Know your Ayurveda

Definition: The term ayurveda consists of two words Ayu: which means life and Veda means science.  So ayurveda is science of life.

One of the main classic of ayurveda, Charak Samhita  says:

 In Sanskrit: Soayamayurvedah shsahvato nirdishyate anadivaat I Svabhaavasansidh lakshanvaat bhavsvabhaav nityatvaach II

 Sanskrit Translation: Ayurveda is an eternal science based on universal laws of nature that has neither beginning nor an end. Being the nature of existence is true therefore this science is also true and eternally acclaimed.

Ayurveda is India's ancient holistic healing science, the "Mother of all healing", is more than 10,000 years old. Ayurveda means science of longevity. Besides healing and prevention, it focuses on rebuilding the cells and tissues to support longevity. Ayurveda is a spiritual science as its goal is to help with one's Self-Realization.

One extraordinary feature of this holy science is its method of personalizing each person's healing path through the insight of different body types or constitutions, called doshas (Vata, pitta & Kapha). Through this individualizing of healing, balance of health is restored gently. A second major exceptional virtue of Ayurveda is its broad based set of tools, which may be used for healing. It offers methods for each of the five senses, taste- herbs and nutrition, smell- aromatherapy, touch- yoga, gem and massage therapies, sound- mantras and sight- color therapy. Lifestyle suggestions are also offered.

Perhaps the most blessed quality that traditional spiritual Ayurveda offers is that it finds the root-cause of illness. By that healing is not only gentle but also effective. The healing theory behind this sacred system is that balance of the three elements (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) is the state of health. An illness is merely and excess or deficiency of one or more of the elements. For example, excess air can cause spacey minds or physical gas. Fire overabundance can create heat rash or a hot temper. An overabundance of water may lead to lethargy, overweight or water illness in the chest region.

The Tridosha

The Five Elements (Five Mahabhootas)

Everything in the universe is made up of combinations of the Five Elements (Pancha Mahabhutas). This includes the human being which also acquires a soul or spirit. These five elements are known as:

• Space or Akasha

• Air or Vayu

• Fire or Tejas

• Water or Apa

• Earth or Prithvi

The five elements can be seen to exist in the material universe at all scales both organic and inorganic, from peas to planets. When they enter into the biology of a living organism, man for example, they acquire a biological form. This means that the five elements are coded into three biological forces which govern all life processes. These three forces are known as the three doshas, or simply the tridosha.. The tridosha regulates every physiological and psychological process in the living organism. The interplay among them determines the qualities and conditions of the individual. A harmonious state of the three doshas creates balance and health; an imbalance, which might be an excess (vrddhi) or deficiency (ksaya), manifests as a sign or symptom of disease.

The three doshas are known as Vata, Pitta , and Kapha.

You can think of these three doshas as fundamental biological energies which regulate all the life processes of an individual. All individuals are made up of these same three energies, we all have them in unique proportions. The doshas obtain their qualities by virtue of their elemental composition

Each of the three doshas is composed of two elements as shown here:

Elements Composing The Tridosha

Vata: Space (Akasha), Air (Vayu)

Pitta: Fire (Tejas), Water (Apa)

Kapha : Water (Apa), Earth (Prithvi)

Thus, Vata is composed of space and air, Pitta of fire and water, and Kapha of water and earth. Vata dosha has the mobility and quickness of space and air; Pitta dosha the metabolic qualities of fire and water; Kapha dosha the stability and solidity of water and earth. Interestingly, the Sanskrit entomology of the word dosha gives it the meaning of “blemish, that which darkens”. This alerts us to the fact that when in balance these force are life-supporting but when imbalanced they are the agents of disease and misery.

Branches of Ayurveda

• Kayachikitsa - General medicine

• Shalya tantra - Surgery

• Shalakya tantra - Diseases of all the organs above the clavicle.

• Kaumarbhritya tantra - Pediatrics, Gynecology & Obstetrics

• Agad tantra - Toxicology

• Bhutavidya - Psychiatry

• Rasayan Tantra - Geriatrics

• Vajikaran Tantra.

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