Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthashastra of Kautilya), Vol. I c10: Chapter VI. Minor Works of Public Utility
Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthaśāstra of Kauṭilya), Vol. I c10
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- c10.s1 Medical Aids, Sanitation, Etc — 65 parts
Chapter VI. Minor Works of Public Utility
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In the previous chapters has been described the field of activity covered by some of the major works of public utility. In the present, an account will be given of some of the minor measures that were adopted, and the institutions that were established, for the promotion of the welfare of the people in certain special directions. These, roughly speaking, were connected with the relief and alleviation of sickness, poverty and distress, as well as with the patronage and encouragement of merit.
Medical Aids, Sanitation, Etc
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It is well known that in ancient India, as far back as the age of Buddha, much progress was made in medicine and surgery, which were fast being applied to the relief of human suffering. “According to the Indian tradition preserved in the Buddhist Jâtakas or Folklore, there existed in India in the age of Buddha two great universities or seats of learning, in which ‘all sciences,’ including medicine, were taught by ‘professors of world-wide renown.’ These two universities were Kâsî or Benares in the east, and the still more famous Taksha-silâ or Taxila (on the Jhelam river) in the west. In the latter university in the time of Buddha or shortly before it, the leading professor of medicine was Âtreya. He, accordingly, should have flourished at some time in the sixth century B.C. As one of the names of Suśruta’s teacher is Kâśirâja, which literally means King of Kâsî, he may not unreasonably have referred to the University of Kâsî or Benares.”¹ Jîvaka, the famous physician who was contemporaneous with Buddha, is stated to have studied medicine in the Taxila university under Âtreya.² The Vinaya Piṭakas also give us some information on this point.³ “Rules for preparing various kinds of medicaments, as well as medical and surgical operations,” says Prof. Kern, “are prescribed in the Vinaya, so that we get some notion of the condition of medical science in the period when that part of the canon was composed.”¹ From these evidences, which are sufficient for the present purpose, we get an idea of the state of Indian medical science as far back as the time of Buddha, or even before it, and the advancement it attained in medicine and surgery. The degree of progress achieved in Chandra Gupta’s time will be evident from the measures adopted by his Government to secure the health of his people. We learn from Megasthenes² that of the six bodies that were in charge of the city, one had “to attend to the entertainment of foreigners. . . . They took care of them when they were sick, and if they died buried them.” Thus the care and treatment of the sick foreigners formed one of the duties of Government. This shows that physicians, with medicines and appliances, had to be kept in readiness to meet the emergencies. Arrian, moreover, refers to an interesting incident which reflects no small credit on the Indian physicians of the day. Alexander had in his train several proficient Greek physicians, but they confessed their inability to deal with the cases of snake-bite very common in the Punjab. Alexander was obliged to consult the Indian Vaidyas, who successfully treated these cases. The Macedonian king was so struck with their skill that, according to Nearchos, he employed some good Vaidyas, and ordered his followers to consult them in cases of snake-bite and other dangerous ailments.
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¹ Hoernle’s *Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India*, pp. 7, 8.
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² Rockhill’s *Life of Buddha*, p. 65.
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³ Vinaya Piṭakas: *Mahâvagga* VI, 1–15 and 17–21.
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¹ Kern’s Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 85.
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² Megasthenes, Bk. III, Fragment xxxiv.
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That there were hospitals with store-rooms (भेषजागार) containing medicines in such large quantities as could not be exhausted by years of use, is evident from the passages in the Arthaśāstra quoted below.¹ To the old store fresh supplies were constantly added.
