CIRCULATION OF BLOOD AND CHARAKA SAMHITA

                                             

( Sylvain Levi (1863-1935))

                        ( Maharishi Charaka )

                                          

                  ( Susruta, the ancient surgeon)

CIRCULATION OF BLOOD  AND CHARAKA SAMHITA

We know  in the in 1628 CE,  William Harvey first gave the  exposition of blood circulation in the Western System of Medicine. However, many among us do not that the ancient Indian Medical System clearly possessed a sophisticated conceptual understanding of this physiological process thousands of years earlier. The Vedas and Ayurvedic Samhitas, describe a concept of the circulation of blood and nutrient fluids throughout the body, driven by the heart, long before William Harvey.The texts refer to the heart (Hridaya) as a central pumping organ. The Sanskrit etymology of Hridaya itself is described in the Shatapatha Brahmana as "Hri" (to receive), "Da" (to give), and "Ya" (to go or move), which accurately reflects the heart's function of receiving, giving, and circulating blood. Ancient Ayurvedic masters like Charaka and Sushruta documented different types of vessels: Dhamani, Shira and Srotas. Dhamani means vessels that pulsate (arteries) and carry Prana (oxygen) and Rasa (nutrient fluid) from the heart .Shira means vessels that carry contents without pulsation (veins) and return the fluid to the heart. Srotas are finer channels or capillaries through which diffusion and osmosis take place at the tissue level.

About our circulatory  system, the Bhela Samhita mentions that Rasa (nutrient fluid/blood) is ejected from the heart, distributed to all parts of the body, and then returns to the heart through the Shira vessels.  The Charaka Samhita uses the analogy of a rotating wheel to explain how the entire body is nourished in a circular fashion.

The purpose of this circulation was understood as carrying Prana (vital air/oxygen) and nutrients to the tissues, which aligns with modern understanding of blood's function. 

The Charaka Samhita, a foundational text of Ayurveda, was originally compiled by Agnivesha under Punarvasu Atreya's guidance but was revised, annotated, and renamed by the physician Acharya Charaka, with the existing version completed by Dridhabala. And then it is interesting to know in respect of Charaka Samhita  that both the original author Charaka and the crucial reviser Dridhabala are strongly associated with Kashmir. Many Western scholars  believe that Dridhabala completed the version we know today from a Kashmiri Pandit's home. This establishes  Kashmir as a significant center for Ayurveda and Sanskrit literature.   Sylvain Levi  (1863-1935) ,'Professor of Sanskrit Language and Literature' at the Collège de France and director of studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), is of a firm opinion that  Charaka was a native of Kashmir. 

He and many Western scholars are  also of a  firm opinion that the  editing of the Charaka Samhita in the 9th century was done by Dridhabala, a Kashmiri Pandit from Panchanadapura , near Srinagar.  Dridhabala  added missing chapters to Charaka Samhita.

In ancient India, surgical practices were a part of the treatment. Susruta has been a great Ayurvedic surgeon. It was Susruta's belief that for one to be a skilful and erudite surgeon, one must first be an anatomist. In the Susruta –Samhita we read this :-

‘The different parts or members of the body as mentioned before including the skin, cannot be correctly described by one who is not well versed in anatomy. Hence, any one desirous of acquiring a thorough knowledge of anatomy should prepare a dead body and carefully, observe, by dissecting it, and examine its different parts. "

About Sylvain Levi, S N Pandita ,  noted scholar and expert on Kashmir' s Sanskrit  manuscripts writes this :-

"Sylvain Levi was a close friend of Stein. Credited to have introduced his nephew Jules Bloch to Stein to prepared an edited version of Kshemendra's Lokaprakasa edited with commentary by Pandit Sahajabhatta and  printed in Paris. Initial parts came out. However, WWI aborted further progress in 1914. The project was since aborted until Pandit  Jagaddhar Zadoo prepared its complete edition in 1947 under KSTS published by the Department of Research, Libraries  and  Archaeology, J& K .

 In 1926 Stein wished to produce illustrated Rajatarangini , an idea he shared with Levi but it never fructified . More than a decade later , Stein in 1940 took photographs of all old sites in Kashmir to supplement his illustrated Rajatarangini. The project got aborted due to delay and dispute on funding the printing. Three years later ( 1943) , Stein died in Kabul and it remained  unpublished and  forgotten in Oxford.  In 2004 ,  l  was the first to indicate the provenance of the unpublished manuscript of the illustrated Rajatarangini in the Oxford archives. Five years later,  taking cue from my publication in the Stein' Kashmir Legacy and Heritage and    the website developed by me for the British Heritage in 2007, a German scholar, Peter Obrock actually located the manuscript of Stein's unpublished work and published it from Halle University in 2011.

Also , Stein, after the discovery of Gilgit Manuscripts in 1931, had wanted Levi to edit them sometime in  1933. But  Kashmir Prime Minister , Raja Hari Kishen Kaul did not favour the proposal despite Stein's personal guarantee that after the completion of work,  Levi would return the original manuscript  to Kashmir Government."

I conclude this post with a couplet of Mirza Ghalib about  circulatory system :

"Ragon mein daudte phirne ke hum nahin qaayal, Jab aankh hi se na tapka to phir lahu kya hai."

(In the veins, the running and roaming, I'm not convinced

If it doesn't flow from the eyes, then what's this  blood for ?)

( Avtar Mota)

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