Then one should withdraw it. This is the practice of dhauti. Cough, asthma, spleen diseases, leprosy, and twenty types of kapha diseases are destroyed.

This verse completes the description of dhauti and indicates its therapeutic benefits. Pratyāharet means “to withdraw” or “to extract” — the cloth is slowly pulled out after having cleansed the digestive tract.

The curative benefits enumerated are impressive: kāsa (cough), śvāsa (asthma/respiratory difficulty), plīha (spleen diseases), kuṣṭha (skin diseases, including leprosy), and viṃśatiḥ kapharogāḥ (twenty types of kapha-related diseases).

All these conditions are associated with excess kapha (phlegm/mucus) in the āyurvedic system. Dhauti directly eliminates mucus accumulations in the stomach and esophagus, reducing kapha at its source. Regular practice prevents the buildup of toxins (āma) that cause these diseases.