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An introduction to Ayurveda

• Ayurveda is one of the traditional ways of

healing various ailments, naturally, being

practiced in India since time immemorial.

• It is a gift by God for the well being

of humanity.

Veda – Vedic literature is the ancient treasure of knowledge which originated from God himself. God has created this world and has given us a manual in the form of Vedas explaining how this world works. Ayurveda is a manual of life management given by God explaining how to lead a healthy and happy life in every aspect.

Ayur— literally means life span and Ayurveda is knowledge of life. It’s God’s manual to tell us how to lead a happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous lifestyle, preventing diseases and leading a respectful social life.

Ayurveda is in existence since the existence of life and the universe, as the principles of healing are based on laws of nature which are ageless and eternal. According to Ayurveda all physical matter as well as our body is made up of five elements-Earth, Water, Ether, Air, Fire. The only difference is that our body has a sixth element called Soul and non-living things have only five elements in different ratio and proportion. The working components of these five elements are represented by the three basic physiological humors or the biological “Tri-energies’ doing all the movement, metabolic reactions, providing support and nutrition. These biological tri-energies are called – Vata (Kinetic Energy), Pitta (Thermal Energy) and Kapha (Potential Energy).

Ancient Ayurveda scholar Charaka explains

Dharmartha- kama- moksanam arogyam uttamam rogastasyapahartarah sreyaso jivitasya ca

Goals of religion or Karma, material world, sensual pleasure or liberation can be achieved only if one is healthy. The disease destroys health, well being and whole life. (Charka Sutra Sthana 1- 15)

This ancient verse clearly indicates the importance of health to lead a happy, prosperous, and peaceful life.

“Hitahitam Sukham Dukham Aayustsya hitahitam

Maanam Ch tachh yatroktam Ayurved S Ucchayate”

This ancient verse defines Ayurveda as the science of life management in which are explained what principles, diet, lifestyles are good and bad for life, what leads to a happy or unhappy life, and what is the exact span of life, that is known as Ayurveda.

“Samdosha samagnisch samdhatu malkriya

Prassnatma indriya man swasth ityabhidhiyate”

Health according to Ayurveda is balance of these tri energies. Their imbalance is the cause of diseases or ill health.

Health is defined in Ayurveda in the following verse as

Perfect balance between physical and mental bio energies, digestive and physiological fires, balanced anabolism, proper excretory functions, blissful soul, senses and mind is health and their imbalance is disease.

Ayurvedic techniques focus on achieving that balance

The balance of these “Tri-energies’ can be maintained by our diet, lifestyle, different Ayurvedic herbs, minerals and purification procedures.

Their balance is disturbed by irregular life style, prolonged physical and mental stress, wrong dietary habits, incompatible foods, misuse of senses.

Ayurveda is a way of living in harmony with nature and guides us how to maintain a steady healthy state. It explains details about body care, daily routine, diet and various foods to promote health and maintain the balance of the “Tri-energies’

If we do not sleep early in the night, the vata (Air element) increases leading to painful bones, cramps in the muscles, dark circles around eyes or sleep bags, constipation, dry mouth and hastens ageing process. Stale and kept overnight food also causes increased Vata. Excessive work, long traveling leads to fatigue, which is a symptom of increased Vata. This all leads to diseases like joint pains, cervical pain, backache, nervousness, confusion, insomnia, constipation etc.

Similarly Pitta (Fire) is excessive heat. Consuming food, herbs and our behavior similar to properties of Pitta leads to increase in pitta. Excessive consumption of hot potency food, spices, alcohol, disturbs Pitta. The seat of Pitta is liver and stomach. Excessive aggression, anger, jealousy, hatred etc. leads to increased Pitta. This leads to diseases like peptic ulcers, liver diseases, blood pressure etc.

Excessive consumption of fat rich food, sedentary life style leads to vitiation of Kapha. Excessive Kapha blocks all the nutrition and elimination channels leading to obesity, diabetes. Diet and behaviour opposite to the nature of Kapha leads to cleaning up the system and balancing the kapha. (Earth + Water)

There are other concepts like Ojus, Aama, and Dhatus which need clarification here. According to Ayurveda- The “Ojus’ is the vital energy present in our body that is responsible

for our healthy physical and mental outlook. It gives glow to our skin, strength to our heart and body. The toxins or free radicals deplete the “Ojus’ within our body and there is a feeling of fatigue and depression. The toxins create imbalance of the tri-energies which also has a great negative impact on “Ojus’. In Ayurveda, a lot of emphasis is laid on improving the vital energy or the resistance of the person called “Ojus”.

Aama – It is a kind of sticky substance that forms within the body due to excessive consumption of heavy, greasy food on regular basis. Aama can be understood as disturbed form of “kapha’ which coats the tongue, the entire length of intestines, blocks entry and exit through micro channels of the cells, clogging of arteries. This leads to congestion within the system, leading to fermentation of the stale, undigested food lying in the intestines. This leads to formation of endotoxins, which disturb the immunological system leading to all auto-immune diseases. Herbal remedies like Sanjeevani Vati, Arogyavardhni Vati etc. clear this “Aama” and offer an effective solution to such problems.

