Education in Ancient India c10.s1.5

c10.s1.5

Training in Surgery :—We can get a fairly good idea of the training in surgery from our sources. The beginners were taught how to hold and use the surgical instruments by practising upon pumpkins, cucumbers, water melons, etc., under the teacher's directions. Puncturing was demonstrated on the veins of dead animals, the manner of holding the probe on dry Alābu fruits, scarification on stretched pieces of leather covered with hair, sewing on thin pieces of cloth or skin, application of bandages on stuffed human figures and the use of caustics on soft pieces of flesh.³ The novice was then gradually initiated in real cases and allowed to extract darts, cleanse wounds, and use the knife in piercing and cutting diseased parts of the body. How surgical wounds are to be made to dry up was also demonstrated. Practice in the administration of emetics, purges and enemas was given to all. Suśruta emphasises on the importance of dissection for perfecting the student's knowledge, and points out that mere book learning cannot give a clear idea of the actual internal constitution of the human body. Corpses used to be decomposed in water and students were then required to dissect them and visualise the nature of skin, muscles, arteries, bones, internal organs, etc.¹ Anatomical knowledge that was thus imparted was fairly high when compared with the contemporary standards elsewhere. Unfortunately in the course of time the dissection of human body went out of vogue, causing a setback to the progress of the medical science.