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¹ उत्तरपश्चिमं भागं पक्कमैषज्यसदनम् ।—Bk. II, दुर्गनिवेशः, p. 55; सर्वैषधव्यापारसम्बद्धमेषज्य . . . निचयान् अनेकवर्षो-पभोगसहान् कारयेत् । नवेनाभवं शोधयेत्—Ibid., p. 56. See also p. 44, Bk. I, आत्मरक्षितकम् ।
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In the Arthaśāstra there are references to four classes of medical experts, viz. भिषजः or चिकित्सकः, i.e. ordinary physicians; जाङ्गलीविदः, i.e. those who could readily detect poison; गर्भाधिविज्ञा: or सूतिकाचिकित्सका:, i.e. midwives; and army surgeons and nurses.¹
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¹ भिषज: and जाङ्गलीविद:—Bk. I, आत्मरक्षितकम्, p. 48; गर्भाधिविज्ञा:—Bk. I, विशाखप्रविधि:, p. 41; सूतिकाचिकित्सका:—Bk. II, नागरकप्रविधि:, p. 146.
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The army surgeons with surgical instruments (शस्त्र) and appliances (यन्त्र), remedial oils (स्नेह) and bandages (वस्त्र), and nurses with appropriate food and beverage, accompanied the army, and encouraged the soldiers.² For the treatment of the diseases of animals, there were the veterinary surgeons referred to in the previous chapters on the subject of live stock.
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² चिकित्सक: शस्त्रयन्त्राग्नेयस्नेहवस्त्रधरा: स्त्रिय: पेयान्नभृत: परिचारिका:—Bk. X, दूतयुद्धविकल्पा:, etc., p. 367.
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Several steps were taken for the plantation and growth of medicinal plants and herbs. Portions of fields cultivated directly under Government supervision were set apart and used for this purpose. These herbs were also grown in pots.³
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³ Bk. II, सीताध्यक्ष:, p. 117.
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Again, in the royal households, all kinds of medicines useful in midwifery were kept, and the well-known medicinal herbs were grown in pots. Specified plants were also planted in the compounds of houses to ward off snakes. Cats, peacocks, mungooses and spotted deer were also kept there for the purpose. The shriek of birds such as mainâ, parrot, etc., which cry out in the vicinity of snake poison, was utilized. The following birds were also kept for their sensitiveness to poison, viz., the heron that swooned, the cuckoo that fell dead, and the partridge that reddened the eyes at the smell of poison.¹
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¹ Bk. I, निशामाप्रविधिः ।
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The State controlled and regulated medical practice in the land.² Laws were enacted to ensure that medical practitioners exercised due caution in treatment of patients. Every case of dangerous disease had to be reported to Government, failing which, the physician was fined. There was a penalty attaching to a proved case of carelessness on the part of a physician causing the death of a patient, while the aggravation of disease owing to his negligence was treated very much like a case of assault or violence.¹ Thus the physicians were cautioned against "gathering experience" at the cost of the lives of hundreds of patients.
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² Bk. IV, कावरकरचवम् ।
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¹ Cf. S. B. E., Vishṇu, v, 175-177; Yājñavalkya, II, 242; and Manu, IX, 284—"All physicians who treat their patients wrongly shall pay a fine: in the case of animals, the first or lowest, and in the case of human beings the middlemost amerce-ment." Nārada adds: "But this refers to cases when death is not the result of the wrong treatment; for if that is the case, the punishment is greater."
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Measures were also taken for prevention of diseases. Thus, adulteration of all kinds was punished, *e.g.* adulteration of grains, oils, alkalies, salts, scents and medicines.² The health of the people in cities or crowded places was secured by sanitary measures. Throwing dirt, or causing mire or water to collect in roads and highways was punishable. Committing nuisance near temples, royal buildings and places of pilgrimage, or in reservoirs of water, was penalized, but exceptions were made when this was due to disease or effect of medicine. Throwing inside the city the carcases of animals, or human corpses, was also visited with fines. Carrying dead bodies through gates or along paths not meant for the purpose, as well as the interring or cremation of dead bodies beyond the limits of the prescribed burial-places and crematories, was also a violation of the sanitary regulations.¹
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² Bk. IV, वैदेहकवचनम् ।
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¹ Bk. II, नागरकप्रणिधिः ।
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Remedial measures, medical as well as religious, were adopted to ward off pestilences. In times of epidemic, physicians had to be busy distributing medicines, and ascetics and priests with their auspicious and purificatory ceremonials.²
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² Bk. IV, उपनिपातप्रतीकारः ।
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The precautions taken for the health of the king were as follows:—Medical experts were appointed to detect poison. The medicines that were served out to the king were in the first instance proved as to their purity and then tasted by the physician, the decoctioner (पाचक) and the purveyor together.³
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³ Bk. I, आहारावचितकम् ।
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*Post-mortem examination* (आशुमृतकपरीक्षा).—It is noteworthy that there was arrangement in those days for post-mortem examination.⁴ For this purpose the corpse was smeared with oil to prevent putrefaction. All cases of violent death caused, for instance, by suffocation, hanging, drowning, etc., or by poisoning, were at once brought to the morgue, and the medical officers in charge had to find out as far as possible the exact cause of death from an examination of the symptoms, several of which are enumerated in the Arthaśāstra. The whole affair was subjected to a careful scrutiny, and if foul play was suspected, evidence was taken and the matter left to be disposed of in the law court.
