Sushruta
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Sushruta
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|---|---|
 Sketch of Sushruta
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| Born |
c. mid 1st millennium BCE |
| Known for | Author of Sushruta Samhita |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | |
| Institutions | Banaras University |
Sushruta, or Suśruta (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, IAST: Suśruta, lit. 'well heard') is the listed author of the Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), a treatise considered to be one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine and is considered a foundational text of Ayurveda. The treatise addresses all aspects of general medicine, but the impressive chapters on surgery have led to the false impression that this is its main topic. The translator G. D. Singhal dubbed Suśruta "the father of plastic surgery" on account of these detailed accounts of surgery.
It is generally accepted by scholars that there were several ancient authors collectively called "Suśruta" who contributed to this text.
The Compendium of Suśruta locates its author in Varanasi, India.
Authorship
Rao in 1985 suggested that the author of the original "layer" was "elder Sushruta" (Vrddha Sushruta), although this name appears nowhere in the early Sanskrit literature. The text, states Rao, was redacted centuries later "by another Sushruta, then by Nagarjuna, and thereafter Uttara-tantra was added as a supplement". It is generally accepted by scholars that there were several ancient authors called "Suśruta" who contributed to this text.
Date
The early scholar Rudolf Hoernle proposed that some concepts from the Suśruta-Saṃhitā could be found in the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa, which he dates to the 600 BCE. However, during the last century, scholarship on the history of Indian medical literature has advanced substantially, and firm evidence has accumulated that the Suśruta-saṃhitā is a work of several historical layers. Its composition may have begun in the last centuries BCE, completed in its present form by another author who redacted its first five chapters and added the long, final chapter, the "Uttaratantra". It is likely that the Suśruta-saṃhitā was known to the scholar Dṛḍhabala, a contributor to the Charaka Samhita that wrote between the fourth and fifth centuries CE. Additionally, several ancient Indian authors used the name "Suśruta", resulting in potential misattribution.