ayurveda-brief review and history

         Indian art of healing, Ayurveda is believed to be as old as the religionof Hinduism.

Oh God! Thou art the Giver of Life | Remover of pain and sorrow | The Bestower of happiness | Oh! Creator of the Universe | May we receive thy supreme sin-destroying light | May Thou guide our intellect in the right direction .

LORD DANWANTARI-INCARNATION OF LORD VISHNU- GOD OF AYURVEDA

“AUM SAHANAVAVATHU SAHANAUBHUNAKHTHU

SAHA VIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI

THEJESVINAVATHEETHAMASTU

MA VIDWISHA VAHAI AUM SHANTI SHANTHI SHANTI”

 AYURVEDA

The term ayurveda means the science of life. It comes from the Sanskrit words AYU means LIFE and VEDA means KNOWLEDGE or SCIENCE. Ayurveda deals with the union of SHAREERA(body), INDRIA(sensory organs), SATWA(intellect)

 MANAS(mind) and AATMA(soul).

Ayurveda is known as upaveda to ATHARVAVEDA.

 Ayurveda teaches to harmonise the body ,mind and spirit with our natural surroundings. 

Ayurveda increases the active immunity of a person through the methods of suitable diet ,regimen of exercises,rest and sleep.


The sages ands rishies have used the clesncing and healing property of ayurveda to heal the body,clean the mind,soothe the soul for centuries ago.


 With the aid of yoga it gives a strong physical base for healthy spiritual practice

 The complete knowledge of Ayurveda along with spiritual insights of virtue and self-realization was placed in written form over 2000 years ago in Vedas. The four main Vedas included topics like health, astrology, spiritual living and behaviour.

These four Vedas are Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Veda. Ayurveda was a sub section attached to the Atharva Veda. This sub section dealt with the diseases, injuries, fertility, sanity and health. All the secrets of life were revealed in the first Veda i.e. Rig Veda. Rig Veda shows the discussions on the three doshas-vitta, pitta and kapha and the use of various herbs to cure the diseases. It also included the five elements of creation, namely, the earth,

water, fire, air, ether that forms the basis of all forms of life. It consists of three aspects of Ayurvedic knowledge known as the Tri-Sutras that includes cause of illness, symptoms and treatments of the disease. These tri-sutras were further elaborated in eight divisions of Ayurveda and were listed down in Atharva Veda.

The knowledge of Ayurveda is believed to be of Divine origin and was communicated to the saints and sages of India who received its wisdom through deep meditation. Originally only Brahmins were considered as physicians. But later people from other castes also learned this art of healing and a specific term Vaidya was used for these practitioners.

Around 1500 B.C. Ayurveda grew into a respected and widely used system of healing. During this time it was divided into eight specific branches of medicine. The two schools of thought also came into existence at that time and they were Atreya- the school of physicians and Dhanvantri- the school of surgeons.

The state of the art of ancient healing was enhanced by the myths and legends of the God of healing, Divodosa Dhanvantari. It is believed that Dhanvanatri, who later wrote down the text of Ayurveda, taught the science of medicine to the sages. According to another legend, the knowledge of healing originated from Brahma who taught it to Daksha, who further taught Indra.

When diseases and death started creating havoc, all great saints gathered in order to find solution to this havoc-creating problem. During this meeting sage Bharadvaja came forward to learn this art of healing from Indra. He then taught this science to Atreya- who further transmitted this knowledge throughout world. Later Agnivesh who was foremost among the disciples of Atreya wrote Agnivesha Samhita- the most comprehensive form of Ayurveda. The oldest compilations of Atreya and Agnivesha are lost. There are three main re-organizers of Ayurveda whose works still exist and in use. These works were compiled in texts of Charaka, Sushruta and Vaghbata Samhita.

Charaka was the first man who based his Samhita on Agnivesha Samhita and enlarged it with his interpretations and annotations.

 Sushruta based his Samhita on the Dhanwantri school of Ayurveda.

Vaghbata compiled the third treatise called Ashtanga Hridaya that is a concise version of both the works of Charaka and Sushruta Samhita. These texts still contain the original and complete knowledge of the Ayurvedic world of medicine.

The conceptual and operational framework of Ayurveda is wide enough to include all that is essential to make a man healthy and happy. It includes the study of right conduct (dharma), which is necessary for the healthy growth of society in which the man lives. Further it deals with the philosophical aspect of life, the knowledge of which contributes greatly to the comfort and happiness of all human beings. Ayurveda philosophically understands the limitation of human efforts. Still it talks about the means of prolonging life and the methods of invigorating it.
The main aim of ayurveda is to make an individual fit to attain purusharthas; the basic goals of Indian life.They are
 
 

 1) DHARMA –duties and responsibilities to oneself,family, neighbours etc

2) ARTHA- leading to wealth or earning

3) KAMA- fulfilling the desires or enjoying the pleasures

4) MOKSHA- self realization

ARTHA and KAMA maens for physical happinessDHARMA and MOKSHA leads to spiritual happiness.