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⁴ Bk. IV, आशुमृतकपरीक्षा ।
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Before we leave this subject it should be noted that the University of Takshaśilā, where Pāṇini and Jīvaka were taught, must have continued to exist in its pristine glory at the time of Chandra Gupta, teaching the medical science which was included in its curriculum as before. Arrian describes Takshaśilā as "a large and wealthy city and the most populous between the Indus and the Hydaspes." Pliny and Strabo also testify to its vast dimension and populousness. Its high repute as a wealthy city continued for many years after Alexander's invasion,¹ and its importance may be deduced from the fact that it continued to be the capital of the Punjab and residence of the viceroys under the early Maurya kings. Asoka lived here as viceroy during the lifetime of his father. These circumstances, as also the fact that we do not hear of any other university in Western India at the time of Chandra Gupta, confirm the aforesaid view. Though it is not distinctly stated in the Atthakathâ, as quoted by Turnour in his Mahâwanso,¹ that Kauṭilya, the minister of Chandra Gupta, was taught in the University of Takshaśilâ, yet, considering that he was an inhabitant of that town and that he achieved the knowledge of the three Vedas, could rehearse the Mantras and wrote several treatises on diverse subjects, we cannot resist the inference that he must have availed himself of the advantages which the university of his own town, so famous for its teaching in all the branches of learning, could afford.
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¹ Cunningham's *Archæological Survey Report*, vol. ii, pp. 112, 118.
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¹ Introduction, p. xxxix.
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INSURANCE AGAINST FAMINE, FLOOD AND FIRE.
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We shall now turn to the measures taken for protecting the people against the ravages of famine, flood, fire, etc.
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As a general preventive against famine and other such calamities, it was laid down that in the Government store-house only half of the garnered articles should be used and the other half reserved.¹
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¹ Bk. II, कोष्ठागाराध्यक्षः ।
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The king had also special duties to perform towards his people during famine. In the first place, he had to provide them with seeds to secure a good harvest in future. When the famine had already overtaken the people, he started relief work (i) by दुर्गंतकर्म, i.e. works given to the famine-stricken for wage-earning, (ii) by free distribution of alms from the store-house referred to above, (iii) by the abandonment of his country to some other king (देशनिक्षेप), (iv) by taking help from allies, (v) by making the rich contribute to the famine fund, (vi) by temporary emigration with his subjects to a different kingdom with abundance of crops, (vii) by emigrating to the sea-shores or to the banks of rivers or lakes where he founded a new settlement and employed his subjects in growing grains, vegetables, etc., as well as in hunting and fishing on a large scale.¹
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¹ दुर्भिक्षे राजा बीजभक्तोपग्रहं क्त्वाऽनुग्रहं कुर्यात् । दुर्गंत-कर्षा वा भक्तसंविभागं वा देशनिक्षेपं वा । मित्राणि वा अपाश्रयेत् । कर्मं वा वमनं वा कुर्यात् । निष्यन्नसस्यमन्यविषयं वा सजनपदो यायात् । समुद्रसरस्तटाकानि वा संश्रयेत् । धान्य-शाकमूलफलावापान् सेतुषु कुर्वीत । मूळप्रवापामलसारान् वा ।—Bk. IV, उपनिपातप्रतीकारः, p. 207.
