In 2011 the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India, on the initiative of its president, Dr. Raja Sabhapati decided to celebrate 15th July as birthday (not known) of Maharshi Sushrut as National Plastic Surgery Day. This year the world leaders in plastic surgery decided to celebrate the day as Word Plastic Surgery Day!! Congratulations!!
Who was Sushruta and his legend?
Ayurveda, the science of life and health was given to us by Ashwini Kumars and is mentioned in Atharva Veda. Lord or sage Dhanvantari is considered an incarnation of Vishnu. He developed and propagated Ayurveda.
Several of his generations later, Divodas Dhanvantari was the king of Kashi ( now also known as Varanasi). He promoted the teachings of Ayurveda. Then Kashi was the seat of learning in the Aryavart( indian subcontinent), with scholars coming here from all the places for learning. It was also the main seat of learning in Aryurveda or life and health sciences.
The Ayurvedic schools of Kashi naresh (king) Divodas taught all 8 specialities (ashtang) of Ayurveda. Sushruta (also considered son of sage Vishwamitra) a devout medical scholar, chose to learn Shalya (surgery).
Although shalya (surgery) was extremely well developed and taught well during 1000 to 700 BC, it probably reached its zenith during Shushruta’s time-600BC (agreed by most).
Sushruta’s Kashi medical school continued to be the prime institution till 1st century BC.
Jivaka, a physician to Lord Buddha , who is also reported to have operated upon the emperor Bimbisar and also credited of doing trephining of the skull, later moved to Takshshila (Taxila) and Takshshila medical school got more prominence.
To credit Shushruta with just plastic surgery and rhinoplasty is gross understatement of his enormous contributions to surgery and health sciences. He was truly a genius and studied medicine extensively and in the most modern way.
To teach anatomy he would use wooden brush ,with which his students dissected the human body soaked in Ganga water to make them soft and friable. He described 700 vessels, 400 muscles, 300 bones, 8 types of joints and 5 types of bones!!
His surgeries varied from neurosurgery to surgeries on toes, ranging from oral diseases, abdominal and chest diseases, treatment of wounds and ulcers, diseases of anal canal and rectum, pregnancy related ailments to snake bite and poisioning. His range was enormous- all mentioned in Sushruta Samhita (current book may not be the original one but written in 1st century BC, by other scholars).
His description of 4th degree of burn is still holds absolutely correct- Plushtham(1°), Durdagdham (2), Samyak Dagdham (3) and Atidagdham (4°). He mentioned burn’s treatment as well in great details.
His descriptions of anatomy, features, symptoms of diseases and illnesses are amazingly correct and its treatment methodology was elaborate and very descriptive, taking care of emergence of new symptoms and features.
He described the definition of health 2500 ago which is exactly the same as described by WHO only a few decades ago.
समदोषः समाग्निश्च समधातुमलक्रियः।
प्रसन्नात्मेंद्रियमना: स्वस्थ इत्यभिधीयते ।।
He is swasth ( healthy) whose dosh( abberations and malfunctions), agni (functions) and dhatu, malkriya (body enzymes and excretion) are all in a state of equilibrium (sama) and whose atmah (soul), indriya (sensory faculties) and manah (mind ,mental state) is in a optimum state of well being ( prasanna). The first line beautifully explains the well being of physical body while the second line explains sensorial, mental and spiritual state of well being) using some of the very beautiful words in a linguistic marvel of expression.
In memory of genius, learned and gifted surgeon Sushruta we celebrate 15th July as World Plastic Surgery Day and National Plastic Surgery Day.
He was truely a world leader at his time being the most advance surgical master who used to run one of the most advance scientific school of medicine and surgery.
He is truely ‘Father of Surgery’, a legend India and the world is proud of.