AYURVEDA IS A HOLISTIC HEALING SCIENCE.

Introduction:

Welcome you to read about the most ancient and traditional science on one of the most modern systems, the net. You may feel that such a combination of the old and the new is like a bullock cart on the information highway. However, after reading these pages, you will see (hopefully), that this ancient science is still as much applicable today as it was thousands of years ago. Perhaps, you might view it as a turbo-charged bullock cart.

Ayurveda is the ancient Indian medical science, the origin of which can be traced back to the Vedas, which are the oldest available classics of the world. Vedas are the ancient books of knowledge, or science, from India. They contain practical and scientific information on various subjects beneficial to the humanity like health, philosophy, engineering, astrology etc.

Ayurveda is the only ancient independent scientific system of medicines. In the medieval period however, the system faced utter neglect at the hands of foreign rulers. Some authentic literature was destroyed in these turbulent times. Even then Ayurveda contributed to public health system due its safe and most effective herbal formulations and easy availability. The seers who initiated Ayurveda inducted in it sufficiency, soundness and sustenance, that is why it survived.


The Literal Meaning of Ayurveda:
Ayurveda is a holistic healing science, which comprises of two words, Ayu and Veda. Ayu means life and Veda means knowledge or science. So the literal meaning of the word Ayurveda is the science of life. Ayurveda is a science dealing not only with treatment of some diseases but is a complete way of life. This becomes clear when we see the meaning of life.

As mentioned above Ayurveda is a science of life so to know more about it, we must know what is life? Life according to Ayurveda is a combination of senses, mind, body and soul. So it is clear from this definition of life that Ayurveda is not only limited to body or physical symptoms but also gives a comprehensive knowledge about spiritual, mental and social health.

The words like soul and spirituality might sound outdated or create a negative thinking in some of you as they have no place in modern science. As soon as we hear about these topics, we become uncomfortable. Actually, I don't feel that it is our fault. No one has ever spoken about these things to us. &127;We are always trapped in the attractions of outer material world to become happy and peaceful.

The modern society, education, culture and the television- everything speaks about materialism. If this was everything why is it so that most us are unhappy. There is unrest, anxiety, mental tension, fighting and terror every where despite best efforts being made to stop them. This is because some part of our body is not being nourished properly.

And that is our inner self or the soul. There has to be a proper balance between materialism and spiritualism. Ayurveda practices the theory of balance. According to Ayurveda health is the state of balance and disease is the state of imbalance. The multi-faceted application of Ayurveda becomes more confirmed when we dive deep into it.

Aim of Ayurveda

The aim of Ayurveda is to give complete health and not just getting free from physical diseases. So to become completely healthy you must know each and every part of yourself. Here again you will find information about the complete body including mind and soul. Don't feel uncomfortable. I want you to realize that there are some aspects of life, which have been mostly neglected. Don't be cruel to them. They are also parts of your body. These are not my ideas but rather this is Ayurveda. Ayurveda aims at making a happy, healthy and peaceful society. Two of the most important aims of Ayurveda are: To maintain the health of healthy people. To cure the diseases of sick people. Have you ever heard of a medical science dealing with healthy people? Ayurveda is the only one that does so. One part of Ayurveda deals only with maintaining the health and staying away from diseases. The word health here does not mean physical health but also spiritual and mental health. Many of us may not have any physical problem but still may not be feeling happy or comfortable. Problems like depression, anxiety, nervousness, insomnia from which most us are suffering to some extent are mainly originating due to sick mind and soul. Unfortunately, most of our actions and activities in the modern world which we perform to become happy and peaceful are related to the physical body and materialism only. We never or rarely pay any attention to the other half which is equally important i.e., the mind and the soul. To many of us these words might sound outdated or of no use in modern society. But they are responsible for a half of our health. Our actions, foods and life styles which we are following to get happiness and peace may not be healthy to our mind and soul. That is why in spite of following the best health rules and taking all precautions, we are not happy and peaceful. Most of the time we feel anxious, depressed and insecure. Why then are we following them? This is because no one has ever taught us about the other half of our life. We normally do something, whatever it may be, to get enjoyment, happiness and peace. And we put in our best efforts and resources to achieve this. But we are not able to achieve it even after our best endeavor. This indicates that there is something wrong in our approach or something is missing somewhere. What is that something? That is our mind and soul. We simply can't ignore an important topic related to our health. The mind and the soul require equal attention as does our body. All through our life we are making all possible efforts to make our body happy and comfortable. Our habits or emotions like anger, greed, passion, attachment, jealousy, not caring for other creatures, not speaking truth, creating problems for others, not respecting elders, narrow mindedness and being selfish, are unhealthy for us. We may not realize this but they are the cause of most of our mental problems. What can we do ? Ayurveda is the perfect answer to this question. It helps us in understanding each individual at a very subtle personal level and giving a detailed description about diet, daily routine, life-style, actions and activities to be followed. It teaches how to live in society and in the universe without disturbing the natural balance.

