THOUGHTS FOR INDIA FOR OUR CHILDREN, OUR PARENTS & TEACHERS Writing on this topic makes me think of the past glory of India , our holy motherland. The civilization and culture of ancient India were truly glorious and grand. India has contributed her culture to the Western nations in various branches of knowledge. The world owes its first lessons in Geometry and Algebra (Vijaganita) to India . The 47th proposition of Euclid : A square on the hypotenuse of a rectangular triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides-was ascribed to Pythagoras , but it was known in India centuries before Pythagoras was born. It is mentioned in the Sulvasutras of the Vedic age. Algebra was introduced into Europe from India . From researches, we have come to know that Hippocrates , the father of modern medicine of Europe, who lived about 400 B.C., borrowed his Materia Medica from India
In Chemistry, as also in Surgery, we know from the study of the Sushruta, the Hindus excelled other nations. Sushruta was the first surgeon to perform plastic surgery and replaced a soldier’s nose, rebuilt from the tissues and skins from his thigh. Plastic surgery was often practiced in ancient India . In fact, surgical operations have been carried out in India for over 2000 years. His book, the Sushruta Samhita , is on the teachings of Dhanvantari, who lived much earlier. It contains 184 chapters, 120 of which deal with surgery, 64 with medicine. The book describes five types of bones, 8 kinds of operations, 14 types of bandages and 121 surgical instruments. We know from the accounts that have been left to us by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador, who lived in the court of Chandragupta in the fourth century before Christ that Alexander the Great used to keep Hindu physicians in his camp because he preferred them to Greek physicians. Nearchus and Arrian spoke highly of the wonderful healing powers of the Arabs, who learnt it in India , and Leonardo da Pisa introduced it into Italy and several countries of Europe in the thirteenth century. In fact, Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, all these were first taught in India.  It contains 184 chapters, 120 of which deal with surgery, 64 with medicine. The book describes five types of bones, 8 kinds of operations, 14 types of bandages and 121 surgical instruments. We know from the accounts that have been left to us by Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador, who lived in the court of Chandragupta in the fourth century before Christ that Alexander the Great used to keep Hindu physicians in his camp because he preferred them to Greek physicians. Nearchus and Arrian spoke highly of the wonderful healing powers of the Arabs, who learnt it in India , and Leonardo da Pisa introduced it into Italy and several countries of Europe in the thirteenth century. In fact, Geometry, Algebra, Trigonometry, all these were first taught in India . |
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Great Masters Voice |
