Maharshi

Sushruta
Sketch of Sushruta
Bornc. mid 1st millennium BCE
Kingdom of Kashi[1]
Known forAuthor of Sushruta Samhita
Academic work
Discipline
InstitutionsBanaras University[2]

Sushruta, or Suśruta (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, IAST: Suśruta, lit. 'well heard'[3]) is the listed author of the Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), a treatise considered to be one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine and is considered a foundational text of Ayurveda.[4] The treatise addresses all aspects of general medicine, but the impressive chapters on surgery have led to the false impression that this is its main topic. The translator G. D. Singhal dubbed Suśruta "the father of plastic surgery" on account of these detailed accounts of surgery.[5][6][7][8]

It is generally accepted by scholars that there were several ancient authors collectively called "Suśruta" who contributed to this text.[9]

The Compendium of Suśruta locates its author in Varanasi, India.[10]

Authorship

Rao in 1985 suggested that the author of the original "layer" was "elder Sushruta" (Vrddha Sushruta), although this name appears nowhere in the early Sanskrit literature. The text, states Rao, was redacted centuries later "by another Sushruta, then by Nagarjuna, and thereafter Uttara-tantra was added as a supplement".[11] It is generally accepted by scholars that there were several ancient authors called "Suśruta" who contributed to this text.[9]

Date

The early scholar Rudolf Hoernle proposed that some concepts from the Suśruta-Saṃhitā could be found in the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa, which he dates to the 600 BCE.[12] However, during the last century, scholarship on the history of Indian medical literature has advanced substantially, and firm evidence has accumulated that the Suśruta-saṃhitā is a work of several historical layers. Its composition may have begun in the last centuries BCE, completed in its present form by another author who redacted its first five chapters and added the long, final chapter, the "Uttaratantra". It is likely that the Suśruta-saṃhitā was known to the scholar Dṛḍhabala, a contributor to the Charaka Samhita that wrote between the fourth and fifth centuries CE.[13] Additionally, several ancient Indian authors used the name "Suśruta", resulting in potential misattribution.[13]

Citations

In 1907, an influential translator of the ancient Indian epic The Mahabharata, named Bhishagratna, argued that Suśruta was one of the sons of the ancient sage Vishvamitra.[14] Bhisagratna also asserted that Sushruta was the name of the clan to which Vishvamitra belonged.[14] In Chapter 7 of the five-volume History of Indian Medical Literature, published in 1999, physician-scholar Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld covers a variety of theories on Suśruta's identity and the Sushruta Samhita's publication history.[15]

The name Suśruta is listed as one of ten Himalayan sages in a treatise on medicinal garlic that was included in the sixth century CE Bower Manuscripts.[16]

Followers

Sushruta attracted a number of disciples who were known as Saushrutas and required to study for six years before beginning hands-on surgical training. Before starting their training, they took a solemn oath to devote themselves to healing and to do no harm to others, often compared to Hippocratic Oath. After the students had been accepted by Sushruta, he would instruct them in surgical procedures by having them practice cutting on vegetables or dead animals to perfect the length and depth of an incision. Once students had proven themselves capable with vegetation, animal corpses, or with soft or rotting wood – and had carefully observed actual procedures on patients – they were then allowed to perform their own surgeries. These students were trained by their master in every aspect of the medical arts, including anatomy.[17][18]

Sushruta on medicine and physicians

Ancient poster by Sushruta, given in Sushruta Samhita showing surgical instruments, in which most of them still continue to exist today.

