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1Exception has been taken to our not includ- ing in the opening stanza the usual invocation to the Supreme Self (for a successful completion of the work) although it has found its way into almost all the printed editions of the work extant. Now the stanza referred to finds no place in the various manuscript copies of the original work which are in our possession, or on which we have been able to lay our hands. The work was first put into print by the late Dr. Madhu- sudan Gupta and we believe that it was only in this printed edition that the benedictory address in question appeared for the first time, and that it has since crept, by the process of circulation, into subsequent printed editions. In this opinion we are supported by the fact, that in none of the various commentaries and anno- tations on the Susruta Samhita is any mention made of the line in question, whereas, had it been the opening stanza of the original work, it would certainly have received at least a passing notice at the hands of the commentators, however easy or simple it might have been. Further, were it composed by Susruta himself, it would not have ( 3 ) been in the form in which we find it in the printed editions. The ancient sages used invariably the auspicious expression "^^Tci:'^ or "^r^^'' and the like, when commencing a work and never invoked any particular deity for a happy termination of their undertaking."^ These are the reasons which have led us to omit the passage in our present translation. Another objection raised by a certain section of the community is that we should not have at all undertaken to translate the work into the English language. Their contention is that the Ayurveda, being an integral portion of the Eternal Vedas, should, on no account, be rendered into a Mlechchha Bhdshd and thus made accessible to the public at large, irrespective of caste or creed. Such an objection, at this time of the day, is, to say the least, most puerile ! Truth is truth, and latitudes and longitudes are not its boundary lines. The Vedas themselves have been trans- lated into many European languages. To keep the truths promulgated by our ancient sages con- fined within the coterie of the privileged classes and thus to deprive the educated public of the * Thus : — 'a) "^ram'f fi^^^f^ffl^T'^z^Ts asTTUmr^:"— Charaka Samhita. (/;) *'^^T^ >^'W ^Ti^Mm:" — Kanada Vaiseshika Sutra (^) "^^T^ ^^fsr^T^T"— Vedanta Sutra. ( 4 )
2(/;) *'^^T^ >^'W ^Ti^Mm:" — Kanada Vaiseshika Sutra (^) "^^T^ ^^fsr^T^T"— Vedanta Sutra. ( 4 ) benefit of such truths would certainly be a sacrilege. In giving preference to English as the medium of translation we have been actuated by more reasons than one. It cannot be gainsaid that English has now become almost the lingua franca of the world, and to disseminate the ancient wisdom of India throughout the world, we could not have selected a medium better than the English language. Besides this, we have been actuated by the hope of drawing the direct attention of our be- nign Government to the scientific value of our system of Medicine by the adoption of such a procedure. Here we must not stop without expressing our sincere and hearty thanks to our learned and valued friends Kaviraj Jogindranath Sen, M.A., Vidyabhusana, Kaviraj Jnanendranath Sen, B.A., Kaviratna and Professor Satyendranath Sen, M. A., Vidyavagisa, who have rendered us material help in the publication of this volume. We must freely admit that but for the active and continued co-operation of the above-named gentlemen we could not have brought out this volume so promptly and successfully. Our thanks are also due to Dr. S. Sanyal, B.Sc, L.M.S. for his kind help, to Dr. S. N. Goswami, B.A., L.M.S. for his kindly supplying us with materials for writing the Introduction, and to our readers for their kind encouragement ( 5 ) In conclusion, we implore our readers to excuse the errors of omission and commission which are inevitable in the execution of such a huge work, more especially when the author is encumbered with the responsible duties of his profession involving, as they do, the life and death of persons entrusted to his care. 10, KASHI GHOSHE'S LANE,^ Calcutta. I KuNJA LaL BhISHAGRATNA. November^ igii, ' INTRODUCTION. In the introduction of the first volume of our translation of the Susruta-Samhita we have attempt- Ayurveda is not ed to place before the public a correct an Encyclopaedia .,^, _,. , „ . of ancient medical interpretation of Vayu, Pitta and Kapha, Mse on Biology!''^^^' ^^^ ^^^^^^^ so-called humours of the body* and it is a great pleasure to us, that our pronouncement has been very kindly accepted. In the introduction of the present volume we would draw the attention of the readers to the fact that Ayurveda is not at all an encyclopaedic work, — an Encyclopaedia of the Indian
