The Father Of Surgery

I have been talking a lot about some outstanding people from Greece and other countries in my articles. The Father of Medicine, The Father of History.

But India, rather Indus valley civilization, too, prospered at an unimaginable pace, and sadly an unaccountable one. Most of the work by our venerable people have been lost. If not lost, it was spread by disciples to the west and was claimed by western civilization. Even Aryabhatta, the inventor of Zero was not credited for his work on Mathematics and astronomy.

But when you Search Father of Surgeon on Google, an Indian name shows up.

Maharishi Sushruta.

Let's know more about this sage, this scholar.
Sushruta was a sage of prehistoric times. The exact information about him was lost in history. But he is believed to be born in 600 BC and he lived in Kashi (Benares). As people of the past loved to induce Gods to everything, he is commonly considered as one of the sons of Vishvamitra, from Mahabharata.

He was a legendary scholar of Indian medical sciences and founding fathers of Medicine. 2600 years ago, he conducted various surgeries with the help of his colleagues. Surgeries so profound, they were attainable by humanity by technology, in our modern age!

These surgeries were related to- Caesarian delivery, artificial limbs, cataract, fractures. He even performed Plastic Surgery at that time! This became evident because of the instruments that were found.

Sushruta Samhita

His book Sushruta Samhita has been credited a novel work of its time and it forms a part of Ayurveda. India’ famous Ayurveda, came from Rigveda and it discusses 5 elements- fire, earth, water, air and space. Ayurveda believed, an imbalance of these elements caused diseases.

Ayurveda’s classical text begins with the transmission of knowledge from God to sages and then healers. In Sushruta Samhita, Sushruta has mentioned, he was taught by Dhanvantri, the god of Ayurveda.

This book, largely written in Sanskrit, describes the ancient tradition of surgery in Indian medicine. It consists of 184 chapters describing 1120 illness. 8 types of surgeries are described.

However, It was not created by one man alone. It was actually compiled by Sushruta and later his students, called Saushrutas. He taught them to practice surgery on vegetables and fruits. 6 years of study was given similar to our 5 years of medical education.

No one has proved his ways wrong even after so many developments in the field. We Indians should be proud of our past. That’s all about the famous surgeon, Sushruta.

Later!