..续本文上一页that in ancient Sri Lanka this was a very popular Buddhist discourse among people of all walks of life and that it became the inspiration for an annual festival. In traditional Sinhalese translations, as in Burmese and Thai ones, the medicine mentioned in the text has been taken to be cow”s urine or, more specifically, Myrobalan fruits pickled in cow”s urine. Owing to this translation some of the attributions of this medicine mentioned by the Buddha doesn”t appeared to be very convincing or practical since it would sometimes be hard for a bhikkhu to find both the Myrobalan fruit and cow”s urine. However, in recent English translations we get some new practical sense to this medicine.

　　Let me add here that it”s not only in Buddhism that we find urine as a medicine but also in other denominations such as Christianity (in The Holy Bible), Hinduism (in Damar Tantra) and, some claims, in Islam too (in The Holy Koran). These traditions, however, have a somewhat different interpretation than the Buddhist texts on how to use the medicine.

　　I can think of two reasons for why the usage of urine as medicine resurfaced again contemporaneously in many traditions in our time. The first is the increasing number of complications in the prevailing allopathic or chemotherapeutic treatments of diseases which has made an increasing number of people interested in alternative medicines. The second is the general trend of searching for more holistic health systems, even ancient ones based on different religious lines. Whatever the reasons may be the urine-method has its own intriguing nature and might, I believe, still find a growing group of followers.

　　A closer look at this therapy, under the current trend, irrespective of creed, one finds a vast number of convincing testimonies and subjective evidences on the benefits of the medicine. Buddhism can contribute in its own way with its canonical and historical references on this subject – provided that its ideas are presented in correct translations! So far we”ve traced some quotations from the Vinaya Pitaka with relevant information prescribed to bhikkhus. However, I think that the commentarial text has interfered in a questionable and imperfect manner. In the traditional Buddhist countries, such as Sri Lanka, Burma or Thailand, no efforts have been made in resent history to get a clear idea of how the medicine was intended to be used, or how it was used at the time of the Buddha.

　　The increasing amount of literature on the subject, with testimonies and evidences from the other sources, made me think twice and urged me to renew the way I read the quoted passages in the Buddhist canonical sources. I went back to the original scriptures, untouched by the prevalent traditional translations. When investigating the Sutta Pitaka with this inquisitive pragmatic approach I came across the following quotation in the Majjima Nikaya (the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha), Sutta number 46 called Dhamma Samadana Sutta:

　　"Bhikkhu, a man would come along suffering from jaundice and he is told: “Friend, there is a drink made out of putrid urine, with various kinds of medicines put in it. If you desire – drink.” When drinking it would not be agreeable to sight, smell or taste but drinking it you will get over your illness. He reflects about it and drinks it. It would not be agreeable to sight, smell or taste, yet he would get over that illness. I say this observance of the Teaching is comparable to this, as it is now unpleasant and brings pleasant results in the future."

　　The Commentary to this Sutta says:

　　"[The Pali word] Putimuttan means just “urine”. So it”s said, that even if a person is golden in color his body is described as repulsive in the scriptures. Even

　　 born the very same day the vine called Ga…

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