Surgery in Buddhist Era
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Surgery in Buddhist Era Raj Kumar 1 & Arushi Kumar 2 & Sangh Mittra 3 Received: 8 January 2019 / Accepted: 18 September 2020 # Association of Surgeons of India 2020
Abstract Specialty of surgery was quite popular in the Buddhist era, and it evolved up to an extent. Various known and unknown physicians (chikitsaks) performed different types of operations to cure different surgical diseases. Jivaka was a pioneer surgeon of that time who performed different operations including surgery of brain. As many as 11 types of diseases were known to be treated surgically with the help of a diverse assortment of 71–120 specifically designed instruments, grouped according to their nature and use. The concept of pre-operative evaluation, explanation, treatment, and postoperative care is also evident in Pali literature. It seems that family members were also allowed to watch surgeries during this era. Keywords Medicine in Buddhist era . Buddhist India . Medicine and surgery . Dhamma and medicine
Introduction Diseases in the Buddhist era were classified as karmic diseases (requiring spiritual medicines), evil spirit diseases (treated by mantras), current or immediate diseases (self-terminating), and life diseases (humoral diseases). These diseases were thought to be secondary to individual’s current mental and physical condition, which depended upon one’s karma [1, 2]. All these illnesses were traced down to craving, aversion, ignorance, greed, and anger. Thus, the cure was thought to be possible by correcting wrongdoings and modifying thought process, hence by practicing Dhamma [1, 2]. Nearly 50 types of diseases were noted in the Buddhist era, out of which 17 were studied intensely and surgery was performed on 11 of them [3]. Diseases of women dealing with gynecological
* Raj Kumar [email protected] 1
UP University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah, UP 206130, India
2
Dr. Sampurnanand Medical College, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 342001, India
3
Avanti Bai Hospital, Lucknow, UP 226018, India
issues, concepts of nursing, hospitals, houses of destitute, and attendants were also noted in Pali literature [3].
Aims and Objectives In this write-up, we have tried to collect information and analyze the approaches to diseases prevalent in the Buddha and King Harshvardhana’s period (6th, 7th century BC).
Material and Methods Buddhist literature was written mainly for spiritual, religious, and philosophical purposes, hence the trials to search the evidences of diseases and their remedies have their own limitations [3]. The information has been collected from references made in different treatises and commentaries in Buddhist literature. Buddhist Tipitakas or commentaries were written by highly responsible and honest scholarly monks, hence their records can be considered authentic. Data has been drawn from Pali literature, Tipitakas, and Milindapanha which are pre-Charaka and -Susruta treatises [3]. A major source of this data compilation is the book “Science of Medicine and Surgery in Buddhist India,” where authors
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