Ayurveda: Origin & Development
Though
Indian medicine has its roots in prehistoric or pre-Vedic medicine, dating
from about 2700 B.C. to 1500 B.C., the earliest mention of medical
practices is to be found in Vedas, which looks back to a time around the
second millennium B.C. The earliest Sanskrit treatises on Ayurveda were
the Samhitas of the great ancient physician Bhela, Caraka and Susruta,
Which dates from around Christian era.
A Very systematic and
scientific approach, with somewhat modern ways of research and analysis,
was adopted by the sages of those times, leading to the development of a
system that is relevant even to this day.
This encompassed not only
meditation but also sophisticated fields such as surgery.
Sources of the
pre-Christian era, such as Ramayana, mention remarkable feats of surgery
having taken place in past. Thus we have reference to the transplantation
of an eyeball.
The
legendary Jivaka, a famous physician of Buddha's day, is also reported
have performed remarkable cures involving deep surgery. The Indian
surgeons of that era excelled in operations and their achievements in
plastic surgery had no parallels anywhere in the world. Even in the 18th
century, the Indian art of rhinoplasty was studied by European surgeons.
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