Vaidya
Vaidya (Sanskrit: वैद्य Bengali: বৈদ্য Malayalam:വാദ്ധ്യാർ) is a Sanskrit word meaning "physician".[1] It is also used unchanged in modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi.[2] It was and is used generally in India to refer to a person who practises ayurveda, an indigenous Indian system of medicine.[3] Senior practitioners or teachers were called Vaidyarāja ("physician-king") as a mark of respect. Some practitioners who had complete knowledge of the texts and were excellent at their practices were known as Pranaacharya. Some royal families in India had a personal vaidya in attendance and these people were referred to as Rāja Vaidya ("the king's physician").[4][5]
Vaidya as a surname
"Vaidya" is also a surname in the northern and western states of India.[6] A number of notable people have had the surname, such as:
- Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya
- Arun Shridhar Vaidya
- Lakshman Jagannath Vaidya
- Narayan Jagannath Vaidya
- Jalabala Vaidya
- Omi Vaidya
- Bhai Vaidya
- Kaajal Oza Vaidya
See also
- Kabiraj
- Baidya, a Bengali caste, also spelled Vaidya or Vaidhya
- Vaidyar, a professional surname in Kerala
References
- ^ "Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Online Edition".
- ^ "DSAL Hindi Dictionary".
- ^ Ember, Carol R. Encyclopedia of medical anthropology: health and illness in the ... Vol. 2.
- ^ Hutchison, Rose. Gazetteer of the Chamba State.
- ^ Agrawal, S. P. Development/digression diary of India: 3D companion volume to Information ...
- ^ "Vaidya Name Meaning". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.