Operative Considerations In Ancient Indian Surgery -Volume V (Based on Chapters 1-23 of Cikitsa-Sthāna of Susruta Samhita) An Old And Rare Book

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Foreword The study of ancient Indian surgery depends mainly on text only, the Suśruta Samhita. This, unlike the other onc major texts of Ayurveda, contains lengthy instructions on the surgical treatment of wounds, injuries and many forms of diseases. It is nowhere stated why other medical texts either ignore surgery altogether or make only cursory reference to it; for from Suśruta it is very clear that the art and science of surgical therapy was at least as highly developed in India as elsewhere in the ancient World, and in many of its aspects (for example Plastic Surgery) was well in advance of any other surgical system of antiquity. We may interpret this evidence as indicating that most ancient Indian vaidyas did not practice surgery, probably for reasons of ritual purity, and thus it was the preserve of another class of practitioner, whose ritual status may have been somewhat lower than that of the physician, but who nevertheless had acquired over the centuries a great body of knowledge about many branches of surgery. Possibly the ancient Indian surgeon had other texts, which are now lost to us. Only the compiler of the Suśruta Samhita took the initiative of bringing together the lore of both the physician and the surgeon into a single compendium.

Thus, being virtually the only source of our knowledge of ancient Indian surgery, the Suśruta Samhita is a most precious document. Its date is uncertain. Like most ancient Indian documents of a didactic or technical type, it appears to be a compilation, a lengthy collection of passages in verse and prose brought together by an editor, who no doubt added much of his own to the store of ancient wisdom which he had collected. Its relation to other medical texts is a matter of dispute. In some respects it seems to be later than the Caraka Samhita,in others earlier.

**Contents and Sample Pages**