What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda or the Science of Life is a holistic approach to healthcare that helps people live long, healthy and well-balanced lives.

Ayurveda effectively tackles the cause of illness rather than merely alleviating the symptoms. This is done by maintaining the natural balance of the constituents (the state of prakriti) of the body, mind and soul through the daily regimen and (Dinacharya) seasonal regimen (Ritucharya for a healthy person and through medication mainly based on herbs, dietary regimen and yogic exercises to restore the prakriti back in the diseased.

History of Ayurveda

Ayurveda is an ancient system of healing that was part of the spiritual tradition of the Sanatana Dharma during the Vedic period. It was Veda Vyasa, the famous sage, believed to be an avatar of Vishnu, who compiled the complete knowledge of Ayurveda into the Vedas. Thus we find that the Rig Veda, the oldest surviving book of any Indo-European language, contains verses on the nature of health and disease, pathogenesis and principles of treatment as well as discussions of the three dosas – Vata, Pitta and Kapha, and the use of herbs to heal the diseases of the mind and body to foster longevity.

The Atharva Veda lists the eight divisions of Ayurveda: Internal Medicine, Treatment of Head and Neck, Ophthalmology and Otorinolaryngology, Surgery, Toxicology, Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Gerontology or Science of Rejuvenation and the Science of Fertility. What is most interesting about Ayurveda is the use of herbs, food, aroma, gems, colours and the practice of yoga, mantras and surgery. Small wonder then that Ayurveda grew into a respected and widely used system of healing in India. People from numerous countries came to Indian Ayurvedic schools to learn about this system of medicine.

These books are believed to be over 1,200 years old. It is because these texts contain the original and complete knowledge of Ayurvedic practices that Ayurveda is known today as the only complete medical system still in existence.