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        Ayurveda, translated ‘the science of life’, is an Indian system of medicine, based on solid foundations that are fully sustained by long experimentation and philosophical propositions, dating back to about 1,000 BCE. In India Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems are the formal and most organised amongst the traditional systems of medicine. The Tibetan system of medicine is considered as an off-shoot of Ayurveda.

        Ayurveda encompasses all aspects of life and disease, such as anatomy, physiology, pathology, symptomatology and medical prescription to cure a disease. That this system of medicine, developed millennia ago, is still prevalent, in spite of great odds, is amazing. The Chinese system of medicine also is ancient and still prevalent, but it did not face such rough weather as Ayurveda did.

        Knowledge of Ayurvedic medicine has unfortunately been confined to India and the west is largely ignorant of it. Even in India, this traditional medical practice has lost a lot of its importance in the urban situations. One of the main reasons for this is that much of the early and core medical literature on Ayurveda is in samskrit, the ancient language which ceased to be a day-to-day language in this century, except in extremely small groups of the vast Indian population. Even today a considerable bulk of Ayurvedic knowledge is in the form of ancient palm leaf manuscripts hidden in remote libraries and private collections, and as treasured personal knowledge of a few individuals. The net result is that Ayurveda has been away from lime light and does not enjoy the importance and popularity it deserves. A sporadic chest-beating by a few Indians, on its antiquity, greatness and importance, has not done much to the cause of Ayurveda.

       Ayurveda is an eminently rational system of medicine and conceptually differing from the folk or home medicine, which is largely a matter of localized community experience and individualised medical practice, and from bhoothavaidya which is heavily loaded with occult practices.

        The Ayurvedic system grew vigorously till about 1300 CE, and the beginning of that century, however, marked the end of a glorious era of growth and standardisation. In the medieval times, by a curious combination of circumstances, the rasayana practices reappeared, and the drugs and remedies evolved in this systems got incorporated into Ayurveda.

        Ayurveda had a glorious past even during the Buddhist times. It was taught in Universities of Nalanda and Taxsila. Subsequent cultural revolutions, spiritual renaissance and various political interventions have caused its decline. Jainism and preaching of total nonviolence have also affected practices of Charaka Samhitha, as many animal products were used as medicine. Surgery was totally banned in the cause of nonviolence. Human cadaver dissections were forbidden. Muslim rulers invaded India resulting in a serious cultural change. Moghal concepts of medicine were encouraged and Ayurveda faced a tough time. Further on, the European colonisation and import of their medicine followed by the domination of allopathy have caused an immense damage to the practice of Ayurveda.

        Even after India achieved independence, the situation did not improve immediately. The Indian systems of medicine received governmental recognition only after the National Health Policy was adopted in 1983. The status of Ayurvedic education has improved slowly, though even now not to the extent desirable. A Central Council of Indian Medicine now supervises this area. The issue is now focussed better after the setting up of the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy, in 1995, in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The State Governments have similar departments. There are many colleges that teach Ayurveda at the degree and postgraduate level. However, there is a great and urgent need to establish several centres of higher learning and research on Ayurveda in the country, as there are only very few such institutions, such as the Gujarath Ayurveda University, Janmnagar, the Faculty of Ayurveda of the Banaras Hindu University, and the National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur.

THE DIMENSIONS OF AYURVEDA

        Ayurveda aims at all men being healthy, fit in body and keen in mind. Curing of diseased condition and the maintenance of health have not been the only aims of Ayurveda. It is concerned with harmonising secular conduct and spiritual pursuit through a realisation of the true relationships between and among the complex of body, mind and soul and the eternal Universe. The ultimate end is not merely mundane happiness but spiritual elevation. To achieve its objectives, Ayurveda developed into a comprehensive encyclopedia of knowledge in medical subjects like genetics, gynaecology, obstetrics, aetiology, diagnosis, therapeutics, surgery, physiology, biology, dietetics, ethics, personal hygiene, preventive treatment and social medicine. The allied subjects like animal biology, botany, herbal cultivation, pharmacognosy, compounding and chemistry and also some subjects that are not usually considered as medical, like cosmology, climatology, psychology, parapsychology, philosophy and religion, have an important consideration in the Ayurvedic system. Mastery of Ayurveda presupposes a knowledge in all these subjects.

        The Ayurvedic texts (samhithas) are distinguished by careful and penetrating observations, exhaustive and classified information, and an able presentation of the available knowledge in medicine and allied subjects that contribute to medicine.

        There is a rigorous standard for the training of physicians and a meticulous code of personal ethics and social conduct for the medical profession. With deep insight, farsightedness and depth, Ayurvedic medical code stands a favourable comparison with the Hippocratic code.

THE SAMHITHAS, THE ENCYCLOPAEDIC SOURCE TEXTS OF AYURVEDA

        The treatises called Samhithas prepared by Charaka, Sushrutha and Ashtangahridaya, are the major source texts of Ayurveda.

        Charaka Samhitha deals mainly with anatomy, physiology, aetiology, prognosis, pathology, influence of environmental factors, medicines, appliances, procedure and sequence of medication. These topics were discussed in 150 chapters, under the following eight sections: a) Suthra sthana, b) Nidana sthana, c) Vimana sthana, d) Shareera sthana, e) Indriya sthana, f) Chikitsa sthana, g) Kalpa sthana and h) Siddhi sthana.

        Sushruta Samhitha follows more or less the same pattern, but gives surgery, the place of honour. In fact, the Dhanvanthari school of medicine, to which Sushrutha belongs, believed surgery to be the most ancient and most efficacious of the eight branches of medical knowledge. Sushruta samhitha contains six sections. It deals with fundamental postulates, pathology, embryology, anatomy, therapeutic and surgical treatment, and toxicology in five sections (Sutra, Nidana, Shareera, Chikitsa, and Kalpa sthanas). The final section is on subsequently gained and specialised knowledge of topics dealt with in earlier works. These are arranged in 184 chapters. Sushruta Samhitha is very concise in language and is a repository of extensive factual information. It describes the necessity and modus operandi of dissections on human cadavers for gaining accurate anatomical knowledge. The elaborations of a large variety of medical prescriptions and their compounding, therapeutic methods including psychiatric and surgical procedures employing specific instruments for each type of operation are scientific, sound and exhaustive. Sushruta described more than 300 different operations employing 42 different surgical processes and 121 different types of instruments.