Categories of Ayurveda   Surgery in Ayurveda Surgery had advanced a great deal in ancient India. Many complicated procedures were used at that time. Plastic surgery was a specialty of Ayurvedic medicine, which did not come to use in the rest of the world until the late medieval period. They performed couching for cataract, amputation of limbs, removal of fistula and piles, curetting of uterus, removing tumors from vagina, plastic repair of earlobes and nose which were used to be cut as punishment for various crimes and even intra-cranial surgeries. Surgical instruments were made of good quality steel. There are mentions about anesthesia also. A drug named Sammohini was used as anesthetic and after operation the drug Sanjeevini was given to restore consciousness. Ancient Indians had a fairly good knowledge of anatomy of human body. Dissection was practiced at that time. Susruta has given very elaborate instruction for preparing the human body for dissection.

Material Medica

 

The material medica of Ayurveda is very extensive. Herbal, animal and mineral substances were used as medicine. Various methods and instruments were used to prepare drugs and to isolate active principle from organic material. Weighing balances and measuring jars were used to take exact quantity of materials for preparation of medicines. Apart from oral there were other methods of administration of drugs like external applications, vasti-injection through rectum or urethra, Dhumapana – inhalation, Nasya karma – snuffing and Dhupana – fumigation of wounds and ulcers.
 

Animal Medicine

 

Ayurveda not only dealt with diseases of human being but also that of animal kingdom and plants. Alleviating the sufferings of all living being was the goal of Ayurveda. Gouthama’s ‘Gavayurveda’ is a book, which deals only with medical aspects of cows. ‘Salihotra Samhita’ is a very old and famous text on horses. ‘Aswavaidyakam’ of Jaya Dutta Suri and ‘Aswasastram’ of Nakula were based this text. The former is a voluminous text with 68 chapters and deals with the classification of horses and their characters, salient features, diseases and treatment. In Nakula’s text (‘Aswasastram’) many information regarding various aspects of horses are compiled together. It contains on the anatomical structure of horses, which reveals the sound knowledge that was available at that time. Elephants were used for carrying loads and in war. ‘Hastyayurveda’ written by Palakapya is a text on treatment of elephants.

 

Vrikshayurveda

 

This gives us information about plants. We get information on this branch of Ayurveda scattered in many textbooks. A chapter in Sarangadhara’s medical text ‘Upavana Vinodam’ deals with this branch. Susrutha Samhita, Upasakaram of Sankara Misra, Brahat Samhita and Manu Samhita also contain knowledge regarding botanical sciences. In these books there are references of creating new species of plants with required characters. It is really surprising that our ancestors had thought two thousand years ago of the genetic techniques practiced by botanists today.
 

Siddha Medicine

 

The Siddha system of medicine is the system of medicine popular in South India especially in Tamil Nadu state. According to mythological sources sage Agasthya is considered as the originator of Siddha medicine. The science of chemistry was well developed in the Siddha system. They used many metallic compounds including mercury and arsenic effectively in practice. Mercury was used in the treatment of venereal diseases and arsenic in the treatment of leprosy. ‘Siddhanar Krithikal’ written by Siddhars in Tamil is a treasure house of knowledge of medicine, chemistry and related subjects. There are more than 500 medical works containing over 3000 valuable formulae. Composed of five lakh stanzas. These books written thousand of years before Christ, reveal the depth of knowledge Indians had in chemistry.

 

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