Aśva-Āyurveda in the Agni Purāṇa

Aśva-Āyurveda · aśva-āyus-veda, “the science of life for horses”

Aśva-Āyurveda is the science of the life and health of horses, as the Agni Purāṇa gives it in three chapters near its end (Chapters 288–290), within its teaching on Āyurveda. Dhanvantari first teaches the aśva-vāhana-sāra, the essence of riding and managing horses. Then, in his own words, “as Śālihotra told them”, the marks, medicines and śānti rites of horses follow, spoken by Śālihotra to his disciple Suśruta.

Dhanvantari teaches that horses are kept for the accomplishment of dharma, artha and kāma. He gives the days and seasons for first mounting a horse; the nyāsa by which the devatās are placed in every part of the horse’s body, from Brahmā in its mind to Vāsuki in its chest; the mantra the rider whispers in the horse’s right ear, reminding it that it was born of the gandharva-kula at the churning of the ocean of milk; the marks of a good rider; the four upāyas (sāma, dāna, bheda and daṇḍa) as applied to a horse; the named methods of training; and the marks, gaits and kinds of horses. Śālihotra then teaches which horses are to be rejected, which hair-whorls (āvartas) are auspicious, the medicines for each disease of the horse, its drinks, ghee and oil in each season, its bathing, feeding and stabling, and finally the Aśva-śānti, the rite of peace that removes the diseases of horses and makes them increase. The Gandharva horses, he says, are sons of Lakshmī and the best of jewels; and because the horse is pure, it is used in the Aśvamedha.

Riding and managing horses

Dhanvantari said: “Now I shall tell the aśva-vāhana-sāra and aśva-cikitsā (the treatment of horses).” Horses are to be acquired for the accomplishment of dharma, kāma and artha.

When to mount. For first mounting a horse six nakshatras are praised: Aśvinī, Śravaṇa, Hasta, Uttarāshāḍhā, Uttara-bhādrapadā and Uttara-phalgunī. Hemanta, Śiśira and Vasanta are the good ṛtus (seasons) for mounting a horse; in Grīshma, Śarat and Varsha (the rains) it is forbidden.

The rider who does not know. A horse must not be struck with harsh rods, nor in the wrong place on its body. The fool who, not knowing the horse’s mind or the methods, mounts it bare-backed without a saddle and drives it on a hard road full of stakes, bones and thorns, on a road of sand or floodwater, or on a road of pits and mounds, becomes himself the horse’s vāhana: it carries him off. Only a rare, wise and excellent man, even without study of the aśva-śāstra, can make a horse know his intention by practice and firm resolve alone.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

The devatā-nyāsa on the horse

Before it is mounted, the horse is bathed and made to stand facing east. Then the devatās are placed on it by nyāsa, in order, with mantras that begin with “Oṃ”, end with “namaḥ” and carry the bīja syllable “sva”:

• in its citta (mind): Brahmā;
• in its bala (strength): Mahā-Vishṇu;
• in its parākrama (valour): Garutmān, the divine Garuḍa;
• in its flanks: the Rudra-gaṇa;
• in its buddhi (intellect): Bṛhaspati;
• in its marma-sthānas (vital points): the Viśvedevas;
• in its eye-whorls and eyes: Candra and Sūrya;
• in its ears: the Aśvinī-kumāras;
• in its jaṭharāgni (digestive fire): Svadhā;
• on its tongue: Sarasvatī;
• in its speed: Vāyu-deva;
• in its back: the vault of svarga;
• in the tips of its hooves: all the mountains;
• in its hair-pores: the host of nakshatras;
• in its heart: the digit of the moon (candra-kalā);
• in its tejas (lustre): Agni;
• in its buttocks: Rati;
• in its forehead: Jagatpati, the master of the world;
• in its “preshita”: the Nava-grahas (nine planets);
• in its chest: Vāsuki.

Then the rider worships the horse.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

The mantra whispered into the horse’s ear

After the pūjā the rider says this mantra into the horse’s right ear (the karṇa-japa):

“O horse! You are a king of the gandharvas. Hear my word. You were born in the gandharva-kula; do not disgrace your kula. By the true word of the brāhmaṇas, remember the strength of Soma, Garuḍa, Rudra, Varuṇa and Pavana, and the tejas of Agni; remember your birth. Remember the true word that you are the son of the king of kings. Remember the maiden Vāruṇī and the Kaustubha maṇi. When the ocean of milk was churned by the daityas and the devas, you were born in the deva-kula. Keep your word. You were born in the line of horses: be my friend forever. O friend, hear my word: be my vāhana. Protect me and bring me victory. In former times the devas mounted your back and slew the daityas. Today, mounted on you, I shall conquer the army of the enemy.”

