Sushruta

Sushruta, or ''Suśruta'' (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, IAST: , ) was an ancient Indian physician. The '' Sushruta Samhita'' (''Sushruta's Compendium''), a treatise ascribed to him, is one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine and is considered a foundational text of Ayurveda. 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 surgery" on account of these detailed accounts of surgery.

The ''Compendium of Suśruta'' locates its author in Varanasi, India.

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, and this dating is still often repeated. 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 and it was 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 (fl. 300–500 CE), which gives the latest date for the version of the work that has come down to us today. It has also become clear through historical research that there are several ancient authors called "Suśruta" who might be conflated.

Citations

According to Bhishagratna, an influential translator who published in 1907, the ''Mahabharata'', an ancient Indian epic text, represents a Suśrut as one of the sons of the ancient sage Vishvamitra. Bhisagratna also asserted that Sushruta was the name of the clan to which Vishvamitra belonged. In the century since Bhishagratna, our knowledge of Suśruta and the ''Suśrutasaṃhitā'' has been transformed by newer discoveries and scholarship, most of which has been surveyed in volume IA of Meulenbeld's ''History of Indian Medical Literature'' (5 vols, 1999–2002).

The name Suśruta appears in later literature in the treatise on medicinal garlic that is included in the ''Bower Manuscripts'' (sixth century CE), where Suśruta is listed as one of the ten sages residing in the Himalayas.

Followers

Sushruta attracted a number of disciples who were known as ''Saushrutas'' and were required to study for six years before they even began hands-on training in surgery. Before starting their training, they had to take a solemn oath to devote themselves to healing and to do no harm to others, which can be 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.

Sushruta on medicine and physicians

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)

Legacy

The highlight of Sushruta's surgical magnificence was the surgery of nasal reconstruction or rhinoplasty (repairing the disfigured nose with a flap of skin from the forehead) that he used to reconstruct noses that were amputated as a punishment for crime. The technique is practised almost unchanged to this day, the pedicled forehead flap being named the Indian flap. This knowledge of plastic surgery existed in India up to the late 18th century as can be seen from reports in the Gentleman's Magazine, London, October 1794.

See also

* Vagbhata
* Charaka
* Ayurveda

References

External links

*

SutrasthanaNidanasthanaSharirasthanaCikitsasthanaKalpasthanaUttaratantra
''English translation, proofread, correct spelling, interwoven glossary''

The Suśruta Project
a Canadian research project at the University of Alberta aimed at establishing a new Sanskrit text of the Suśrutasaṃhitā based on recently discovered medieval manuscripts in Nepal

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sushruta
Ayurvedacharyas
Indian surgeons
Ancient Indian physicians
Ancient ophthalmologists
Ancient Indian people
Ancient Indian writers
Ancient Indian medicine
People from Varanasi
Scientists from Varanasi
Scholars from Varanasi
Writers from Varanasi
8th-century BC Hindus