A Concise History of Science in India c14.s3.2

c14.s3.2

In the post-Vedic period, the *Āyurveda* as a rational assemblage of methodical concepts and systematic therapeutic practices occupies an honoured position. Even though the celebrated classical texts of the *Āyurveda*, viz. the *Caraka* and *Suśruta Saṃhitās*, which have come down to us, took their present form probably in the early centuries of the Christian era, the thoughts and practices enshrined in them were doubtless in vogue from about the seventh or sixth century B.C. The prime object of the *Āyurveda* is the preservation of human life, of animals and even of plants. In man, life is the manifestation of body, senses and the spirit according to *Āyurveda*. In its doctrinaire approach, this science of life owes a great deal to the philosophies of the *Sāṁkhya*, *Yoga* and the *Vaiśeṣika* adopting the *Vaiśeṣika* principles in so far as the *dravya-guṇa vijñāna*, the *tridoṣa* theory and the *saptadhātus* are concerned, and the *Sāṁkhya* principles relating to the *pañcabhautika* body and its evolution from *puruṣa-prakṛti*. As has been noticed, the *Āyurveda* believes that the world consisting of the inorganic as well as the organic (*sthāvarajaṅgamarūpa*) is formed out of the *pañcabhūtas*. The entire gamut of substances used for medicinal purposes are referred to, broadly, as *ākāśīyadravya*, *vāyavīyadravya*, *taijasadravya*, *āpyadravya* and *pārthivadravya*. The *Āyurveda* deals with the science of medicine in terms of eight divisions (*aṣṭāṅgas*), viz. *śalya* (surgery), *śālakya* (treatment of diseases of E.N.T.), *kāyacikitsā* (internal medicine), *bhūtavidyā* (treatment of supernatural diseases), *kaumārabhṛtya* (paediatrics), *agada* (toxicology), *rasāyana* (rejuvenation) and *vājīkaraṇa* (virilification). Of the two most important classical texts of the *Āyurveda* (**4**, pp. 224–27), the *Caraka Saṁhitā* gives importance to internal medicine and the *Suśruta Saṁhitā* accords a special position to surgery.