The phala. Having done this japa into the horse’s ear, the rider bewilders his enemies, brings the horse to the field of battle, mounts it and wins victory. By this karṇa-japa and by right handling the horse gains confidence in its rider.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

The good rider

The best rider removes with effort the doshas (faults) that arise in a horse’s body and makes its guṇas (good qualities) blossom, and the guṇas he gives it appear as if they were its own by nature. Some riders destroy even the natural guṇas of a horse. One man sees only a horse’s guṇas, another only its doshas; the wise man who knows the secret of the horse is blessed, while the dull-witted can know neither.

A rider who does not know the work and its methods, who drives the horse too fast, who is given to anger and punishes harshly for a small fault, is not to be praised, however skilled he is. The rider who knows the methods, grasps the horse’s mind, is pure, and removes faults and develops good qualities, is skilled in every task.

Such a rider leads the horse out by the bridle to open ground, mounts it and drives it to the right and to the left. After mounting a good horse he does not strike it at once with the whip, for then it takes fright and is bewildered. In the morning he holds the bridle, raises the horse and drives it in the pluta-gati, the leaping gait; at evening a horse whose hooves are not shod is led slowly, held by the bridle.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

The four upāyas applied to the horse

Towards the horse, as towards a king’s subjects, the four upāyas are used:

• sāma (conciliation): the confidence the horse gains by the karṇa-japa and by right handling;
• daṇḍa (punishment): given with the whip and the like;
• bheda (division): used for a horse yoked to a chariot together with another horse;
• dāna (gift): waiting for the right time.

When the earlier methods fail, the later ones are used, in order.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

Bridling and the methods of training

The bridle. A rope is tied under the horse’s tongue without a fastening, and a bridle of thread of a hundred strands is tied near its ears. Little by little, letting the horse forget that it is being ridden, the bridle is loosened; when the tongue grows slack, the tongue-knot is untied. So long as the horse has not given up its steadiness the bridle is not let out much, and so long as saliva flows from its mouth the breast-strap (uras-trāṇa) is kept tight. When the horse holds its face naturally raised and its breast-strap is firm, the excellent rider can drive it with his eye alone.

The firm seat. First the right rein is joined to the horse’s right hind foot and that foot is brought under control; then the left foot is tied with the left rein and controlled. When the forefeet are then released, the rider’s seat becomes very firm.

The named methods.

• Nāṭakāyana: in the difficult twisting exercise (moṭana), when the feet are carried off or the left foot grows weak, that state is called nāṭakāyana.
• Udvakkana: pressing hard, pulling the bridle, and with that binding taking hold of both the horse’s feet and drawing them.
• Meṭṭana: tying the bridle to the four feet of the horse, loosening it at will and striking the horse.
• Sugrahaṇa: a horse that still goes slowly though trained with the seat tightly bound is driven again over hard ground.
• Khalīkāra: a horse that is distracted even while standing is pulled sideways with the bridle, made to chew the iron bit, and taught its gait with blows of the foot. By hanana and the like khalīkāra arises.
• Hanana: if the horse will not go in the desired gait even by the three gaits, it is struck with a rod and so made to go.
• Ucchvāsana: having made the horse khalīkṛta four times with the second bridle, it is taken to another place and made to breathe out.
• Mukha-vyāvartana: turning its face outward is the horse’s nature; turning it deliberately to that same side, holding the bridle, and teaching it the gait.

Turning its face again and again is the horse’s nature, and none of these is a reason for seizing its feet. The wise rider must know the horse’s collapse (praḷaya) and its bolting (āviplava). The horse that does not misplace its feet in the moṭana and udvakkana exercises is to be known as trained, and is taught the foot-gait in this way. After the three gaits it is taught to go in the five courses beginning with the circle (maṇḍala).

Bringing the horse under control. When the horse grows slack from its raised face down to its knees, the wise mount it and make it run until its limbs grow light. Then its neck becomes supple, its face light and all its joints loose; it comes under the rider’s control, and in that state it is to be taken in hand. A horse that does not give up the gait first taught is good. Then, pulling the bridle with both hands, the rider raises the horse’s neck and makes it stand on one foot; when the hind legs become the support of the forelegs, the horse is steadied with the fist. A horse that does not stand still at once when pulled, but twists its body, is run in a circle and brought under control; a horse that shakes its neck is stopped by pulling the bridle.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

Care of the horse’s body

• A decoction of cow-dung, salt and cow-urine mixed with clay is smeared on the horse’s body; flies and the like no longer trouble it, and its weariness goes.
• Gruel is given to horses of the Bhadra and other jātis; it lessens the biting of tiny insects, listlessness and hunger.
• Only as much training is given as brings the horse under control. Horses driven too much perish; horses not driven enough never become ready. The rider makes them raise their faces as he rides.
• With a steady fist and gripping the horse with both knees, the rider urges it forward.
• A horse that drips saliva as soon as the bridle is taken has the bridle untied and is bathed with a stream of water.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

Marks, gaits and kinds of horses

A horse that bears the marks called gomūtrākṛti (the zigzag line of cow-urine), vakra-veṇī (a curved braid), padma-maṇḍala (a lotus circle) and mālikā (a garland) is called pañcolūka-khalika; such horses are free of pride in their work. Six lakshaṇas are taught for them: saṅkshipta, vikshipta, kuñcita, añcita, valgita and āvalgika.

