ABSTRACT
Hindu Medicine. The most ancient documents of the Indo-Aryan race arc the Vedas, otherwise the “ Books of Revealed Wisdom ”. The most ancient of these is the Rig Veda (or “ Knowledge of Praise ”), being composed of sacred songs written between one and two thousand years before the Christian era. Mention is there found of a special class of physicians. The book also contains passages praising the healing powers of herbs and waters It also mentions at least two diseases, namely phthisis and leprosy. But the fourth book, entitled the Atharda Veda (or “Science of Charms”), which was written seven hundred years before Christ, is, as might be expected, the one of these four great religious works possessing a medical character. Invocations of demons to cure or cause disease are to be found in great number. As an example, Takman, the demon of fever, is implored to strike the woman Sudra—a low-caste personage. The rarest remedies, however, seem to have been reserved for the use of princes. Thus the son of Bimbisara, king of Magadha, who reigned about 600 B.c., lost consciousness. In order to obtain a cure the patient was placed in six tubs of butter, one after the other, and lastly in a tub of sandalwood. It is interesting to know that the prince survived and succeeded his father on the throne