3In the introduction of the present volume we would draw the attention of the readers to the fact that Ayurveda is not at all an encyclopaedic work, — an Encyclopaedia of the Indian * Berdoe says :— "What is known as the Humoral Pathology formed the most essential part of the system of the Dogmatics. Humoral Pathology explains all diseases as caused by the mixture of the four cardinal humours, viz., the blood, bile, mucus or phlegm and water. Hip- pocrates first leaned towards it, but it was Plato who devoloped it. The stomach is the common source of all these humours. When diseases develop, they attract humours. The source of the bile is the liver, of the mufcus the head, of the water the spleen. Bile causes catarrhs and rheu- matism, dropsy depends on the spleen." Be it observed that among the humours of Hippocrates there is no place for Vata although in point of fact both his Physiology and Patho- logy are to be traced to the "Tri-dhatu" of Ayurveda. The secret of this anomaly is that the theory of Vata was found to be a complicated one and Hipprocates, not being able to comprehend its original import, left it out and cautiously introduced, in its stead, his own theory of "water". Sowe find "Humoral Pathology is not of Indian origin ; neither it is the same which the Indian Rishis of Rigveda developed under the name of Tri-dhatu." It is simply an imitation of Susruta who introduced blood ( ^[<!)ci-M<j^'i ) ^s the fourth factor in the genesis of diseases. Bui the bor- rower, in his interpretation of Susruta, had made a mess of it. He retain- ed blood, but substituted "water" in place of Vkta, the most important of the three, for reasons best known to him. il INTRODUCTION. system of Medicine in all its departments, but it is the Science of Life entire.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1Exception has been taken to our not includ- ing in the opening stanza the usual invocation to the Supreme Self (for a successful completion of the work) although it has found its way into almost all the printed editions of the work extant. Now the stanza referred to finds no place in the various manuscript copies of the original work which are in our possession, or on which we have been able to lay our hands. The work was first put into print by the late Dr. Madhu- sudan Gupta and we believe that it was only in this printed edition that the benedictory address in question appeared for the first time, and that it has since crept, by the process of circulation, into subsequent printed editions. In this opinion we are supported by the fact, that in none of the various commentaries and anno- tations on the Susruta Samhita is any mention made of the line in question, whereas, had it been the opening stanza of the original work, it would certainly have received at least a passing notice at the hands of the commentators, however easy or simple it might have been. Further, were it composed by Susruta himself, it would not have ( 3 ) been in the form in which we find it in the printed editions. The ancient sages used invariably the auspicious expression "^^Tci:'^ or "^r^^'' and the like, when commencing a work and never invoked any particular deity for a happy termination of their undertaking."^ These are the reasons which have led us to omit the passage in our present translation. Another objection raised by a certain section of the community is that we should not have at all undertaken to translate the work into the English language. Their contention is that the Ayurveda, being an integral portion of the Eternal Vedas, should, on no account, be rendered into a Mlechchha Bhdshd and thus made accessible to the public at large, irrespective of caste or creed. Such an objection, at this time of the day, is, to say the least, most puerile ! Truth is truth, and latitudes and longitudes are not its boundary lines. The Vedas themselves have been trans- lated into many European languages. To keep the truths promulgated by our ancient sages con- fined within the coterie of the privileged classes and thus to deprive the educated public of the * Thus : — 'a) "^ram'f fi^^^f^ffl^T'^z^Ts asTTUmr^:"— Charaka Samhita. (/;) *'^^T^ >^'W ^Ti^Mm:" — Kanada Vaiseshika Sutra (^) "^^T^ ^^fsr^T^T"— Vedanta Sutra. ( 4 )
