[Importance of prognosis] A wise physician should examine the distinctive features of the diseases first and then start his treatment (only) of the curable diseases.
साध्यासाध्यविभागज्ञोयःसम्यक्प्रतिपत्तिमान्| न स मैत्रेयतुल्यानांमिथ्याबुद्धिंप्रकल्पयेत् ||२२||
So a physician who can distinguish between curable and incurable diseases, and who possesses the right applications, will not subscribe to the wrong notions prevailing among pseudo- physicians like Maitreya, and say that he will certainly succeed in curing diseases.
In brief, therapies, prognostic criteria of the disease and its importance in therapeutics, two different views (in this connection) of Atreya and Maitreya, the conclusion,
four types of prognosis of diseases and its characteristics are described in this “Detailed chapter on Therapeutics”. Treatment of diseases depends upon these considerations.