Page:A Short History of Aryan Medical Science.djvu/48

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THE Hindoos hesitate to give any system the name of science or Shastra, if it does not directly or indirectly lead to a correct knowledge of the Kosmos, and to the attainment of beatitude and deliverance from all pain and misery. The ultimate object of Medical Science is therefore stated to be to gain that knowledge which consists in discriminating the principles of the material world from the cognitive principle, the immortal soul. According to Hindoo doctrine, the whole creation is the result of the coming together of (spirit), and  (matter). The spirit is infinite, immortal, sentient and blissful. Matter is lifeless, but possesses a creative force and properties of goodness, passion and apathy. Some say that matter has no separate existence at all. It is only a manifestation of spirit, and what is known by the name of the material world is