English
The Vedas, the sacred writings of the Hindus, are recognised as the greatest work in all literature. Their systems of philosophy are lofty and sublime, and are admired even to the present day. Their achievements in commerce 12 are just as great as their science and philosophy. They built ships with a thousand oars and with sails, navigated the seas, and undertook long voyages. 13 They exported in ancient times gold and silver brocades, shawls and muslins, cotton and silk, pearls and rubies. King Solomon in his trading ships brought from India sandalwood, ivory, and precious stones, apes and peacocks, ebony and gold; and even before his time her trade in spices and aromatics, perfumes and precious stones, was [11] THE ANTIQUITY OF extensive in Chaldea, Babjdon, Assyria, _ and Palestine. Through Alexandria, the great emporium of the East, her rich merchandise went to Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome. In fact, modem scholarship has brought to light evi¬ dence that from North India, from the plains of Septa-Sindhu 1 * (the Land of Seven Rivers), there developed a most wonderful civilisation the streams of which went to fertilise the whole world and benefit the entire human race. Medicine in the Rig Vead— 4000 to 2500 B.C. *• The Hindu system of medicine, known as Ayur Veda (the science of life), forms a part of the Vedas, or revealed knowledge, and is said to come from Brahma, the Creator and the fountain-head of all learning. Recent investigations have placed the Rig Vedic times at least 4000 b. c. The later hymns of the Rig Veda introduce us to a period of a well-developed [12] HINDU MEDICINE civilisation (the earlier hymns take us further back to Miocene and Plio¬ cene epochs 10 ), when the Indo-Aryans settled down near the modem Punjab, building villages and towns, domesti¬ cating the sheep, goat, cow, horse, ass, and the elephant, and cultivating rice, millet, and barley. We read of kings and queens, magistrates, village officers, treasurers, revenue officers, the circulation of gold and silver coins, and other signs of established government. We read also of the various uses of principal metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and iron, of women wearing gold ornaments set with- precious stones, and drinking from gold and silver cups. Also there are proofs of the existence of guilds and numerous arts and crafts, showing their economic progress in arts and manu¬ facture. in that remote period. 16 And mention is made of meetings and assemblies 17 (sabha) with presidents, held in village halls for debate, social intercourse, for general conversation, [ 13 ] THE ANTIQUITY OF and for gambling. Side by side with the social, economic, and industrial advance of the period medicine also flourished. When the Aryan people were engaged in fighting other clans and tribes, we read of surgeons attend¬ ing the camps and battlefields, remov¬ ing injured eyes, replacing them by artificial ones, extracting arrow-shafts from the limbs of Aryan chiefs and soldiers, amputating injured legs and substituting iron ones. 18 y The warriors wore helmets, breastplates, and iron maiT coats on their bodies and skin gloves on their hands. In times of peace and prosperity, when Aryan nobles travelled in stately carriages drawn by fiery horses, there were con¬ stant accidents to the latter, which were attended to by a class of surgeons who devoted themselves to the treatment of injured animals. Already in" Vedic India medicine had so far advanced that the followers of the healing art were divided as surgeons (shalya vai- dyas), physicians (bhisaks), and magic [14] HINDU MEDICINE doctors (bhisag atharvans). The phy¬ sicians lived in houses surrounded by gardens containing medicinal plants which they' collected and codified. The properties of a new drug were always praised in the Rig Veda, which gives the names of a thousand and one medicinal plants, and praises the virtues of water as an all-healer, and certain trees and herbs as purifiers of the atmosphere. The surgeons attended the ladies and acted as accoucheurs, gave medicine to relieve pain and suffer¬ ing. 18 It is remarkable that Indians were so early acquainted with the three humours of the body 20 wiich were destined to influence the medical world for thousands of years, and with the use of metals for therapeutic purposes. There is an entire hymn of the Rig Veda devoted to the de¬ scription and treatment of phthisis. In fact, in the Rig Vedic period, there were already signs of advancement in surgery, midwifery, medicine, and therapeutics, child management, and sanitation. [15] c THE ANTIQUITY OF Medicine in Atharva and Ayur Vedas. The medical system introduced in the Rig Vedic times takes a more definite shape in these later Vedas. Atharva Veda contains the oldest literary monument of Indian