History of Indian Medicine (b): Vedic Phase

According to some counts, the Āryans are believed to have originated from the great steppe stretching from Poland to Central Asia (Basham 2004, 29). At approximately 1500 Before Common Era, they crossed the mountains of the Hindu Kush and invaded India when the Indus Valley Civilisation was declining. They entered India from the northwest of the South Asian subcontinent. Following this, the indigenous people such as the Mundas and the Dravidians were subjugated and integrated into the society as slaves. By 1200 Before Common Era, the Āryans inhabited the upper reaches of the Gaṅgā River in the Pañjāb area. From 1000 Before Common Era, they conquered eastward and settled in the fertile area between the Gaṅgā and Yamunā Rivers; from 1000 to 500 Before Common Era, a rich culture had been established in this “central” area (Hirakawa 1993, 1314).^[1]

The Āryans had their polytheistic religion in which the natural forces (such as the sky, the rain, the wind, the thunder, etc.) were deified and worshipped. The hymns praising the gods were collected as the Ṛg Veda. Later, three other texts–the Sāma Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the Atharva Veda–were also compiled. The Sāma Veda is a collection of verses to be chanted for liturgical purposes, the Yajur Veda contains sacrificial formulae used by the priests, and the Atharva Veda comprises mainly of magical spells and incantations for more secular purposes (such as dispelling diseases or evil spirits, praying for health, longevity, happiness and prosperity, maintaining domestic, social, or political security, conducting sorcery, imprecating, and so on). These four Vedas formed the earliest literary sources of the Āryans, which are believed by scholars to have formed between 1500-1000 Before Common Era.^[2] Among these oldest texts of the Āryans, the earliest evidence of Indian medicine can be noted, mainly in the Atharva Veda and some in the Ṛg Veda. The medical information is found scattered in the Ṛg Veda and the Atharva Veda, but not as a collected part (Zysk 1991, 14; 1996, 4-5).

The medical data found in the Vedas reveals predominantly a religious and magical approach to disease and healing. Diseases were thought to be caused by gods or demons, which occurred when people breached taboos, did things against the gods, or received sorcery (Zysk 1991, 15; 1996, 7-8). For instance, the god Varṇa was associated with moral order and he caused oedema as punishment to those who disobeyed his commands. Another example is Rudra who would impose disease on people as well as being a guardian of healing herbs (Basham 1976, 1819). Even poisoning by venomous insects or animals was regarded as demonic (Zysk 1996, 8). Thus treatment was primarily magico-religious–in the form of prayers or hymns–with the purpose of getting pardons from the gods, expelling the demons, and/or breaking the harmful magic (Mazars 2006, 5). Magical rituals were also important components of the therapy. These included recitation of charms, dancing, use of religious objects (such as amulets or talismans that were usually made of healing plants), burning of fragrant plants, and so on (Zysk 1991, 16-17; 1996, 9).^[3]

The practical approach of medicine can also be noted during the Vedic phase, although the magico-religious approach was the chief practice. For external afflictions like wounds or broken bones resulting from injuries in accidents or warfare, therapies such as bone-setting, simple surgery, cauterisation etc.–often accompanied by healing rites–were also practised by the healers (Wujastyk 1993, 757; Zysk 1996, 9). In addition, features of an empirical mode of medical practice–such as identification of symptoms, determination of causes (even though considered to be caused by gods or demons), scrutiny of medicinal herbs, and prescription of appropriate treatment–have already been observed in this phase of Indian medicine (Zysk 1991, 15;1996, 8-10).

The Vedas are also important source for anatomical information in the Vedic period. They include lists of names of bodily parts. More than three hundred terms–some visible bodily parts, some internal organs, and many metaphorical designations–have been mentioned (Mazars 2006, 3). These names of bodily parts were recited during the sacrificial rites of animals and humans. Hence these lists of anatomical terms were preserved in the Vedas. The knowledge of these anatomical parts is believed to have come from sacrificial activities, observations of improperly buried corpses, and examinations of physical bodies during treatment by healers. Many of these terms are preserved in the exegetical treatises of the Brāhmaṇas, as well as in the classical medical texts of the Āyurveda (Zysk 1996, 7).

There are other medical data in the Vedas. Notions of humoral physiology–for example, wind, fire, water, rasa (juice), ojas (strength), and multiple breaths in the body–have appeared in the Vedas, though at this stage these terms only represent a clue of the later systematic physiology of the Āyurveda (Filliozat 1964, 187; Weiss 2005, 714). Furthermore, descriptions of medicinal substances and knowledge of local plants are plentiful in the Vedas (especially the Atharva Veda), and they are often associated with healing plant deities (Zysk 1996, xii).

During the Vedic phase, the duty of healers (bhiṣaj) was to remove diseasedemons and to repair injured body parts, by means of magical rituals and surgical techniques. They therefore had to be knowledgeable not only in healing rites of charms and magical activities/objects, but also in using medicinal plants and substances. With skills and knowledge, the healers were regarded not as witchdoctors or magicians but as true physicians, with professional reputations and good earnings from their services (Basham 1976, 18-19; Zysk 1991, 16; 1996, 8-9). However, they did not belong to the highest priestly class (i.e. the brahmin class) even though they performed healing rites, and they (and medicine) were defamed by the priestly order for their “impurity” due to frequent contact with all sorts of people (including slaves and indigenous people) (Zysk 1991, 21-24; 1996, xiii-xiv).

Indian medicine of the Vedic phase, as shown in the Vedas, has revealed an early form of medical lore. The medical knowledge in this period is characterised by magico-religious pathology and treatment: diseases were thought to be caused by gods or demons, and therapies involved pleading to healing deities and/or removing demonic forces through religious activities and objects. Other interventions such as bone-setting and simple surgical procedures were also practised. The empiricorational mode of diagnosis and therapy had appeared. Plenty of anatomical terms, rich pharmacopoeia, and the early stage of physiology were there in the Vedas. Healers apparently were belittled. Although being skilful and knowledgeable in healing, being respected by people and getting good earnings, they were looked down upon by the brahmins. This situation, according to scholars, can have led to the subsequent śramaṇ-ic phase of Indian medicine. This will be explained in the following subsection.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

According to Basham (2004, 29), there are other hypotheses in relation to the origin of the Āryans. However, since the late twentieth century, there is an increasing number of scholars who criticise and reject the ideas of an Āryan race and the Āryan invasion to India (Encyclopædia Britannica Online (Encyclopӕdia Britannica Online), s.v. “Aryan” [accessed June 16, 2015, http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/37468/Aryan]).

[2]:

This brief description of the Vedic religion and its earliest scriptures is extracted from Basham 2004, 31, 234-235; Dandekar 2005; Hirakawa 1993, 14.

[3]:

The practice of divination, which was known in some ancient medical traditions, however, seemed not to be used by the Vedic healers (Zysk 1991, 15; 1996, 9).