Medicine as in Garuda Purana lists down five steps of medical treatment. First treatment is nidana which is the diagnosis of a disease before the symptoms are evident. This again spills into purva rupa. Purva rupa is the stage when early symptoms of the disease appear. Next is the stage of rupa when all signs appear. Upashya is the fourth stage that centres on the treatment of disease through medicine, diet and other activities. Samprapti is the final and the recovery stage.
Fevers are of different types. Some accompanied by hiccups, vomiting, eruptions on the skin, loss of appetite, laziness and sleepiness. Headaches, body aches, fainting fits, insomnia, delirium, sweating and thirst are other signs. This is the nidana stage of fever. Sections on the nidana follow.
The medicines to be used depend on the disease, its causes and on the season. It also depends on the disease whether it is due to phlegm, bile and wind or a combination of all three. The ingredients used for making the medicines are black mustard seeds, wheat, pepper, honey, a fruit, castor-oil, lotus leaves, a specific lentil, spinach, pomegranate, saffron, a specific lemon, myrobalan, jackfruit, grapes, dates, ginger, black pepper, asafoetida, rock-salt, clarified butter, oil of sesame, sugarcane, molasses, buttermilk, licorice , triphala, ashvagandha , indigo, yavakshara, jaggery, turmeric, garlic, fenugreek, shirisha, cardamon, sandalwood, devadaru, ivory, lac, palasha, betel leaf and salt .
The herb named punarnava should be crushed and drunk with water when pushya nakshatra is in the sky. This is done in order to stop snake from entering the house. There are other methods like the root of the shalmali tree can be crushed and drunk with water if snakes are to be repelled. Again the root of the lajjaluka can be gathered when pushya nakshatra is in the sky. The root is then crushed in order to get the juice and that is smeared on the hands. This ensures that one can catch snakes fearlessly. Despite this if a snake bites a person; the juice of the mahakala creeper should be consumed.
