SUSHRUTA HOAX

There is no documentary, numismatic or sculptural evidence to prove the  time and period in which Sushruta lived. The Maurya,  Kushan, Gupta, Mughal, Vijayanagar and Mahratta  rulers, including Shivaji have not made any reference to Sushruta or the practice of rhinoplasry in India. Muslim rulers including Akbar had to seek the services of unani physicians. Unani medicine first arrived in India around 12-13 century A.D.  with establishment of Delhi Sultanate (1206-1527 A.D.) and Muslim rule over North India and subsequently flourished under Mughal Empire. Alauddin Khilji ( 1296-1316) had several eminent Unani physicians (Hakims) in his royal courts. European presence in India began with the Portuguese.  Charles Dellon has  provided an interesting insight into contemporary medical practice in Potuguese territories.  "The pagan physicians, whom they call Pandites, are a sort of people without learning or any knowledge or insight into anatomy. All their skills are confined to a certain number of receipts which they have received from their ancestors. These they apply promiscuously without making the least alteration as often as they meet with a patient afflicted with the same distemper, without making the least reflection upon the different age, sex, constitution or strength of their patient. They are very timorous and rather will let a patient perish than run the hazard of a remedy which, as they believe, not being sufficiently approved by experience, appears doubtful to them, though they judge the distemper to be mortal or incurable without it..."( Charles Dellon. A French surgeon of XVII Century. Bull. Dept. Hist. Mec'. Osmania 2: 185-196, 1964).  The East India Company established the Indian Medical Service (IMS) as early as 1764 to look after Europeans in India. IMS officers headed military and civilian hospitals in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. They also accompanied the Company's ships and army. On 9 May 1822 the government laid down a plan for the instruction of up to twenty young Indians to fill the position of native doctors in the civil and military establishments of the Presidency of Bengal. The outcome was the establishment of "The Native Medical Institution"(NMI) in Calcutta (21 June 1822), where medical teaching was imparted in the vernacular. Treatises on anatomy, medicine, and surgery were translated from European languages for the benefit of Indian students. So for the first time in 1822 Indian students came to know about anatomy and surgery. Translation of surgery and anatomy in vernacular made Indian students realize the futility of studying Ayurveda for anatomy and surgery were totally absent in that branch of medical system.
The British did not want to ignore native medical remedies. So from 1826 onwards, classes on Unani and Ayurvedic medicine were held respectively at the Calcutta madrasa and the Sanskrit college. The Sanskrit College was established during the Governor-Generalship of Lord Amherst, based on a recommendation by HT James Prinsep and Thomas Babington Macaulay among others. In 1827 John Tyler, an Orientalist and the first superintendent of the NMI started lectures on Mathematics and Anatomy at the Sanskrit College. . In general, the medical education provided by the colonial state at this stage involved parallel instructions in western and indigenous medical systems. Translation of western medical texts was encouraged and though dissection was not performed, clinical experience was a must. Trainee medical students had to attend different hospitals and dispensaries. Successful native doctors who had gained knowledge in anatomy and surgery  were absorbed into government jobs. Due to the efforts of John Tyler surgery and anatomy were translated into Sanskrit and Ayurveda students studied these subjects in Sanskrit.
Towards the end of 1833 a Committee was appointed by the government of William Bentinck in Bengal to report on the state of medical education and also to suggest whether teaching of indigenous system (ayurveda)  should be discontinued. The Committee consisted of Dr John Grant as President and J C C Sutherland, C E Trevelyan, Thomas Spens, Ram Comul Sen and M J Bramley as members. The Committee criticized the medical education imparted at the Native Medical Institute (NMI) for the inappropriate nature of its training and the examination system as well as for the absence of courses on practical anatomy. Ayurveda had no knowledge of surgery, virology, opthalmology, general medicine,gyanecology, microbiology and obsterics. The Committee submitted a report on October 20, 1834 and it recommended that the state found a medical college 'for the education of the natives'. The various branches of medical science cultivated in Europe should be taught in this college. The intending candidates should possess a reading and writing knowledge of the English language, similar knowledge of Bengali and Hindustani and a proficiency in Arithmetic. This recommendation, soon followed by Macaulay's minute and Bentinck's resolution, sealed the fate of the school for native doctors and medical classes at the two leading oriental institutions of Calcutta. The Native Medical Institution (NMI) was abolished and the medical classes at the Sanskrit College and at the Madrasa were discontinued by the government order of 28 January 1835. This action of the government infuriated Ayurvedic students and the faculty  of NMI and Sanskrit College. From that time onwards Ayurvedic teachers carried on a battle against Western medicine and produced spurious Sanskrit manuscripts to cover all the topics in modern medicine and claimed all these topics were known to ancient Indians, especially Sushruta and Charaka, long before the British doctors came to know about them.  The English surgeon Carpue's technique in rhinoplasty was copied and attributed it to Sushruta. Althgough Carpue had never visited india , they made  a false statemenet that he was in India for 20 years to study rhinoplasty. The proposed new college, known as the Calcutta Medical College (CMC), which was established by an order of 20 February 1835 ushered in a new era in the history of medical education in India. But the abolition of medical classes in the Sanskrit College and NMI angered Ayurvedic teachers and students. It was at that time spurious  Sanskrit manuscripts  in the names of Charaka and Sushruta were produced and propagated to claim surgery and anatomy were known to Indians long before Europeans came to know about them. How could Sushruta perform difficult surgeries without anesthesia? Sushruta and Charaka are fictitious names and the manuscripts in their names were produced by fanatical Ayurvedic physicians by copying from English text books to claim superiority and antiquity over Western system of medicine.

