Interested members of other brahmin clans , especially Saraswats are also invited. “Dvijeshu Vaidya shreyangsha “ - Mahabharata, Udyagparba
1) Vaidya is a title conferred to the Brahmin who has completed the four Vedas including the Ayurveda and he is considered academically superior to other Brahmins(dvija) and is called “trija”(thrice born). It’s not a title one can get by birth, but one has to attain it by studying.- Charaka samhita
2) A Vaidya (after he becomes one) can deal with any other study like Nyay,tarka, kavya,vyakaran,mimansa, jyotisha etc and need not practice medicine only. But none other than the Vaidya-brahmin is allowed to practice medicine. Vashistha was a Vaidya, he was chiefly a priest.
3) Saraswati river, which used to flow through Punjab is a very important river in Vedic civilization. Many eminent Vedic scholars resided on the bank of this Saraswati river and many of them studied and practiced Ayurveda. A traditional line of Vaidyas was created among these saraswat Brahmins and they had connections with Shakadwipi Brahmins who were also adept in medicinal studies.After saraswati river dried up, the Saraswat Brahmins migrated to different parts of India, one branch went to south via Rajasthan,Gujarat and Maharashtra and another went to Kashmir,Haryana,UP. They not only continued their pursuit of knowledge but also became kings/rulers and ruled over many places.
4) Vaidya community of Bengal, a unique close-knit and aristocratic community, is a branch of this Saraswat Brahmin community with predominatly Shukla-Yajurvedi Kanva-shakha heritage .(It should be noted that Vaidya surname and some exclusive gotras like Dhanvantari are only found among Saraswats of other places, also many Saraswats claim descent from a Rajarshi Raja Rattan Sen) They were traditional teachers and practitioners of Ayurveda and it had become a family-tradition. The first flow of Vaidyas into Bengal came from South-western India via Orissa in early 11th century. They were called “Ambastha-Brahmin” because Ambastha was a place in Punjab where many Saraswat Brahmins including vaidyas resided . Ashwapati Sen, Adishur, Samanta Sen, the kings of the Sena dynasties were all Vaidyas coming from southern India. Later , king Adishur invited four more Vaidya pandits(of Dhanvantari, Shaktri, Moudgalya and Kashyapa gotra) from Kannauj (UP).
5) So Vaidyas share common ancestry with Saraswat Brahmins of Punjab,Kashmir,Rajasthan, Maharashtra,Karnataka, Kerala(There are traditional ayurvedic “Ashta-vaidya” Brahmin families in Kerala) and related clans like Bhumihars,Tyagis etc. Vaidyas had marital alliances with Maharashtriya and Odiya saraswats even upto 14 th century(Bopdeva, the famous vaidya scholar, author of “Mugdhabodha” is one such example) and Saraswats are aware of that. Vaidyas have maintained the “Rajarshi” or “Brahma-kshatra” tradition started by Parshurama of doubling up as both scholars and rulers. Vaidyas have not only given birth to a galaxy of scholars(including famous Ayurvedic kavirajs, poets like Dhoyee, Vijay gupta, krishnananda Kaviraj, kavi karnapur and Lochandas, Astrologers like Prajapati dash, Mathematicians like Acharya Shubhankar, saints like Ramprasad sen and Krishnanda Swamy, Scientists like Amal Kumar Roychaudhuri and Philosophers like Surendranath dasgupta, Ksh*timohan Sen and Amartya Sen) but also many kings like Sen dynasty, Adishur, Shriharsha Sen, Rajballabh Sen, Rambhadra Ray etc.
6) The Vaidyas have been wrongly interpreted as Vaishyas or “sankar”(hence Shudras) by some evil scholars with hidden agenda in some puranas. But there are many verses in Veda and in ancient purans that prove doubtlessly that the traditional vedic sanskritist clan of vaidyas cannot be non-Brahmin.Due to some vindictive steps by Lakshman Sen(following a dispute with his father) and later a conspiracy by some shrewd pundits (who were jealous of the prosperous vaidyas)at the court of Raja Ganesh demoted the Vaidyas to a state of Vaishya/Shudra-hood for 150 years(on account of their coming in proximity with the untouchables during treatment and dealing with human wastes). But with the endeavor of different Vaidya and other Brahmin pandits(from all over India) and some kings like Raja Rajballabh, Vaidyas performed Shuddhi or Prayashchitta and returned to the Brahmin-status. Now-a-days, they have returned to the original tradition of using “Sharma” during rituals and following other Brahmin customs.
7) Till date, they are the most literate among all Bengali-clans and most of them are cultured, academically inclined, and well-established. They have excelled as teachers, doctors and administrators and also showed excellence in literature, music and art. ( SUMMARY OF VAIDYA HISTORY:- POSTED BY RAIBATAK SENGUPTA )
