recognized by its signs. When wind is the cause, there is excessive emptiness; the person eats and cries out, the heart feels broken, dried, stiff, empty, and dizziness ensues. Sudden dejection, sorrow, fear, intolerance of sound, trembling, shivering, confusion, difficulty breathing, and little sleep arise. When bile is disturbed, thirst, fatigue, burning, sweating, and a sequence of sour and phlegmatic symptoms appear. Vomiting occurs in sour-bile conditions, and fever arises with a smoky sensation. When phlegm is the cause, the heart feels stiff and heavy, as if weighed down by a stone; cough, weakness of bones, spitting, drowsiness, laziness, loss of appetite, and fever follow. Heart disease caused by all three humors and worms brings darkening of the eyes, entry into darkness, exhilaration, swelling, itching, and discharge of phlegm. The heart feels as if constantly torn by a saw—this terrible disease must be treated quickly, very quickly. From wind, bile, and phlegm comes thirst; when all three combine, strength is lost. A sixth type arises from complications, with wind and bile as its cause. When these are aggravated, they dry up the body’s tissues, causing confusion throughout, trembling, heat, burning in the heart, and loss of consciousness. When the veins carrying fluids to the root of the tongue, throat, palate, and uvula dry up, thirst arises—this is their common sign. Dryness of the mouth, satisfaction from water, aversion to food, loss of voice, burning in the throat, lips, and palate, and fatigue when sticking out the tongue all manifest. Delirium, confusion of mind, and frequent belching accompany the disease. Wind causes emaciation, dejection, pain in the temples, and dizziness in the head. Loss of smell, tastelessness in the mouth, loss of hearing, sleep, and strength follow. Cold, sour, and frothy saliva increases with bile, fainting, and bitterness in the mouth. The eyes become constantly red, dry, burning, and excessively smoky; phlegm is disturbed by tastes, and wind moves in the fluid-carrying channels. When the stream is obstructed by phlegm, the calf dries up in the mud; the throat is blocked as if by husks, and sleep brings a sweet distortion. Swelling of the head, dullness, sluggishness, vomiting, loss of appetite, laziness, and poor digestion indicate the presence of every symptom. The arising of fragrance and obstruction of blood result in a condition of wind and bile; sudden drinking of cold water after heat brings thirst. When heat rises upward in the abdomen, it produces bile; and thirst arising from excessive drinking, sharp, and cooked in oil, is of the same nature. Thirst arising from eating oily, bitter, sour, and salty foods is caused by phlegm; with loss of taste and thirst, it is of a wasting nature. Intense thirst from dryness, confusion, fever, and other complications of chronic disease is accompanied by such symptoms. Finally, Dhanvantari explains the cause of intoxication, as spoken by the sages. Intoxication is sharp, sour, rough, subtle, active, and light. Wine is expansive and clear, yet contrary to fat; its sharp effects are described as divine, but its qualities disturb the mind. Thus, through these sacred teachings, the nature of disease, its signs, and causes are revealed, guiding the wise in understanding and treatment.