The Practice of Texts examines the uses of the Sanskrit medical classics in two educational institutions of India’s classical life science, Ayurveda: the college and the gurukula. In this interdisciplinary study, Anthony Cerulli probes late- and postcolonial reforms in ayurvedic education, the development of the ayurvedic college, and the impacts of the college curriculum on ways that ayurvedic physicians understand and use the Sanskrit classics in their professional work today. His fieldwork in south India illuminates the nature of philology and ritual in the ayurvedic gurukula and showcases how knowledge is exchanged among students, teachers, and patients. The result, Cerulli shows, is that the Sanskrit classics are presented and applied differently in the college and gurukula, producing a variety of relationships with these texts among practitioners. By interrogating the politics surrounding the place of the Sanskrit classics in ayurvedic curricula, this book reveals a spectrum of views about the history and tradition of Ayurveda in modern India.

About the Author

Anthony Cerulli is Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is author of Somatic Lessons: Narrating Patienthood and Illness in Indian Medical Literature.

Learn More

Interview with Anthony Cerulli on newbooksnetwork.com

Reviews

"The Practice of Texts is an engaging, nuanced, and dense book…Cerulli’s theoretical and methodological versatility across the disciplines of history, anthropology, philology, religious studies, and South Asian studies will certainly make this book a valuable and enjoyable read for diverse scholars and students."
— History of Science in South Asia

"The book contributes to medical anthropology through its ethnographic fieldwork and to the history of medicine and education in India by illustrating the role of the gurukula in Indian education. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the intersection of religion, culture, psychology, and the performative aspects of textual practice."
— Asian Affairs

"This book carries vivid descriptions and engaging debates that would interest scholars of South Asia in general and anthropologists and sociologists studying contemporary practices of classical knowledge in particular."

— Asian Medicine

"By combining approaches from the disciplines of ethnography, philology, history, and religious studies, the book makes for profound and insightful reading for readers from diverse backgrounds."
— Journal of Hindu Studies

"This work presents how ayurvedic technical knowledge looked in the ancient times and how students used to learn texts in their entirety. The lively presentation of activities by the author at Mookkamangalam and Shantimana helps readers grasp this book’s essentials."
— Medical History

"Cerulli’s brilliance lies in his rich ethnographic details and anecdotes, which are etched with theoretical perspectives. His deep observations, field notes, and encounters with doctors, patients, practitioners, individuals, and groups entail a fresh perspective to understand the medical anthropology of Ayurveda in Kerala."
— Religion

"A valuable scholarly contribution. The Practice of Texts provides a vivid account of the philological conversations between the vaidya-gurus and their students. By documenting how the gurukula system operated for two millennia, Anthony Cerulli demonstrates how it continues to impart a medical education that remains relevant today."—Sree Padma, author of Vicissitudes of the Goddess: Reconstructions of the Gramadevata in India’s Religious Traditions

"By explaining the changing role of the gurukula, The Practice of Texts makes an important contribution to the histories of science and education in late- and postcolonial India. Beyond that, Cerulli offers new ways of conceptualizing the cultural uses of texts, which will be useful to scholars of India more broadly."—Brian Collins, Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy, Ohio University