This topic explores how disability was understood in ancient India through the lens of dharma, karma and community life. Ancient texts often linked disability to karma, which shaped both compassion and stigma at the same time. Care was largely seen as a duty of family and community, rooted in the idea of dana or compassion. Classical Ayurvedic texts also described various impairments and prescribed treatments for them, showing an early attempt at understanding disability through medicine alongside belief and tradition.