Tirukural

CHAPTER 95

Medicine

941

Disease is but deficiency or excess of three life forces, defined by writers of scientific texts as air, fire and water.§

942

The body requires no medicine if you eat only after the food you have already eaten is digested.§

943

Once digestion is complete, eat with moderation; that is the way to prolong the life of the body.§

944

Assured the last meal has digested and sensing a keen appetite, savor only foods that are fully agreeable.§

945

Life remains unharmed when one eats with restraint, refraining from foods that have proven disagreeable.§

946

The pleasures of health abide in the man who eats moderately. The pains of disease dwell with him who eats excessively.§

947 The thoughtless glutton who gorges himself beyond the limits of his digestive fires will be consumed by limitless ills.§

948

Diagnose the illness, trace its cause, seek the appropriate remedy and apply it skillfully.§

949

An accomplished doctor prescribes a remedy after considering the patient’s nature, the disease’s nature and the time of year.§

950

Medicine consists of a patient, a physician, a prescription and a nurse—each of these having four parts.§