Ayurveda

Ayurveda was first described by Agnivesha, in his book Agnivesh tantra. The book was later revised by Charaka, and renamed to Charaka Samhitā.[citation needed] Other early texts of Ayurveda include the Charaka Samhitā and the Sushruta Samhitā, which served as textual material in the ancient Universities of Takshashila and Nalanda. [1] The texts are believed to have been written around the beginning of the Common Era, and is based on a holistic approach rooted in earlier Vedic culture. Its conspicuous use of the word veda, or knowledge, reveals its role in early Hinduism and explains its popularity in India. The origin of Ayurvedic medical sciences is claimed to come from a divine revelation from Lord Brahma.

History

In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, discovered that the people of Indus Valley Civilization, even from the early Harappan periods (circa 3300 BC), had knowledge of medicine and even dentistry. The physical anthropologist that carried out the examinations made the discovery when he was cleaning the teeth of one of the men.

Documented references to the origin of Ayurveda are not available. The age of Ayurveda is established via correlation and circumstantial evidence. Ayurveda was first described by Agnivesha, in his book Agnivesh tantra, which were written during Vedic times. The book was later revised by Charaka, and renamed to Charaka Samhitā.[citation needed] Other early texts of Ayurveda include the Charaka Samhitā and the Sushruta Samhitā[1] The system was orally transferred via the Gurukul system until a script came into existence.

The earliest scripts would have been written on materials such as Taalpatra and Bhojapatra, which could not be readily preserved.[citation needed] The script was later written on stone and copper sheets.[citation needed] Verses dealing with Ayurveda are included in the Atharvaveda, which implies that some form of Ayurveda is as old as the Vedas. [citation needed] The actual age of the Ayurvedic practice is difficult to establish because it was practiced originally by small tribal groups before spreading to the general populace and gradually taking shape as a mode of health care.

Hinduism attributes the genesis of Ayurveda to several theories in which the knowledge is believed to have been passed on from person to person . According to Charaka Samhita, the Hindu God Brahma transferred the Ayurvedic teachings and knowledge to Jatukarna, Bhel, Parashar, Hareeta and Ksharpani, via the following chronological order: Brahma → Daksha Prajapati → Ashwani kumar → Indra → Bhardwaj → Atreya Punarvasu → Agnivesh → Bhel, Parashar, Hareeta and Ksharpani. However, according to Sushruta Samhita Bramha transferred the knowledge via the following chronological order: Brahma → Daksha Prajapati → Ashwani Kumar → Indra → Dhanvantari → Aupdhenav, Vaitaran, Aurabhra , Pushklavata, Karveerya, Gopur Rakshit and Sushruta. In another view, accroding to Kashyap Samhita, Brahma transferred the knowledge to via Ashwini Kumara to Indra, thereby to Vashishta via Kashyapa and Atri, Bhrigu etc; lastly among them Atri transferred the knowledge to his son and his pupils subsequently.

Development

Nagarjuna, a follower of Buddha, is a well known herbologist, known for inventing various new drugs for the treatment of ailments

Ayurveda was practiced during the time of the time of the Buddha (around 520 BC) , and in this period the Ayurvedic practitioners were commonly using Mercuric-sulphur combination based medicines.[3] In this period Mercury and sulphur and other metals were used in conjunction with herbs to prepare the different medications. An important Ayurvedic practicionner of this period was Nagarjuna, a Buddhist herbologist, famous for inventing various new drugs for the treatment of ailments. Nagarjuna was accompanied by Surananda, Nagbodhi, Yashodhana, Nityanatha, Govinda, Anantdev, Vagbhatta etc. The knowledge of Ayurveda progressed a lot during this period; and is therefore termed as the Golden Period of Ayurveda.[citation needed]

After emerging victorious at the Kalinga war, Emperor Ashoka (304 BC-232 BC) influenced by the Buddhist teachings, banned any bloodshed in his kingdom in 250 BC. Therefore many Ayurveda practitioners, who were practicing surgery along with medicine, left the surgical intervention and adopted totally new medicinal treatments. In this period, Ayurveda flourished with the invention of new drugs, new methodology and new innovations. The practice of the accompanying surgery slowly died out.[citation needed]

During the regime of Chandragupta Maurya (375-415 AD), Ayurveda was part of mainstream Indian medical techniques, and continued to be so until the invasion of Alexander, the Mughals and the English.

Chakrapani Dutta (DuttaSharma) was one of the great Vaid Brahmin of Bengal who wrote valueable books like "Chakradutta" and others . Chakrapani Dutta was the Rajabaidya of King Nayapala(1038 - 1055). Some says Chakradutta is the essence of Ayurveda .

Ayurveda was preserved and saved by the people of India as a traditional "science of life", despite increasing adoption of European and other medical techniques.

Gurukul system of Ayurveda

In the earlier days of its conception, the system of Ayurvedic medicine was orally transferred via the Gurukul system until a written script came into existence.

In this system, the guru gave a solemn address where he directed the students to a life of chastity, honesty, and vegetarianism. The student was to strive with all his being for the health of the sick. He was not to betray patients for his own advantage. He was to dress modestly and avoid strong drink. He was to be collected and self-controlled, measured in speech at all times. He was to constantly improve his knowledge and technical skill. In the home of the patient he was to be courteous and modest, directing all attention to the patient's welfare. He was not to divulge any knowledge about the patient and his family. If the patient was incurable, he was to keep this to himself if it was likely to harm the patient or others.

The normal length of the student's training appears to have been seven years. Before graduation, the student was to pass a test. But the physician was to continue to learn through texts, direct observation (pratyaksha), and through inference (anumāna). In addition, the vaidyas attended meetings where knowledge was exchanged. The doctors were also enjoined to gain knowledge of unusual remedies from hillsmen, herdsmen, and forest-dwellers.

