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INTRODUCTION.

Sushruta and Hippocrates:— From the very apparent similarity that exists between the contents of this Samhitā and the aphorisms of Hippocrates, many Western scholars are likely to conclude too hastily that the ancient Indians drew their inspiration in the art of healing from the medical works of the Greeks. However, the reverse may be said of the Greeks with even greater confidence, because such an assertion is supported by historical facts and confirmed by the research of Western scholars (1). According to all accounts, Pythagoras was the founder of the art of healing among the Greeks and the Hellenic peoples in general (2). This great philosopher learned his mysteries and metaphysics from the Brāhmanas of India. Mr. Pocock, in his India in Greece, identifies him with Buddhagurus or Buddha, and it is a simple inference to suppose that he carried many recipes and aphorisms of his master's Āyurveda with him. The sacred bean of Pythagoras is thought to have been the (3) Indian Nelumbium (Utpalam). We know that simultaneously with the birth of Buddhism, Buddhist Sramanas were sent out to Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, and other distant countries to preach their new religion. They were known to the Greeks, and there is good reason to believe that the Greek Simnoi (venerable ones) were none other than the Buddhist Sramanas (4). Now, a missionary usually teaches the sciences of his country in addition to preaching his gospel. The distant mission stations or monasteries of Buddhism were

(1) There is no ground whatever to suppose that Sushruta borrowed his system of medicine from the Greeks. On the contrary, there is much to argue against such an idea—Weber's History of Indian Literature.
(2) The Origin and Growth of the Healing Art—Bedroe P. 162.
(3) Pratt's Flowering Plants. Vol. I P. 57.
(4) These Simnoi (venerable ones), whom Clement of Alexandria narrated to have offered worship to a pyramid originally dedicated to the relics of a god, were the Buddhist Arhats (venerable ones) or Sramanas.