妙闻本集公元前 600—公元前 500

生平

根据《妙闻本集》记载，苏胥如塔主要在瓦拉纳西附近活动。公元前6世纪的鲍威尔写本中，苏胥如塔被列为定居在喜马拉雅的十仙人之一。

影响

《妙闻本集》全书6卷，总计186章，是阿育吠陀的基础文献之一，为印度阿育吠陀教育的正统教科书。《妙闻本集》中记载了阿育吠陀起源、行医资格、外科手术法等多种内容，尤其是在外科学方面的记述十分详细，介绍了鼻成形术、白内障摘除术、疝气手术等多种外科手术以及切除、切开、乱刺（lekhya）、穿刺、拔除、刺络、缝合、包扎八种外科手术基本手法。

Suśruta (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, lit. 'well heard', IAST: Suśruta) was an ancient Indian physician and surgeon, who made significant contributions to the field of plastic and cataract surgery. He is widely considered "the father of plastic surgery" and is credited with developing the method of reconstructive rhinoplasty, historically known as the "Indian method". He was the author of the Suśruta Saṃhitā (Suśruta's Compendium), considered to be one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on medicine. It is also considered a foundational text of Ayurveda. The treatise addresses all aspects of general medicine, including diet, surgery, nosology, anatomy, developmental biology, therapeutics, toxicology, paediatrics and other subjects. The inclusion of particularly impressive and historically important chapters on surgery has wrongly led some to believe that this is the work's primary focus. The treatise consists of 186 chapters.

Acharya Sushruta was born in Kanyakubja and he later moved to Varanasi, where he wrote The Compendium of Suśruta.

Authorship

The printed editions of the work normally contain the phrase "as Lord Dhanvantari declared" (Sanskrit यथोवाच भगवान्धन्वन्तरिः) at the start of each chapter, framing the work as Dhanvantari's discourse. However, the earliest manuscripts of the work omit this attribution, framing the work instead as the work of Divodāsa, king of Varanasi.

Rao in 1985 suggested that the author of the original "layer" was "elder Sushruta" (Vrddha Sushruta), although this name appears nowhere in the early Sanskrit literature. The text, stated Rao, was redacted centuries later "by another Sushruta, then by Nāgārjuna, and thereafter a later collection of chapters called the Uttara-tantra was added as a supplement". It is now generally accepted by scholars that there were several ancient authors who contributed to this text.

Date

Modern scholarship generally places the composition of the Sushruta Samhita between the 1st millennium BCE, although the surviving Sushruta Samhita is a composite text compiled and revised over time. The early scholar Rudolf Hoernle proposed that some concepts from the Suśruta-Saṃhitā could be found in the Śatapatha-Brāhmaṇa, which he dated to the 600 BCE. However, during the last century, scholarship on the history of Indian medical literature has advanced substantially, and firm evidence has accumulated that the Suśruta-saṃhitā is a work of several historical layers. Its composition may have begun in the last centuries BCE, completed in its present form by another author who redacted its first five chapters and added the long, final chapter, the "Uttaratantra".

Training

Sushruta attracted a number of disciples and required to study for six years before beginning hands-on surgical training. After the students had been accepted by Sushruta, he would instruct them in surgical procedures by having them practice cutting on vegetables or dead animals to perfect the length and depth of an incision. Once students had proven themselves capable with vegetables, animal corpses, or with soft or rotting wood – and had carefully observed actual procedures on patients – they were then allowed to perform their own surgeries. These students were trained by their master in every aspect of the medical arts, including anatomy. Sushruta laid down rules for keeping surgical instruments and the operating environment clean.

The Suśrutasaṃhitā on medicine and physicians

The Compendium of Suśruta (Suśrutasaṃhitā) is an instruction manual for physicians.

Legacy

Sushruta's medical prowess is exhibited through his writings on rhinoplasty, involving nasal reconstructions using skin from the patient's forehead or cheek, often for criminals punished with amputations. Based on reports in the October 1794 edition of The Gentleman's Magazine, published in London, Indians maintained Sushruta's surgical practices until the late 18th century. Sushruta is credited with an early diagnostic observation related to diabetes (madhumeha), describing the sweetness of urine as an indicator of the disease, a condition historically associated with urine attracting ants.[citation needed]

The bronze statue in honor of Sushruta was unveiled at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in July 2026.