Ayurveda: The Repository of Indian Saints’ Knowledge

What has come to scientists lately is what was established by the Indian saints centuries ago: the Mind, Body and Soul connection. The tripartite relationship was advocated by them and the science that defined this relationship with respect to one’s health was called Ayurveda (life-knowledge).

Ayurveda comes from the Vedic Tradition and is a discipline of upaveda (auxiliary knowledge). Coming from Brahma and bestowed upon Dhanvantari, the knowledge of Ayurveda has been begotten by the Hindu traditional medicine. It is often referred to as a pseudoscience, but the claim is often refuted as it has also been given the status of a proto-science. Ayurveda has had miraculous results on diseases otherwise incurable, including HIV and consumption.

This repository of ancient knowledge of saints has various tenets which are important to be understood by the scientific view of today’s youth. I will start by quoting the definition of Ayurveda. It is,

“The traditional Hindu system of medicine (incorporated in Atharva Veda, the last of the four Vedas), which is based on the idea of balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment, and yogic breathing”

Ayurveda has described three main elements which are called the ‘doshas’. These doshas are defined by the proportion of the five basic elements of nature: Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Space. The three doshas are:

•          Vatta dosha (a combination of space and air)
•          Pitta dosha (a combination of fire and water)
•          Kapha dosha (a combination of water and earth)

This tripartite can be pictorially depicted as:

The proportion in which these doshas are present in one’s body defines his physical well being. Each dosha controls a different body function and usually one dosha is dominant. An imbalance in this tripartite relationship leads to sickness. Even foods can be categorized into these three doshas. A disease related to a particular dosha is cured using foods of a contrary dosha.

Diagnosis of an ailment is done through any of the eight ways: Nadi (pulse), Mootra (urine), Mala (stool), Jihva (tongue), Shabda (speech), Sparsha (touch), Druk (vision), and Aakruti (appearance).

Ayurveda, in India and across the world, is getting under limelight. India itself has over 16,000 natural herbs. With Indian visionaries like Ramadeva, Ayurvedic ways of treatment have been explored by a big percentage of people. The science of Ayurveda has much potential and that needs to be tapped in. Nature is an eternal begetter and such omnipotence has all the scope to cure whatever ailments that infect the planet.