Talk:Medicines in Villages of Ancient India

Despite the various foreign invasions and religions, the country has survived only due to its life full of agricultural toil. The description of ancient historians furnishes the data from which we can conclude that administration was so organized that each village was self-sufficing and became an independent unit in itself, at the same time being a part of the vast area of the motherland and marching in harmony with the rest. This peaceful living and healthy development of the villages was due to the conventions of war prevalent then.

Perspective of Intellectuals

Kautilya

Kautilya warns and says:

By the destruction of trade, agricultural produce, and standing crops, by causing the people to run away, and by slaying their leaders in secret, the country will be denuded of its people.

Kautilya in his Arthaśāstra defines a village as consisting of 100 families or houses in the least raising the number to 500 in the highest.

Magesthenes

Magesthenes says:

In contrast to many other nations that often devastate the land during warfare, leading to barren and uncultivated fields, the Indian approach is different. Here, farmers are held in high esteem and treated with great respect, allowing them to continue their work safely and without fear, even in the midst of a battle is raging in their neighborhood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for the combatants on either side in waging the conflict make carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in husbandry to remain quite unmolested. Besides, they neither ravage an enemy's land with fire nor cut down its trees.

This being the case, the problem of medical aid was so tackled, that every village was able to receive the services of the physician in health as well as in disease. The medical administration was quite simple, practical, and economical which enabled a thorough system of medical administration that was devised then.

Mann

Similarly, it has been ordained by Mann that:

One should neither live among impious persons nor in a place abounding in diseases; one should not undertake the journey alone nor should reside on a mountain for a long tune.

Vagbhatta

Vagbhatta in his Astāṅgasangraha says that:

A village should not be constructed where the country abounds in disease, where there is no physician, where there is no leader to guide and protect, where the number of irreligious people is more, and where the country is situated near a mountain.

He says that People should reside in a place that bears plenty of water, medicinal herbs, sacrificial sticks, flowers, grass, and firewood. It should yield abundant food and one should be a complete safety of property and person, the outskirts should be beautiful and pleasing and it should be adorned by the presence of learned people.

Other Resources

There is also a popular verse that describes the requisites for habitation:

A wealthy person, a Brahamana well versed in the Vedas, a king, a river, and the fifth a physician; in a place without any of these, one should not live even for a day.

From the above facts, we can see that in the construction and inhabitation of a village a site free from disease, a clever physician and the presence of medicinal herbs played an important part.

Earning of a Village Physician

As to the requirements for happy living in a village, definite instructions and advice have been laid down by the ancients. The physician occupied a predominant place and played an important part in the happy life of a village. For his contentment and continuity of service in the interests of the people, he was endowed with lands in that village, as a part of his remuneration. Superintendents, accountants, Gopas, Sthanikas, veterinary surgeons, physicians, horse trainers, and messengers shall also be endowed with lands, which they shall have no right to alienate by sale or mortgage.

Duties of a Physician

Thus being stabilized in the village, the physician discharged his duties in the best interests of the village.

1. He looked after every villager in health as well as in disease.
2. He was responsible for the sanitation of the whole village.
3. He imparted general training in personal hygiene and village sanitation.
4. He made use of all the medicinal plants available in his village and prepared drugs himself, thus contributing to the medical economy by providing medicines at the lowest cost.
5. He helped the State in the plantation of herbs that were not grown in his village and which were often needed in the preparation of the various drugs.

Superintendent of Agriculture

The superintendent of agriculture sought his advice in the plantation of medicinal herbs. The superintendent of agriculture is knowledgeable regarding the science of agriculture dealing with the plantation of bushes and trees, or assisted by those who are trained in such sciences. Thus, he brought about the well-being of the people as a physician, a sanitary officer, a pandit, and a wise man.

Veterinary Physician

The state not only maintained village physicians but also provided veterinary physicians for the treatment of animals because animals are very important in the agricultural system of a village. A veterinary physician is expected to protect agriculture from the molestation of oppressive fines, free labor and taxes, and herds of cattle from thieves, tigers, poisonous creatures, and cattle disease.

Visiting Physician

There existed a class of traveling physicians who visited small villages and hamlets going from one place to another, dispensing medical aid and preaching medicine and religion as well. This class still exists in India. It resembles the Periodeuteis i. e. travelling physicians or ambulant physicians of ancient Greece.

Charity Hospitals

Moreover, there were hospitals wherein the diseased, the aged, and the helpless were treated free of cost. The maternity homes for women and children were also maintained by the state. The king shall provide the orphans, the aged, the infirm, the afflicted, and the helpless with maintenance. He shall also provide subsistence to helpless women when they are carrying and also to the children they give birth to. The state also took measures to prevent the spread of epidemics or when necessary arranged the evacuation of the villages if the epidemics were not controlled. The king shall avoid taking possession of any country which is liable to the inroads of enemies and wild tribes, and which is harassed by frequent visitations of famine and pestilence. He shall also keep away from expensive sports.

All the measures intended for the welfare of the public contributed greatly to the physical progress and thereby to the mental and moral progress of the society as well and thus helped in the nation-building effort of the times.

Precautionary Measures against Fraud Doctors

Just as medical aid was rendered in the right manner, so too there was great vigilance shown against the prevalence of quacks and pretenders who robbed the people of their lives and money. Stern measures were taken by the enactment of special laws forbidding these charlatans to practice and cheat innocent people.

Growing Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants were planted either in natural soil or in pots. Such medicinal herbs as grow in marshy grounds are to be grown not only in grounds suitable for them but also in pots. The following edict of King Asoka bears testimony to the above statement:

1. Wherever there were no herbs that were beneficial to man and beneficial to cattle, everywhere they were caused to be imported and to be planted.
2. Wherever there were no roots and fruits, everywhere they were caused to be imported and to be planted.
3. On the roads, wells were caused to be dug and trees were caused to be planted for the use of cattle and men.

In the same way, those who injured the trees, useful plants, and herbs were also made liable to this punishment. One who uselessly cuts medicinal herbs planted in cultivated soil or grown wildly should absolve himself of the sin, follow a cow, and subsist on milk alone for one day.

Rules for Medical Administration

There were strict rules regarding the notification of diseases prevalent in the village. Vaidya was bound to report, to the head of the village, every serious case or notifiable disease. Any physician who undertakes to treat in secret a patient suffering from ulcer or excess of unwholesome food or drink, as well as the master of the house (wherein such treatment is attempted) shall be innocent only when they, the physician and the master of the house, make a report of the same to either Gopa or Sthānika, otherwise both of them shall be equally guilty with the sufferer.

Now taking the benefit of the age-old tested experience, we in modern times, should organize medical aid, on the lines already suggested making changes whenever and in whatever way necessary and as suited to the needs and conditions of modern society. As for example

1. The Vaidya should be stabilized by being given a plot of land in the village.
2. Protection and plantation of medicinal herbs around the village should receive all attention from the State.
3. Simple drugs should be prepared by the Vaidya himself in order to ensure the efficacy, freshness and low cost of the preparation.
4. Every village must have its hospital on a small scale where the diseased, the aged and the helpless, might receive careful treatment.
5. Widows and helpless women may be trained as nurses and midwives, who can earn their living and at the same time help the people in their illness.
6. Maternity homes should be provided for the gravida and the children so that they have immediate medical aid without any change of place and without much expense.
7. Prohibition of practice should be enforced on quacks and pretenders, by means of heavy punishments.

References

1. Agniveśa, Caraka, Dṛḍhabala, and Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurvedic Society. The Caraka-Saṃhitā. ed., Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurvedic Society, 1949. 6 vols.