Advancements from the Ancient Vedic Culture
Part Two by Sri Nandanandana dasa (Stephen Knapp)
ARCHITECTURE
Architecture in India was an extremely rich form of expression and highly developed science, with a deep heritage of spirituality in it. It is evident that one of the primary purposes of much of the significant architecture was to display the prevailing spiritual consciousness of the people.
The center of all architectural development was the temple. The temple or Mandir was the earthly home of God, and like the launching pad for the devotee=s consciousness to soar toward the Divine and the spiritual world. The murti or deity of the Divine would be placed in the temple sanctum, around which all temple activity would revolve. Such buildings were often elaborately decorated with stone, wood, plaster, etc. and carved or cut to depict the stories from the Puranas or other sacred texts. Temples were always the center of religious, social and educational activities, practically more so in ancient times than today.
Temple construction was very specific because of the higher purpose involved. The science of construction goes all the way back to the time of the Atharva Veda, which contains several hymns on the topic in its Shala-nirmana-sukta. Other hymns that discuss the ways of testing soil for construction, what should be avoided, or what materials to use are also found in the Matsya Purana (Adhyayah 253, verse 11), Vastu Shastra (verse 5), Bhrigu-samhita (Adhyayah 4), and Kashyapa-shilpah (Adhyayah 4).
Additional Sanskrit literature that contained references to architecture included Agni Purana, the Brihat Samhita and Arthashastra, and the Vastu Sashtra texts like the Maya-mata, Manasara, and Samarangana-sutradhara. These all included such points as the selection of stone, soil testing, making of bricks, mortar, the carving of the deities, and even the use of chisels and carving tools.
It was the Shulba Sutras that recorded the basis of the geometrical formulas used for the Vedic temples and altars. For example, the mathematical formulas explain how to make a square of the same area as that of a triangle, a circle of the same area as that of a square, and make a circle double, triple or one third of the area of a square. Without the formulas found within the Shulba Sutras, many of the architectural wonders we see across India today would not have been possible.
VASTU SHASTRA
Vastu Shastra is another Indian science of arranging the interior of architecture so that the energies flow through the buildings for the occupant=s best health, peace, harmony, wealth, etc. Vastu is especially used for Vedic temples and architecture, or Vedic homes. However, it has been shown well worth applying for secular buildings, too, and has also traditionally been applied to forts, apartments, houses, and nowadays offices as well.
MEDICINE
Medicine and treatment of disease is a science in India which has an origin that is lost in antiquity. However, according to the Charaka Samhita, one of the earliest texts on ancient Indian medicine, it was Brahma, the secondary creator of the universe, who propounded the knowledge of Ayurveda, an upaveda of the Atharva Veda. Various branches of Ayurveda and treatment were formed, of which the main teacher/disciple lineages are traced to three original teachers: Atreya for internal medicine; Dhanvantari for surgery; and Kashyapa for gynecology and pediatrics. The teachers who provided the means to extend the teachings of these systems are Sushruta (generally accepted to be around the 6th century BCE) of the Dhanvantari tradition who codified surgical practices; Charaka (around the 1stcentury BCE) of the Atreya school, who codified the precepts and practices in internal medicine; and Vagbhata II (6thcentury CE) of the Kashyapa school, dealing with gynecology and pediatrics.
Medicine is primarily in the Atreya tradition, and the sage Charaka is famous for propagating this tradition with his Charaka Samhita, said to be the first and main book of Ayurveda.
Treatments like surgery are in the Dhanvantari tradition, from which the famous surgeon Sushruta propagated this tradition with his Sushruta Samhita. It is considered that in 600 BCE, Sushruta recorded complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, hernia, intestinal surgery, bladder stone removal, rhinoplasty or plastic surgery of the nose, and brain surgery, plus suturing. He also described the knowledge of the instruments needed for particular operations, types of forceps, surgical probes, needles, and cutting instruments.
Treatments like surgery are in the Dhanvantari tradition, from which the famous surgeon Sushruta propagated this tradition with his Sushruta Samhita. It is considered that in 600 BCE, Sushruta recorded complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, hernia, intestinal surgery, bladder stone removal, rhinoplasty or plastic surgery of the nose, and brain surgery, plus suturing, the knowledge of the instruments needed for particular operations, types of forceps, surgical probes, needles, and cutting instruments.
In regard to surgery, what became known as plastic surgery had already been known in India for many years. However, as described in India=s Glorious Scientific Tradition, by Suresh Soni (pp.183-84) one example of its affects were witnessed by two British doctors named Dr. Thomas Crasso and Dr. James Findlay. This was in 1793 when a person, a Marathi coachman named Kavaasji, had to have a new nose. The doctors watched and submitted an impressive report with pictures in the Madras Gazette, which was republished in the October, 1794 edition ofGentleman Magazine, London.
Obviously, this report created reactions at the time in the European medical world. The entire process for nose replacement, along with over 300 other surgical operations, had been given in the Sushruta Samhita. Nonetheless, the surgeons from all over Europe studied the above process, and after understanding the method, a 30-year-old surgeon named Dr. J. C. Carpew transplanted the nose of a man in 1814. This operation was also successful. This brought about a revolution in surgical treatment and it was given the name APlastic Surgery.@ All surgeons, including Dr. Carpew, unanimously agreed that plastic surgery was a gift from ancient India.
DENTISTRY
As we would expect, if the ancient area of India was known for its advancements in medicine and surgery, it would also have developed the means for progress in dentistry. There is evidence from the Neolithic site of Mehrigarh in Pakistan on 11 individuals from 7500 to 9000 years ago. This is long the main route between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley. This is mentioned in a report in the April 6, 2006 issue of Nature. They discovered drill holes on a least 11 molars from people buried in the MR3 cemetery. Light microscopy showed the holes were conical, cylindrical or trapezoidal in shape. A few had concentric rings showing drill bit marks; and a few had evidence of decay. There were no fillings, but tooth wear on the drill marks indicate that each of these individuals continued to live on after drilling was completed. It is noted that the instruments were small flint tipped wooden drills to fix the teeth.
Dr. Arthor Selwyn-Brown writes in The Physicians Through the Ages (page 274): “You will be agreeably surprised to know that dentistry in all its branches was well known and practiced by the old Hindu doctors.”