( 3 )
been in the form in which we find it in the printed editions. The ancient sages used invariably the auspicious expression ??? or ??? and the like, when commencing a work and never invoked any particular deity for a happy termination of their undertaking."* These are the reasons which have led us to omit the passage in our present translation.
Another objection raised by a certain section of the community is that we should not have at all undertaken to translate the work into the English language. Their contention is that the Ayurveda, being an integral portion of the Eternal Vedas, should, on no account, be rendered into a Mlechchha Bhasha and thus made accessible to the public at large, irrespective of caste or creed.
Such an objection, at this time of the day, is, to say the least, most puerile ! Truth is truth, and latitudes and longitudes are not its boundary lines. The Vedas themselves have been translated into many European languages. To keep the truths promulgated by our ancient sages confined within the coterie of the privileged classes and thus to deprive the educated public of the
- Thus : —
'a) "^ram'f fi^^^f^ffl^T'^z^Ts asTTUmr^:"— Charaka Samhita. (/;) *'^^T^ >^'W ^Ti^Mm:" — Kanada Vaiseshika Sutra (^) "^^T^ ^^fsr^T^T"— Vedanta Sutra.
