This treatise is the main source of knowledge about surgery in ancient
India. Susruta Samhita, as we know it now, is not in the original form
which Susruta gave it and which he called. It was first called Shalya
Tantra consisted of only five divisions, viz., sutra, nidana, sharira,
chikitsa, and kalpa. Shalya Tantra was later revised and supplemented.
Later addition of uttara-tantra' consisting of three divisions called
shalakya, bhuta-vidya and kalamara-bhrtya, makes eight divisions in the
present Susruta Samhita.
Of the commentaries on Susruta Samhita, the most renowned is that of
Dalhana called Nibandha Samgraha written in the twelfth century AD.
Another commentary is by Chakrapanidatta written in the eleventh
century. It is called Bhanumati and only a portion of it is available
now.
Susruta Samhita was translated into Arabic before the end of the eighth
century A.D. It was called Kitabshaw-shoon-a Hindi or Kitabi-i-Susrud.
Rhazes, the famous Arab physician, often quoted from it and mentioned
Sarad as an authority on surgery. It was translated in Latin by Hassler
and in German by Ullers.
It was translated into English, in part only, by U.C. Datta (1883), A.
Chattopadhyaya (1891) and Hoernle (1897). K.L. Bhisagaratna translated
it in full between the years 1908 and 1917 and it is this translation
which is available now.
Who was Susruta, the composer of Shalya Tantra and when did he live, is
not known with any certainty, but for a hint here and there. In
connection with the bones of the human body, Susruta in Susruta Samhita
introduces his own exposition with a remark pointing to the difference
between the Atreya system and his own in respect of the total number of
bones. This proves that Susruta could not have lived before Atreya.
Another hint is provided by Shatapatha Brahmana, which seems to be
acquainted with Susruta's enumeration of bones. The exact data of
Shatapatha Brahmana is not known, but it is said to belong to the sixth
century B.C. If that is so, Susruta may have lived around the time when
Agnivesha composed his tantra under the direction of Atreya.
Susruta of Shalaya Tantra was a great surgeon, teacher of repute and an
admirable author. He made great improvements in the general techniques
of surgery and performed many new and major operations. He also
described a variety of surgical instruments.
He taught his students the surgical techniques first on the dummies and
later on the dead bodies. His techniques of dissection of the human body
are unique, practical and revealing of the structure of the body. His
operations of making a new nose or ear-lobe, of lithotomy, of taking out
the dead foetus, and abdominal operations, are classical marvels.
Before Susruta's time, knowledge and practice of surgery in India was
more or less of the same standard as in other contemporary civilizations
like Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece. In India, the profession of healing
was practiced by surgeons (ahalya vaidas), physicians (bhesajas) priest
doctors (bhisaj atharvana], poison-curers (vishaharas) and demon doctors
(krtyaharas). To practise their art, these professionals had to go out
into the open streets, calling out for patients. They lived in houses
surrounded by gardens of medicinal herbs. Surgery was not considered a
respectable profession before Susruta's time. |
