“If you do not learn from history,

You will relive history”

Cicero, the Roman thinker.



Ayurveda (ayush=life; vid=wisdom-Sanskrit) is said to be the most ancient of medical systems. The ancient Vedic tradition, cognized by the Great Indian seers, offers a wealth of knowledge for healthy and meaningful life.1 Since Ayurveda (Part of Atharvaveda, the last of the four Vedas) is timeless and unbounded it has relevance even to the present day. It was Mark Twain who once said: “So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”



The philosophy of Ayurveda believes that everything in this Universe is composed of five elements, the panchbhootas. They, in turn, constitute the three doshas or bio-energetic forces that govern our health and determine our constitution. The trigunas or psychic forces determine our mental and spiritual health. Ayurveda teaches us to balance all these to live a healthy, happy and contented life.



Unlike modern medicine, Ayurveda recognizes that the mind and body are but the two manifestations of the same consciousness-mind as the field of ideas and the body as the field of molecules and organs. Each tries to help keep the other working and healthy extracting nourishment from the environment. Elimination of impurities of the emotional wounds are as important as the elimination of the waste matter from the body to have true physical, emotional and spiritual health.



Modern “risk factor hypothesis” pales into insignificance in view of the most elaborate knowledge in Ayurveda. Some of the recent additions to the modern medical list like hostility form the basis of the Ayurvedic risk factors. Viz.



Khrodha, shoka, bhaya, aayaasa, virudhaanna bhojana,

Thaponnalaan, lavanakshara…rakta pitta prakopayeth”



(Anger, depression and sorrow, extreme fear, exhaustion, wrong foods, sedentary living, too much salt and spices lead to most major killer diseases)



The solution is also simple:



“Nithya hitha, mitha aahaara sevi, sameekshkaari, dhata samaha sathyapara

kshamavaan aapthopasevi aarogyam.”



(Have food in moderation and that which pleases the mind. Do not cheat or tell lies. Work very hard. Forgive others even if they hurt you. Treat all as your own kith and kin. Health would be yours always.) 2



Vedic wisdom follows non-linear mathematics (Vedic Mathematics) and the laws akin to modern quantum physics. It is, therefore, the right approach for holistic assessment of health and disease. Its aims are not only to heal the sick, but also to preserve life by preventing illness-most complete system of health care known.2



Ayurvedic treatment is based on restoring the disturbed balance of the three doshas-vata, pitta, and kapha - very much like the humors theory of Hippocrates. It takes into consideration the whole human being, and not just the phenotype. The tridosha concept takes into consideration the phenotype, genotype as also the mind, in classifying patients. Consequently, treatment differs even for the same disease from individual to individual, based on the constitutional types.



Whereas billions of tons of water get displaced during the tidal changes in the oceans due to the gravitational pull of the moon, the human body, which is mostly water, could not be exempt from the effects of the planets. Ayurvedic astrology plays a large part in the total picture of disease and its cure. Many of us “scientists” who feel nauseated at the very mention of the word astrology would do well to know that Isaac Newton and Gelileo were both practising astrologers. The science of astrology is good but not the astrologers’ predictions! Most predictions, including the ones we make in scientific medicine, are just “predicting the unpredictable.”3



Empirical knowledge, derived from long term prospective studies, form the basis of therapy in Ayurveda, unlike the short term case-control studies or, even, cohort studies based on matching the controls, based on phentotypical features alone, as is done in modern medicine. Treatment is tailored to individual needs and could be broadly grouped into the following:

* Detoxification-panchakarmas

* Diet.

* Yoga.

* Herbal Medications.

* Meditation and Prayer (No particular God or Book prescribed)

* Ayurvedic Surgery.



Advances in Ayurvedic surgery could be gauged from the intricate rhinoplasty described thousands of years ago by Shushruta. Trephining, stone removal from various sites, abdominal childbirth, hysterectomy, episiotomy, fracture setting, tumour surgery, and many minor surgical procedures had been described. They had 127 instruments and suture materials. Anaesthesia, sanmohini, was very much advanced. Aseptic methods looked most modern.



The lancet used for small pox vaccination closely resembles the one used in modern medicine. In fact, the authentication for Jenner’s vaccination came from the ancient Ayurvedic vaccination’s proven track record. A Fellow, Dr. T.Z.Holwell, who personally had ten-year follow up experience in The Bengal Province, presented the details of ancient Indian vaccination methods to the London Royal College of Physicians in 1747. 4



Training of a physician was very rigorous lasting for several years. The problem-based learning was used while the student resided with the teacher.