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As a precautionary measure against floods during the rainy season, the people were made to remove from the banks of rivers, etc., in due time. Those who possessed or could procure canoes and other means of safety and escape were enjoined, under the penalty of fines, to give every possible help to persons falling victims to floods in spite of all precautions. Coupled with the above means was the performance of religious and other ceremonials to propitiate the spirits and the gods.²
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² Bk. IV., उपनिपातप्रतीकारः ।
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Measures for the extermination of pests were also taken by Government. These “pests” generally included rats, locusts, injurious birds and insects, and tigers. To destroy rats, cats and mongooses were let loose; some varieties of poison were also used for the purpose. To kill tigers, several kinds of poison were in use; sometimes hunters were employed, and several methods of entrapping were also resorted to.¹
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¹ Bk. IV, उपनिपातप्रतीकारः ।
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There were various regulations to protect person and property from fire. The danger from fire seems to have been very common, considering the material of which the buildings of the period were mostly constructed, viz. wood instead of stone.² Megasthenes informs us that “ such cities as were situated on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast were built of wood instead of brick, being meant to last only for a time, so destructive were the heavy rains which poured down; and the rivers also, when they overflowed their banks, inundated the plains; while those cities which stood on commanding situations and lofty eminences were built of brick and mud.”³ It is also known, on the authority of the same Greek ambassador, that Pâṭaliputra, the capital, was surrounded by "a wooden wall pierced with loopholes for the discharge of arrows."¹ Wood seems to have been very extensively used in those days for building and other purposes, and therefore several precautions were taken and several rules laid down governing the use of fire.
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² V. Smith's *Hist. of Fine Art*, p. 18: “Abundant evidence establishes the fact that Indian architects before the time of Asoka built their superstructures chiefly of timber, using brick almost exclusively for foundations and plinths. No deficiency in dignity or grandeur was involved by the use of the more perishable material.” The present excavations at Pāṭaliputra are leading to the discovery of many wooden structures, *e.g.* pillars, platforms, etc. We are anxiously awaiting a corroboration of our views on this point by such findings.
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³ Megasthenes, Bk. II, Fragment xxvi.
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¹ Bk. II, Fragment xxv.
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During summer, villagers had to do their cooking in the open air, if they were not already equipped with what was called the ten remedial instruments (दशमूलीसंग्रह).² These were (i) five water-pots (पञ्चघटः); (ii) कुण्ड, a water-vessel of that name; (iii) द्रोणी, which, according to Bhaṭṭasvâmî, was a water-tub made of wood and kept at the door of a house; (iv) निश्रेणी, a ladder; (v) परशु, an axe to cut beams, etc.; (vi) शूर्प, a winnowing-basket to blow off smoke; (vii) अङ्कुश, a hook to pull down the burning pieces of wood; (viii) काष्ठ, ropes, etc.; (ix) घटिका, a basket for removing articles from the store-room, etc.; and (x) दृति, a leather bag for the same purpose as the preceding.
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² Bk. IV, उपनिपातप्रतीकारः ।
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In the city, every householder had to provide himself with the ten remedial instruments. During summer the kindling of fire was prohibited during the second and third quarters of the day. All men were enjoined, under the penalty of fines, to run to give help, in case fire broke out in any house. Thousands of vessels filled with water had to be kept in rows not only in the big roads but also at the crossings of roads and in front of royal buildings. The masters of the houses had to sleep at night in a place near the main doors of their premises, so that they might be easily accessible and come out of their houses to give help without delay. Thatched roofs made of straw and other materials that readily take fire, were not allowed within the city. Those who worked by fire, e.g. blacksmiths, had to live in a particular quarter of the city. Persons wilfully setting fire to a house were severely dealt with. If it was through negligence, only fines were imposed.¹
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¹ अग्निप्रतीकारं च ग्रीष्मे मध्यमयोश्चतुर्भागयोः षड्भागोऽग्निदग्धः । वह्निधमयणं वा कुर्य्युः । पादः पञ्चघटीनां कुम्भद्रोणीनियेवीपरशूनां कुम्भपञ्चघटीनां च अकरणे । ह्यकठ-कुत्रान्यपनयेत । अग्निजीविन् रक्ष्यानं वासयेयुः । सस्यप्र-
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To propitiate Fire, offerings were made to him every day and prayers said.¹
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¹ Bk. IV, उपनिपातप्रतीकारः ।
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A FEW OTHER WORKS OF PUBLIC UTILITY.