Distances of training. A horse of the Rudra-jāti becomes tractable after running a hundred dhanus on the road; a slow horse after eighty dhanus; a horse “whose mind is on the rod alone” after ninety dhanus; and the mṛga-jihma, a horse of mixed birth, when driven eighty or ninety dhanus.

The four varṇas of horses. The brāhmaṇa horse eats sugar, honey and parched grain, and is pure and fragrant; the kshatriya horse is full of tejas; the vaiśya horse has humility and intelligence; the śūdra horse is impure, restless, slow, ugly, without intelligence and vicious.

At the close of his teaching Dhanvantari says: “Now I shall tell the marks of horses in the way Śālihotra told them.”

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288

The marks of horses

Śālihotra said: “O Suśruta! I shall tell the marks of horses and their treatment.”

Horses to be rejected. A horse is to be given up if it lacks teeth, or has misshapen or gaping teeth; if its palate or tongue is black; if it was born a twin, or its testicles have not descended; if it is cloven-hoofed or horned; if it is three-coloured, or coloured like a tiger, a donkey or ash, or gold-coloured with a hump; if it has white patches, or is attacked by crows; if it is hard-bodied or monkey-eyed; if its private parts, mane or muzzle are black; if its hair is coarse or it is coloured like a partridge; if its limbs are uneven or its feet white; if it lacks the dhruva-āvartas (the fixed whorls every horse must have), or has inauspicious whorls.

The āvartas. Auspicious whorls are two on and near the nose, two each on the head and the chest, two each on the forehead and the throat, and two on the prāyaṇa. Whorls are best on the lip, the forehead, the root of the ear, the neck, the forelegs and the throat; on other limbs they are inauspicious.

Good horses. Horses with the lustre of the parrot, the indragopa insect or the moon, or golden and glossy, are always praised. The text adds that a king who has horses with long necks, sunken eyes and small ears, handsome to look at, should give up the wish for victory.

Keeping horses and elephants is auspicious; keeping them badly brings sorrow. The Gandharva horses, sons of Lakshmī, are the best of jewels. Because the horse is pure, it is used in the Aśvamedha.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 289

Medicines for horses

Śālihotra gives the aśva-cikitsā, the treatment for each disease:

• Sweating of the head and discharge from the nose: a paste of guḍūcī, nimba and bṛhatī with honey, fed to the horse.
• Śūla (colic): hiṅgu, pushkara-mūla, śuṇṭhī, amla-vetasa, pippalī and saindhava salt, given with hot water.
• Atisāra (diarrhoea): a decoction of śuṇṭhī, ativishā, mustā, anantā and the root of bilva destroys all its forms.
• Weariness: goat’s milk boiled with priyaṅgu and sārivā, with enough sugar, given to drink.
• Ease in the belly: an oil enema (taila-basti) given in the trough, or piercing the vein that has arisen in the koshṭha.
• Kāsa (cough): a ball of equal parts of pomegranate, triphalā, the three pungents and jaggery; or soups with priyaṅgu and lodhra, or milk.
• Praskanda, of every kind: first purging, then rubbing with oil, massage, oiling and suppositories.
• Jvara (fever): the horse with fever is treated with milk.
• Śotha (swelling): a plaster of the roots of lodhra and karañja, mātuluṅga, citraka, nāgara, kushṭha, hiṅgu, vacā and rāsnā.
• Rakta-prameha: the horse is kept without food and given goat’s milk boiled with mañjishṭhā, madhuka, grapes, bṛhatī, red sandal, and the seeds and roots of trapushī, śṛṅgāṭaka and kaśeruka, cooled and sweetened with sugar.
• Swollen nāḍīs of the nape, jaw and neck, and gala-graha (throat seizure): rubbing with pungent oil (kaṭu-taila) in those places is praised. Gala-graha and swellings mostly arise in the throat region.
• Listlessness: a diet with śatapushpī, citraka, saindhava and sauvarcala salts, pippalī and hiṅgu keeps the horse from ever suffering it.
• Stiff tongue: haridrā, jyotishmatī, pāṭhā, pippalī, kushṭha, vacā and honey, mixed with jaggery and cow-urine, rubbed on the tongue.
• Wounds: a paste of sesame, yashṭimadhu, haridrā and nimba leaves; with honey it cleanses the wound, with ghee it heals it. A horse limping in great pain after a blow is relieved by pouring oil over it. For a wound from a blow, whether from vāta, pitta or kapha or from anger, a slightly warm decoction of aśvattha, udumbara, plaksha, madhūka and vaṭa in much water cleanses it. A medicated oil of śatāhvā, nāgara, rāsnā, mañjishṭhā, kushṭha, saindhava, devadāru, vacā, the two haridrās and red sandal, given with guḍūcī water or milk as massage, enema or nasal drops, removes the doshas.
• Eye disease: a leech is set at the corner of the eye and the blood let out; then the eye is cleansed with decoctions of udumbara, aśvattha and the like.
• Piercing at once: in complications, ear trouble, dry swelling and harm from sourness, venesection (sirā-vedhana) is done at once.
• Itching: cow-dung, mañjishṭhā, kushṭha, haridrā, sesame and mustard, ground in cow-urine and rubbed on.
• Rakta-pitta: a cooled decoction of śāla with honey and sugar, put into the nose and given to drink.

