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en:dictionary:pūtimutta



pūtimutta {pi}


Pāḷi; √ pūtimutta
gender:
type:
alt. sp.: IPA: puːt̪ɪmut̪t̪ə, Velthuis: puutimutta, readable: puutimutta, simple: putimutta
translation ~:
skr.:
khmer: បូតិមុត្ត
thai: ปูติมุตฺต
sinhal.: පූතිමුත්ත
burm.: ပူတိမုတ္တ
appears:



puutimutta.jpg

[dic] pūtimutta (putimutta)

pūtimutta: Description welcome. Info can be removed after imput.

ATI Glossary

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Buddhist Dictionary

by late Ven. Nyanalokita Thera:

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PTS Dictionary

by the Pali Text Society:

 

Glossary Thanissaro

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Illustrated Glossary of Pāli Terms

by Ven. Varado Maha Thera:

Renderings
Introduction

Pūtimutta is not ‘rotten urine’

Pūti can mean rotten:

• bones rotted and crumbled to dust

aṭṭhikāni pūtīni cuṇṇakajātāni. (MN i 89)

• beings born in a rotten fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten porridge

sattā pūtimacche vā jāyanti pūtikuṇape vā pūtikummāse vā. (MN i 73)

But pūtimutta, a consumable medicine, would not be ‘rotten urine’ because:

1) rotten urine would likely be poisonous.

2) the medicinal effectiveness of any product would hardly be improved by allowing it to rot.

3) Allowing urine to ‘ferment’ would require sterile equipment, and the Buddha made no allowance for any such equipment. Further, accumulating clay or shell vessels would be an impossible and ridiculous burden for bhikkhus living at the roots of trees. Thus pūtimutta was likely a product to be consumed without storage.

PED calls pūtimutta strong-smelling urine.

Pūtimutta is ordinary urine

Pūtimutta is likely the same as ordinary urine (mutta) because both are used in the treatment of jaundice:

• Now at that time a certain bhikkhu had jaundice. They informed the Blessed One about it. [He said:] “I allow you, bhikkhus, to make him drink [a compound of] urine (mutta) and yellow myrobalan.”

Tena kho pana samayena aññatarassa bhikkhuno paṇḍurogābādho hoti. Bhagavato etamatthaṁ ārocesuṁ. Anujānāmi bhikkhave muttaharīṭakaṁ pāyetun ti. (Vin.1.206)

• Suppose there were concentrated urine (pūtimuttaṁ) mixed with various medicines, and a man came sick with jaundice…

Seyyathāpi bhikkhave pūtimuttaṁ nānābhesajjehi saṁsaṭṭhaṁ atha puriso āgaccheyya paṇḍurogī. (MN i 316)

Pūtimutta has no medicinal properties

Pūtimutta likely has no medicinal properties for several reasons:

1) In the previous paragraph, the phrase pūtimuttaṁ nānābhesajjehi saṁsaṭṭhaṁ suggests that urine is merely a vehicle for medicinal substances.

2) Pūtimutta is nowhere prescribed by the Buddha as a treatment in itself, but only together with other substances, for example with jaundice above, or for the treatment of snakebite, where it is the base into which dung, ashes, and clay can be mixed (Vin.1.206).

3) Pūtimutta is linked in medicinal importance with ghee, butter, oil, honey, and molasses.

• Going forth [into the ascetic life] is with the support of pūtimutta as medicine. You should make an effort with this for the rest of your life. The extra requisites are ghee, butter, oil, honey, and molasses.

Pūtimuttabhesajjaṁ nissāya pabbajjā. Tattha te yāvajīvaṁ ussāho karaṇiyo. Atirekalābho sappi navatītaṁ telaṁ madhu phāṇitanti.. (Vin.1.58)

Ghee, butter, oil, honey, and molasses are ‘medicinal’ only in respect of their nutritive properties:

• These five remedies, that is to say ghee, fresh butter, oil, honey, molasses, are remedies and are also agreed upon as remedies, and although they serve as nutriment for people yet they cannot be reckoned as substantial food.

imāni kho pañca bhesajjāni seyyathīdaṁ sappi navanītaṁ telaṁ madhu phāṇitaṁ bhesajjāni ceva bhesajjasammatāni ca lokassa āhāratthañca pharanti na ca oḷāriko āhāro paññāyati. (V.1.200)

It is accordance with this to regard pūtimutta as useful only for its nutritive properties, which we will consider below.

4) When the Buddha was sick his resource was often simply hot or tepid water. For example, Upavāna was the Buddha’s attendant at a time when he was affected by ‘winds.’

• Please, find me some hot water.

ingha me uṇh'odakaṁ jānāhi. (SN i 174)

Some of the water was for bathing, and some for drinking with molasses. Then, again, after consuming Cunda’s sūkaramaddava, and being attacked a painful and bloody illness, sitting at the root of a tree, he said:

• Ānanda, please bring me water. I am thirsty, Ānanda, and need [something] to drink.

iṅgha me tvaṁ ānanda pānīyaṁ āhara pipāsito'mhi ānanda pivissāmī ti. (DN ii 128)

Pūtimutta: not cows’ urine

• In the category of remedies, pūtimutta is paltry, easily gotten, and blameless.

