A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c17.20

v1.c17.20

The caste system was established *de novo* in a more rigid form. The drift of Manu and of the later Purānas is in the direction of glorifying the priestly class, which set up most arrogant and outrageous pretensions. According to Susruta, the dissection of dead bodies is a *sine qua non* to the student of surgery and this high authority lays parcular stress on knowledge gained from experiment and observation.¹ But Manu would have none of it. The very touch of a corpse, according to Manu, is enough to bring contamination to the sacred person of Brāhmin.² Thus we find that shortly after the time of Vāgbhata, the handling of a lancet was discouraged and Anatomy and Surgery fell into disuse and became to all intents and purposes lost sciences to the Hindus. It was considered equally undignified to sweat away at the forge like a Cyclops. Hence the cultivation of the *kalās* by the more refined classes of the society of which we get such vivid pictures in the ancient Sanskrit literature