Jeevak kaumarbhritya (525-450
B.C), contemporary of lord Buddha, was
the first “Historical” doctor of India and the world, whose skill and
excellence in field of Medical science had no bounds. He was not a doctor of
any particular state but his work field was the whole “Aryavart” (Northern
&Central India) and he was a doctor of both ordinary and extra-ordinary
people. He successfully treated iconic personalities like lord Buddha, Magadh
emperor – Bimbasar & Avanti King – Chand Pradyot. The whole Tripitak
literature in Pali language is full of
accounts related to the “Medical Miracles” of Jeevak.
What mattered most in the life of Jeevak
– Rajgrih, Lord Buddha & King Bimbasar
Jeevak was basically an
orphan, adopted by a Prince of Magadh, who found him near a road in
Rajgrih(Rajgir). He was found alive (Jeevit) even after abandonment, so he was
called “Jeevak”. He was served(Bhritya) by the prince(Kumar) so his surname
popularized as Kaumarbhritya. He went to Takshila (Now in Pakistan) for his higher
studies a place which could be called as the “first university of the world”
and was famous for its specialized study. He studied the whole 8-limbed Ayurved
(Medical science of 8 subjects) here for many years. Ultimately he became a
great maser and research scholar of this subject. We could verify his
intelligence and skill through different case studies of his life.
Takshila University(now in
Pakistan) where Jeevak studied Ayurved
Case 1 - “Every plant is a
medicine” :- When the studies were over,
the mentor of Jeevak examined him by giving a project. The task was to find a
useless plant in the 5 miles circumference of Takshila. Jeevak wandered
everywhere and reported in conclusion that “Every plant has medicinal and other
uses, no plant is useless.” The teacher was extremely delighted to listen his
answer.
Case 2 – Treating a chronic
headache through medicinal ghee :- When Jeevak was returning to Magadh from
Takshila, in the way he stayed at Saket(Ayodhya). The wife of a famous
businessman (Shresthi) was suffering from chronic headache which was not cured
by other doctors (Vaidyas). When he inserted medical ghee through her nose. She
got relief within 3 days. The shresthi awarded him with 26,000 coin, chariots
and servants. This was the first treatment of Jeevak’s career.
Case 3 – “Treating fistula of
Magadh emperor Bimbasar” :- Bimbasar was
suffering from fistula. Due to disease, his clothes get stained with blood
which was witted by his queen. He became extremely sorrowful due to the pain of
disease and the other reason was the humour of the queens. This mentally and
physically sick king was treated by only one paste of Jeevak. The happy king
awarded him with enormous property and appointed him on the post of royal
doctor (Raj vaidya)
Case 4 – “ Head Surgery of a
Shresthi” :- A shresthi of Rajgrih has a chronic disease uncured by the
Vaidyas. They speculated that shresthi would live five to seven days. Bimbasar
appointed Jeevak on this case. Jeevak tied
the patient to the left side for 7 days, on right side for 7 days and
central mode for 7 days, then he pierced his skulll and brought out two
insects. Then he closed the brain, stitched it and did the bandage. The
shresthi according to his promise offered him his whole property but Jeevak
took only one lakh coins.
Jeevak successfully operated
the most critical kind of Head Surgery
Case 5 – “Intestinal Surgery
of a boy” :- the son of a shresthi of Varanasi had tumor in his intestine. He
did not recovered even after many treatments. When Jeevak came to see him, he
moved his surgical tool on his stomach & brought out intestine. Then he cut
off the tumor and stitched the intestine at it’s position. The boy recovered
from disease.
Case 6 – “Treating the
disease of Avanti king Chand Pradyot” :- A.T. Mahavagg (Section 8), king Chand
Pradyot invited Jeevak from Rajgrih to Ujjain for his treatment. The king was
furious in nature and Jeevak knew that fact. That’s why before giving the king
medicine, he fled with Bhadravati elephantess with the excuse of bringing
medicine for the king from the forest. As soon as the king took the medicine, seviere
vomiting started. This made him very angry and thus he ordered to bring the
Jeevak before him. But Jeevak using his tactical brain, reaches Rajgrih safely.
After some time, Chand Pradyot recovered completely and rewarded Jeevak by
sending a very costly pair of Sivayak garments to Rajgrih.
Jeevak had a big residence cum
Hospital in Rajgrih whose ruins still exist in Rajgir as “Jeevak ambvan”. It
literally means the mango orchard. The
building was surrounded by the mango orchard where lord Buddha stayed with his
disciples. Jeevak had introduced Ajatshatru to Lord Buddha. Jeevak had even
treated the lord Buddha once with his simple medicines which is evident from
mahavagg of vinay pitak.
Jeevak was greater than Hippocrates
Why Hippocrates should not be called
‘Father of Medical Science’?
Ancientness – Jeevak lived
between 525-450 B.C. while Hippocrates belonged to 460-370 B.C. Thus Jeevak came earlier than
Hippocrates.
Work Field – Jeevak’s work
field was almost whole of Northern & Central India while Hippocrates work
field was Greece with few island states. The work field of Jeevak was much
larger than that of Hippocrates.
Education – Jeevak studied
Ayurved in the first University of the world, Takshila University under specialised
professors of this field while Hippocrates learned medicine from his father
& grandfather. Thus it simply shows that Jeevak was more educated &
trained than Hippocrates.
Knowledge of
Medicine – As explained in case 1,2,3 & 6 that Jeevak was a master
of every kind of medicine. Whereas Hippocrates’
therapy was based on the
‘Healing power of the nature’. He was disinclined towards drugs & generally
abstained that. Thus Hippocrates stands nowhere in knowledge of medicine, in
front of Jeevak.
Hippocrates was a simple medical
practioner who avoided
complex medicines &
surgeries
Surgery – A.T. the case 4
& 5, Jeevak did extremely complicated Head & Intestinal Surgery, which
shows that his skill was almost equal to a modern surgeon. But in case of
Hippocrates, he is limited with very simple surgeries like tractions for broken
bones, wound surgeries etc. So, in surgery too Jeevak’s excellence exceeds
Hippocrates.
Knowledge of Anatomy – Jeevak
must had been given a very practical training of Anatomy by dissection of
corpses which is evident from his operation techniques. But Hippocrates worked
with many incorrect anatomy & physiology, such as ‘Humourism’. Use of
corpses for anatomical study were not allowed in Greece, so he lagged behind
Jeevak in knowledge of Anatomy.
Legacy – Jeevak was an icon
but he was merely a good practitioner of Ayurved, not a master who was blindly
followed by others. He guided & inspired future generation of medical
practitioners. Many iconic personalities like Charak, Kashyap, Dhanvantri,
Vagbhatt etc. came into the field of Ayurved in future & each contributed
in this science. But in the case of
Hippocrates, his legacy founded a ‘School of Medicine’ and he was so revered
that his teachings were largely taken as too great to be improved upon and no
significant advancement of his methods were made for long time.
After writing this article, in the end
I’m very hopeful that the world especially India would recognize the value of
Jeevak and would give him the great regard which he actually deserve.
# Jeevak was not actually the
‘Father of Medical Science’ but he was the first historical icon in this
subject.
# A special tribute to
Mangilalji Mishra who wrote article on Jeevak in Hindi around 60 years ago, by
churning the vast Tripitak literature.
Credits : Ritesh Kumar Gupt
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