Shloka 22

Visarpa Nidāna-Lakṣaṇa

Causes, Types, and Prognosis of Rapidly Spreading Eruptive Disorders

Devanagari script

बाह्यहेतोः क्षतात्क्रुद्ध्वः सरक्तं पित्तमीरयन् / वीसर्पं मारुतः कुर्यात्कुलत्थसदृशैश्चितम्

Transliteration

bāhyahetoḥ kṣatātkruddhvaḥ saraktaṃ pittamīrayan / vīsarpaṃ mārutaḥ kuryātkulatthasadṛśaiścitam

Translation

When, due to an external cause (such as injury), the wind (vāta) becomes aggravated and drives pitta mixed with blood into activity, it produces vīsarpa (a rapidly spreading skin disorder), marked by eruptions resembling kulattha (horse-gram).

Word by Word

• बाह्यहेतोः: from an external cause
• बाह्यहेतोः: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाह्य + हेतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th case), एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (Masculine, Ablative singular; 'from an external cause')

• क्षतात्: from a wound
• क्षतात्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन (Ablative singular; 'from a wound')

• क्रुद्ध्वः: having become enraged
• क्रुद्ध्वः: Purvakala (Prior action/पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √क्रुध् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive) (Having become angry)

• सरक्तम्: mixed with blood
• सरक्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स + रक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (Neuter, Accusative singular; 'with blood')

• पित्तम्: bile (pitta)
• पित्तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पित्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (Neuter, Accusative singular)

• ईरयन्: agitating, setting in motion
• ईरयन्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √ईर् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमानकाले कृदन्त; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Present active participle; Masculine, Nominative singular)

• वीसर्पम्: erysipelas
• वीसर्पम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीसर्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (Masculine, Accusative singular)

• मारुतः: wind (vāta)
• मारुतः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मारुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (Masculine, Nominative singular)

• कुर्यात्: would cause, may produce
• कुर्यात्: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन (Optative, active, 3rd person singular)

• कुलत्थसदृशैः: with (spots) resembling horse-gram
• कुलत्थसदृशैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कुलत्थ + सदृश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (Instrumental plural; 'resembling horse-gram')

• चितम्: covered, filled
• चितम्: Karma (Object complement/कर्मपूरक)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चित (√चि धातु; क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्त-कृदन्त (Neuter, Accusative singular; 'heaped/covered')

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (teaching Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Medical Ayurveda

Dosha: Vata

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Hetu–doṣa–dūṣya reasoning: external injury aggravates vāta, which mobilizes pitta with blood to manifest vīsarpa.

Vedantic Theme: Causality within prakṛti: effects arise from conditions; discernment (viveka) separates observer from observed processes.

Application: After injury, prevent doṣa aggravation: avoid drying/irritating factors that provoke vāta and heating factors that inflame pitta; monitor for rapid spread and kulattha-like papules.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.163.23-24: symptom complex and prognosis based on doṣa combinations; Garuda Purana 1.163 (overall): Ayurvedic nosology and doṣa theory

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Garuda
• Vata (Maruta)
• Pitta
• Rakta

FAQs

What is the importance of vīsarpa in the Garuda Purana?

This verse uses vīsarpa as a technical Ayurvedic example to show how external injury can aggravate vāta and mobilize pitta with blood, producing a fast-spreading disorder—illustrating doṣa-based causation.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul?

It does not describe the soul’s journey here; instead, it presents a medical (Ayurvedic) teaching within the Garuda Purana’s broader encyclopedic instruction from Vishnu to Garuda.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Treat wounds carefully and watch for rapidly spreading, burning, painful eruptions—an early-warning model framed as vāta-driven spread with pitta-rakta involvement.