Hindu Medicine c7.240

c7.240

Moreover, there exists the famous decree of the Emperor Aśoka Maurya (274-236 B. C.) in his second Rock Edict (257-256 B. C.), celebrating the organization of social medicine established by him along the lines of Buddhist thought and kindred ethics (dharma). Aśoka states that all over his dominions and in adjoining territories far beyond the borders of his empire, even in Ceylon to the South, and under the Seleucid king, Antiyaka (Antiochus), of Persia and Syria to the Northwest, medical treatment is provided for men and animals. Wherever herbs, roots, and fruits beneficial to men and animals were lacking, these were imported and planted.