Picture of students and teacher here. (attachment)





Dead body dissection was compulsory to achieve mastery in anatomy. Thousands of years before the advent of the microscope Charaka Samhita explained how the body was made of cells in every organ. It also described twenty microorganisms that could cause disease.5



Graphic descriptions of the various organs, especially the heart were remarkable.6



picture of heart and lotus here. (attachment)



(The heart is supposed to resemble a lotus bud kept upside down, twelve fingerbreadths above the navel in the chest with its tip slightly to the left of the midline. A large vessel takes blood (god’s power) from the heart to all parts of the body from the tip of the toe to the top of the head. Heart not only pumps blood with each beat, but sucks blood with each diastole, and hence the name Hridaya (hrit=suck; dadaathi=give)



Detailed texts existed for physiology, symptomatology, surgery, drug therapy and diet. The graphic description of the anginal pain and its origin was amazing.7



“Athaatho hradrogaprathishedam vyakyaswamyah

Yathovaacha Baghavan Dhanvantharim:

“Ayaammyathe Maaruthaje Hradayam Thudyathe,

Nirmaathyathe Dheeryathe Cha Spotyathe,

Paaticha Thrishnoshadaahachoshaam syuhu Paithikecha,

Dhoomaayam Cha Moorchaa Cha Swedhahako.”

(In this chapter Baghavan Dhanvanthari (God of Healing) personally describes the symptoms of heart disease and impending death by heart attacks. “Patient might, at times, only feel pricking pain in the chest, vibrations (palpitations), burning pain, or at other times the pain may be so severe, resembling the pain of splitting the chest into two halves with an axe! Patient may have unusual thirst, burning all over the body, breathlessness, extreme exhaustion, mouth breathing as the patient feels that the nostrils are not enough to breathe, profuse sweating, pale face, stiffness of the body, and, finally, even unconsciousness might result.”)



There are eight branches of Ayurveda integrated at all levels: surgery, medicine, gynaecology, paediatrics, toxicology, otorhinolaryngology, rejuvination, and virilification therapy. Medical ethics were discussed in great detail. The oath of the Indian physician is much more elaborate compared to the Hippocratic oath.



History has enough data to show how the ancient Indian texts and pundits were taken to Greece by the army of Alexander the Great. In a classic, India in Greece, Pococke, the Greek historian, described how Aryans (cultured men-Sanskrit) migrated from India to Greece via Sumeria and many other countries.1



The most famous of all the texts are the Charaka Samhitha and the Shushruta Samhita, while there are many others of significance like Madhava Nidhaana. The myriad cultures, languages and beliefs, as diverse as Indian philosophy and religion, are all intertwined encompassing her vast history with Ayurveda getting mentioned everywhere as an inseparable part of human life in India, show the greatness of Ayurveda.



There is an awareness of the growing importance of this system of sustaining life in various parts of Europe, North America, South East Asia, and Japan where they have started medical schools in Ayurvedic system. Many of the ancient methods could be studied using the modern methods of inquiry. Thousands of medicinal plants mentioned in the ancient texts could hold the key to future inexpensive pharmacology!



Charaka, the great Ayurvedic sage wrote. “That is designated as Ayurveda or the science of life wherein are laid down the good and bad of life, the happy and unhappy life, and what is wholesome and what is unwholesome of life, as also the measure of life.” 8



Modern medicine, having become prohibitively expensive by going to the market place riding piggyback on technology, is beyond the reach of the common man even in advanced countries. This does not take into consideration of the cost of defensive medicine being practised in the West to keep the insurance companies at a distance! While we need to complement modern medicine, which is exceedingly effective for emergency care, with less expensive but equally effective methods good for long term care, Ayurveda fits the bill perfectly. It is both authentic and scientific. In addition, it is highly effective.



“It is never too late to give up your prejudices”



Henry David Thoreau.





BIBLIOGRAPHY.



1. Laxminkantham V. Origin of Human Past. Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay 1999.

2. Kutumbiah P. Ancient Indian Medicine. Orient Longman’s Bombay, 1962.

3. Firth WJ. Predicting the Unpredictable. BMJ 1991; 303: 1565-68.

4. Dharmapal. Indian Science and Technology in the 18th Century. 1983. Academy of Gandhian Studies, Hyderabad.India.

5. Warrior G and Gunawant D. Ayurveda-Ancient Indian Healing Tradition. 1997. Element Books Ltd. Shaftesbury, Dorset.

6. Dashasookthaani. Chapter Narayansookthaani of Yejurveda (One of the four Vedas)

7. Hegde BM: Angina an Indian Disease. J. Assoc. Physi. India 1999; 47:440-442.

8. Frawley David. Ayurveda and the Mind. 2000. Motilal Banarsidas

Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi.