The wise physician, upon seeing wounds inflicted by external causes, prepares a gentle remedy: a mixture of warm ghee and honey blended with licorice, soothing and healing to the afflicted flesh. For wounds burning with heat, blood, and excess bile, a cooling treatment is called for—a decoction made from bamboo, castor, and dog-tooth grass. To expel blood retained in the bowels, one takes this decoction with asafoetida and rock salt, or, for a gentler effect, with the juices of barley, jujube, and horse gram, abstaining from oil. Nourishment, too, must be considered. Barley, prepared as food or mixed with rock salt for drinking, strengthens the patient. For wounds troubled by worms, the juices of karanja, arishta, and nirgunḍī provide powerful relief. Guggulu, when compounded with triphala and formed into pills, can be taken without restriction; it removes obstructions and is effective for wounds and swelling. Another principal remedy for wound healing is a paste made from the juice of dūrvā grass or kampillaka, blended with the bark of dārvā. Dhanvantari, the divine physician, then instructs Suśruta on the treatment of fistula and related diseases. “Listen closely,” he says. “Once the fistula is opened with a surgical instrument, treat it as you would a wound. A mixture of guggulu, triphala, and vyosha, blended with ghee, cures painful fistula and the disease known as bhagandara. Oil prepared from the juice of nirgunḍī is especially beneficial—it removes diseased fistula and is helpful for those suffering from skin diseases, whether taken internally, used for anointing, or applied nasally. Pills made from equal parts guggulu, triphala, kṛṣṇā, and tripañca are effective against tumors, swelling, and bhagandara. In cases of upadaṃśa, venesection at the middle of the penis purifies the body, but the ulcer must be vigilantly protected, for it threatens the destruction of the glans. A decoction of paṭola, nimba, triphala, and guḍūcī, taken with guggulu and khadira, destroys upadaṃśa. Triphalā, roasted in a pot and mixed with honey, when applied as a paste, heals the wound at once. An excellent remedy is a paste and decoction of triphalā, nimba, bhūnimba, karanja, khadira, and others, all cooked together with ghee. When a fracture is recognized, the physician should first irrigate it with cold water, then apply a cooked ointment and bind the injury with kusa grass. The patient is to be nourished with foods such as black gram, meat, ghee, milk, soup, and water mixed with barley. To hasten the union of broken, dislocated, or fallen bones, one should consume a paste of garlic, honey, ghee, and sugar. A mixture of aśvattha, triphalā, vyosha, and varabhi, prepared with guggulu, restores fractured joints. Leprosy, in all its forms, is to be treated with emesis, purgation, and bloodletting, as well as remedies made from vacā, vāsā, paṭolā, nimbā, kalinī, and the twigs of bark. For purgation, a decoction with trivṛt, karṇaphala, and trikatu, drunk with honey, soothes disorders of wind and the heart. Oil prepared with manaḥśilā and black pepper destroys leprosy, as does a mixture of śivā, pañcaguḍa, and rice. A paste of karañja and iḍagaja with cow’s urine alleviates leprosy, and massage with karavīra or anointing with oil brings further relief. Another potent remedy is a paste of turmeric, malaya, rāsnā, guḍūcī, iḍagaja, āragvadha, and karañja. Manaḥśilā, viḍaṅga, vāgajī, and mustard seeds, ground with karañja and urine, form a paste that removes leprosy as surely as the sun dispels darkness. Viḍaṅga, iḍavacā, kuṣṭha, niśā, sindhūttha, and mustard seeds, ground with sour urine, create a paste that destroys both ringworm and leprosy. For ringworm, a powder made from prapunnāṭa seeds, subīja, dhātrī, sarja resin, snuhī, and sauvīra is highly effective. The leaves of āragvadha, ground with buttermilk, dispel ringworm, scabies, leprosy, and sidhmā. Strength and vitality are restored by drinking warm vāgajī, taking milk, and consuming sesame oil, triphalā, honey, vyosha, bhallātaka, and sugar—these seven support intelligence, remove leprosy, and kindle desire. A powder of viḍaṅga, triphalā, and kṛṣṇā, taken with honey, destroys leprosy, worms, urinary tract diseases, ulcers, and fistula-in-ano. Those who consume abhayāriṣṭa, ariṣṭa, āmalaka, and niśā are assured of conquering all types of leprosy and skin diseases. The root of khadira, burned in a pot with ten thousand holes and its juice mixed with dhātrī juice and honey, destroys leprosy and rejuvenates the body. Drinking a decoction of dhātrī and khadira with vāgajī quickly removes śvitra that is white as the conch or the moon. For a month, drinking oil prepared with bhallātaka conquers disease, and using khadira with water and other drinks removes leprosy. The fruit of soma-rājī, processed with malapūka decoction and taken with salt, followed by clarified butter with akṣa and phalgu, is another remedy. Even incurable śvitra yields to the application of aparājitā as a paste, as well as to vāsā, purified triphalā, paṭola, and karañja. Consuming nimbā and kṛṣṇavetra, prepared as a decoction and paste, makes the body strong as a diamond and cures leprosy, granting a long life of a hundred years. For eczema and scabies, the juice of durva grass, mixed with four times its amount of oil and cooked, is applied to the skin. Oil prepared from the bark of trees, arka, kuṣṭha, salt, urine, gambhārī, and citraka cures skin diseases and ulcers. For acid reflux, a decoction of amla fruit, neem fruit, citraka with cow’s urine, vāsā, amṛtā, parpaṭikā, neem, bhūnimba, alkali, triphalā, and kulattha, mixed with honey, dispels acidity. Finally, a decoction of phalatrika and paṭola, with bitter herbs and sugar, taken with yaṣṭimadhu, conquers fever, vomiting, and acidity. Thus, the ancient science of healing, as spoken by the sages, brings comfort and cure to all who follow its wisdom.