Oration - Susruta and our heritage

Mr. Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, I am thankful that the President and the Executive Committee of our Association nominated my name for the Susruta Oration for the 37^th Annual Conference at Bangalore. We, in this country, regard Susruta as the "Father of Plastic Surgery." Who was Susruta? When and where did he live and work? These questions can only be imperfectly answered like similar questions. In respect of the lives of our ancient worthies. The Susruta Samhita would have us believe that once upon a time a number of sages approached Dhanwantari alias Divodasa, King of Kasi, who received Ayurveda from divine sources - Brahma via Prajapati, the Aswins and Indra. Dhanwantari imparts medical knowledge to these sages, and one of them called Susruta codified his oral instructions. There is no sure ground proving the historicity of Susruta, which literally means "that which is well heard" or "one who has thoroughly learned by hearing." It is more likely the anonymously edited manual of a school which had selected Susruta as patron. It is only safe to assert that Susruta was of the race of Viswamitra as represented in the Mahabharata- Anushasan Parva, chapter IV. Divodasa, the preceptor of Susruta, is represented as an incarnation or descendant of Dhanwantari, the first propounder of surgical science. The name of the original work was Shalya Tantra (Skt Sala = surgical instrument). Beyond this meagre genealogy we possess no trustworthy information regarding the life and personality of Susruta.