A Concise History of Science in India c8.s6.1

c8.s6.1

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.