Basis of Ayurveda

The origin of Ayurveda: The history of Ayurveda goes back to a long time - the age of the Holy books, Vedas. Ayurveda is considered to be the oldest and most holistic medical system available on the present world. According to the ancient mythology, the knowledge and teachings of Ayurveda was taught by Lord Brahma, the Creator of this Universe. There are four types of Vedas – Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. These Vedas were written almost 5000 years ago. Amongst all these four, the Atharva Veda consists of the medical knowledge that is based on the principle of Ayurveda.

Before the introduction of writing, this form of ancient wisdom of healing was considered to be a part of the spiritual tradition, ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or Universal Religion or Vedic Religion. After the birth of writing, the famous sage VedaVyasa, the shaktavesha avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu, recorded the complete knowledge of Ayurveda, along with the more directly spiritual insights of self realization into a body of scriptural literature called the Vedas and the Vedic literatures.

Ayurveda or the science of life, as the name suggests, can be applied to each and every living being. Remember, Vedic science attributed life to more things than we usually do today- the things like air, wind, fire, the earth, planets and stars were all believed to possess conscience like living beings. So, the fundamental principle of Ayurveda is that the whole universe belonged to/is a part of one singular absolute.

According to the Ayurvedic school of thought, the five elements of nature combine in pairs to give rise to three dynamic forces called the “Doshas”. The word ‘dosha’ means something that undergoes change and comes from ‘dus’, the English equivalent to ‘dys’ like dysfunction and dystrophy. In this context, the term ‘dosha’ can mean a fault, flaw or mistake – a disobedience of the cosmic rhythm. These doshas are moving continuously in an energetic and vibrant balance, one with the others is essential for the life to go on naturally. Hence, in Ayurveda, dosha is considered to be the governing principle as all living things in nature are characterized by the dosha.

The three doshas that I spoke about earlier are
• Vata (formed by the combination of the elements – Air and Ether)
• Pitta (formed by the combination of the elements – Water and Fire)
• Kapha (formed by the combination of the elements – Water and Earth)

Vata – As discussed, the dosha vata is a combination of the elements, Air and Ether or space. How active or strong this dosha is, depends on the proportions of ether and air. The amount of space influences the ability of air to gain momentum. If there is a huge amount of space available, air can gain momentum and become extremely powerful. Vata can be described as “wind, to move, flow, direct the processes of, or command.” It is vata that facilitates the other two doshas, pitta and kalpa, to be expressive. The actions related to vata are – drying, cooling, light, agitating and moving.

The responsibility of vata is to regulate the natural processes like breathing, blinking, moving of the muscles and tissues of the body, monitoring the heart beats, the movement of cytoplasm and cell membranes and all the expansion and contractions of the body. It also monitors feelings and sensations like fear, anxiety, pain, nervousness, freshness and tremors. The primary point of location of this dosha is supposed to be the colon; however, it is also believed to dwell in the skin, bones, large intestine, ears, hips, thighs and pelvic cavity.

Pitta – Pitta is formed by the combination of water and fire. Since both of these elements are extremely powerful, they cannot change each other; rather, they regulate each other and play a very important role in the process of life.

The responsibility of Pitta is to monitor the natural practices like digestion, absorption, nutrition, metabolic rate, body temperature, and coloring of the skin, the gleam of the eyes, intelligence and intellect. It is supposed to stimulate feelings like hate, anger and jealousy; it is believed to dwell in the small intestine, stomach, blood, sweat glands and eyes.

Kapha – The last of the three, Kapha is the conceptual equilibrium of water and earth. It is the force of structure and lubrication and can be defined as the most inspiring dosha of our body. This dosha is responsible for providing the material for physical structure and lubricates the joints. Moreover, it heals injuries, gives moisture to the skin, offers strength, vitality and stability; supports and enhances memory, gives immunity and supplies lots of energy to the heart and lungs. Kapha is believed to stimulate feelings and emotions like greed and envy and is also expressed in tendencies toward calmness, forgiveness, and love. It resides primarily in the chest.

History of Ayurveda

The history of Ayurveda goes back to a long time - the age of the Holy books, Vedas. Ayurveda is considered to be the oldest and most holistic medical system available on the present world. According to the ancient mythology, the knowledge and teachings of Ayurveda was taught by Lord Brahma, the Creator of this Universe. There are four types of Vedas – Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. These Vedas were written almost 5000 years ago. Amongst all these four, the Atharva Veda consists of the medical knowledge that is based on the principle of Ayurveda.

Before the introduction of writing, this form of ancient wisdom of healing was considered to be a part of the spiritual tradition, ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or Universal Religion or Vedic Religion. After the birth of writing, the famous sage VedaVyasa, the shaktavesha avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu, recorded the complete knowledge of Ayurveda, along with the more directly spiritual insights of self realization into a body of scriptural literature called the Vedas and the Vedic literatures.

The Atharva Veda consists of eight different categories of Ayurveda. These are:
1. Internal medicine
2. Ophthalmology (the branch of medicine concerned with the eye) and Otorhinolaryngology (the branch of medicine dealing with the ear, nose and throat; more commonly called ENT)
3. Toxicology (the branch of medicine dealing with the nature, effects and treatments of poisoning)
4. Surgery
5. Psychiatry (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)
6. Pediatrics (the branch of medicine dealing with the treatment of infants and children)
7. Gerontology or Science of Rejuvenation
8. Science of Fertility

The sages from the Vedic age compiled the portions that were relevant to Ayurveda and put them in a book – one of such books is called Atreya Samhita that is oldest medical book in the world! These sages not only executed religious ceremonies but became Ayurvedic doctors called Vaidyas. Tradition says that these Vaidyas were trained by the Divine – through the process of meditation. You will be amazed to know the wide variety of herbs, aromas, mantras, yoga, gems and colors that were used in Ayurveda. It slowly gained prominence and became widespread in India.
At around 1500 B.C., Ayurveda was branched out into two main schools – Atreya, the school of physicians and Dhanvantari, the school of surgeons. These two institutions made Ayurveda a more scientifically verifiable and classifiable medical system.

The popularity of Indian Ayurveda became slowly well known to the outside world as eager learners flocked from all corners – China, Tibet, Greece, Persia, Rome, Egypt and Afghanistan – to acquire complete wisdom and take it back to their own countries. Physicians like Avicenna and Razi Sempion, from the world of Arabic medicine, translated the Indian Ayurvedic texts and founded Islamic medicine. Islamic medicine also became very popular and was instrumental in the foundation of the European tradition in medicine. Paracelsus, the Father of Modern Western Medicine, popularized Ayurveda in Europe in the 16th century.
The two Vaidyas whose works are still used today by the practitioners of Ayurveda are Charak and Sushrut; the third piece that also holds an important position is called Ashtanga Hridaya, a summary of the works of Charak and Sushrut. These three texts - Charak Samhita, Sushrut Samhita and the Ashtangha Hridaya Samhita are supposed to be more than 1200 years old.

With modernization, various other forms of treatment came into existence; however, the glory of Ayurveda is not affected – this is because, the principle of Ayurveda is based on universal truth.