In the ancient teachings, there is a vivid account of the disorders that afflict the digestive and urinary systems, their symptoms, and their underlying causes. The sages describe, with utmost clarity, how certain conditions manifest in the body, painting a picture for the attentive listener. First, they speak of a distressing type of diarrhea. The discharge is blood-stained, extremely foul-smelling, and mixed with undigested grass. It is accompanied by sweating and a burning sensation, causing pain and heat in the rectum. The afflicted person craves pungent tastes and produces thick phlegm. In such cases, the discharge is slimy and scanty, flowing with discomfort. Hair loss occurs, and there is heaviness in the bladder, anus, and abdomen. Even when one tries to perform bodily functions, if digestion is not proper, these signs pervade the entire being. When the mind is troubled by fear and the person lies down, the discharge is expelled involuntarily. To bring relief, it is advised to quickly restrain the wind with warm, liquid, and light substances. The signs of such disorders are similar whether caused by wind, bile, or even by grief. In essence, diarrhea is of two kinds: one with impurity and one without. When mixed with blood, it is considered a disorder of the bodily fluids; due to heaviness, it is released into water. The stool is foul-smelling, noisy, obstructed, and painful. The other type, without impurity, arises from phlegm, does not sink, and if care is not taken, the sufferer may develop grahani disease. In those afflicted, due to excessive accumulation of factors that extinguish the digestive fire, whether the stool is impure or pure, it is processed and then expelled as diarrhea. This condition, by its very nature, causes excessive discharge. When mixed with impurity, the stool remains undigested; when digested, this is not the case. Chronic grahani disorder leads to accumulation within and compels fasting. At times, sudden trembling or joint pain arises. This disease manifests in four ways, according to the different bodily humors, and sometimes from their combination. Early symptoms include weakness of the limbs, persistent wind, slight salivation, a bad taste in the mouth, loss of appetite, thirst, fatigue, and dizziness. The abdomen becomes distended, vomiting may occur, and sometimes there is ringing in the ears. General signs are emaciation, nausea, fainting, and fever. Fainting, heaviness in the head and thighs, swelling of the hands and feet, drowsiness from wind, dryness of the palate, darkness before the eyes, and ringing in the ears may also be present. Pain may be felt in the sides, groin, and neck, with severe colic. In the sick, all symptoms intensify, and hunger and thirst cannot be relieved. When digestion is complete, flatulence occurs, but after eating, a sense of well-being may arise. However, due to wind, there is a risk of heart disease, abdominal tumors, hemorrhoids, spleen disorders, and anemia. Over time, the stool becomes thin, liquid, dry, hard, noisy, and frothy. The sufferer passes stool repeatedly, with difficulty in the anus, and experiences breathlessness and cough. If the stool is yellow or yellowish-blue, it is liquid; there is putrid, sour belching, burning in the heart and throat, loss of appetite, thirst, and pain. When phlegm is the cause, digestion is painful, the mind is nauseated, vomiting occurs, appetite is lost, saliva is sticky, and there is spitting, cough, palpitations, and nasal discharge. The heart feels stiff, the abdomen numb and heavy, belching is foul and sweet, and there is both weakness and, at times, exhilaration. When the feces are mixed, sticky, heavy, or sour, even those not emaciated suffer from weakness and all manner of diseases and symptoms. The three impurities—thirst and others—described in the division of the body, also arise from grahani disorders and are present everywhere as their cause. Diseases of wind, urinary stones, leprosy, diabetes, abdominal swelling, foul odor, hemorrhoids, and grahani—these eight great diseases are renowned as extremely difficult to overcome. At this point, the revered Dhanvantari addresses Suśruta, turning the discourse to the causes of urinary retention. He explains that the bladder, its neck, the penis, loins, testicles, and anus are all supported by single channels, situated in the cavities of the rectum and bones. The bladder itself faces downward, with the openings of the urinary veins, and from the sides, fine streams constantly fill it. Through these channels, twenty kinds of disorders may arise. Among these are urinary retention and diabetes, both severe, which affect vital spots and cause pain in the bladder, groin, and penis—mild, but frequent. In the wind type, urine is scanty; in the bile type, it is yellow and always burning; in the phlegm type, it is bloody, with heaviness and swelling of the bladder and penis. The urine is slimy, obstructed, and affected by all impurities. When wind blocks the opening of the bladder and dries it out, urine, now mixed with bile, phlegm, or semen, gradually forms a dreadful stone, yellow like cow’s bile. All these conditions are rooted in phlegm, with the earliest sign being swelling of the bladder and intense pain around the affected area. There is retention of urine in the bladder, painful urination, fever, and loss of appetite. Common symptoms include pain in the navel, perineum, bladder, and head. When the passage is open, urine is copious; when blocked, it is passed with difficulty and is clear like the gemstone gomedaka. Due to agitation, pain arises with blood and flesh in the tract; afflicted by wind, the patient bites his teeth and trembles. He grasps his penis and navel, suffering greatly; with wind, he passes stool and urinates frequently, drop by drop. The stone formed may be dark and rough, sometimes sharp like thorns. With bile, the bladder burns as if being cooked by heat. The stone may resemble the seed of bhallātaka—red, yellow, or white. When phlegm presses on the bladder, it feels cold and heavy. A large, smooth stone, honey-colored or white, may occur in children, and is especially common among them. Because the channel is small and the stone is easily grasped and expelled, the person is comfortable; but when semen is retained, a large stone of semen may form. If semen is displaced from its place or not expelled, wind may enter between the two testicles, drying up the semen, which then hardens into a stone. This causes pain in the bladder, difficulty in urination, and swelling. As soon as it arises, it may dry up and dissolve. When afflicted, there is fever and cough, and in such cases, the stone is like gravel; or, broken by wind, it may move in the reverse direction. Thus, with compassion and precision, the sages have described the manifold symptoms, causes, and courses of these grave disorders, so that the wise may recognize and address them in time.