Jeevak - The real father of medicine

Jeevak kaumarbhritya (525-450 B.C), contemporary of lord Buddha, was the first “Historical” doctor of India and the world, whose skill and excellence in field of Medical science had no bounds. He was not a doctor of any particular state but his work field was the whole “Aryavart” (Northern &Central India) and he was a doctor of both ordinary and extra-ordinary people. He successfully treated iconic personalities like lord Buddha, Magadh emperor – Bimbasar & Avanti King – Chand Pradyot. The whole Tripitak literature in Pali language is full of accounts related to the “Medical Miracles” of Jeevak.

What mattered most in the life of Jeevak – Rajgrih, Lord Buddha & King Bimbasar

Jeevak was basically an orphan, adopted by a Prince of Magadh, who found him near a road in Rajgrih(Rajgir). He was found alive (Jeevit) even after abandonment, so he was called “Jeevak”. He was served(Bhritya) by the prince(Kumar) so his surname popularized as Kaumarbhritya. He went to Takshila (Now in Pakistan) for his higher studies a place which could be called as the “first university of the world” and was famous for its specialized study. He studied the whole 8-limbed Ayurved (Medical science of 8 subjects) here for many years. Ultimately he became a great maser and research scholar of this subject. We could verify his intelligence and skill through different case studies of his life.

Takshila University(now in Pakistan) where Jeevak studied Ayurveda (Takshasila is the first university in the world):

Case 1 - “Every plant is a medicine” :- When the studies were over, the mentor of Jeevak examined him by giving a project. The task was to find a useless plant in the 5 miles circumference of Takshila. Jeevak wandered everywhere and reported in conclusion that “Every plant has medicinal and other uses, no plant is useless.” The teacher was extremely delighted to listen his answer.

Case 2 – Treating a chronic headache through medicinal ghee :- When Jeevak was returning to Magadh from Takshila, in the way he stayed at Saket(Ayodhya). The wife of a famous businessman (Shresthi) was suffering from chronic headache which was not cured by other doctors (Vaidyas). When he inserted medical ghee through her nose. She got relief within 3 days. The shresthi awarded him with 26,000 coin, chariots and servants. This was the first treatment of Jeevak’s career.

Case 3 – “Treating fistula of Magadh emperor Bimbasar” :- Bimbasar was suffering from fistula. Due to disease, his clothes get stained with blood. Which was witted by his queen. He became extremely sorrowful due to the pain of disease and the other reason was the humour of the queens. This mentally and physically sick king was treated by only one paste of Jeevak. The happy king awarded him with enormous property and appointed him on the post of royal doctor (Raj vaidya)

Case 4 – “ Head Surgery of a Shresthi” :- A shresthi of Rajgrih has a chronic disease uncured by the Vaidyas. They speculated that shresthi would live five to seven days. Bimbasar appointed Jeevak on this case. Jeevak tied the patient to the left side for 7 days, on right side for 7 days and central mode for 7 days, then he pierced his skulll and brought out two insects. Then he closed the brain, stitched it and did the bandage. The shresthi according to his promise offered him his whole property but Jeevak took only one lakh coins.

Jeevak successfully operated the most critical kind of Head Surgery

Case 5 – “Intestinal Surgery of a boy” :- the son of a shresthi of Varanasi had tumor in his intestine. He did not recovered even after many treatments. When Jeevak came to see him, he moved his surgical tool on his stomach & brought out intestine. Then he cut off the tumor and stitched the intestine at it’s position. The boy recovered from disease.

Case 6 – “Treating the disease of Avanti king Chand Pradyot” :- A.T. Mahavagg (Section 8), king Chand Pradyot invited Jeevak from Rajgrih to Ujjain for his treatment. The king was furious in nature and Jeevak knew that fact. That’s why before giving the king medicine, he fled with Bhadravati elephantess with the excuse of bringing medicine for the king from the forest. As soon as the king took the medicine, seviere vomiting started. This made him very angry and thus he ordered to bring the Jeevak before him. But Jeevak using his tactical brain, reaches Rajgrih safely. After some time, Chand Pradyot recovered completely and rewarded Jeevak by sending a very costly pair of Sivayak garments to Rajgrih.

Jeevak had a big residence cum Hospital in Rajgrih whose ruins still exist in Rajgir as “Jeevak ambvan”. It literally means the mango orchard. The building was surrounded by the mango orchard where lord Buddha stayed with his disciples. Jeevak had introduced Ajatshatru to Lord Buddha. Jeevak had even treated the lord Buddha once with his simple medicines which is evident from mahavagg of vinay pitak.

Jeevak was greater than Hippocrates

Why Hippocrates should not be called ‘Father of Medical Science’?

Ancientness – Jeevak lived between 525-450 B.C. while Hippocrates belonged to 460-370 B.C. Thus Jeevak came earlier than Hippocrates.

Work Field – Jeevak’s work field was almost whole of Northern & Central India while Hippocrates work field was Greece with few island states. The work field of Jeevak was much larger than that of Hippocrates.

Education – Jeevak studied Ayurved in the first University of the world, Takshila University under specialised professors of this field while Hippocrates learned medicine from his father & grandfather. Thus it simply shows that Jeevak was more educated & trained than Hippocrates. 

Knowledge of Medicine – As explained in case 1,2,3 & 6 that Jeevak was a master of every kind of medicine. Whereas Hippocrates’ therapy was based on the ‘Healing power of the nature’. He was disinclined towards drugs & generally abstained that. Thus Hippocrates stands nowhere in knowledge of medicine, in front of Jeevak. 

Hippocrates was a simple medical practioner who avoided complex medicines & surgeries.

Surgery – A.T. the case 4 & 5, Jeevak did extremely complicated Head & Intestinal Surgery, which shows that his skill was almost equal to a modern surgeon. But in case of Hippocrates, he is limited with very simple surgeries like tractions for broken bones, wound surgeries etc. So, in surgery too Jeevak’s excellence exceeds Hippocrates.

Knowledge of Anatomy – Jeevak must had been given a very practical training of Anatomy by dissection of corpses which is evident from his operation techniques. But Hippocrates worked with many incorrect anatomy & physiology, such as ‘Humourism’. Use of corpses for anatomical study were not allowed in Greece, so he lagged behind Jeevak in knowledge of Anatomy.

Legacy – Jeevak was an icon but he was merely a good practitioner of Ayurved, not a master who was blindly followed by others. He guided & inspired future generation of medical practitioners. Many iconic personalities like Charak, Kashyap, Dhanvantri, Vagbhatt etc. came into the field of Ayurved in future & each contributed in this science. But in the case of Hippocrates, his legacy founded a ‘School of Medicine’ and he was so revered that his teachings were largely taken as too great to be improved upon and no significant advancement of his methods were made for long time.

After writing this article, in the end I’m very hopeful that the world especially India would recognize the value of Jeevak and would give him the great regard which he actually deserve.

# Jeevak was not actually the ‘Father of Medical Science’ but he was the first historical icon in this subject.