The Susruta Samhita or The Hindu System of Medicine according to Susruta
Translated from the original in Sanskrit by Dr. A.F.R. Hoernle
Published by The Asiatice Society, Calcutta -1897
Read book online:
https://bit.ly/3eBkLNT
Download pdf book:
https://bit.ly/3czzW8u
The Sushruta Samhita 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 translator G. D. Singhal dubbed Suśruta "the father of surgery" on account of the detailed accounts of surgery to be found in the work.
The Compendium of Suśruta locates its author in Varanasi.
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 sixth century 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 Dṛḍhabala (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.
The Mahābhārata lists Suśruta amongst the sons of Viśvāmitra, the legendary sage. The same connection with Viśvāmitra is also made in the Suśruta-saṃhitā itself. The name Suśruta appears in later literature in the Bower Manuscript (sixth century CE), where Suśruta is listed as one of the ten sages residing in the Himalayas.
The Suśruta-saṃhitā, in its extant form, in 184 chapters contains descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.
The text discusses surgical techniques of making:
incisions,
probing,
extraction of foreign bodies,
alkali and thermal cauterization,
tooth extraction,
excisions,
and trocars for draining abscess,
draining hydrocele and ascitic fluid,
removal of the prostate gland, urethral stricture dilatation, vesicolithotomy,
hernia surgery,
caesarian section,
management of haemorrhoids,
fistulae, laparotomy and management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principles of fracture management, viz., traction,
manipulation,
apposition and stabilization including some measures of rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetic.
It enumerates six types of dislocations, twelve varieties of fractures, and classification of the bones and their reaction to the injuries, and gives a classification of eye diseases including cataract surgery.
- Wikipedia
Rare Book Society
Translated from the original in Sanskrit by Dr. A.F.R. Hoernle
Published by The Asiatice Society, Calcutta -1897
Read book online:
https://bit.ly/3eBkLNT
Download pdf book:
https://bit.ly/3czzW8u
The Sushruta Samhita 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 translator G. D. Singhal dubbed Suśruta "the father of surgery" on account of the detailed accounts of surgery to be found in the work.
The Compendium of Suśruta locates its author in Varanasi.
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 sixth century 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 Dṛḍhabala (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.
The Mahābhārata lists Suśruta amongst the sons of Viśvāmitra, the legendary sage. The same connection with Viśvāmitra is also made in the Suśruta-saṃhitā itself. The name Suśruta appears in later literature in the Bower Manuscript (sixth century CE), where Suśruta is listed as one of the ten sages residing in the Himalayas.
The Suśruta-saṃhitā, in its extant form, in 184 chapters contains descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.
The text discusses surgical techniques of making:
incisions,
probing,
extraction of foreign bodies,
alkali and thermal cauterization,
tooth extraction,
excisions,
and trocars for draining abscess,
draining hydrocele and ascitic fluid,
removal of the prostate gland, urethral stricture dilatation, vesicolithotomy,
hernia surgery,
caesarian section,
management of haemorrhoids,
fistulae, laparotomy and management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principles of fracture management, viz., traction,
manipulation,
apposition and stabilization including some measures of rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetic.
It enumerates six types of dislocations, twelve varieties of fractures, and classification of the bones and their reaction to the injuries, and gives a classification of eye diseases including cataract surgery.
- Wikipedia
Rare Book Society
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