Basic Principles:

This page needs lot of concentration to understand it. You can go out, breathe some fresh air and then start. All right ! Are you ready? Here we go. Everything in this universe is composed of five elements. The human body is also made up of the five elements and the soul. These five elements are:

PRITHVI OR   EARTH.  
APA       OR   WATER.
TEJAS    OR   FIRE.
VAYU     OR   AIR.
AKASK   OR  SPACE.

Does it mean that the body is a muddy pond with a fire in the middle, clouds on top and a wind blowing across! No, it is not so. It means that these five elements are the basic constituents and every thing can be explained in terms of these five elements. For example, the bulky and solid part is earth, the digestive enzymes which are responsible for cooking or digesting are fire, the hollow, empty parts and the big beer belly is space. These five elements in their biological form in the living body are of three different kinds. These are three primary life forces or three biological humors. The Ayurvedic term for these forces is Dosha. As they are three in number they are called as "Tridosha (Tri means three). In Sanskrit they are known as : Vata, Pitta and Kapha. As these are specific terms or names of the three types of humors in the body it is not possible to translate them into English. They can be understood, experienced or felt only from their qualities, behavior and actions in the body. The nearest translation, meaning or comparatives of these terms, depending upon their qualities, actions and behavior are: Vata is compared to air, Pitta is compared to fire and, Kapha is compared to mucus and water. Isn't this amazing! You never knew that the construction of our body is so natural. The next part will make you friendlier towards your body. Other important basic principles of Ayurveda which are briefly mentioned here are: Dhatus- These are the basic tissues which maintain and nourish the body. They are seven in number namely- chyle, blood, muscles, fatty tissue, bone, marrow and semen. Proper amount of each dhatu and its balanced function is very important for good health. Mala- These are the waste materials produced as a result of various metabolic activities in the body. They are mainly urine, feaces, sweat etc. Proper elimination of the malas is equally important for good health. Accumulation of malas causes many diseases in the body. Srotas- These are different types of channels which are responsible for transportation of food, dhatus, malas and doshas. Proper functioning of srotas is necessary for transporting different materials to the site of their requirement. Blockage of srotas causes many diseases. Agni- These are different types of enzymes responsible for digestion and transforming one material to another. All these factors should function in a proper balance for good health. They are inter-related and are directly or indirectly responsible for maintaining equilibrium of the tridoshas. I hope that you have digested it well!

Diagnosis:

Diagnosis according to Ayurveda is to find out the root cause of a disease. It is not always necessary that the root cause is inside the body. Many times the cause may be outside the body. There may be a problem in the family relations or sometimes a problem at your work place. To give permanent relief the root cause has to be removed.When we cure some disease according to Ayurveda, we do not just treat the physical symptoms. The person is treated as a whole.

Different kinds of examinations are made to find out the root cause of a disease. One of them is pulse examination. By checking the pulse, the Ayuevedic physician finds out the position of Tridosha . So once you know which dosha is aggravated or out of balance, its easy to bring it under balance by using different kinds of therapies. The mental situation, family relations and other outside factors are thoroughly examined. Many times the root cause of a disease may not be physical but the symptoms might be so because your being unhealthy in your mind.

Treatment:


Treatment means removing the root cause. Ayurvedic treatment does not mean suppressing the main symptoms and creating some new ones as side effects of the main treatment. It is to remove the root cause and give permanent relief. The treatment mainly comprises of powders, tablets, decoctions, medicated oils etc. prepared from natural herbs, plants and minerals. Because the medicines are from natural sources and not synthetic, they are accepted and assimilated in the body without creating any side effects and on the other hand, there may be some side benefits.

Along with medicine, proper diet and living style is also advised. This is equally important. If we are taking a medicine to remove the root cause and at the same time we are taking some food or following a life style which is increasing the cause of disease, then we may not get well or will be getting less relief. Panch Karma therapy is also used as a treatment in many diseases.

Thus we find that the methods of diagnosis and treatment are based on simple and natural principles. To conclude we can say that, Ayurveda teaches a very systematic and scientific way of life which is important to pursue both materially and spiritually. Fundamental principles, health rules, knowledge of individual constitution of our body, use of various herbs, minerals and specially Panch Karma therapy can be very safely used by one and all, all over the world to, promote good health, prevent diseases and acquire longevity.

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