Traditions of Ayurveda

Three traditions of Ayurveda exist today — two of them based on the compendiums of Charka and Sushruta Samhitās, and a third tradition known as Kāshyapas. However, Ayurvedaic remedies prior to these traditions also exist, as mentioned in the earlier Vedic literature (2nd millennium BC). Both the Sushruta and Charaka Samhitās are the product of several editorial hands, having been revised and supplemented over a period of several hundred years. The scholar Vāgbhata, who lived in Sindh at the beginning of the 7th century AD, wrote a synthesis of earlier Ayurvedaic materials in a verse work called the Ashtānga Hridayam. Another work associated with the same author, the Ashtānga Samgraha, contains much the same material in a more diffuse form, written in a mixture of prose and verse. The relationship between these two works, and a third intermediate compilation, is still a topic of active research. The works of Charaka, Sushruta, and Vāgbhata are considered canonical and reverentially called the Vriddha Trayi, "The Triad of Ancients"; or Brhat Trayi, "The Greater Triad." In the early 8th century, Mādhav wrote his Nidāna, a work on etiology, which soon assumed a position of authority. In the 79 chapters of this book, he lists diseases along with their causes, symptoms, and complications. Teachings of Ayurveda

Ayurveda teaches two main principles:

• Preservation of health - how to maintain health and what to do to keep the human body healthy and fit to avoid sickeness

• Methods, medicine, and tactics for management of diseases and ailments to cure and procure a return to normal health.

Medications

Ayurveda believes that various materials of vegetable, animal, and mineral origin have some medicinal value. The medicinal properties of these materials are time tested and have been used for centuries in ayurvedic medicines to cure illness and/or help maintain health. Ayurvedic medicaments are made from herbs or mixtures of herbs, either alone or in combination with minerals, metals and other ingredients of animal origin. The metals, animals and minerals are purified by individual processes before being used for medicinal purposes. Impurified materials are not allowed to be used as medicine.

Though every writer or compiller of Ayurveda classicals Charaka, Sushruta, Vagabhatta, Bhav Mishra, Shaligram and others have written about the qualities, charecteristics and medicinal uses of the herbs, mineral, metals, chemicals, animal parts, cooked food articles,natural foods , fruits etc. Among them, the best details of the medicinal properties of all the above mentoned categories is considered to be in Bhav Prakash Nighantu, written by Bhav Mishra.

The composition of the Nighantu part (Ayurvedic Materia Medica) of Bhav Prakash is a part of the classical book.The details of the medicinal herbs are given according to the nature, effects, curing properties observed by the Ayurvedaic practitioners since centuries based on the practical experiences.

Many Ayurvedic Materia Medica is separately written by several authors in Hindi, Sansakrit and English Languages. Shaligram Nighantu is written in Sanskrit language.Banaushadhi Chandrodaya is written in Hindi Language. Indian Materia Medica is written in the English language. Besides these, many books are available on Ayurvedic Materia Medica subject.

Today

Ayurvedic physicians were traditionally supported by their patients and the communities they worked in, with a minority gaining royal patronage. Under the centralized governmental systems established by the Mughals and subsequent British rule in India, many Ayurvedaic physicians were paid small stipends by the state. But when the British government in India began to establish hospitals and organised state-wide health-care institutions (which lead eventually to the Indian Medical Service), Ayurveda was not included. In the early 20th century, Ayurvedic physicians began to organize into professional associations and to promote their case for national recognition and funding. This began to become a reality after Indian independence in 1947. Today, Kerala is the state in India that promotes research and practices Ayurveda the most.[citation needed] There are many Ayurvedic centers (known as Vaidya shala in the local vernacular) all over Kerala.

Today, Ayurveda is gaining lots of interest in the western world, largely due to its promotion by Deepak Chopra [2] [3]. The most commonly practiced Ayurvedic treatments in the west are massage, and dietary and herbal advice, due to the strong regulations surrounding medical practice in Europe and America. Ayurveda classifies patients by body types, or prakriti, which are determined by proportions of the three doshas. Contrary to scientific understanding of germs, viruses and genetic faults, Illness and disease are considered to be a matter of imbalance in the doshas. Treatment is aimed at restoring harmony or balance to the mind-body system.

In some states of India, Charak Samhita and Sushruta Samhita are included in the curriculum of modern medical courses (M.B.B.S). Ayurveda is gaining prominence as an alternative to western allopathic medicine. However, the traditional methods of teaching Ayurveda, such as undergoing a rigorous study of Sanskrit in Gurukul, are discarded and the education and training of Ayurveda is now taught as an integrated course both with the subjects of modern medical sciences and Ayurvedic sciences. All over India, these integrated courses are taught in five and half years degree course i.e. B.A.M.S. (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) with extra one year internship in hospital for practicals. All the standard medical science subjects are being taught along with Ayurvedic subjects i.e. Maulik Siddhant, Materia Medica, Kayachikitsa etc. in Ayurvedic medical colleges. The Legal status of the Ayurvedic practitioners is the same and equal as of the other medical sciences practitioners.

Research in Ayurveda is under taken by the Federal Government statutory body Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS), which have national network of research institutes. Besides this, a large number of non-government organisations are conducting research work on different aspects of Ayurveda. This research expands diagnostic tools and speeds the innovation of new medicines.

Ayurvedaic practitioners have been appointed to Honorary Ayurvedic Physician to the President of India. Every year on the occasion of Dhanvantari jayanti, a prestigious Dhanvantari Award is conferred on famous personality of Medical Sciences including Ayurveda.