Anaesthesia (Sammohini) – The Trance of Painless Surgery

The Concept

Surgery is painful, and in order to perform it correctly, the patient must be numb and asleep .

The Story

Before the West discovered ether in 1846, the idea of “painless surgery” seemed like a dream. But in ancient Indian surgical halls, patients were often made “insensible” through the mastery of herbal chemistry. Using potent extracts like Vijaya (Cannabis) and Henbane, as well as medicated wines, surgeons induced a state of Sammohini—a deep, trance-like sleep. This allowed for complex operations, including cranial surgery, to be performed while the patient felt no pain. It was an early era of “Bio-Feedback” and pain management that allowed the father of surgery, Sushruta, to operate with a level of precision that would have been impossible on a conscious patient.

The Timeline

The Original Text

Sanskrit Shloka: पाययेच्चापि यथेष्टं मद्यं तीक्ष्णं स यो वेदनाम् । मदोनमूर्च्छितो न वेदनां वेत्ति शस्त्रकर्मणि ॥

Transliteration: Pāyayeccāpi yatheṣṭaṃ madyaṃ tīkṣṇaṃ sa yo vedanām | Madonamūrcchito na vedanāṃ vetti śastrakarmaṇi || Sushruta Samhita (Sutra Sthana 17) (Mentions giving wine to patients before surgery) .

Meaning: “The patient should be made to drink strong wine (Madya) freely. Under the influence of intoxication, he does not feel the pain of the surgical operation.”

 

Related Innovations

Sanjivani – The idea of utilising medications to bring a person back from the edge of death, which is well-known from the Ramayana (c. 12,000 BCE). Post-Op Pain Management: The Sushruta Samhita discusses how to use medicated oils and poultices to relieve pain after surgery.

Fun Fact

The warrior queen Vishpala (from the Rig Veda) had an iron leg in combat, implying that pain management techniques existed at the time.

The Modern Legacy

Anaesthesiology enables complex surgeries such as heart transplants that would otherwise be impossible.