Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c18.14

c18.14

It is again emphasized that a medical student must acquire a double proficiency in both Theory and Practice (*Śāstra* and *Karma*) which are likened to the two wings on which a bird is borne in its upward flight. The bird of one wing cannot fly at all They are also likened to the two wheels of a chariot which enable it to perform its functions in the field of battle. Similarly, a physician who is merely a pundit and grounded in the texts of his Śāstras (*Śāstrajña*) and is totally unskilled in the practical application of his theoretical knowledge will break down and will be at his wits' ends, unable to decide what he should do, puzzled by the actual sight of a patient, like a coward losing his sense in a field of battle (*mugdha* and *kiṁkartavyavimūḍha*). On the other hand, the mere empiric or quack who practises his profession without a theoretical knowledge of the Science of Medicine deserves censure and is liable to extreme penalty at the hands of the State. The best of medicines, the elixir of life, will become a poison if wrongly applied by a physician through his ignorance, while a physician who, with all his theoretical knowledge, is ignorant of the art of surgical operation (*chhedana*) and application of ointments and disinfectants (*snehādi-kārya*), is equally unacceptable. Such undeserving medical men only murder people under the licence of the State [ib., iii, 16–21].