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We shall now turn to a few miscellaneous works of public utility, which are not without some interest. These were:—
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(i) *Jail deliveries.*—To celebrate the anniversaries of the king's birthday and in commemoration of the birth of a prince, the installation of an heir-apparent, or the conquest of a new country, prisoners were set at large. Generally, on full-moon days, such prisoners as were very young, old or diseased were let out. Sometimes the prisoners were set free in consideration of their uniformly good conduct in the jail.²
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² Bk. II, नागरकप्रविधिः ।
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(ii) *Advocacy of temperance.*—Only a limited number of people was allowed to take part in
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द्वारेषु मृष्टस्वामिनो वसेयुः । असंपातिनो रात्रौ ख्यातु कटकजास्सहसं तिष्ठेयुः । चतुष्पथागारे राजपरिग्रहेषु च । प्रदीप्तमग्नमिधावतो मृष्टस्वामिनो द्वादशपणो दण्डः । षट्पणो विन्नविन्नः । प्रमादाहीतेषु चतुष्पञ्चाशत्पणो दण्डः प्रादीपिकोऽग्निना वधः ।—Bk. II, नागरकप्रविधिः, p. 145.
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liquor traffic, and a heavy fine was imposed on those who violated the rule. Liquor was sold only in small quantities not exceeding 1 prastha or 1⅓ kancha in any case. Liquor shops were not allowed to be set up close to one another, and a Brâhman who took to drinking was very severely punished.¹
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¹ See सुराध्यक्षः—Bk. II, p. 119, and नाध्यक्षप्रचारः—Bk. IV, p. 220.
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(iii) Grant of jagirs, etc.—Brâhmans performing sacrifices, spiritual guides, priests—all of them learned in the Vedas—were granted lands yielding sufficient produce and exempt from taxes. They were also given forests of soma essential to sacrifices.²
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² Bk. II, भूमिच्छिद्रविधानम् ।
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The wives and children of those officers who died while on duty received allowances. Infants and aged or diseased persons related to the deceased officers were shown favour. Under pecuniary stress, the officers were given forest produce, fields, cattle, etc., along with a small amount of money.³ Indigent widows and disabled women and girls were provided with work in the weaving department of the State. Those women and girls who did not come out of their houses in strict observance of the *Pardâ* system but were compelled by poverty to work for subsistence, had their work brought within their reach daily by women servants of the weaving-house.¹
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³ Bk. V, भृत्यभरणीयम् ।
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¹ Bk. II, सूत्राध्यक्षः । ² Bk. II, जनपदनिवेशः ।
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(iv) Government seems to have kept a close watch that the claims of slaves, hirelings and dependents were not over-ridden. Elders of villages were entrusted with the duty of looking after the orphan minors in a village, and no person having wife and children was allowed to become an ascetic until he had made adequate provision for their maintenance. The State provided with maintenance the infirm and afflicted.²
Linked texts (8)
- Jātaka — Pāli
- Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
- Vaiṣṇava Dharmaśāstra — Viṣṇu, Sanskrit
- Mānava Dharmaśāstra — Manu & Bhṛgu, Sanskrit
- Yājñavalkyasmṛti — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit
- Vinayapiṭaka — Pāli
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
- Ἰνδικά — Μεγασθένης, Ancient Greek