2(/;) *'^^T^ >^'W ^Ti^Mm:" — Kanada Vaiseshika Sutra (^) "^^T^ ^^fsr^T^T"— Vedanta Sutra. ( 4 ) benefit of such truths would certainly be a sacrilege. In giving preference to English as the medium of translation we have been actuated by more reasons than one. It cannot be gainsaid that English has now become almost the lingua franca of the world, and to disseminate the ancient wisdom of India throughout the world, we could not have selected a medium better than the English language. Besides this, we have been actuated by the hope of drawing the direct attention of our be- nign Government to the scientific value of our system of Medicine by the adoption of such a procedure. Here we must not stop without expressing our sincere and hearty thanks to our learned and valued friends Kaviraj Jogindranath Sen, M.A., Vidyabhusana, Kaviraj Jnanendranath Sen, B.A., Kaviratna and Professor Satyendranath Sen, M. A., Vidyavagisa, who have rendered us material help in the publication of this volume. We must freely admit that but for the active and continued co-operation of the above-named gentlemen we could not have brought out this volume so promptly and successfully. Our thanks are also due to Dr. S. Sanyal, B.Sc, L.M.S. for his kind help, to Dr. S. N. Goswami, B.A., L.M.S. for his kindly supplying us with materials for writing the Introduction, and to our readers for their kind encouragement ( 5 ) In conclusion, we implore our readers to excuse the errors of omission and commission which are inevitable in the execution of such a huge work, more especially when the author is encumbered with the responsible duties of his profession involving, as they do, the life and death of persons entrusted to his care. 10, KASHI GHOSHE'S LANE,^ Calcutta. I KuNJA LaL BhISHAGRATNA. November^ igii, ' INTRODUCTION. In the introduction of the first volume of our translation of the Susruta-Samhita we have attempt- Ayurveda is not ed to place before the public a correct an Encyclopaedia .,^, _,. , „ . of ancient medical interpretation of Vayu, Pitta and Kapha, Mse on Biology!''^^^' ^^^ ^^^^^^^ so-called humours of the body* and it is a great pleasure to us, that our pronouncement has been very kindly accepted. In the introduction of the present volume we would draw the attention of the readers to the fact that Ayurveda is not at all an encyclopaedic work, — an Encyclopaedia of the Indian
3In the introduction of the present volume we would draw the attention of the readers to the fact that Ayurveda is not at all an encyclopaedic work, — an Encyclopaedia of the Indian * Berdoe says :— "What is known as the Humoral Pathology formed the most essential part of the system of the Dogmatics. Humoral Pathology explains all diseases as caused by the mixture of the four cardinal humours, viz., the blood, bile, mucus or phlegm and water. Hip- pocrates first leaned towards it, but it was Plato who devoloped it. The stomach is the common source of all these humours. When diseases develop, they attract humours. The source of the bile is the liver, of the mufcus the head, of the water the spleen. Bile causes catarrhs and rheu- matism, dropsy depends on the spleen." Be it observed that among the humours of Hippocrates there is no place for Vata although in point of fact both his Physiology and Patho- logy are to be traced to the "Tri-dhatu" of Ayurveda. The secret of this anomaly is that the theory of Vata was found to be a complicated one and Hipprocates, not being able to comprehend its original import, left it out and cautiously introduced, in its stead, his own theory of "water". Sowe find "Humoral Pathology is not of Indian origin ; neither it is the same which the Indian Rishis of Rigveda developed under the name of Tri-dhatu." It is simply an imitation of Susruta who introduced blood ( ^[<!)ci-M<j^'i ) ^s the fourth factor in the genesis of diseases. Bui the bor- rower, in his interpretation of Susruta, had made a mess of it. He retain- ed blood, but substituted "water" in place of Vkta, the most important of the three, for reasons best known to him. il INTRODUCTION. system of Medicine in all its departments, but it is the Science of Life entire.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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