‘Ayur’‘veda’ – ‘Life’‘Science’

Udai SJC – 3rd March

Happy Holi
Nikhil Rasiwasia
Ayurveda - Origins
 Accurate dating is uncertain
 More objectively identifiable after the
advent of Buddhism (c. 500 BC)
 Invasion of Darius, Alexander brought
exchange
 Significant medical content can be
found in Rig-Veda (presumed origin c.
1500 BC)
 Early writings on perishable bhojpatra
Vedas
 It is the bedrock upon which Ayurveda rests
 Considered to be composed around 1500-2000 BC
 Four veda
 Rig-veda : lots of stuff
 Sam-veda : Soma sacrifice
 Yajur-veda : entire sacrificial rite
 Athar-veda : non-relegious (1200 BC), lots of medical text
(fever, diarrhes, heart disease, jaundice, cough, leprosy)
 Authoritative supplements
 Brahmanas
 Aranyakas (“the forest books", meaning treatises for sadhus
living in the wilderness.)
 Upnishads (self development spiritual text, philosophy,
meditation, and the nature of God )
End of Vedic Period (500 BC)
 Subsequent text deriving from primary
vedic samhitas
 Laid more emphasis on the dharma of self-
development with explicit spiritual and
philosophical content
 Vedanta – derived from Upnishads
 Ramayana
 Mahabharat, Bhagavad Gita
 Puranas – AD 320 to 520 - "tales of ancient
times"
Ayurveda and Buddhism
 Buddhism
 attempt to purify, restructure and reform older vedic
traditions.
 Comfortable adopting Ayurveda
 Jivaka, - Taxila’s outstanding Ayurvedic physician,
buddha’s personal physicin
 Ashoka (convert to buddhism established many
charitable hospitals)
 Spread of Buddhism == spread of Ayurveda
 Nagarjuna – AD 100, brought about significant
advances in Ayurveda – father of iatrochemistry –
preparation of medicinal mineral substances
Westerm Medicine and Aurveda
 Hippocrates : Father of western medicine
 Humoral theory – blood, phelgm, yellow bile,
black bile
 Dietary therapy, influence of seasons on health
 Aristotle
 Relied heavily on empirical observation and
naturalistic classification
 Four prime qualities: hot, cold, wet, dry
 Four fundamental essence: air, water, fire, earth
Chinese medicine and ayurveda
 Oldest extant chinese medical text –
Huang-di Nei-jing or Inner classic of
the Yellow Emperor (300 BC)
 Similarities – because of exchange of
ideas via Buddhism and trade.
Ayurveda and Arab Medicine (Unani
Tibb)
 Arab medicine by Avicenna (AD 980)
 Produced Canon of Medicine, a compendium of
the previous works of Hippocrates and Galen
 Mostly based on Greek medicine (Unani)
 Reports of exchange of ideas – Ayurvedic
physicians were invited to baghdad to teach
and organize hospitals
Earliest Texts
 760 BC: Charaka Samhita – herbal or plant based
pharmacopoeia
 660 BC: Sushruta Samhita – Surgival approaches
 7th Century : Ashtanga Sangraha of Vagbhata of Sindh
– summary of previous two
 AD 100: Nagarjuna – iatrochemistry
 1331: Madhava Nidana by Madhava of Kishkindha –
Ayurvedic Diagnosis
 14th Century - Sarangadhara Samhita – Pulse
Diagnosis
Ayurveda in 19th Century
 Ayurveda flourished till 12th century, till the Muslim
invasion
 Not much progress from 12th to 17th century
 British invasion : 1833 virtually all ayurveda schools
closed, opening of British medical schools
 1920: a national revival and resurgence of interest in
traditional Indian culture and practices
 1946: Formal govt. recognition and reacceptance of
Ayurveda and resurgence of research.
 Currently, however it holds a secondary place in
medicine in India
 Indian govt. officially recognizes as legitimate:
Allopathy, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Unani Tibb,
Ayurveda, and its cousins Siddha and Yoga.
Ayurveda vs Western Science
 Philosophy
 W: treats discrete disease entities
 A : treats subtle dysphoria, whose disruptive trends may later
develop into discrete disease.
 Diagnostic
 W: scientific objectivity and verifiability (accumulating
statistically significant data) – “experience-distant”
 A : pratyaksha (perceptive understanding of each individual) –
“experience-near”
 Treatment
 W: Linear logic, categorical and uses a classification system of
disease.
 A : Maintenance of optimal health by daily proactive care,
continually modified according to seasonal changes
 Belief
 A : Individual has the innate capacity for potential self-
correction and primary self healing
Why Ayurveda?