The Indian History Congress in its 75^th session, held in Delhi on December 31, 2014, has, in a resolution, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement that an ancient plastic surgeon must have attached the head of an elephant on the body of Ganesha.

At its ongoing 75th session here, it criticised attempts in "influential quarters" to rewrite history through "ancient mythology", "speculative chronology" and "fresh myths". "Unfortunately even the Prime Minister has suggested that in the hoary past Indians had learnt, and then, forgotten, plastic surgery of a kind going far beyond what is now possible," the resolution said

Maundy Thursday

                               MAUNDY THURSDAY
                               

Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus Christ’s institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper.  The day is also known as Passion Thursday, Paschal Thursday or Sheer (or Shere) Thursday. Maundy Thursday is the traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the Eucharist  (Sacrament of the Altar or the Blessed Sacrament)  by Jesus at the Last Supper.  The night of Maundy Thursday is the night on which Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Last Supper took place in "the upper room" of the house believed to have been owned by John Mark and his mother, Mary (Acts 12:12). This room, also the site of the Pentecost, is known as the "Coenaculum" or the "Cenacle" and is referred to as "Holy and glorious Sion, mother of all churches" in St. James' Liturgy. At the site of this place – the first Christian church -- a basilica was built in the 4th century. It was destroyed by Muslims and later re-built by the Crusaders.  It is believed that the tomb of David lies underneath this place.
Two important events are the focus of Maundy Thursday. First, Jesus celebrated the last supper with His disciples and thereby instituted the Lord’s Supper, also called Communion (Luke 22:19-20). Second, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an act of humility and service, thereby setting an example that we should love and serve one another in love and humility. The name 'Maundy' is derived from the Latin word “mandatum”, meaning a commandment. Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, the Bible says, “rose from the table took off His outer garment, and tied a towel round His waist. Then He poured some water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel round His waist.”  Jesus then commanded: “And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The disciples were familiar with the Ten Commandments.  Jesus now gave a new commandment – to love one another. It is a new commandment (mandatum novum) of Jesus, and the word ‘maundy’ comes from the command (mandate) given by Christ at the Last Supper.  Washing of the feet was normally done by servants. The Bible says, when David’s servants visited Abigail to invite her to become David’s wife, she said she would be a servant to wash the feet of servants. Abigail told them that washing their feet would be an act of service to them, and she willingly offered to do that.  During the preparation of the last supper, Jesus Himself  assumed the role of the servant and washed the feet of His disciples before the meal was served.
In the 17th century, and earlier, the King or Queen of England would wash the feet of the selected poor people as a gesture of humility, and in remembrance of Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples.  The last monarch to do this was James II. The ceremony of the monarch giving money to the poor on this day dates back to Edward I. In Britain today, the present Queen takes part in the Ceremony of the Royal Maundy. This ceremony, held at a great cathedral, involves the distribution of Maundy money to deserving senior citizens (one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign's age), usually chosen for having done service to their community.
Inspired by Jesus’ new commandment (mandatum novum), pious Christians down the centuries have tried hard to love others by serving them. Francis of Assisi’s father was a wealthy cloth merchant and his mother belonged to a noble family.  No one loved pleasure more than Francis; he had a ready wit, sang merrily, delighted in fine clothes and showy display.  Francis was handsome and gallant, and was the most popular among the young nobles of Assisi. And yet, moved by Jesus commandment to love one another, he spent time in prayer and solicitude and gave up his gay attire and wasteful ways. The church at that time had little regard for outcasts, for the poor, for lepers. But Francis gave away his possessions to the poor.   Lenin once said if there had been 10 of Francis, there would have been no need for revolution. One day, while crossing the Umbrian plain on horseback, Francis unexpectedly drew near a loathsome leper. The sudden appearance of this repulsive object filled him with disgust and he instinctively retreated, but presently controlling his natural aversion he dismounted, embraced the stinking leper, kissed him and gave him all the money he had. After mounting on the horse, he looked back. But the leper had vanished. Did Jesus appear as a leper?
Damien   was the seventh child of a wealthy corn merchant. He volunteered to work among lepers in Moloka, Hawaii. His role was not limited to being a priest. Father Damien touched the stinking skin of lepers, dressed ulcers, built homes and beds, made coffins and dug graves. While preparing to bathe one day, Damien inadvertently put his foot into scalding water, causing his skin to blister. He felt no pain at all. Damien now knew he had contracted leprosy. Despite this discovery Damien worked vigorously to nurse lepers and built many homes. He submitted to the mandate of Jesus to love others and by serving lepers he died a leper at the age of 49. Maundy Thursday reminds us of Jesus’ tender love and care for humanity. Jesus teaches us to measure our  lives by losses rather than gains, by sacrifices rather than self-preservation, by time spent for others rather than time lavished upon our lives, by love poured out rather than love poured in. Jesus’ own ministry was saturated with love and He invites us to follow His example as footwashers.