RAS question
Sushruta Samhita, the ancient Indian text on surgery, describes:
Correct answer: (C) Rhinoplasty (nose reconstruction), cataract surgery, and over 300 surgical procedures.
The Sushruta Samhita describes rhinoplasty or nose reconstruction, cataract surgery, caesarean section, and more than 300 surgical procedures.
Explanation
The point of the question is that the Sushruta Samhita is not a narrow herbal or dental manual; it is a major ancient Indian surgical text. It is attributed to Sushruta around the 6th century BCE, with later redaction in the Gupta period, and describes rhinoplasty, cataract surgery, caesarean section, more than 300 surgical procedures, and 121 surgical instruments. World History Encyclopedia supports the core answer by noting that Sushruta's work gives careful directions for plastic-surgery reconstructions, especially rhinoplasty, and for cataract removal. The Sushruta Samhita lists over 300 surgical procedures, which is why option C captures its real scope.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Herbal remedies are mentioned in the wider medical tradition, but the Sushruta Samhita is identified here as a surgical text with procedures such as rhinoplasty and cataract surgery.
- (B) Dental treatment alone is too narrow because the text is grounded in surgery and includes nose reconstruction, cataract surgery, caesarean section, and hundreds of procedures.
- (D) Bone setting alone cannot describe the text's range, since the material includes reconstructive surgery, cataract removal, and over 300 surgical procedures.
Concept
This tests ancient Indian science and medical knowledge, especially the distinction between Ayurveda as a broad healing tradition and Sushruta's surgical contribution. For RAS, the trap is to reduce the text to one branch of treatment instead of recognising its wider surgical content.