Sushruta wrote the Sushruta Samhita as an instruction manual for physicians to treat their patients holistically. Disease, he claimed (following the precepts of Charaka), was caused by imbalance in the body, and it was the physician's duty to help others maintain balance or to restore it if it had been lost. To this end, anyone who was engaged in the practice of medicine had to be balanced themselves. Sushruta describes the ideal medical practitioner, focusing on a nurse, in this way:

That person alone is fit to nurse, or to attend the bedside of a patient, who is cool-headed and pleasant in his demeanor, does not speak ill of anyone, is strong and attentive to the requirements of the sick, and strictly and indefatigably follows the instructions of the physician. (I.34)[19]

Legacy

Sushruta's medical prowess is exhibited through his writings on rhinoplasty, involving nasal reconstructions using skin from the patient's forehead or cheek, often for criminals punished with amputations. Based on reports in the October 1794 edition of The Gentleman's Magazine, published in London, Indians maintained Sushruta's surgical practices until the late 18th century.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Compendium of Suśruta
  2. ↑ Bath, Khushbir; Aggarwal, Sourabh; Sharma, Vishal (2019). "Sushruta: Father of plastic surgery in Benares". Journal of Medical Biography. 27 (1): 2–3. doi:10.1177/0967772016643463. PMID 27885151. S2CID 6074657.
  3. ↑ Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 1237.
  4. ↑ Wujastyk, Dominik (2003). The Roots of Ayurveda. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044824-5. OCLC 708372480.
  5. ↑ Susruta; Singh, K. P; Singh, L. M; Singhal, G. D; Udupa, K. N (1972). Susruta-samhita (in Sanskrit). Allahabad: G.D. Singhal. OCLC 956916023.
  6. ↑ Singhal, G.D.; Dwivedi, R.N. (1976). Toxicological Considerations in ancient Indian surgery. Ancient Indian Surgery Series ;7. Singhal Publications. hdl:2027/mdp.39015019929879. OCLC 581768392.
  7. ↑ Champaneria, Manish C.; Workman, Adrienne D.; Gupta, Subhas C. (July 2014). "Sushruta: Father of Plastic Surgery". Annals of Plastic Surgery. 73 (1): 2–7. doi:10.1097/SAP.0b013e31827ae9f5. PMID 23788147.
  8. ↑ Kansupada, K. B.; Sassani, J. W. (1997). "Sushruta: the father of Indian surgery and ophthalmology". Documenta Ophthalmologica. Advances in Ophthalmology. 93 (1–2): 159–167. doi:10.1007/BF02569056. PMID 9476614. S2CID 9045799.
  9. 1 2 Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1999). A History of Indian Medical Literature. Groningen: Brill (all volumes, 1999-2002). ISBN 978-9069801247.
  10. ↑ Singh, Vibha (2017). "Sushruta: The father of surgery". National Journal of Maxillofacial Surgery. 8 (1): 1–3. doi:10.4103/njms.NJMS_33_17. PMC 5512402. PMID 28761269.
  11. ↑ Ramachandra S.K. Rao, Encyclopaedia of Indian Medicine: historical perspective, Volume 1, 2005 Reprint (Original: 1985), pp 94-98, Popular Prakashan
  12. ↑ Hoernle, A. F. Rudolf (1907). Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India: Osteology or the Bones of the Human Body. Oxford: Clrendon Press. p. 8.
  13. 1 2 Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1999). A History of Indian Medical Literature. E. Forsten. pp. 333–357. ISBN 978-90-6980-124-7.
  14. 1 2 Bhishagratna, Kunjalal (1907). An English Translation of the Sushruta Samhita, based on Original Sanskrit Text. Calcutta: Calcutta. pp. ii (introduction).
  15. ↑ Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1999). History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. 1A. Groningen: Egbert Forsten Publishing. pp. 333–357. ISBN 978-90-6980-124-7. OCLC 165833440.
  16. ↑ Wujastyk, Dominik (2003). The Roots of Ayurveda. London etc.: Penguin. pp. 149–160. ISBN 978-0140448245.
  17. ↑ "Sushruta". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  18. ↑ HS Shukla, M Tewari. "Sushruta:'The Father of Indian Surgery'". Indian Journal of Surgery. 67: 2.
  19. ↑ Lal Bhishagratna, Kaviraj Kunja (1907–1916). THE SUSHRUTA SAMHITA (PDF).
  20. ↑ Davidson, Terence M. (January 1979). "The source book of plastic surgery. Edited by Frank McDowell, 509 pp, illus, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1977. $49.95". Head & Neck Surgery. 1 (3): 281–282. doi:10.1002/hed.2890010313.
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