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Ayurveda
We are living in the era of exciting Astronomical discoveries of space shuttles,
satellites.
Nature is intertwined in our lives - from Food to Travel.
It is an undeniable
fact that influential hand of nature is inevitable.
So why not learn to co-exist with nature with the view
to achieving Harmony.
Wisdom of Ayurveda gives you the know-how to do so.
Have you ever wondered?
What is Ayurveda? Do I know anything about this?
How to develop belief in Ayurveda?
Does Ayurveda mean too many diet restrictions and is it very difficult to follow?
Why is FOOD the central theme or why we always talk about food when it comes to Ayurveda?
Why and how are we different from others? What makes us stand out?
Theses questions
would sound very familiar to us. This is what most of the people ask when we talk about Ayurveda initially.
Ayurveda is derived
from Vedas by ancient sages to prevent and treat diseases, addressing the root of the problem,
and thereby improving the longevity and health of the human beings. Vedas were cognized and documented by enlightened sages
from the experience and wisdom they gained through penance/meditation. The language of sages was Sanskrit. It is very difficult
to give literal translation for Veda in English; so there are few related meanings to it and "Veda" means Science,
Wisdom or knowledge.
From this, one can derive that the meaning of the word "Ayur" in Sanskrit is equivalent to the
word "Life" in English; equivalent of “Veda” in English is Science or Wisdom or knowledge. The whole
word "Ayurved" means Life Science or wisdom of life or knowledge about how to lead a healthy life.
What is this science/wisdom all about? Well, what we
do day in and day out in our life? We all go through basic education in our life as to what is
life science.
We know that we have to:
- Wake up in the morning, sleep at night
- We follow personal hygiene like brushing, showering
and keeping ourselves and our surroundings clean
- Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 3 meals
a day
- We try to eat a balanced meal - eat fruits, vegetables, nuts grains, etc.
- We eat whenever we are hungry - we do experience hunger
- We do know about digestion
and its effect on body; we experience either content, energetic or gas, bloating, acidity, heartburn, or lethargy after a
meal; We blame these on the food we had for all adverse symptoms
- Whenever we are
sick we wonder - What did I eat wrong? or Am I allergic to this food? We also change our diet patterns
from time to time;
- We do use our senses. We know the sight, touch, smell, taste and the
moment we hear the name of delicious food our mouth waters and we feel hungry.
- Our body's nourishment and immunity depend on the food; food is fuel to the body.
- We wear clothes according to season; we protect ourselves from heat and cold.
- We apply
different body lotions to stay young and moisturize our aging dry skin.
- We do pay attention
to all positive and negative effects of nature on us
- We also know the importance of proper
elimination everyday. We feel energetic or tired.
- We have basic idea about how our body
functions.
Once again the same Question - do we know the
Science of life/wisdom of life/ knowledge of life at least to certain extent? The answer is yes, we do know the Wisdom or Science of
living to certain extent. What we don't know is the rhythm in life.
Techniques of Yoga and Ayurveda explain this rhythm of life by awakening our intellect about the subtle connection between
Body, Mind and Soul.
The need for Birth of Ayurveda as a Separate medicinal text
The sages/rishis had perfect mastery over the nature yet they obeyed and lived in accordance with
the nature; they had the power of cognition. They developed such powers due to their perfect coordination and rhythm between
Body, Mind and the Soul - Soul directing the Mind and Mind in turn directing the body to act. They had strong intellect and
the senses obeyed the intellect; so they were able to live for thousands and hundreds of years in perfect health.
Every kingdom had these wise men - sages; Till few thousand
years back, people were following the rhythm perfectly. That was the era of Mind over matter.
We are all the offspring of
such noble souls; then how is it that we are so much enslaved to our senses? Why do we let our senses bypass our intellect?
Why Ayurveda branched out as a separate Science or knowledge from other
Vedas? The sages, in their infinite wisdom and compassion for humanity,
simplified the fundamental truths, formulating the theory and practice of Ayurveda from scattered material from Vedas/scriptures.
They then translated these truths from esoteric language to a language that could be understood even by the common man.
Ayur or Ayus is combination
of body, the sense organs, mind and the soul. Consciousness continues because of this combination. As soon as this combination
is lost, the ayus - life ceases to exist and the dead body being devoid of mind is devoid of the combination in the form of
life as well.
 
When we give so much attention, attachment and importance to our physical body why are we struggling
to maintain perfect health? Why is this physical body subjected to disease? We
function at the level of the senses. If not trained properly, our senses run wild. That is why
we fall sick. We give more emphasis to matter over mind. Mind is connected to the Atman (Soul) on one
side and on the other side to the physical body through the senses. Mind directed inward is Health
and if directed outwards results in disease.
We have perfect health when we are in sync and practice Dhi
- Knowing or learning; Dhriti - retaining; and Smriti - memory or recalling
what we learnt; when our mind functions at Buddhi (intellectual) level, we are
in sync with Dhi, dhriti and Smriti. Otherwise we are committing Pragnya aparadha.
Pragnya means dhi, dhriti and smriti; Aparadha means mistaken intellect,
crime against wisdom.
When we know eating ice cream in cold weather would result in congestion, yet we eat to satisfy our
sensual pleasure or temptation, it is Pragnya aparadha/mistaken intellect.
What are pure energies of Nature?
The pure/Sattva energies are: Soma/lunar energy, Agni/solar
energy and Marut/etheric energy. These three energies govern the universe.
In the physical body they manifest as Kapha, Pitta and Vata doshas respectively.
Lunar
energy/Moon is nurturing, nourishing - comprised of Water and earth elements, and exists as
Kapha dosha in the physical body. e.g. fat.
Solar energy/Sun is the transforming energy - the fire element
exists as Pitta dosha (fire and water) in the physical body; e.g.: Blood, digestive
system;
Marut/Wind/Etheric energy - Air and ether elements - the energy of Movement, transportation
- exists as Vata dosha in the physical body. e.g. Bones, nervous system.
How did we inherit the doshas?
"Dosha" is a Sanskrit word meaning "imbalance"
or what is out of balance.
We eat food to live. Our strength and immunity is the result of good digested food; strong
immunity depends on the quality of shukra dhatu - sperm and ovum. Physical body
is the result of the food our parents ate. When we are in the womb, we are nourished by
the food mother eats and when we are born, we eat food for our nourishment and total health.
Our body constitution is determined at conception - known as Prakriti in Sanskrit
- which determines our general mind-body disposition - we inherit it from our parents.
Modern science calls it as genes or genetic disposition. When the health of parents is
in perfect balance, baby inherits perfect body with balanced energies. When health of
parents is not perfect, we acquire the imbalance or the doshas and try hard to maintain
balanced body constitution to remain healthy.
How the energies of Nature determine Nature of our Mind
Nature functions through three Qualities (guna in Sanskrit
- meaning quality): - Sattva
- Purity
- Rajas - Action
- Tamas
- Inertia
Our mind is dominated by Sattva, Rajas and Tamas gunas. Nature of our mind is pure - Sattvic
when our mind is in tune with the pure energies of nature - Water, Fire and Wind - Soma,
Agni and Marut.
When these pure energies go out of balance, the doshas/humors vitiate our mind as Rajas and Tamas
Gunas.
Here Rajas relates to turbulence, agitation, and anger. Tamas relates to
dullness, darkness, and laziness.
How do food and lifestyle imbalance our constitution
Modern life style is very competitive and we are always
in a hurry - survival of the fittest. During ancient days there was moderation in life
style. To keep up with the pace/demanding lifestyle, we make unwise choices just to meet the demand
– which knock the doshas out of balance.
Example: Let us take
the example of our desire to stay up late at night for one of the following reasons:
- Watch TV
- Read a book
- Catch up with our unfinished official work
- Studying
late hours for exams
Just because we are blessed with 24 hours supply of electricity, we indulge in such
activities at night. Thus we misuse our senses and overwork our mind and body.
Our body has totally different
function allotted at night time – while the mind and the senses go to rest, the
organs of the physical body, without any distraction, do the job of subtle digestion –
digesting further the nutrition from the food we ate for building, nourishing and strengthening our bodily tissues.
Moreover, the prana or life force energy moves from one organ to other during 24
hours; afternoon 1-3 p.m., prana is in small intestine; this is the time gross digestion
takes place. 1-3 a.m. in the night, prana is in the liver and subtle digestion or tissue
building results at this time.
Digestion is a metabolic activity which involves transformation
of food we ate into nutrition and waste product. Any transformation or conversion is the
function of heat or the fire element. Hence the predominant element in the process of
digestion/metabolism is Agni or the Fire/element. Liver plays a very vital role in the
process of metabolism and digestion. Liver is a fire element predominant organ. Liver produces bile which is
hot and acidic. Vitiated Agni results in vitiated pitta dosha.
By staying
up late we disturb the subtle digestion process. Liver gets over-heated causing excess bile –
the result is tissues are not properly nourished, lipids are not properly processed (L.D.L. and H.D.L levels
get affected). On the whole, the immunity is affected.
We wake up late in the morning to make up for the sleep lost
during night; the result is we suffer from aggravating the pure Soma energy by increasing
tamas – we would feel dull, and lethargic throughout rest of the day. Soma is responsible
for nurturing, nourishing and grounding. We compare water and earth elements with these qualities;
thus we vitiate these elements (feeling of moody, dull, heavy are all related to water and earth element).
Kapha dosha is made up of water and earth elements. This leads to vitiated Kapha dosha.
Since we wake up late, we don’t
eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on time. This vitiates the Pure Wind energy – aggravates
the air element which results in vitiated Vata (Air and Ether) causing Gas, bloating, constipation,
not feeling hungry etc.
It is very ironic how one thought disturbs the entire metabolism,
our immune system and thereby total health and well being.
Subtle connection between the four Vedas and Ayurveda
Lineage
This pure Science of longevity descended from heaven from God – Brahma
to Lord Indra to Sage Bharadwaja and from him to Punarvasu; Punarvasu imparted instructions
in Ayurveda to his six disciples. Out of these disciples, the first one to write a work
on Ayurveda was Agnivesa.
Vedas are the oldest and most sacred written record of knowledge. Out of the four Vedas
– Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Veda,
Ayurveda is mainly based on Atharva Veda. The material scattered in Vedas were
collected, tested, rearranged and compiled as samhitas. The Three
vital Compilations (samhitas) are derived from the Vedas – They are:
- Charaka Samhita – deals with internal medicine (Kayachikitsa)
- Shushrutha Samhita – Deals with Surgery, marma (vital points
in the body)
- Ashtang Hridaya – concise form (in the form
of verses) of matters in Charaka
Further the three most important philosophies derived from Vedas provide the base or the structure
for Ayurveda diagnosis, and treatment. They are Sankhya philosophy, Nyaya Philosophy,
and Vaisheshika Philosophy.
The following are the eight limbs of Ayurveda
- Internal Medicine
- Surgery
- Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) and eye disease
- Pediatrics
- Toxicology
- Psychiatry
- The science of rejuvenation (rasayana)
- The science
of aphrodisiacs
Physiology
Ayurveda classifies all body constituents into three main categories:
- Dosha
- Dhatus - seven tissues
- Plasma
- Blood cells
- Muscular tissue
- Adipose tissue
- Bony tissue
- Bone marrow
- Reproductive
tissue
- Waste materials
- mala. The three main waste products are:
The doshas are the energizing forces, the tissues
provide substances and the wastes are the excess that is eliminated. If doshas are in
excess, they can aggravate or vitiate the dhatus/tissues and cause disease.
Agni
- Digestive fire
When this fire is in balanced
state, one is healthy and alive. When this fire is deranged, diseases enter the body and
may result in loss of physical life.
Individual Body Constitution - Prakriti
Prakriti is the predominance of the doshas at the time of conception and decides the
mind-body type of an individual. There are 7 types of body constitution as below:
- Vata
- Pitta
- Kapha
- Vata - Pitta
- Pitta - Kapha
- Kapha
- Vata
- Vata - Pitta - Kapha
In every person these three doshas differ in
permutations and combinations and thereby determine the physiologic constitution (Prakriti)
of an individual. That is why each individual is unique and our taste, preferences, desires
and thoughts differ from each other. Mind
is governed by the three primordial energies of nature – Sattva (Purity);
Rajas (Action) and Tamas (Inertia). These energies combined with the humors –
Vata, Pitta and Kapha (Air, fire and water energies respectively) determine state of our mind.
Pathology
Constitution is influenced by various environmental factors:
- Seasonal changes
- Locality we live in
- Society
- Family traits
- Place of birth
- Time
- Age
- Not following a healthy regimen
- Individual action
These can modify the
constitution at birth or the very basic nature of the individual. When the original basic
constitution acquired at birth – Prakriti - is modified due to the above
mentioned factors, it results in Vikruti- meaning going against nature, which
leads to disease and imbalance in doshas. Ayurveda
emphasizes on balanced state of three humors: Vata – wind energy, Pitta – fire energy and
Kapha – Water energy, for the health and fitness of Body and Mind.
Ayurveda
does not go by disease names, rather by the imbalance in the body constitution, the tridoshas.
Treatment according to Ayurveda is to balance the individual constitution by removing the root cause
of imbalance and bringing back the individual to one's original Birth constitution - Prakriti.
In short, Vikruti (disease or imbalance) is corrected by balancing the Prakriti (Original
individual body constitution.
Causes of Disease or Roga - meaning ill health
Every disease is related to an imbalance of the doshas. Other
coherent factors can be:
- The disturbance of the biological factors (Dosha/humors, Tissues, waste/mala and digestive fire/agni)
- The formation and accumulation of undigested nutrients (ama)
- Obstruction of the body channels - shrotorodha
- A disturbed
assimilation in the tissues
Treatment
Ayurvedic diagnosis of disease is based on the three biological
humors/doshas; treatment is according to the six tastes (Sweet, sour, salty, pungent,
Astringent and bitter). These apply not only to herbs but also to foods and minerals.
Treatment is tailored to Individual body constitution
– One size fits all does not apply. We all are unique individuals and our nature,
behavior varies from person to person.
In Ayurved there are two main ways to balance the doshas:
- Palliating - Calming
down - It is administered in acute conditions to calm down the aggravated doshas mainly by Proper
diet, lifestyle and herbs.
- Cleansing - Treatment is through Panchakarma,
herbs, diet and life style changes and Rasayana - Rejuvenation therapies etc.
These therapies help build and balance the digestive fire which results in good digestion and health.
According to Ayurveda, we are
what we eat and how we digest. All Ayurveda therapies start with right diet. Wrong foods
can be the cause of disease and right foods can correct disease. Hence proper digestion of
food is of utmost importance in Ayurveda. Doshas and Agni go out of balance, because of wrong eating habits,
not eating according to one's constitution, seasonal changes, life cycle changes, improper
timings and insufficient exercise i.e., going against nature.
Why is FOOD the central theme or why do we always talk about food when it comes to Ayurveda?
This is because we identify ourselves with this physical body.
Physical body is identified as Annamaya kosha or the food sheath, as this sheath
emerges from the food. Physical body is made up of five elements, five senses and five
organs of action.
Physical body acts as a stimulus
in response to the senses; that is why when we say we are indulged in sensual pleasures,
we are at the gross or physical level; to go beyond the physical level, one has to control
the senses and empower the mind.
The pure/Sattva energies are: Soma/lunar energy, Agni/solar energy and marut/ etheric energy.
These three energies govern the universe.
In
the physical body they manifest as Kapha, Pitta and Vata doshas respectively.
Lunar energy/Moon is nurturing, nourishing – comprised of Water and earth elements,
and exists as Kapha dosha in the physical body. e.g. fat.
Solar energy/Sun is the transforming energy – the fire element
exists as pitta dosha (fire and water) in the physical body; e.g.: Blood, digestive system;
Marut/Wind/Etheric energy - Air and ether
elements - the energy of Movement, transportation - exists as Vata dosha in the physical
body. e.g. Bones, nervous system.
The pure/Sattva energies are: Soma/lunar energy, Agni/solar energy and marut/ etheric energy. These three energies govern
the universe.
In the physical body they manifest as Kapha, Pitta and Vata doshas respectively.
Lunar energy/Moon is nurturing, nourishing – comprised of Water and earth elements, and exists as Kapha dosha in the
physical body. e.g. fat.
Solar energy/Sun is the transforming energy – the fire element exists as pitta dosha (fire and water) in the physical
body; e.g.: Blood, digestive system;
Marut/Wind/Etheric energy - Air and ether elements - the energy of Movement, transportation - exists as Vata dosha in the
physical body. e.g. Bones, nervous system.
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