It is believed that other healing systems were influenced by knowledge of ayurveda.

Ayurveda believes not only in treating the ailments of the body alone, but also the mind and spirit.

Ayurveda is the only science uses almost all methods of healing like Yoga, meditation, purification of regimen, astrology, herbs, gems, colour, massages, diets, exercise etc.

The ayurvedic treatment aimed at restoring the balance of the body by decreasing excessive elements and increasing the decreased ones.

The objectives of Ayurveda are mainly two, the first being the maintenance of positive health, and the other treatment of diseases. These clearly defined objectives are achieved through logically developed means in a classical way. On the basis of objectives defined, the sum and substance of Ayurveda can be classified into two parts -

 i. Healthy man’s regimen - the science of positive health (svasthavrittam)

 ii. Patient’s regimen (aturavrittam).

Healthy man’s regimen: The emphasis on the concept of positive health is a unique feature of Ayurveda. The radical shift occurred in defining health encourages the medical fraternity of modern times to look deeply into empirically evolved ayurvedic techniques for the maintenance of positive health. The recommendations that Ayurveda puts forth in this regard include the observance of systematized daily routine (dinacharya), life in accordance with seasons (ritucharya) and well planned schedules of diet and exercise. Ayurveda stresses on the need of maintaining personal, social and civic hygiene for the orderly upkeep of positive health. Ayurveda recognizes that mind is very powerful both in the causation and cure of diseases. So, strict mental discipline and adherence to moral values are considered a pre-requisite for health. Therefore, ethical basis of life (sadvrttam) is described as an important health support system.

The innate strength of an individual to resist the affliction of disease - vyadhikshamatvam - is well considered and its positive and negative influence on health understood. The techniques evolved in this regard are the boosters of human immune system. Experts view the recommendations suggested for maintenance of positive health as protective measures against endogenous - e.g.. ageing - and exogenous - e.g.. environmental pollution - afflictions and point out their efficacy in strengthening the cellular function in human body. These observations are comparable with modern concept of Prohost Therapy and use of Cyto-protective Agents of contemporary medicine. Obviously regular or periodic use of rejuvenative therapy (rasayanachikitsa) also finds a place in the maintenance of positive health because of its therapeutic potentials to delay the process of ageing and also to improve quality of life. In a nutshell, Ayurveda recommends socio-economic adjustments, modification of personal habits, protection against trauma, control of infection, control of pollution, and prophylatic medication for the maintenance of positive health.

Patient’s regimen: Patient’s regimen (aturavrttam) deals with the curative and palliative measures employed for the medical and emotional care of the patient. It includes definition of the disease, etiology, clinical picture, patho-physiology, prognosis and line of treatment consisting of drugs, diet and life style. In patient's regimenA condition of disease is caused by either internal (bodily) or external (environmental) factors. Diseases can have somatic or psychic cause factors. Ayurveda insists that more often than not every ailment will have a psychosomatic etiology. More importantly, the therapeutic approach is focussed not exclusively at the ailment as such, but it is directed at the patient as a human being. Thus, the Ayurvedic approach to a patient and his cure is often termed as holistic.

 The Ayurvedic therapy is either palliative (samanam) or purificatory (sodhanam). The palliative approach stresses on the use of medicaments.

The famous Panchakarma therapies and the supportive Kerala special therapies belong to the approach purificatory  In both cases, proper control of food and behavioral habits is a necessary component for achieving perfect cure.

 The human constitution and the condition of his ailment are ensconced in a three-factorial humeral (tridosha) frame-work which itself is a derivation from the five-factorial (panchabhautic) macrocosmic frame-work. Medicaments, the tools for dealing with a condition of ailment, are also perceived to belong to these two axiomatic frame-works.

Charaka Samhita represented the Atreya School of physicians that shows discussions on physiology, anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis and symptoms of diseases. In brief it included the internal and external cause of illness. According to Charaka the first and the main cause of illness is the loss of faith in the divine.

Sushruta Samhita comes from the Dhanvantari School of surgeons. The Samhita contains details and discussions of various surgeries, burns, fractures, wounds and amputation. In includes the complete discussion of the human anatomy. The first science of massage of vital body points originated from Sushruta Samhita.

 Of all the treaties available Charaka Samhita is considered the best. It consists the details about the elements of Ayurvedic therapeutics and is also the only work that covers Ayurveda comprehensively.

Ayurveda went through a period of decline in India during the period of British rule. It became a second option that was used by traditional spiritual practitioners and the poor. This decline was only for a short period. In 1947, when India got independence, Ayurveda again gained importance and many new schools were established. Till date Ayurvedic medicine has continued to evolve its holistic approach to health in order to cope with modern needs and scientific approaches of the day.