Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c18.15

c18.15

**Qualifications of a Physician.** He must be well-read in the texts of Medical Śāstras or treatises (*adhīta-śāstra*); well up in the import of the texts studied; skilled in practical work or surgical operations (like *Chheda* and *Sneha*); full of resourcefulness and originality (*svayaṁkṛitī*); possessed of light touch and swift hand (*laghu-hasta*); clean; of an optimistic temperament or cheerful spirits (*śūra = vishādarahita*); ready with all necessaries and materials for treatment (*sajjopaskara-bheshaja*); of a resourceful mind; possessed of keen intellect; possessed of professional experience (*vyavasāyī*); learned in theory; and devoted to truth and morality.