Pūtimuttaṁ bhikkhave bhesajjānaṁ appañca sulabhañca tañca anavajjaṁ. (AN ii 27)

Because pūtimutta is said to be easily gotten, it is unlikely that cows’ urine is meant. This would be awkward, ridiculous, and potentially dangerous to collect, especially by bhikkhus living solitary lives in the forest.

Pūtimutta: source of ketone bodies and electrolytes

Venerable Kassapa fasted during illness (Uda 4), and his Theragāthā verses show that he keenly promoted pūtimutta (Tha 1057). Drinking urine would preserve electrolytes, particularly sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. The kidney’s ability to retain these electrolytes takes up to ten days to adjust to fasting conditions. Drinking urine would reduce these obligatory losses and may therefore help prevent the refeeding syndrome which we discuss below:

  • Early in fasting, weight loss is rapid… During the period of rapid weight loss, there is significant negative sodium balance, probably due to losses of the sodium salts of keto acids in the urine. (Fasting: The History, Pathophysiology, and Complications: Kerndt et al, West J Med 1982.)
  • Potassium losses decrease after ten days of fasting though some losses persist. Magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous losses are minimal after the first week. (Fasting: The History, Pathophysiology, and Complications: Kerndt et al, West J Med 1982.)
  • Renal potassium conservation develops relatively slowly in response to decreases in dietary potassium and is far less efficient than the kidneys’ ability to conserve sodium. (www. merckmanuals.com.)
  • Obligatory renal K+ loss is around 15 mmol/day, so it is reasonable to consider the minimal K+ intake necessary to maintain an extracellular fluid K+ within the normal range to be at least 25 mmol/day. (Core Concepts in the Disorders of Fluid, Electrolytes and Acid-Base Balance, ed. Mount et al., Springer 2013)

Pūtimutta: rules on offering

Pūtimutta can be consumed by bhikkhus without needing to be formally offered:

• I allow that [item] which one receives while producing it as having been properly received while being produced. It does not need to be received again.

Anujānāmi bhikkhave yaṁ karonto patigaṇhāti sveva paṭiggaho kato hoti. Na puna paṭiggahāpetabbo ti. (Vin.1.206)

Danger of consuming urine

Some drugs are excreted in urine in their active form, for example, atenolol, cimetidine, digoxin, penicillin, quinine, salicylate, tetracycline, and thiazide diuretics.

Danger of fasting

1) Re-feeding syndrome is a potentially fatal illness that can occur following 5-10 days of fasting, if food is introduced too suddenly, particularily in patients with a low body mass, and with previous malnourishment.

2) Its hallmark is hypophosphataemia due to the insulin surge.

3) It may also involve alteration in sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium balances; and in glucose, protein, and fat metabolism.

4) Refeeding should be started at no more than 50% of energy requirements, then gradually increased over 4-7 days.

5) Rehydration should be done cautiously.

7) Thiamine (vitamin B1, 200-300mg daily) supplementation should be used for at least 10 days to prevent Wernicke’s encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome.

Source: Refeeding syndrome: what it is, and how to prevent and treat it, Mehanna et al. British Medical Journal, June 2008.

Consuming urine: foul practice

The Buddha allowed concentrated urine to be consumed, but it is nonetheless considered filthy practice:

• As long as my own excrement and urine lasted, I fed on my own excrement and urine. Such was my great practice of feeding on filth.

yāvakīvañca me sāriputta sakaṁ muttakarīsaṁ apariyādiṇṇaṁ hoti sakaṁ yeva sudaṁ muttakarīsaṁ āhāremi. Idaṁ su me sāriputta mahāvikaṭabhojanasmiṁ hoti. (MN i 79)

Uses of unconcentrated urine

1) Unconcentrated mid-stream urine is a sterile fluid that may be useful in treating superficial wounds. Concentrated urine would be too salty.

2) Water consumed from village wells during almsround could be a later source of liquid for the afternoon meditation period.

Illustrations

Illustration: pūtimutta, concentrated urine

Going forth [into the ascetic life] is with the support of concentrated urine as medicine. You should make an effort with this for the rest of your life.

Pūtimuttabhesajjaṁ nissāya pabbajjā. Tattha te yāvajīvaṁ ussāho karaṇiyo. (Vin.1.58)

Illustration: pūtimutta, concentrated urine

In the category of remedies, concentrated urine is paltry, easily gotten, and blameless.

Pūtimuttaṁ bhikkhave bhesajjānaṁ appañca sulabhañca tañca anavajjaṁ. (AN ii 27)

 

Glossary various Teacher

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See also

Suttas and Dhammadesanā

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en/dictionary/pūtimutta.txt · Last modified: 2019/09/25 05:30 by 127.0.0.1