History of Ayurveda
Ayurveda is an ancient medical treatment that has a history over 5000 years. It is the common term used to describe the ancient Indian medical science and is inscribed into the ancient books of knowledge popularly known as the Vedas. The Vedas as everyone knows are the immense treasure of knowledge, both practical and scientific, about different range of topics such as philosophy, engineering, economics, architecture, logic, and politics altogether. Among all these different fascinating subjects, one of the Vedic branches – that of health, Ayurveda is still practiced successfully.
Ayurveda is purely based on the principle of maintaining natural balance within the body and coherence with the environment. People are not considered as an alien to the natural world but they are seen as the essential part of their habitat. The main goal of Ayurveda is to sustain the balance within our body and mind as well as the outer environment. Living in peace with nature and according to the natural principles of Ayurveda not only guarantees better physical health but it also ensure complete peace of mind.
Ayurveda is purely based on the principle of maintaining natural balance within the body and coherence with the environment. People are not considered as an alien to the natural world but they are seen as the essential part of their habitat. The main goal of Ayurveda is to sustain the balance within our body and mind as well as the outer environment. Living in peace with nature and according to the natural principles of Ayurveda not only guarantees better physical health but it also ensure complete peace of mind.
Origins of Ayurveda
The origins of Ayurveda is traced back to 5000 BCE by scholars, originating as an oral tradition. Later, as the medical texts, Ayurveda is said to be evolved from ancient Vedas. The ancient history of India are inscribed in the knowledge books popularly called Vedas. Ayurveda, in fact is the discipline of the upaveda or “auxiliary knowledge” for medicine. It is often considered as an enhancement of the Vedas themselves, most probably the Rigveda or the Atharvaveda. As per the scholar and historians, the samhita of Atharvaveda itself consists of 114 hymns or incantations for the magical cure of diseases. There are several other legends about the origins of Ayurveda. One of them being that the sciences was given to Dhanvantari (or Divodasa) by Brahma. Another legend claims that the writing of Ayurveda are in fact based on the lost text written by the sage Agnivesh, a student of the sage Bharadwaja.
Main Texts of Ayurveda
The whole Ayurveda is considered to be based on three principal texts which are all dating back to the early centuries of the Common Era. These main texts of Ayurveda are Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita and the medical portions of the Bower Manuscript (also known as the Bheda Samhita). Although the exact chronology of these texts is not clear, the Charaka Samhita is considered to be the oldest as it survived as a recension dating to 4th or 5th century. It is believed to be originally written between 100 BCE and 100 CE and hence it would predate the other two major texts. The Sushruta Samhita was written in the 3rd or 4th century while the Bower Manuscript dates back to the early 6th Century. In fact there’s also a mention of Sushruta Samhita in the Bower Manuscript. The medical portions found in the Bower Manuscript includes a collection of recipes that relates to numerous ancient authorities and may have been based on an older medical tradition practised during the Maurya period, hence antedating both the Charaka and the Sushruta Samhitas.
That actually makes the Bower Manuscript popular among historians and given the fact that there are mentions of Indian medicine and its concepts even in Central Asian Buddhism. In the edition of 1897, A.F.R. Hoernle actually identified the writing of medical portions found in the manuscript using the northern variant of Gupta Script, a native of India, who had migrated and become a Buddhist monk in a monastery in Kucha. Even the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien (c. 337-422 AD) also wrote about the health care system of Gupta Empire (320-550 AD) and highlighted us about the organized approach of Indian medicine by mentioning a clinic and how it must be equipped, also visible in the works of Charaka.
Other than the Sushruta, Charaka and Bheda texts, there are other main texts such as the Kasyapa and the Harita Samhitas eventually dating back to the later Gupta period (ca. 6th century). Many ayurvedic authors of the 7th or 8th century also mentioned Vagbhata and Madhava as well.
That actually makes the Bower Manuscript popular among historians and given the fact that there are mentions of Indian medicine and its concepts even in Central Asian Buddhism. In the edition of 1897, A.F.R. Hoernle actually identified the writing of medical portions found in the manuscript using the northern variant of Gupta Script, a native of India, who had migrated and become a Buddhist monk in a monastery in Kucha. Even the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien (c. 337-422 AD) also wrote about the health care system of Gupta Empire (320-550 AD) and highlighted us about the organized approach of Indian medicine by mentioning a clinic and how it must be equipped, also visible in the works of Charaka.
Other than the Sushruta, Charaka and Bheda texts, there are other main texts such as the Kasyapa and the Harita Samhitas eventually dating back to the later Gupta period (ca. 6th century). Many ayurvedic authors of the 7th or 8th century also mentioned Vagbhata and Madhava as well.
Illnesses portrayed in Ayurveda
Ayurveda being a traditional Indian medicine did identify the major common diseases like fever (takman), cough, consumption, diarrhea, dropsy, abscesses, seizures, tumors, and skin diseases including leprosy in its early phase itself. During this period, ayurveda also provided the treatment of complex ailments including angina pectoris, diabetes, hypertension, and stones. There are also mentions of advanced treatments in the ancient Ayurveda studies such as plastic surgery, couching (a form of cataract surgery), puncturing to release fluids in the abdomen, extraction of foreign elements, treatment of anal fistulas, treating fractures, amputations, cesarean sections, and stitching wounds. With the evolution of Ayurveda, the use of herbs and surgical instruments also became highly popular around the world.
Further development and spread of Ayurveda
The field of Ayurveda is not limited to the Indian lands but it has also flourished worldwide with its widespread popularity and effective treatments. Both the Sushruta and Charaka texts were translated into Arabic language during the 8th century. While the Persian physician Rhazes was aware of these ancients texts in the 9th century. And by the end of the medieval period, the Arabic translated works of the Gupta-era Indian texts crossed many lands and eventually reached Europe.
During the Renaissance period in Italy, even the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) are known to have been impressed by the Arabic form of the surgical techniques mentioned in Sushruta.
Later many of the British physicians arrived in India to observe rhinoplasty surgery performed using native methods and the reports of Indian rhinoplasty got mentioned in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1794. Almost every instruments mentioned in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified to advanced instruments in the Western World. Joseph Constantine who performed the first major surgery in the western world, the “Indian” method of nose reconstruction in 1815, mentioned while publishing an article about his research and experience that he spent almost 20 years in India to study local plastic surgery methods.
During the Renaissance period in Italy, even the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) are known to have been impressed by the Arabic form of the surgical techniques mentioned in Sushruta.
Later many of the British physicians arrived in India to observe rhinoplasty surgery performed using native methods and the reports of Indian rhinoplasty got mentioned in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1794. Almost every instruments mentioned in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified to advanced instruments in the Western World. Joseph Constantine who performed the first major surgery in the western world, the “Indian” method of nose reconstruction in 1815, mentioned while publishing an article about his research and experience that he spent almost 20 years in India to study local plastic surgery methods.