 Health maintenance rather than disease treatment
 System of diet and lifestyle
 enhance the quality of life by dealing with subtle
trends that might lead to actual disease
 Compatible with those whose beliefs include
naturalistic, spiritual and consciousness-oriented
approaches
 Often require intentional and sustained self-discipline,
perseverance and active personal role.
Ashtanga Ayurveda
 Kayachikitsa
 Internal Medicine
 Shalyatantra
 Surgery
 Shalakya Tantra
 Otolaryngology(ENT), Ophthalmology
 Kaumarabhiritya
 Obstetrics, Gynecology and Pediatrics
 Agadatantra
 Toxicology
 Bhutavidya
 Psychiatry
 Rasayana
 Antiaging and rejuvenation
 Vajikarana
 Reproductive and aphrodisiac medicine
Theoretical Foundations
 Darshanas – ideological systems
 Astika
 Sankhya – nontheistic creation sequence - by Kapila
 Yoga – Gradual liberation of human spirit to attain Samadhi –
by Patanjali
 Nyaya Darshana – monotheistic system, logical approach of
apprehending the world using reason
 Vaisheshika - postulates that all objects in the physical
universe are reducible to a finite number of atoms by Kanada
 Purva Mimamsa (inquiry) – emphsis on discipline, ritual and
service
 Uttara Mimamsa or Advita Vedanta – spiritually oriented,
emphasizes the spiritual base of reality, human misperception
by Shankara (AD 780)
 Nastika
 Buddhism
 Jainism
 Lokayata
Epistemology
 Knowledge Process
 From Nyaya Dharshana philosophy
 Four cognitive faculties
 Manas – mind as it experiences sensations
 Chitta – transmitter from manas to higher cognitive functions
 Ahamkara – self-identity that provides the individual with the
experience of relative constancy.
 Buddhi – most refined, discerning ability, intellect, wisdom
 Four techniques of knowing
 Pratyaksha – direct sensory perception
 Anumana – inference
 Sabda – authoritative statement
 Upmana - Analogy
World View
 Essentially unitary and dynamic, integrated coherence
with actively interdependent aspects
 Dynamic aspect is fueled by constant interaction
amongst three doshas –
 Vata : movement
 Pitta : transformation
 Kapha : consolidation
 the fundamental regulatory principles of the body’s
physiological functioning
 Interplay between them modulates the interaction of
the Gurvadi Gunas (10 pairs of opposite qualities)
 Characterize all perceptible substances
Gurvadi Gunas
 Shita/ushna
 Snigdha/ruksha
 Guru/laghu
 Sthula/sukshma
 Sandra/drava
 Sthira/chala
 Manda/tikshna
 Mridu/kathina
 Slaksha/khara
 Picchila/sishada
English please.
 Shita/ushna - cold/hot
 Snigdha/ruksha - wet,oily/dry
 Guru/laghu - heavy/light
 Sthula/sukshma - gross/subtle
 Sandra/drava - dense/liquid
 Sthira/chala - stable/mobile
 Manda/tikshna - dull/sharp
 Mridu/kathina - soft/hard
 Slaksha/khara - smooth/rough
 Picchila/sishada - sticky/clear
Vedic Standards
 Four basic life goals (purushartha)
 Dharma – individual's abidance with the
inherent lawfulness in universe –
purpose, duty, justice
 Artha – possessions
 Kama – Pleasure
 Moksha – liberation
Sankhya Model of Creation
 Avayakta
 pure existence in its unmanifest state
 Absolutely transcendental, indescribable
 Essence
 Satyam – essential truth
 Ritam – deep structure, self-correcting
 Brihat – vast breath of its being
 Two components
 Purusha – primal immaterial matrix out of
which all else emerge, pristine consciousness
 Prakriti – when ‘purusha’ spontaneously moves,
then at that moment the first material energy,
prakriti, comes into being.
Maha Gunas
 Three axiomatic attributes that are
inherent to maha gunas (subtle)
 Sattva – pure, clear, harmony
 Rajas – dynamic movement, agitation
 Tamas – interita, dullness
 Highly rarefied potentials that impart
direction and create a unique character.
Ahamkara
 Next step in the developmental
process of prakriti
 A giant leap which eventually
becomes most characteristically
individualized in human experience
 Experience of personal sense of self.
 Next all steps are material
Pancha Mahabhuti
 Ether/Space
 Air
 Fire
 Water
 Earth
Birth of Doshas - Vata
Pitta
Kapha