prasara: what the term means and how it is translated

Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21:28 · checked against the source

अत ऊर्ध्वं प्रसरं वक्ष्यामः- तेषामेभिरातङ्कविशेषैः प्रकुपितानां किण्वोदकपिष्टसमवाय इवोद्रिक्तानां प्रसरो भवति । तेषां वायुर्गतिमत्त्वात् प्रसरणहेतुः सत्यप्यचैतन्ये । ... तद्यथा- वातः, पित्तं, श्लेष्मा, शोणितं, वातपित्ते, वातश्लेष्माणौ, पित्तश्लेष्माणौ, वातशोणिते, पित्तशोणिते, श्लेष्मशोणिते, वातपित्तशोणितानि, वातश्लेष्मशोणितानि, पित्तश्लेष्मशोणितानि, वातपित्तकफाः, वातपित्तकफशोणितानीति; एवं पञ्चदशधा प्रसरन्ति ॥२८॥

Three load-bearing points: the fermentation simile (kiṇva + udaka + piṣṭa) for how doshas overflow; the doctrine that VAYU is the agent of prasara because it alone has motion (vāyur gatimattvāt prasaraṇahetuḥ satyapy acaitanye); and the explicit fifteen-fold enumeration, now quoted in full, ending एवं पञ्चदशधा प्रसरन्ति, 'thus they spread in fifteen ways'. The fifteen count is the text's own, not a commentator's.

Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21:28 · checked against the source

Now we shall describe the expansion ( Prasara ) of the deranged humours. The deranged humours, aggravated by the above mentioned causes, expand and overflow the limits of their respective localities in the same manner as, cakes, soaked in any ferment or enzyme and kept standing over night, ferment and rise through the acquisition of new and unseen attributes. The Vayu, which is possessed of locomotion or extreme mobility, should be looked upon as the cause of their expansion or over-flowing.

Bhishagratna's English for the prasara definition, the fermentation simile and the vayu-as-agent doctrine.

Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21:32 · checked against the source

एवं प्रकुपितानां प्रसरतां वायोर्विमार्गगमनाटोपौ, ओषचोषपरिदाहधूमायनानि पित्तस्य, अरोचकाविपाकाङ्गसादाश्छर्दिश्चेति श्लेष्मणो लिङ्गानि भवन्ति; तत्र तृतीयः क्रियाकालः ॥३२॥

Gives the dosha-wise signs of prasara and marks it the third kriyākāla. Note the stage-marker sits at verse 32, four verses after the prasara section opens at 28, so citing 'Su.Su. 21/28' or 'Su.Su. 21/32' for prasara are both defensible and published sources differ.

Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21:32 · checked against the source

The Vayu, thus aggravated and expanded, tends to deviate from its right passage and gives rise to a swelling or distention of the abdomen, accompanied by a rumbling sound in the intestines. The Pitta, under the similar condition, gives rise to heat, and a sort of sucking, burning pain in the affected part, together with a sensation of radiation or evaporation of heat from its surface. The Kapha, under the circumstance, would usher in a complete aversion to food, inertness of the limbs, vomiting and impaired digestion. The preceding symptoms, caused by the aggravation and expansion of the bodily humours, should be the third occasion for medical treatment

Bhishagratna's English for the dosha-wise prasara signs and the third-occasion marker.

Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21:29-30 · checked against the source

कृत्स्नेऽर्धेऽवयवे वाऽपि यत्राङ्गे कुपितो भृशम् । दोषो विकारं नभसि मेघवत्तत्र वर्षति ॥२९॥ नात्यर्थं कुपितश्चापि लीनो मार्गेषु तिष्ठति । निष्प्रत्यनीकः कालेन हेतुमासाद्य कुप्यति ॥३०॥

The rain-cloud simile (29): a dosha strongly provoked in the whole body, half of it, or one part 'rains down' disorder there like a cloud in the sky. Verse 30, now quoted in full rather than described, is the latency verse: a not-excessively-provoked dosha stays LATENT (līno) in the channels (mārgeṣu) and, unopposed, is provoked later on meeting a cause. This is the classical basis for a gap between prasara and sthānasaṃśraya.