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Ayurveda > An Introduction to this Ancient Indian Medical System
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni
Bios means
life. Logos means studies. Therefore,
biology is the study of life.
Likewise, Ayu means life and Veda
signifies the ancient Indian form of
preserving knowledge. Therefore, Ayurveda
is a collection of studies related to
life. This collection is in Sanskrit
and in an ancient Indian poetic form
known as the shlokas. Ayurveda
evolved around 600 BC in India. At
the time, printing technology was
nowhere in the picture and therefore
this knowledge about life was
preserved in the form of the shlokas
which are two lined poems,
rhythmic in nature. For the teacher (guru)
this form was easy to teach and for
the student (shishya) this
form was easy to remember for a
lifetime.
Then came
printing technology. At this stage,
different people grouped different shlokas
into sanhitas. Sanhitas
can be defined as knowledge banks.
They are big books, which contain
information on the arts, the sciences
and commerce, all related to life.
They talk about health as well as
about disease.
There were
different schools of thought in Ayurveda.
Each school interpreted Ayurveda
in their own way and with their own
view. Charak, Sushrut and
Vagbhat are a few examples of
these schools. Each school prepared
its own sanhita and tried to
reach out to the masses for the
promotion of health. Nevertheless,
they shared a few common central
ideas like ‘what you eat is what
you are’ or ‘health comes
from within’ or ‘health is
a miraculous gift which comes from
nature’. Generations after
generations learnt the shlokas by
heart and followed this tradition (parampara)
for treating all kinds of physical
and mental troubles including
diseases.
The speciality
of Ayurveda is that it not
only treats diseases but constantly
promotes the thought that one should
live healthy rather than fall sick
and then look for a cure. This
thought of ‘how to remain
healthy throughout one’s
life’ is called swasthavrutta.
Swasthavrutta includes rules
and regulations for the healthy life
of a healthy individual. These rules
and regulations are to be followed
with faith. Swasthavrutta
assures that one will not fall sick
if one follows these rules properly.
The central theme of swasthavrutta
delves on the questions of diet,
clothing and housing according to the
season, in order that we live a
healthy and long life. This is where Ayurveda
is different from all of the other
medical sciences. This thought of
health is important and applicable to
our lives today too.
Today, Ayurveda
is a unique, indispensable branch of
medicine, a complete naturalistic
system that depends on the diagnosis
of one’s basic body constitution
(prakruti). Ayurveda
believes in the treatment of not just
the affected part of the body, but of
the individual as a whole. Ayurveda
insists on finding natural ways to
refresh oneself, thereby eliminating
all toxic imbalances from the body
and thus regaining resistance and
good health. Ayurveda gives
that knowledge of life which not only
cures diseases, but also teaches us
how to achieve perfect health.
Treatments
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