Ayurveda

Ayurveda (आयुर्वेद Sanskrit: ayu—life; veda—knowledge of) or ayurvedic medicine is a comprehensive system of medicine, more than 2,000 years old and based on a holistic approach rooted in Vedic culture. Its conspicuous use of the word veda, or knowledge, reveals its role in early Hinduism and describes its hallowed place in India. Ayurveda also had a tradition of surgery. Two early texts of Ayurveda are the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita.

Qualities

It could be said that the simple essence of ayurveda is knowledge and awareness of the qualities of nature – called gurvadi gunah. By understanding the qualities inherent in the environment, in foodstuffs, in activities, etc., one gains an appreciation of their effects on the individual constitution through the principle of similarities; i.e., that similarities cause increase while dissimilarities cause decrease. Thus hot qualities in the environment or diet will increase hot qualities in the body.

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The gurvadi gunah are listed in Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hrdayam as:

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• Guru (heavy) – laghu (light)
• Manda (slow) – tikshna (quick, sharp)
• Hima (cold) – ushna (hot)
• Snigdha (unctuous) – ruksha (dry)
• Slakshna (smooth) – khara (rough)
• Sandra (solid) – drava (liquid)
• Mrdu (soft) – kathina (hard)
• Sthira (stable) – cala (mobile)
• Sukshma (subtle) – sthula (gross)
• Vishada (non-slimy) – picchila (slimy)

Since everything in the material world possesses combinations of the 20 qualities, ayurveda postulates that every material process or object can either harm or heal a person by influencing that person's unique original constitution (called prakrti). An ayurvedic practitioner will assess the qualities of a disorder, the patient's unique prakrti, and his/her influencing factors to arrive at a treatment plan. The treatment plan will consist of using herbs, therapies, diet, etc., with opposite qualities so as to assist the patient in re-establishing their prakrti.

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