medicine. Besides the employment of charms and spells and medicinal herbs and plants in the cure of leprosy, jaundice, dropsy, scrofula, etc., it contains (in the tenth book) a hymn on creation, where several parts of the skeleton are carefully and orderly enumerated. Another hymn alludes to the use of c atheter s in ancient times. Ayur Veda describes the means of keeping health, the causes of disease, and the means of curing them. It is divided into eight sections: (i) Surgery; (2) diseases of the eye, ear,, the mouth and nose; (3) general diseases, like fevers, con¬ sumption, diabetes, etc.; (4) mental therapeutics; (5) diseases of children; (6) antidotes for poisons; (7) rasayana, or chemistry; (8) means of strengthen¬ ed HINDU MEDICINE ing the generative organs. It is the oldest systematic work on medicine which formed the basis of the writings of subsequent medical authors for many centuries. It can only be seen in fragments of manuscripts, and Sir William Jones, 21 writing about it, says: “ I have myself met with curious fragments of that primeval work; and in the Veda itself, I found, with as¬ tonishment, an entire Upanishad on the internal parts of the human body, with an enumeration of the nerves, veins, and arteries; a description of the heart, spleen, and liver, and various disquisitions on the formation and , growth of the foetus.” In the next stage we come across the school of physicians and surgeons. In- dra, the supreme God, communicated Ayur Veda to Atreya, who taught Agnivesa, Bhela,' Harita, etc., each of whom became celebrated authors of medicine. Charaka revised the work of Agnivesa. Thus began the college of physicians headed by Atreya, whose [ 17 ] THE ANTIQUITY OF work, Atreya Samhita, is- the oldest existing work on medicine, containing 46,500 verses in a 13 . Dhanvantari was . the father of Hindu medicine, as iEscula- . pius was among the Greeks. He taught ' his pupil Susruta the art of surgery. He is said to be the divine physician, and brought from the ocean a cup of Amrita, the drink of immortality, to mortals. As the head of the school of surgeons, he held his great Ayur Vedic university in the city of Benares. . The Epic Period—2500 to 600 B.C. In the epic period the Indo-Aryans - reached the zenith.of their glory and civilisation, and like the Victorian Age of the present day, produced a galaxy of great men in every department of life—great Icings, warriors, adminis¬ trators, poets, and philosophers. It was the time of Ramayana, “the noblest of epics,” of Kanada the philosopher, who gave for the first time a clear exposition of the atomic theory, of the rise of mighty kingdoms and [x8] HINDU MEDICINE empires, of extensive wars and con¬ quests which culminated in the great war of Mahabharata, when India shook with the armies of rival kings ranging themselves between Pandavas and Kau- ravas, who employed infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants, and "flying balls emitting the sound of a thunder¬ bolt,” 22 when a great number of warriors perished, whole tribes and races were killed or dispersed. The Aryan power broke up after the war, and India suffered a terrible and irre¬ trievable loss, while the rest of the world gained by her sons emigrating to distant lands like Egypt, Greece, etc., and carrying with them the germs of their civilisation. In proof of the high state of civilisation at the time of Mahabharata, it is recorded that a beautiful palace was built for the Pandavas at Khandavaprastha by Maya Danava, an expert architect. The city was surrounded by a trench on all sides, and there was a high rampart' outside the moat intersected by gates with [ 19 ] THE ANTIQUITY OF lofty towers. Inside there were fine buildings, lovely gardens, lakes, and tanks. 23 The laws of war were humane and honourable. No harm was in¬ flicted on non-combatants, or on a warrior without armour, or while asleep or fatigued or in grief in any way, or who surrendered. AT this tifne there were army surgeons and physicians attached to every court, small or great. The court physicians waited upon the king and looked after his health. The army surgeons were fully equipped with every necessary medical and surgical appliance, 24 regularly accompanied the army in the field, and-u ndertoo k-both minor a nd major operation s. Siushena was the principal surgeon of-^ama (of Ramayana), who also had a yaidya as his personal physician. In the war of Mahabharata, both the conflicting armies had distinguished surgeons on their staff. Dur yodhana , the chief of the Kurus, when pierced with arrows, was made by the surgeons to sit in a tub filled with medicated water, under [20 y HINDU MEDICINE which he was freed from the missiles lodged in his flesh. 25 The wounded in war were treated in tents, and the tent of the surgeon-general was close to that of the king.