History of Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a holistic medical stream that lays stress on the prevention of diseases and longevity of human life. It finds its mention in ancient Indian scriptures written 5,000 years ago. It works wonders on not only human body but also helps in spiritual healing. Ayurveda has been handed down to us through verbal propagation through ages. Since writing was not developed in ancient times, the wisdom of Ayurveda was taught and assimilated as part of the spiritual tradition of Vedic Religion.

An important task of giving a textual form to the principles of Ayurveda was accomplished by a famous sage, VedaVyasa. He transformed every nuance of Ayurveda into written form and gave the world an insight into this wonderful stream of medicine.

India is proud of its four ancient scriptures namely the four Vedas:

•    The Rig Veda
•    The Sama Veda
•    The Yajur Veda and
•    The Atharva Veda

The Rig Veda refers to the cosmology, termed as Sankhya. This concept of cosmology constitutes the foundation of Ayurveda and Yoga. The Rig Veda contains principles based on the nature of health, disease, pathogenesis, and treatment. While Rig Veda contains details of three energies namely Vayu, Pitta and Kapha along with the usage of herbs as medicine to heal the diseases of the mind and body, the Atharva Veda contains eight divisions of Ayurveda. These are:

1.    Internal Medicine
2.    Surgery of Head and Neck
3.    Ophthalmology and Otorinolaryngology
4.    Surgery
5.    Toxicology
6.    Psychiatry
7.    Pediatrics
8.    Science of Rejuvenation and Science of Fertility

The material related to Ayurveda was an extract from the Vedic scriptures which was later compiled as a comprehensive source of a system of medicine. One of the compilations is known as ‘Atreya Samhita’. ‘Atreya Samhita’ is the oldest book on medicine known to mankind. The Ayurveda applications were practiced by Brahmans who played the dual role of priests, performing religious rites and ceremonies, and that of Ayurveda physicians.

One of the remarkable things about Ayurveda is that it has been conceived and envisioned by sages who were deeply devoted holy people. They considered health as an inherent part of human life for a meaningful sustenance. Principles of Ayurveda were envisaged through intensive meditation and divine revelation. These ethics were later recorded into a book that also included other facets of a healthy life and spirituality.

Gradually Ayurveda emerged as a widely respected healing system in India. In 1500 B.C., Ayurveda got bifurcated into eight divisions of medicine. It developed under two main schools:

•    Atreya - the school of physicians, and
•    Dhanvantari - the school of surgeons

Both these schools of Ayurveda were authenticated on scientific basis.

In the ancient and medieval times, many learned men from countries like China, Tibet, Greece, Rome, Egypt, Afghanistan, Persia etc. came to India to attain the wisdom of Ayurveda. Texts of Ayurveda were translated in numerous foreign languages that resulted in its popularity world over.

Two ancient personalities who played a major role in propagating Ayurveda were Charak and Sushrut. Their work found its place in ‘Ashtanga Hridaya’. Apart from it, the other two compilations of Ayurveda are Charak Samhita and Sushrut Samhita. These scriptures contain authentic and comprehensive knowledge of Ayurveda.

Ancient Indian wisdom invokes Ayurveda as a complete system of health care that integrates mind, body and spirit. It has been validated by the modern science in the contemporary world. Numerous divine principles and Ayurveda applications are put into practice for sustenance of healthy human life. It can be said with certainty that Ayurveda is a precious gift of an ancient civilization to the modern world.