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A Concise History of Science in India c8.s6: Veterinary Sciences

A Concise History of Science in India c8.s6

Language
English

Contents

Veterinary Sciences

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The description of *Āyurveda* as a comprehensive science of life and not as mere medical science is further justified by the existence of branches dealing with the welfare and treatment of other living creatures besides human beings and even of trees. This inclusion is logical, for, according to Āyurvedic treatises, the *raison d'être* of this science lies in compassion for all forms of suffering. On a more practical plane also, the proper care of livestock and economic vegetation was highly important to a non-industrial economy based on natural resources and on animals for nutrition power and transport. A knowledge of the level of veterinary knowledge in ancient India is obtained from specialized and individual treatises dealing with cows, horses and elephants. The *Rājamārtaṇḍa*, an encyclopaedia of medical knowledge by Bhojarāja (available in a printed edition published by the Āyurveda Granthamālā series, Bombay), contains extracts from the above treatises and also deals with water-buffaloes, deer, dogs, falcons, pigeons, etc. The *Yogasudhānidhi* by Vandimiśraa contains a chapter of conception, obstetrics and special diseases of female animals.

Bovine Āyurveda

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The nutritional and therapeutic values of milk are described even in the earliest Vedic literature. The *Suśruta Saṃhitā* gives a detailed account of similar values of milks of other animals and the products obtained from them.a This and other passages scattered in Āyurvedic works refer to examination and care of milch cows. A treatise dealing exclusively with *Gavāyurveda* (medical knowledge concerning bovine animals), attributed to Gotama, must have been current up to the middle ages, as quotations from it are found in the *Rājamārtaṇḍa*, but no authentic version is known at the present time. This treatise contained information relating to mating, stud bulls, calving, possible retention of the placenta, lactation, sources of contamination of milk and insuring the best quality of milk, diet in health, diseases and pregnancy, and bovine ailments in the shape of fevers, gastro-intestinal troubles, skin affections, ulceration of udders, loss of milk, sterility, etc., and their treatments.

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a Sen, Gananath (2), p. 76.

Equine Āyurveda

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The *Saṃhitā* of Śālihotra, an ancient and famous treatise dealing exclusively with horses, of which extracts are found in the *Agnipurāṇa*, was, according to some, redacted by Kalhaṇa (twelfth century) under the title *Śālihotrasārasamuccaya*.b A translation in Arabic of either the original work or its redaction was made in the age of the Caliphs of Baghdad, and was known as *Sālator*. Other important editions or redactions of this work are *Aśvavaidyaka* by Jayadattasurī and *Aśvaśāstra* by Nakula. The first work is a large volume of 68 chapters dealing with many topics, including separate chapters on different breed of horses; their characteristics according to age, sex and breed; the features to be desired or preferred in horses for riding, for drawing carriages and for stud purposes; foaling: lactation; diet; various types of internal medicines and external applications for equine diseases like cough, indigestion, diarrhoea, skin diseases, apoplexy madness, etc.; and surgical operations for treatments of malformations, diseased conditions castration, etc. The medical and surgical methods follow the classical precepts of *Āyurveda*. Nakula’s work is remarkable for its coloured illustrations of horses and knowledge of equine anatomy. It is also a valuable compendium of many branches of knowledge relating to horses. An Āyurvedic lexicon, also credited to Nakula, named *Cikitsā Saṃgraha*, contains a glossary of terms and *materia medica* relating to this branch of knowledge. Bhojarāja’s encyclopaedia quotes also passages from *Hayalīlāvatīnāmasaṃgraha* by Jayadeva, *Vājicikitsā Saṃgraha* by Jayadatta, and *Sārasaṃgraha*, an anthology of different works on this subject, by Nakula. These works are of minor importance and are also rare or unavailable.

Āyurveda of Elephants

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In ancient India elephants were in constant use for military purposes, as mounts and for moving heavy loads. The care of elephants became naturally an important branch of veterinary science. An exhaustive treatise on *Hastyāyurveda* (*Āyurveda* of pachyderms), rivalling the *Caraka Saṃhitā* in bulk, is attributed to the sage Pālakāpya, but it may be the work of one of his disciples, for it is, like the *Caraka Saṃhitā*, written in the form of questions and answers between the sage and his disciple Romapāda.a This branch of medical knowledge is also based on the *tridoṣa* theory of origins, symptoms and treatments of diseases. The *Pālakāpya Saṃhitā* is divided into four sections, *mahārogasthāna* (on major ailments), *kṣudrarogasthāna* (on minor ailments), *śalyasthāna* (on surgical treatment) and *uttarasthāna* (detailed treatment of some topics), and includes chapters on anatomy, physiology, habits, mating habits, seasonal changes, stabling, food, sterility and madness of elephants. The symptoms of diseases and their treatment and the prognosis of imminent death of elephants are also discussed in the text.

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a *SS. Sū.*, 45.

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b Sen, Gananath (2), p. 76.

Plant Āyurveda

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The terms *vṛkṣāyurveda* (science of life of trees), *gulmavṛkṣāyurveda* (science of plant life) and *bheṣajavidyā* (science of medicinal plants) occur in ancient works like the *Arthaśāstra*, *Agnipurāṇa* and *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*, and refer to selection and procurement of viable seeds, choice of proper soil, irrigation, manuring, sowing and germination of seeds, planting, grafting, pruning, layering, seasonal care, cultivation, rotation of crops, climatic conditions in relation to proper growth, classification and identification of plants, aesthetic and hygienic values of gardens, construction of herbariums and the treatment of plants in healthy and diseased conditions. Many of these topics can be classed as medical knowledge relating to plants. This unique branch of *Āyurveda* survives now only in scattered references in the above works and specially in a chapter of the comprehensive medical treatise by Śārṅgadhara (thirteenth century) entitled *Upavanavinoda*.

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The *Suśruta Saṃhitā* mentions the respective roles of seeds, climatic conditions, soil and water in the germination of plants.b *Upaskāra* by Śaṅkaramiśra, displays an intimate knowledge of botany in stating that 'water poured at the roots goes upwards and laterally through the interior of a tree, where neither impulse, nor impact, nor even the solar rays can cause the movement; the coherent medium of water and causative living soul in the trees and plants make the moisture rise upwards and the trees grow'. The *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*, *Manusaṃhitā* and *Arthaśāstra* contain practical methods for propagation and reproduction of plant, though the phenomenon of sexual reproduction in plants was not realized. An extensive nomenclature of thousands of types of trees and plants is found in all relevant works, but the classification of flora was based not on families and genus but on external or floral characters and medicinal or dietic values.c The etiology, diagnosis and treatment of plant diseases (and also of plant blights and sterility) are dealt with in the *Upavanavinoda*, mentioned above, which also contains chapters on classification of plants, selection and sowing of seeds, watering and care of plants, recipes for nourishing (culture) solutions, and different methods of propagation, including *bījaruha* (by seeds), *mūlaja* (by roots), *skandhaja* (by cutting operations), *skandharopaṇīya* (by grafting and layering), *agravīja* (by apices) and by *parṇayoni* (inside leaves). It also contains some interesting speculations on the possibility of creating new species of plants with desired scents and colours in its products, anticipating the modern science of applied biology by nearly two thousand years.

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a Filliozat (2), pp. 164–75.

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b *SS. Śā.*, 2. 33.

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c *CS. Sū.*, 4 and 27; *SS. Sū.*, 47.

Cites (12)