Every seventh day the horse is fed salt.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 289

The seasons, feeding and stabling

Pratipāna (the drink after food) for each season, given to a horse that has eaten too much:

• in Śarat: the jīvanīya group of herbs with honey, grapes, sugar, pippalī and padmaka;
• in Hemanta: viḍaṅga, pippalī, śatāhvā, lodhra, saindhava and citraka;
• in Vasanta: lodhra, priyaṅgu, mustā, pippalī, śuṇṭhī and honey, which destroy kapha;
• in Grīshma: a fermented drink with priyaṅgu, pippalī, lodhra, yashṭi, śuṇṭhī and jaggery;
• in Varsha: lodhra, kāshṭha-lavaṇa, pippalī, hiṅgu and oil.

Ghee and oil. Ghee is given to drink to a horse afflicted by pitta in Grīshma, by blood trouble in Śarat, and with loose dung in Varsha. When kapha and vāta are in excess, oil is given. A horse whose body suffers from too much oiliness is given a drying treatment: food with buttermilk and gruel for three days. In Śarat and Grīshma ghee is given, in Hemanta and Vasanta oil, and in Varsha and Śiśira both. To a horse given oil to drink, heavy and clogging food, exercise, bathing, smoke and windless places are forbidden.

Bathing and watering. In Varsha the horse is bathed and watered once. On a stormy day only watering is praised. In a season of equal cold and heat it is watered twice and bathed once. In Grīshma it is bathed and given pratipāna three times, and bathed standing a long time in full water.

Feeding. Horses are fed four āḍhakas of husked barley daily, with gram, grain, green gram and peas, and are given five śers of milk to drink day and night. Dūrvā grass removes pitta, barley removes cough, husk removes excess kapha, arjuna removes breathlessness, and māna-kanda removes loss of strength. A horse that eats dūrvā suffers no disease of vāta, pitta or kapha, nor of all three together.

Stabling. Vicious horses are tied with two ropes, in front and behind, and at the neck, at a post in a place fumigated with dhūpa, kept firm there with skill; a lamp is kept burning there and the place made secure. Peacocks, goats, monkeys and other animals are kept in the stable.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 289

The Aśva-śānti

Śālihotra said: “O Suśruta! Now hear the Aśva-śānti, which removes the diseases of horses. It is of three kinds: nitya, naimittika and kāmya.”

The nitya śānti. On an auspicious day, pūjā is done to Bhagavān Vishṇu, to Lakshmī Devī and to the Haya-rāja, the king of horses, the son of Uccaiḥśravas. A homa of ghee is offered with the Sāvitra mantras, and dakshiṇā is given to the brāhmaṇas. By this the horses increase.

On Āśvayuja pūrṇimā. On the full moon of the bright fortnight of Āśvayuja, the śānti-karma is done outside the town. The Aśvinī-devatās and Varuṇa are worshipped in particular. A picture of the Devī is drawn and covered on all four sides with branches of trees, and kalaśas filled with all rasas and wrapped in cloth are set there. Then Śrī Devī is worshipped and a homa of barley and ghee is offered. Then the Aśvinī-devatās and the horses are worshipped, and dakshiṇā is given to the brāhmaṇas.

The naimittika śānti. At Makara-saṅkrānti and the other saṅkrāntis the horses are worshipped. Bhagavān Vishṇu, Lakshmī Devī, Brahmā, Bhagavān Śiva, Candra, Sūrya, Revanta and Uccaiḥśravas are worshipped with lotuses, and the dikpālas on the petals of a lotus. For each devatā a water-filled kalaśa is set on the vedī. To the north of the devatās a homa of sesame, unbroken rice, ghee and white mustard is offered, a hundred oblations for each devatā. For removing the troubles of the horses, this śānti-karma is done after a fast.

The phala. The Aśva-śānti removes the diseases of horses, and by it the horses increase.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 290

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 288–290