# Bidalaka

> Bidalaka is a medicated paste spread over the closed eyelid, one of the netra kriyākalpa procedures of Ayurvedic ophthalmology. The source record describes a cooling paste of Candana or Triphalā applied to the shut lid. It is marked vaidya-only: clinic work, not something to try at home.

## Key facts

- **Sanskrit name:** Bidalaka

## What it is

Bidalaka is the application of a medicated paste to the skin of the closed eyelid. It sits in the netra kriyākalpa group, the set of localised procedures used in Ayurvedic ophthalmology. Reviews of that literature list seven kriyākalpas: seka (irrigation of the closed eye), āścyotana (drops), piṇḍī (poultice), bidalaka (paste on the lid skin), tarpaṇa, puṭapāka and añjana (collyrium). Piṇḍī is described as the closely related poultice form, working by the same route of contact with lid skin.

The source record classifies it as kriyā-bāhya, an external procedure, and glosses it in English as "localized eyelid paste".

## Where it comes from in the classical literature

The record cites Suśruta Uttara-tantra 18. That chapter is Suśruta's general chapter on ocular measures, but the kriyākalpas Suśruta names are five: tarpaṇa, puṭapāka, seka or pariṣeka, āścyotana and añjana. Bidalaka is not among them.

Secondary reviews consistently attribute bidalaka and piṇḍī to later authors. The most specific attribution found is Śārṅgadhara Saṃhitā, Uttara Khaṇḍa chapter 13 (Netrakarmādi-vidhi), a chapter given over to eye procedures which sets out all seven kriyākalpas including bidalaka; one source instead credits Vāgbhaṭa with adding vidalaka as a sixth. The primary Śārṅgadhara text could not be read in this session, so the corrected citation is recorded as unverified rather than confirmed.

## What it involves

The record gives a single step: a cooling paste applied to the closed lid. It gives no quantity, no paste thickness, no contact time, no frequency and no course length, and none is supplied here. Kriyākalpa reviews describe the procedure being carried out with the patient supine, eyes closed, under aseptic precautions.

## What is used

The record names Candana (sandalwood) and Triphalā as the paste dravyas. It names no oil, no vehicle and no instrument.

## Who should do it and why

The record marks bidalaka vaidya-only. Two things follow from what the record does and does not contain. The material sits on the lid margin, millimetres from the ocular surface, so selection of the dravya, the grinding medium and the aseptic handling are not incidental details. And the record carries no indication list, no contraindications, no adverse-event data and no duration, which means there is nothing here that could be turned into a home protocol even if that were appropriate. Anyone considering it should have an eye examination first and ask the practitioner for their own textual source, given that the citation on this record does not check out.

---

Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/practice/bidalaka/

Published by Age Ayurveda in the Nighantu. Educational reference only, not medical advice.
Incorporates material from the Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database under CC BY 4.0.