Ayurved – Way of Life

Rtn. Rajiv Sharma,


No other medical science could probably be, compared with Ayurved, in the world. Ayurved, being, Veda, itself, is auspicious & enhances all the five vital forces in the physiology. Some Call Ayurved the fifth Ved or sub veda of Attarva Ved. Like Dhanurved is of Rigved, Gandharva ved (fine arts) of Yajurved, Sthapatyaveda (architecture) of Samved.

Even though ancient, Ayurved is surviving because if it’s basic eternity in fundamental principles. It’s a treasure of knowledge & wisdom regarding health & hygiene. Most of the criticism of Ayurved is half baked or based on misconceptions, prejudices or misunderstanding.

Ayurved – implies science of Life.
Ayur – inseparable combination of body mind & soul
Veda – complete & thorough knowledge

The definition of “Ayurved” in Charak Samhita is

Life is of four types:

Hita : useful / advantage
A- hita : harmful / disadvantage
Sukh : pleasing / happy
Dukh : miserable / unhappy

Thus Ayurved deals with all 4 aspects of life – As any science – Ayurved is science – It has its own basic theories, principles & concepts. It has its own characteristics.

Life, in Ayur, is described as inseparable combination of the body, mind, senses & soul

Life span is nothing but the combination of consciousness, the act of staying alive, transmigration of spirits from one stage to another (or from one birth to another), sustenance of the consciousness throughout the life span.

Ayurved has its own particular definition of general terms –

Dravya (the matter) – causative & curative

Knowledge of their Ras (properties & therapeutic actions) & Dosh (side or harmful effects)

Any practitioners of any medicine who has knowledge of Ras & Dosha of Dravya has knowledge of balance to be maintained seldom commits mistake in ascertaining & treatment of any disease.

Karma (action with intention) & Karya (actions we have to do) & their effect are edifices on which Science of Ayurved is based on.

The Arogya & Swasth also have different meaning in Ayurved.

A complete and perfectly healthy man is he, whose Wata, Pitta & Kapha dosh; rakta-ras and seven dhatu are all in proportion functioning well & whose sense organs, mind & soul are delightful & rejoicing – is a healthy man in real sense Swastha

One whose doshas, agni and functions of dhatu & malas are in state of equilibrium; whose mind intellect – sense organs and spirits all are in the cheerful state, is described as ‘swastha’ healthy.

Ayurved also makes difference between Hitayuh – advantages of life & Sukhayuh – happy life. We are more running towards sukhayuh rather than Hitayuh.

The entire section of treatment in this science rest not only on the physical / anatomical parts but, practitioners of Ayurved say, the treatment is too administered for the mind, sense & soul. It can be said that Ayurved lays emphasis upon not only leading a life which is full of happiness, which an individualistic attitude, but also leading a life which will be useful to society as a whole. Unless Society becomes happy, it will not be possible for the individual to attain or maintain his own happiness. Ayurved texts are replete with references to the manner in which the society can be made happy.

Rotary Speaks of “Service above self” Ayurved did that 4000 years ago own sukha after others hitaya Other person’s happiness makes you happy that happiness has better effect on your well being than seeking happiness for our ownself (physical strength, virile life etc. winning at all cost) Rotary speaks out for peaceful & calm world Ayurved did that. Stay away from passion, anger, envy, pride & prestige, and sloth (kama, krodha, lobha, mad, mathsar) Bible talks about these seven sins.

Medicine “Bheshajam – Aushadh

Ayurved considers every thing as “Bheshajam” – Ayurved does not find anything which does not have medicinal value.

Chikitsa - treatment

Hitam – an useful means

Pathyam appropriate / suitable food - If your diet is wrong medicines are useless; & if your diet is correct medicines are not necessary

Prayashchittam (fasting, wearing of gems, sacrifice, rituals, mangalstakas, atonements, bali, offerings etc.) Only Ayurved talks of this as a way to treat a person.

Ayurved codifies your life from when to wake up when & how much to sleep, what, when, how & how much to eat, similar suggestions are given about hygiene, sex, behavior towards elders, peers, youngsters etc. Islam codified life, for Muslims later. Its different story that Muslims still follow it & we have own code for one self Hindus in general are very suspicious people when some one tell us to how to do some thing, we go & do exactly opposite things. Some thing or ways are difficult to follow due to conditions, circumstances, rule of law and many factors, we have learned to adapt as per environment. Islamic laws were laid down as it was principally a Middle East religion. Desert was only area know to people & Prophet then so he wrote of behavior & customs to be followed which had logic based on survival in conditions of desert & hostile environment then towards followers of Islam then. Now some may not be applicable in say India or Europe. Similarly Ayurved’s ways may seem absurd now but when early practitioners of Ayurved wrote books or tried to teach proper way of living they took in to consideration contemporary conditions then. Now Modern Vaidyas & practitioners of Ayurved are trying to update the science & bring it up to date. Now there are disease / aliments which need different ways of treatment. Modern life’s requirements are different & hence outlook needs to change.

