Ayurveda
: Ancient Heritage in the Age of Globalisation
59
of ancient Indian social life, attemptsweremade to explain
their harmonious coexistence (Zimmer 1948). Some
scholars felt that the two were ever in arms against each
other (Chattopadhyayay 1977 in particular and Gupta
1954 in general). On the other hand, European scholars,
patrons of the theory of inter-relationship of Greek
medicine with Ionian, Epicrean and Platonic philosophies
(Rahman 1977:28) convinced themselves that the
philosophy of
Samkhya
and
Vaisheshika
initiated
rationalism in Indian medicine. The nationalist scholars
supported this view. Therefore, the supposedly essential
nexus between
Samkhya-Vaisheshika
philosophy and
progress of medicine remained an unchallenged and a
seriously discussed fact in all sorts of historiographical
works on Ayurveda. Most of these works devote
considerable attention to this discussion, which is also the
case with the majority of other works noted below.
Kushvaha (1986) has authored an independent work on
the relationship between
Samkhya
philosophy and
Ayurveda. Another monograph, of Tripathi (1987),
explores the links between the
Nyaya
philosophy and
Caraka the theorist.The major drawback of such a
discussion lies in the fact that it hardly examines the
practice of medicine through behavioral approach and
over-exaggerates the debt of the
Nyaya-Vaisheshika
philosophy on Ayurveda.