Similarly there are great chances of females getting ovarian cysts, breast cancer or uterine fibroids due to abortion or a miscarriage. Abortion or miscarriage leads to accumulation of left over hormones/chemicals which are released from the hypothalamus and pituitary to help maintain a pregnancy. After abortion, those hormones which brought changes in female reproductive organs, within the breasts are no longer useful. The changes which they did are not completely undone. God decided for a woman to be pregnant and give life to someone and that woman decided to abort it. She suffers ultimately with problems caused by “Aama”.

These leftover hormones can also be understood as “Aama”. Other things which can be correlated with “Aama” are Rheumatoid factor, HLA B 27 and other immunological factors responsible for autoimmune diseases. The digestive fire and individual tissues fire burns these factors and mediators, if treated properly.

Dhatus (Tissues) – There are seven Dhatus which support our body. They are

Rasa (Plasma)

Rakta (Blood)

Mamsa (Muscles)

Meda (Fatty tissue)

Asthi (Bones)

Majja (Bone Marrow)

Shukra (Semen & Reproductive tissue)

The “Dhatus”described in Ayurveda are the various organs and parts of our body. Origin of Ayurveda

Vedas are the most ancient literature available in the history of human civilization. These ancient Indian texts were written in Sanskrit language. These texts explain the fundamentals of geometry, astronomy, astrology, life style, behavior sciences, metaphysics, economics and life sciences. There are four Vedas in all. Lord Brahma, when he created life also created a big compendium containing 100,000 verses about life and other principles which sustain it. This

whole knowledge was bestowed upon ancient sages by Lord Brahma himself. The sages blessed with the divine wisdom created these 4 Vedas. These are

Rig Veda

Sam Veda

Yajur Veda

Atharveda

All Vedas have separate appendices which are Ayurveda (health, medicine and life stlyle), Arthshastra (political science and economics), Dhanurveda (martial arts) and Gandharva veda (music). Ayurveda is an appendix of “Atharveda’

Ayurveda has eight branches

1. Internal medicine (Kaya Chikitsa)

2. Ear, nose, throat, eye (salakya tantra)

3. Toxicology (Agad tantra)

4. General surgery (Shalya tantra)

5. Pediatrics (Kumarbhritya)

6. Mental Health or Psychiatry (Bhut Vidya)

7. Geriatrics and Rejuvenative therapies (Rasayana)

8. Reproduction and Procreation therapy (Vajikarna)

Ayurveda is not only a medical system but also an art and philosophy of life. It was created by Lord “Brahma —the creator’ to sustain life in the universe. That’s why the book’s name is “God’s manual for healing”. The ancient Vedic literature explains that Lord Brahma imparted the knowledge of Ayurveda to Daksh Prajapati, who in turn forwarded his knowledge to twin brothers-Ashwanikumara. Ashwanikumara were bestowed with exceptional understanding of healing sciences. They are also known as the “magical’ physicians of the Gods in heaven. They cured many incurable diseases and performed remarkable surgeries.

Lord Indra- The king of all angels in heaven, gained the knowledge from Ashwanikumara and propagated this science to Lord Dhanwantri and Maharishi Bhardwaj to spread the knowledge of Ayurveda among humans on earth.

Maharishi Atreya who learned Ayurveda from Maharishi Bhardwaj tought Ayurveda to his six disciples namely —Agnivesh, Bhela, Jatukarna, Prashar, Harit, and kshaarpani. Agnivesh, being most intelligent among other students created a treatise on Ayurvedic medicine-“The Agnivesh Samhita”, which was later on republished as “The Charka Samhita” (1500 BC). This was an excellent book explaining every basic principle of Ayurveda in detail and it helped a lot of scholars to write down their own books and learn Ayurveda more clearly.

Sushruta- a brilliant student of Lord Dhanwantri learned the art of surgery and created a treatise on Surgery. It is known as “Sushrut samhita” (1200 BC). It was a unique manuscript. The art and methods of Surgery were so technically perfect that they are still performed in many modern day surgeries and “Sushrut is still considered as the father of plastic surgery. He was the first to do many cosmetic surgeries including first Rhinoplasty in the history of mankind.

These are the two main treatises on which basics of Ayurveda are clearly explained and still

read by Ayurveda scholars worldwide. Vagbhatta- another Ayurveda scholar compiled “Ashtang Sangreh” and “Ashtang Hridya”. These two texts by “Vagbhatta” are basically an overview of Charak and Sushrut Samhita

Basic Principles of Ayurveda

Concept of 5 Elements

All matter in this universe is composed of 5

basic elements, except living things, who are

blessed with an eternal soul also.