Legends have it that Lord Brahma first perceived the knowledge of Ayurved & taught to Daksha-prajapati But only after advent of Lord Dhanvantari, from churning of sea by Gods & Demons, with Kalash of Amrit did the start of Ayurved as such we know today then through Guru-shishya parampara this knowledge right from Lord Dhanvantari to Prajapati to Ashwini Kumars to Indra & from him to Atreya & all rishis & munis like Charak, Sushrut, Bharadwaj, Kashyap, Vasistha, Bhrgu, it came to us. But as in earlier days it was not written by passed on by teacher to student by oral teaching & student learned them by heart & passed on to others in similar ways. So some teachings got lost & some distorted but later Charak & Sushrut wrote & they compiled them & written records were created. But again many scriptures, as we did not had tendency to keep proper record many of those writings got lost too. The Atreya school primary deals with medicine & the Dhanvantari school mainly deals with surgery. We can identify with three main persons who contributed in growth of Ayurved – Charak, Sushrut & Wagbhatt. All must be aware Charak wrote Charak Samhita, Sushrut is considered pioneer in surgery. Wagbhatt was not only great poet & scholar of Sanskrit but he also wrote – Ashtang Hridaya.

Ayurved can be divided in 8 branches;
1. Kayachkitsa – internal medicine
2. Salya tantra – surgery
3. Salakya tantra – Treatment of diseases of head & neck.
4. Agada tantra – toxicology
5. Bhuta vidya – management of mental disorders / seizures etc.
6. Bala tantra – pediatrics
7. Rasayana tantra – Geriatrics including rejuvenation therapy
8. Vajikarana tantra – Science of Aphrodisiacs

Although some scholars, hold Panchakarma citkitsa, an additional branch of Ayurved.

Amongst all these eight branches of Ayurved, Salya tantra is well admired. Sushrut is supposed to be the first surgeon. There are very perfect descriptions of surgical operations at various places in Sushrut Samhita & some other volumes. But here to lack of knowledge of anesthesia, which in Ayurved is called “Sammohana”, a integral part of surgery, due to loss of volumes & scriptures of these subject has make this arm of Ayurved still or redundant. And during advent of Buddhism practice of ahimsa became popular & surgery was considered as himsa & thus was discouraged.

Other progress was also hampered as many books on Ayurved have simply disappeared. Look at surgery – Sushrut is without doubt considered father of modern surgery but what about surgery in Ayurvedic treatments.

The total number of verses in present Charak Samhita is 8419 but scriptures shows that originally Charak Samhita originally had 12000 verses that means approx. 3500 shlokas are lost. Science by nature is progressive. It is more so in the case of medical science. Any arrest of this progress leads to dogmas, prejudices and accumulation of superstitious ideas. Down the years original works were destroyed. And since in medieval period people having no base & very little scholarship started commenting & their comments were wrong or interpreted wrongly, unauthorized modifications were made without proper research. Hence Ayurved suffered.

When I say Ayurved is not just a system of medicine but a way of life – consider this – Ayurved classifies

1. Your Mental faculties – Sattvik (has Brahma, Arsa, Aindra, Yamaya, Varuna, Kauvera & Gandharva), Rajasik (has Asura, Raksasa, Paisacik, Sarpa, Preta, Sakuni) & Tamasik (has Pashavi(animal), Matsya & Vanaspatya.
2. It codifies your daily habits (Dincharya);
a. Cleaning
b. Protection of eyes
c. Drinking of water
d. Toilet habits
e. Oral hygine
f. Massage (head, eyes, ears, nasal)
g. Exercise, (good & bad effect)
h. Dresses to wear
i. Use of ornament, stones, metals etc.
j. Use of foot wear
k. Food habits time to eat & when & what not to eat
l. Smoking, drinking
m. Code of good ethics
n. Grammar & way to speak what to speak in front of elders peers younger person
o. Type of friends you should have
p. Unsuitable person for friendship

3. It codifies your night habits (Ratricharya);
a. Sleep (Types of Sleep)
b. Prohibits sleep during daytime
c. Causes of insomnia
d. Conduct during night meal
e. Kind of food at night
f. Reading during night
g. & of course sex (it advices to make habit to take a glass of milk with sugar before & after the act.)

4. It codifies your habits for every season (Ritucharya) & their effect on body, mind & soul;
a. Divided into two & sub divided into three ritu each
i. Uttarayana (dehydration) (shishir, Vasant & grishma)
ii. Daksinayana (hydration) (Varsa, Sharad, Hemant)

5. It gives meaning & explains every minute thing you do your natural urges & what you can if & when you have them (like yawning) & what urges are to not be suppressed & what are to be suppressed in what circumstances like a Sanskit vesrse says; A wise man is he who suppresses urges relating to rashness & evil deeds mental, oral & physical(thinks we say, think or do) also who refrains from satisfying the urges relating to greed, grief, fear, anger, vanity, shamelessness, jealousy, envy & malice. Violence, bad untimely words, adultery are also on top of the list. It stresses that urge to give, as soon as you have should be satisfied- so if you have urge to give to TRF now give write the check before this meeting ends & you shall be a swastha person as I said earlier.

6. The causes of all diseases have been classified in to three
a. Intellectual blasphemy
b. Unwholesome conjunction of sense organs (Physical blasphemy)
c. Vagaries of weather & age