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"The science of life is declared to be eternal because it has no beginning, because it deals with tendencies that proceed innately from nature and because the nature of matter is eternal." Caraka Samhita
"Ayus" means life and "veda" means knowledge. So Ayurveda literally means the "knowledge of life".
The goal of Ayurveda can be summarized by the following sloka
"SWASTHASYA OORJASKARAM, AARTASYA ROGANUTH". This means "promote and maintain health in healthy and cure of disease in sick.”
It is said that this knowledge was a divine revelation to Lord Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. From him, it was handed down through a chain of deities and then sages till it was recorded by the sages Agnivesha, Sushruta and Vagbhatha as three great treatises that are considered the foundation of Ayurveda – the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita and the Ashtanga Hrudaya.
At the centre of this ancient wisdom is the principle that health and well being is a result of the internal harmony of mind and body and spirit. Therefore, all disease is a consequence of disharmony and imbalance.
So, you could say that treatment in Ayurveda is a balancing act, by which it seeks to stabilise and equalise by:
- Eliminating what is in excess
- Supplementing what is in deficit
- Promoting and retaining equilibrium
To achieve this harmony, Ayurveda advocates periodical cleansing programs through the Panchakarma therapies. The emphasis is also equally on long-term health as on immediate cures and so, Ayurveda encourages changes in life style adaptation to maintain health and to manage disease. The Rasaayana or rejuvenation therapies are specifically designed to promote strength and vitality, needed to cope with the stress of today’s world.
Ayurveda harnesses two of the world’s most powerful healers – the internal systems of healing within the body and mind, and Nature’s vast and unending pharmacopoeia of medicines.
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