Achievements of Ancient Indians in Medicine and Surgery

Earliest references to diseases and medicines are found in Atharva Veda. Vedas mention Asvins as celestial physicians and certain qualities of physicians are also attributed to Rudra. Dhanvantri, a legendary figure was regarded as god of medicine. Ayurveda the science of life or longevity is basically science of medicine. It is indigenous and developed independently without any external influence. It deals with ailments, diseases, symptoms, diagnosis and cure. It heavily relies on herbal medicines.

Javika at the court of Bindusara was a renowned physician. He was sent many times to other kingdoms to help kings /personalities recover e.g. he was usually sent to look after Buddha’s health. Atreya dealt with principles of Ayurveda and taught the subject at Taxila. His teachings were collected by his pupil Agnivesa and complied by Charaka. Charaka Samallita compiled by Charaka is a comprehensive manual on medicine, principles and practices of Ayurveda. It describes in detail all stages from diagnosis to treatment and also the process/procedure involved in preparation of medicine. He described enzymes required for digestion and metabolism and identified twenty types of disease causing germs and their shapes, sizes and colour.

The Varanasi school of medicine specialized in surgery. Susrut, a surgeon of extraordinary knowledge and skill wrote Susrut Samahita, a text on surgical science. He was resident of Kashi (Varanasi). He incorporated surgery into general field of medicine. He described about more than 100 instruments of surgery and around 300 surgical procedures. Susrut Samahita had a chapter on

plastic surgery procedures, specially the operation and rebuilding of nose, what we today call as rhinoplasty. It also deals with matters like ejection of cataracts (ophthalmology). Susrut is rightly called father of surgery.

Yoga (the ancient system of exercise for physical and mental nourishment) originated in India. It is one among the six systems of vedic philosophy.

Patanjali compiled various aspects of yoga systematically in his treatise Yoga Sutra. He surmised that latent energy within human body can be released through practice of yoga, which in turn has good effect on the body and mind. In fact many ailments can be prevented, controlled, mitigated and cured with the help of yoga. Rational interpretation of yoga brought about a practical and scientifically sound method to make it part of everyday life. Its techniques have now been oriented to suit modern sociological needs and life-style.