A Concise History of Science in India c8.s8.t3.2

c8.s8.t3.2

During the latter part of the period under review, a combination of adverse political, social and economic factors gradually undermined the reputation and usefulness of Sanskrit-based learning, and the old cultural achievements fell into disrepute. Physicians, who also had to be erudite scholars in many branches of philosophy and sciences as required by classical *Āyurveda*, seldom found satisfactory successors, for the new generations were gradually losing their mastery over the archaic phraseology of the Ayurvedic texts; apart from a working knowledge of diagnosis and drugs suitable for treatment, many of them did not have any acquaintance with the concepts and theories which formed the basis of *Āyurveda*. Replacement of existing texts by new copies which had to be laboriously done by hand had long ceased to be an economic proposition, no new works were being written and the old copies were getting scarce due to natural decay in a damp and humid climate. The very basis, on which knowledge could be standardized and passed on, was tottering. There were also no hospitals, no medical colleges, no forums of discussions and, needless to say, no research in *Āyurveda*. The noble profession gradually passed from erudite scientists into the hands of semi-ignorant people with only hearsay knowledge or knowledge gathered from an imperfect comprehension of incomplete and incorrect texts. The members of families of long lines of Āyurvedic practitioners, often foremost in education and aptitude in their society due to centuries of family tradition in a scientific profession, quickly found other and more lucrative professions. Not knowing Sanskrit they considered the manuscripts of their forefathers as useless lumber.