Hindu Medicine c7.164

c7.164

Surgery must have been of old standing also in Hindu veterinary tradition. Among the animal patients of Hindu medicine, elephants are especially cared for. They are considered a very valuable part of the property of kings, indispensable for state ceremony, as the proper mount of monarchs; like the king of the gods, Indra, kings must ride on elephants. They are indispensable, again, for magical purposes; their presence in the king’s household is believed to provide for abundant rainfall, fertility of the country and the welfare of the realm.