History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c21.s1: Definition and importance of Śalya (ancient surgery)
History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c21.s1
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Definition and importance of Śalya (ancient surgery)
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Śalya is the name applied to the art of surgery in Indian Medicine and is derived from the root Śal or Śval meaning to move quickly. Foreign bodies of every kind are denoted as Śalya, but it specifically refers to the arrow, which was the commonest and most dangerous foreign body causing wounds and requiring surgical treatment during the Aryan invaders, and surgeons were directly requisitioned to attend on the wounded.
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The Śalya Tantra or the science of surgery is the oldest of all the other branches of the science of Indian Medicine (Ayurveda) and is further corroborated by the four classes of testimonies, i.e. perception, inference, analogy and scriptural truths. The primary position of ancient surgery may be inferred from the fact that surgery lands her aid materially towards the healing up of traumatic ulcers. Moreover, Indian surgery (Śalya Tantra) is considered to be the most important as instantaneous actions can be obtained with the help of surgical operations, external applications of caustics, cauterisation, blood-letting, etc. Secondly, it contains all that can be found in the other branches of the medicines as well. It is eternal and is source of infinite piety, imparts fame and opens the gates of Heaven to its voteries, prolongs the duration of human existence on earth and helps the human beings in successfully fulfilling their missions and earning a decent competence in life.
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It has always been a matter of speculation how the ancient surgeons ever performed the major surgical operations successfully in the absence of anaesthesia, haemostatics, antiseptics and antibiotics.
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However, the knowledge of anatomy was requisite to them as evidenced by the concept of marmas (vital points) based on regional anatomy. The ancient surgeons were quite aware of the infections following surgical operations and they extended top priority to prevent it.
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The clinical approach and major surgical operations i.e. peptic ulcers, perforations and paracentasis, etc. mentioned by Suśruta, the father of Indian Surgery have opened a new avenue to modern surgery. The scientific approach to perform rhinoplasty as well as otoplasty pertaining to plastic surgery in 6th century B.C. had been appreciated by the modern surgeons. Herschberg of Germany mentions that “Our entire knowledge of plastic surgery took a new turn when those cunning devices of India war became known to us.”
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Thus, in *Rgveda*, we read of the amputations of legs and fitting with artificial limbs, extraction of arrow from the limbs of the wounded, and enucleation of eye and corneal grafting with great success.
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The most outstanding performances of Indian surgery, however, were on a domain of transplantation of organs, plastic surgery, urolithotomy and laparatomy, etc. Divodās Dhanvantari recites an incident which took place in one of the wars of the gods. Rūdra chopped off the head of the Yagna, then on the request of the gods the Aśvinī brothers (twin) undoubtedly reimplanted the head of the Yagna to the trunk successfully and restored him in life.
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In another instance, the head of Dadhicī was cut off and the head of the horse was transplanted to him. Later on, the original head of Dadhicī was reimplanted to him after removing the head of the horse. It is an excellent example of heterotransplantation. It clearly indicates that the transplantation surgery was highly developed and practised in ancient India. There are several other instances where severed parts of the human beings were transplanted with success.
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Once, the wife of king Khela named Vispala had lost one of her legs in the war. The Aśvinī brothers provided her with a metal leg (artificial limb). The father of Rijashva became blind as a result of cursing, and the corneal grafting was successfully carried out to restore his normal vision. The broken teeth of Puśan were restored as normal. Moreover, the Aśvinī brothers demolished all the diseases of the gods and gave them young life. Suśruta was one of the matured and most knowledgeable pupils amongst other several disciples of Divodās Dhanvantari. Therefore, he imparted his scientific knowledge to Suśruta. Moreover, the training of surgeons, meticulous code of personal ethics, and the social conduct for the medical profession in general, have touched the highlight of Suśruta’s contribution. These are some of the topics which are not generally included in the modern surgery, and hence it would be of interest to the surgeons to know more about these important matters for improving their services to the humanity as a whole.
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It is generally accepted that Suśruta’s lucid and systematic presentation of the conceptual and technical aspects of surgery, as well as the philosophy and ethics of medicine was quite advanced and may have relevance even to-day (Thorwald).
Linked texts (1)
- Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit