Ayurveda

Ayurveda (Devanagari: आयुर्वेद) or Ayurvedic medicine is the most ancient of the six recognized Indian Systems of Medicine to the Indian subcontinent. It is sometimes considered to be a Hindu system of health care because of its origins in the oral advice on living from the Vedic metaphysics (Charaka Samhita). It is used by millions of people in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and increasingly in the Western world as alternative medicine. It is widely considered to be the oldest continously practiced system of medicine on the planet, dating back to the pre-vedic period of 5000 BC. The oldest Indian texts, Rigveda and Atharva-veda, discuss medicine, and classical Ayurvedic texts of Charak Samhita and Sushruta Samhita were written around 1000 BC.

The word "Ayurveda" is a tatpurusha compound of the word āyus meaning "life," "life principle," or "longevity" and the word veda, which refers to a system of "knowledge" or "wisdom." Thus "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "wisdom for living" or "knowledge of a long life". According to Charaka Samhita, "life" itself is defined as the "combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, which sustains the body over time, and guides the processes of rebirth." The related term of Suddha (pure) medicine refers to classical Ayurvedic medicine. According to this perspective, Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect "ayus", which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony. Ayurveda is also one among the few traditional systems of medicine to contain a sophisticated system of surgery (which is referred to as "salya-chikitsa"(chikitsa=examination)).