Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita

by Nayana Sharma | 2015 | 139,725 words

This page relates ‘Social Orientation of the medical compendia’ of the study on the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita, both important and authentic Sanskrit texts belonging to Ayurveda: the ancient Indian science of medicine and nature. The text anaylsis its medical and social aspects, and various topics such as diseases and health-care, the physician, their training and specialisation, interaction with society, educational training, etc.

The Social Orientation of the medical compendia

A reading of the two texts leaves the reader in no doubt that the two treatises are situated in a brahmanical context. The term Saṃhitā also has a religious halo about it as it has been used in connection with Vedic texts and other hoary śāstras. This context is elucidated at the outset by postulating a divine origin of Āyurveda and its transmission through gods and mythical personalities. The science of life, described as eternal,[1] is said to have been first expounded by Brahmā.[2] According to Suśruta, the genesis of Āyurveda predates the origin of living beings, and it was composed by Svayambhū (Brahmā) in one hundred thousand verses and arranged in one thousand chapters.[3] The authors seek to emphasise the Vedic lineage of Āyurveda by identifying it as an appendage (upāṇga) of Atharvaveda[4] to which text all physicians owe allegiance.[5] The Caraka Saṃhitā elaborates:

Of the four - Ṛk, Yajus, Sāman and AtharvanVedas, physicians owe their loyalty to the Atharvaveda because this deals with the treatment of diseases by taking recourse to gift (dāna), propitiatory rites (svastya), worship (bali), auspicious observances (maṅgala), oblations (homa), observance of spiritual rules (niyama), atonement (prāyaścitta), fast (upavāsa), incantations (mantra), etc. They are prescribed for the sake of longevity.[6]

The presence of brāhmaṇas well versed in the Atharvaveda (brāhmaṇāścātharvavedavidaḥ) is enjoined at the time of childbirth[7] and in the nursery for the protection of the newborn.[8] Veneration to the gods, brāhmaṇas and cows, and daily offering of oblations to the sacred fire and observance of sandhyā at dawn and dusk are enjoined upon all as part of social ethics by Caraka.[9] The initiation of the medical student takes place in the presence of priests and ceremony itself is a prototype of the Upaṇiṣadic observance.[10]

However, we notice that perspective of the Suśruta Saṃhitā is probably in some ways less brahmanical. The admission of śūdras to the medical profession is clearly acceptable to the surgical school. Criticism of the gods and brāhmaṇas are proscribed but prior to that, the text says, one should refrain from the use of harsh words against the king.[11] It is also significant that in the Caraka Saṃhitā, it is an assembly of sages who decide to seek the knowledge of Āyurveda when the advent of disease began to curtail longevity of those engaged in sacred studies. Consequently they are prevented from pursuing their religious vows, brahmacarya, fasting and penance.[12] It is in this background that the enlightened sages delegate Bharadvāja to approach Indra to acquire the knowledge of longevity.[13] The inclusion of the names of at least fifty sages whose names occur in Vedic literature is also an attempt to emphasise the association of Āyurveda with the Vedas as well as attempt to seek legitimacy for this science. In the Suśruta Saṃhitā too, it is the distress brought on by disease that impell Suśruta and his fellow pupils to learn the science of Āyurveda from Dhanvantari. The suffering of the helpless people troubled the minds of Suśruta who wished to bring relief to them.[14] The issue of disease as an impediment to sacred studies or pursuit of religious vows is not significant here; rather it is the physical and mental distress of people that provides the backdrop to the beginning of the study of medicine.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 30.27.

[2]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 1.4.

[3]:

Suśruta Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 1.6.

[4]:

Suśruta Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 1.6.

[5]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 30.21.

[6]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 30.21.

[7]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Śārīrasthāna 8.34.

[8]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Śārīrasthāna 8.47.

[9]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 8.18.

[10]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Vimānasthāna 3.8; Suśruta Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 2.4.

[11]:

Suśruta Saṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 24.90.

[12]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 1.5-14.

[13]:

Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 1.18-19.

[14]:

Suśruta Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 1.4.

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