SAGE SUSHRUTA
Indian Sage Sushruta is known as the Father of Surgery. 2600 years ago he conducted complicated surgeries like Cesareans, Rhinoplasty (restoration of damaged nose). 12 types of fractures, 6 types of dislocations, urinary stones even plastic surgery and brain surgery. The usage of Anesthesia was also well known at that time. His book 'Sushruta Samhita' is considered the oldest text in the world on plastic surgery.
He is usually dated to the 7th or 6th centuries BCE but could have lived and worked as early as 1000 BCE; although that seems unlikely as Charaka lived shortly before him or was a contemporary. He has been associated with the Sushruta mentioned in the Mahabharata, the son of the sage Visvamitra, but this claim is not accepted by most scholars.
All that is known for certain about him is that he practised medicine in northern India around the region of modern-day Varanasi (Benares) by the banks of the Ganges River. He was regarded as a great healer and sage whose gifts were thought to have been given by the gods. According to legend, the gods passed their medical insight down to the sage Dhanvantari who taught it to his follower Divodasa, who then instructed Sushruta.
The Sushruta Samhita:
over 300 surgical procedures and 120 surgical instruments in addition to the 1,120 diseases, injuries, conditions, and their treatments, and over 700 medicinal herbs and their application, taste, and efficacy, which are also dealt with in-depth.
The practice of surgery was already long established in India by the time of Sushruta but in a less advanced form than what he practised. He significantly developed different surgical techniques (such as using the head of an ant to sew sutures) and, most notably, invented the practice of cosmetic surgery.
Rhinoplasty:
His speciality was rhinoplasty, the reconstruction of the nose, and his book instructs others on exactly how a surgeon should proceed:
The portion of the nose to be covered should be first measured with a leaf. Then a piece of skin of the required size should be dissected from the living skin of the cheek and turned back to cover the nose keeping a small pedicle attached to the cheek. The part of the nose to which the skin is to be attached should be made raw by cutting the nasal stump with a knife. The physician then should place the skin on the nose and stitch the two parts swiftly, keeping the skin properly elevated by inserting two tubes of eranda (the castor-oil plant) in the nostrils' position that the new nose gets proper shape. The skin thus properly adjusted, it should then be sprinkled with a powder of liquorice, red sandal-wood, and barberry plant. Finally, it should be covered with cotton and clean sesame oil should be constantly applied. When the skin has united and granulated, if the nose is too short or too long, the middle of the flap should be divided and an endeavor made to enlarge or shorten it. (Sushruta Samhita, I.16)
Pioneer of Anesthesia:
The wine was used as an anaesthetic and patients were encouraged to drink heavily before a procedure. When the patient was drunk to a point of insensibility, he or she was tied to a low-lying wooden table to prevent movement and the operation would begin with the surgeon sitting on a stool and tools on a nearby table. The use of wine led to the development of an anaesthetic involving both alcohol and cannabis incense to either induce sleep or dull the senses to a stupor during procedures such as rhinoplasty.
Ophthalmology
सर्वेन्द्रियाणां नयनं प्रधानम् |Eye is the most important organ out of all body parts.
Sushruta has done great work in the field of ophthalmology and mention in 'Sushruta Samhita'. Even though many people believe that western people are the pioneers in this field there is evidence that in India, this branch of medicine was studied with advanced techniques and people got treated for eye-related diseases.
He largely contributed to ophthalmology, and there is evidence that he treated eye diseases and conducted eye operations with his instruments.
Saushrutas:
Sushruta attracted several disciples who were known as Saushrutas and were required to study for six years before they even began hands-on training in surgery. They began their studies by taking an oath to devote themselves to healing and to do no harm to others, which is still recited by doctors in the present day. After the students had been accepted by Sushruta.
practice cutting on vegetables or dead animals to perfect the length and depth of an incision. Once students had proven themselves capable with vegetation, animal corpses, or with soft or rotting wood – and had carefully observed actual procedures on patients – they were then allowed to perform their own surgeries.
Legacy :
The Bower manuscript which was founded in a Buddhist monastery in Chinese mentions the name of Susrutha as one of the 10 sages from the Himalayas. It is reported that the first Indian rhinoplasty was performed by the local Vaidya of the Koomhar caste using the skin of the forehead. He was the descendants of Brahma’s son and he performed his rhinoplasty in front of two British surgeons. Joseph Constantine Carpue was another who was able to perform the Indian rhinoplasty.
The statue of Sushruta is installed in the Surgery University of Australia but not displayed in any Indian Universities of surgeons. All l want to say is our ancient Indian culture is so rich, that to understand it our knowledge is very limited. Because,
Culture that do not Preserve and Propogate their knowledge-- Stagnate, Shrink and die.
Conclusion :
Sushruta was one of the great scientists in India and Pioneer in the surgery field. He will be an evidence which shows the potential of our indian medicine and success. And he will remain as an inspiration to the world.
Statue of Sushruta 'Father Of Surgery', at Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar.
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Click here for CommentsNicely written! Thanks!