Shalyatantra
SHALYATANTRA A PEDAGOGY OF AYURVEDIC SURGICAL PRINCIPLES
Imagine a time when there are no doctors and the world is suffering from a lot of diseases. A group of noble thinkers decides to meet up and find a solution for the same. They travel to Kashi, a place that is the abode of King Dhanwantari. They have heard about the King who has been doing miracles and helping people in need. His abilities were said to be nothing short of Godly. This group of people approach the great King and request him to teach them this noble art of healing. It would have been approximately 5000 years and above since that event conspired and the legacy of Lord Dhanwantari still carries on through generation to generation of Shalyatantra practitioners until today. The science of Ayurveda is a supreme one since its ultimate aim is to eradicate diseases rather than to treat them alone. In Ayurveda, there are two main schools of thought. The Bharadwaja and Dhanwantari school of thought. Bharadwaja school, has been mainly inspired from
22 | Issue 7 | May-Jun 2021 | The Ancient Ayurveda
Kayachikitsa (conventional medicine) as their treatment methodology and the Dhanwantari school holds Shalyatantra supreme. Ayurveda was divided into eight branches. This was to facilitate the study of Ayurveda as well as to make it easier to practice. The eight branches thus divided were Shalyatantra, Shalakyatantra, Kayachikitsa, Kaumarabhritya, Bhootavidhya, Agadatantra, Rasayanatantra and Vajeekarana. Diseases of each branch and its particulars are described in the Sushruta Samhita, which is a part of the Brihatrayi (Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Ashtanga Hridaya) in Ayurveda. Acharya Sushrutha explains the branches and the diseases that come in their respective preview in the first chapter of the sutrastana itself because a student can choose his line of expertise and study accordingly.
