Ayurveda Medicine
In our Shanti Holistic Clinic, we consult in Ayurvedic Life Style and provide Ayurvedic treatments, and offer professional training in Ayurveda. Here is the overview of the roots of this ancient medicine.
Ayurveda : Sanskrit: आयुर्वेद
Āyur – “life” Veda –“knowledge”
English pronunciation /ˌaɪ.ərˈveɪdə/
In the Western world, Ayurveda therapies and practices have been integrated in general wellness applications and as well in some cases in medical use.
Contemporary Ayurveda tends to stress attaining vitality by building a healthy life style, and maintaining good daily and seasonal routine and proper personal hygiene.
Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, Pranayama, and relaxation.
One type of prescription is a Dosha-based diet.
Globalized and modernized practices derived from Ayurveda traditions are a type of complementary or an alternative medicine.
Ayurveda follows the concept of Dinacharya, which says that natural cycles (waking, sleeping, working, meditation etc.) are important for health.
Hygiene, including regular bathing, cleaning of teeth, skin care, and eye washing, is also a central practice.
Ayurveda names three elemental humors or constitutions, the Doshas (called Vata, Pitta and Kapha), and states that a balance of the Doshas results in health, while imbalance results in disease.
One Ayurvedic view is that each human possesses a unique combination of the Doshas which define this person’s temperament and characteristics. In either case, it says that each person should modulate their behavior or environment to increase or decrease the Doshas and maintain their natural state.
In medieval taxonomies of the Sanskrit knowledge systems, Ayurveda is assigned a place as a subsidiary Veda (Upaveda. Some medicinal plant names from the Atharva Veda and other Vedas can be found in subsequent Ayurveda literature.
Milestones in the development of Ayurveda
Ayurveda was derived from the Vedas, the compendium of ancient Indian knowledge. The Atharva Veda , or “fourth Veda ” (1500-1000 BC) also mentions many medicinal plants and concepts from Ayurveda.
Rig Veda (2000 BC) is the oldest recorded document regarding use of plants as medicine in India, and this tradition continued in another ancient text, Atharva Veda(1500-1000 BC), which described more plants and in troduced basic concepts.
In 1000 BC, Punarvasu Atreya (head of the school of medicine) and Divodas Dhanvantari (head of the school of surgery) imparted knowledge and practical training to their students.
The brilliant scholars of these schools faithfully documented the precepts of their masters in their compendia, popularly known as the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita.
The Charaka Samhita (1000 BC) and Sushruta Samhita (1000 BC) are the original texts of Ayurveda.
The Western system of medicine was introduced into India by the British in the 19th century. In 1827, classes in Ayurvedic medicine began at the Government
Sanskrit College, Calcutta. A five-year degree course in Ayurvedic medicine and surgery was offered at Banaras Hindu University from 1927.
In 1970, the Ayurvedic formula of India was published in two volumes by the Government of India. It contains over 600 compound Ayurvedic formulations.
In 1999, Part I of the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia of India was published by the Government of India. To date, five volumes have been published.