The letter ‘S’ led me to Sushruta, who was an ancient Indian physician. He is often called “the father of surgery.” He taught students the principles of medicine, surgery, and Ayurveda, among many other things. His Sushruta Samhita was an instruction manual for physicians that instructed them to treat their patients holistically.

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Sushruta: The Father of Surgery

What Makes a Surgeon: The Legacy of Sushruta
Surgeons must be very careful, you see,
When they take the knife,
For in their hands, they hold a life,
And through their art, they weave destiny.

And yet, with all their skill and care,
They know that underneath
their fine incisions, life is there,
And also stirs (hides) the culprit of life beneath.

Sushruta knew these truths so well,
The father of surgery, a master indeed,
His teachings – we follow still,
His wisdom – a guiding creed.

With every cut, he sought to mend,
To heal the wounds, to ease the pain,
And in his touch, a magic blend,
Of knowledge, wisdom, and humane.

He took the knife with steady hand,
Studied anatomy and disease,
He sought to heal, to understand.
And sought to cure with great ease.

“Surgeons must be very careful,“
The wise Emily once did say,
And in Sushruta’s hands so skillful
We see her words in full display.

Students and masses revered him indeed
Imparted his knowledge to his pupils – each one,
Equipping them with all they needed to succeed,
And his treatise was a masterpiece, second to none.

So let us honor this master’s name,
Sushruta, the man with the staying power,
Whose teachings and techniques still remain,
A surgeon whose legacy is forever.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

Sushruta and the Day 22 Prompts

Day 22’s prompt is for NaPoWriMo:   Find an Emily Dickinson poem – preferably one you’ve never previously read – and take out all the dashes and line breaks. Make it just one big block of prose. Now, rebreak the lines. Add words where you want. Take out some words. Make your own poem out of it! 

The day 22 prompt for April PAD from Writer’s Digest is to take the phrase “What (blank),” replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “What Are You Doing Here,” “What a Great Time,” “Whatever You Say,” and/or “What Kind of Poem Are You Going to Write?”

I picked the Dickinson poem for the NaPoWriMo prompt: Surgeons must be very careful (156). The poem’s text is below.

Surgeons must be very careful / When they take the knife! / Underneath their fine incisions / Stirs the Culprit – Life!

And for the APAD prompt, I titled my poem with the What, of course!

References and Further Reading for Sushruta

• Wikipedia page on Sushruta
• You can read the Sushruta Samhita online here if you so wish. The Sushruta Samhita meaning  ‘Suśruta’s Compendium’ is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, and one of the most important such treatises on this subject to survive from the ancient world.

My S Books

Sad Underwear

Staying Right Here

And Now the End of This Post

Linking up to BlogChatterA2Z, Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge, NaPoWriMo, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge.