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Ayurveda is a popular health tretment therapy and its now
vaialble at Rishikesh too , Regular Ayurveda classes are
available at
Rishikesh Valley Resort [ 10
Kms from Laxman Jhula ]
Major Location : Kerala, though The Ayurveda is practiced in
almost all the part of India.
Time : Any time of the year. But, the treatment is best
during the Monsoons.
"Life [ayu] is the combination [samyoga] of human body, senses, mind
and reincarnating soul. The Ayurveda is the most sacred science of
life, beneficial to humans both in this world and the world
beyond."
¬Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana, 1.42-43.
What is The Ayurveda ?
The Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word, derived from two roots : 'Ayush',
which means life, and 'Veda', which mean knowledge. Therefore,
The Ayurveda is the science of life.
The Ayurveda is a science dealing not only with treatment of some
diseases but is a complete way of life. It is only system of
medicine which imbibes suggestions and remedies for both healthy
and diseased people. Centuries before the World Health
Organization recognized that health is not merely the physical
well being and just the absence of disease, The Ayurveda was dealing
with the mental, physical and social well being of an
individual.
Origin of The Ayurveda
The Ayurveda is the ancient Indian medical science, which originated
about 5000 years ago. The The Ayurveda has its mention in one of the
oldest [about 6,000 years] philosophical texts of the world, the
Rig Veda.
In its broader sense, The Ayurveda has always demanded to prepare
mankind for the realisation of the full potential of its self
through a psychosomatic integration. A complete health care is
what The Ayurveda prescribes for the ultimate self-realisation. The
Rig Veda also mentions organ transPlants & Trees and herbal remedies
called Soma with properties of elixir.
During 3,000 to 2,000 BC Atharvaveda one of the four Vedas was
authored, of which The Ayurveda is an Upaveda [subsection]. Though,
The Ayurveda had been practiced all along, it was during this period
that The Ayurveda in India, was codified from the oral tradition to
book form, as an independent science. Atharvaveda enlists eight
branches of The Ayurveda namely - Kayachikitsa [Internal Medicine], Shalakya Tantra
[surgery and treatment of head and neck,
Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology], Shalya Tantra [Surgery], Agada Tantra
[Toxicology], Bhuta Vidya [Psychiatry], Kaumarabhritya [Pediatrics], Rasayana
[science of rejuvenation
or anti-aging], and Vajikarana [the science of fertility].
The most fascinating aspect of The Ayurveda is, it uses almost all
the methods of healing like lifestyle regimen, yoga, aroma,
meditation, gems, amulets, herbs, diet, jyotishi [astrology], colour and surgery etc. in treating patients.
The Ayurveda & human body
According to The Ayurveda every human body is made up of 5 elements,
namely :
» Prithvi or earth.
» Jal or water.
» Tejas or fire.
» Vayu or air.
» Akash or space.
The structural aspect of the human body is made up of these 5
elements, but the functional aspect of the human body is governed by
three biological humors. Ether and air combine to form what is
known in The Ayurveda as the Vata dosha. Vata governs the principle
of movement and therefore can be seen as the force which directs
nerve impulses, circulation, respiration, and elimination. Fire
and water combine to form the Pitta dosha. The Pitta dosha
governs the process of transformation or metabolism. The
digestion of food in our human body is an example of Pitta function.
Pitta is also responsible for metabolism in the organ and tissue
systems as well as cellular metabolism. Finally, the water and
earth combine to form the Kapha dosha.
There are seven human body types: mono-types [vata, pitta or kapha
predominant], dual types [vata-pitta, pitta-kapha or, kapha-vata],
and equal types, [vata, pitta and kapha in equal proportions].
Every individual has a unique combination of these three doshas.
To understand the uniqueness of every individual is the very
basis of The Ayurveda.
The Ayurveda & Our Mind
The Ayurveda classifies human temperaments into three basic
qualities: satvic, rajasic and tamasic. Satvic qualities imply
purity and clarity of perception which are responsible for
goodness and happiness. Rajas is responsible for all movements,
and activities. It leads to the life of sensual enjoyment,
pleasure and pain, effort and restlessness. Tamas is darkness,
inertia, heaviness and materialistic attitudes. There is a
constant interplay of these three gunas [qualities] in the
individual consciousness, but the relative predominance of
either satva, rajas, or tamas is responsible for individual
psychological constitution.
The Ayurvead & the Disease Process
According to The Ayurveda, health is a state of balance between the
human body, mind and consciousness. Within the human body, The
Ayurveda
recognizes the three doshas[ bodily humors] vata, pitta and
kapha; seven dhatus[tissues], blood, plasma, fat, muscle, bone,
nerve, and reproductive; three malas[wastes], feces, urine and
sweat; and agni, the energy of metabolism. Disease is a
condition of disharmony in any of these factors. The root cause
of imbalance, or disease, is an aggravation of dosha,
vata-pitta-kapha.
Conclusion
The Ayurveda is the system of medicine incorporating centuries of
wisdom in it. The emphasis here is on ways to promote health
rather than just treat disease. The beauty of the system is that
every individual is unique rather than being just another case
of particular disease. It is one of the few systems of medicine
taking mental, emotional and spiritual well being into account.
All the suggestions and remedies prescribed in The Ayurveda are
completely in conjunction with nature.
The Ayurveda & Our Ecosystem
Today we find a renewed interest in traditional medicine. In the
recent few decades, it has been seen that people are becoming
more inclined towards The Ayurveda, the green medicine. This
renewal of interest in plant based drugs is mainly due to the
current widespread belief that `green medicine’ is safe and more
dependable than the costly synthetic drug many of which have
negative side effects.
This return of interest in the plant based [The Ayurveda] drugs have
necessitated a growing demand of medicinal Plants & Trees leading to
over-exploitation, unsustainable harvesting and finally to the
virtual killing of several precious plant species in the wild.
Moreover, the biosphere degradation due to increased human
activities [human settlements, agriculture and other
developmental programmes], illegal trade in rare and endangered
medicinal Plants & Trees, and loss of regeneration potential of the
degraded forests have further activated the current rate of
extinction of Plants & Trees particularly the medicinal Plants &
Trees.
In this extremely difficult situation the country has to
implement its commitment to the conservation of bio-diversity
and its sustainable use. Considering that, at present 90%
collection of medicinal Plants & Trees is from wild, generating about 40
million mandays employment current practices of harvesting are
unsustainable and responsible for depletion of resource base. To
reverse this process Forest Departments have to initiate
following actions -
Identify forest areas rich in medicinal Plants & Trees [about 200 in
number having an area of about 5000 ha] formulate a management
plan for intensive management and sustainable harvesting of
herbal products.
Establishment of 200 "Vanaspati Van" in degraded forest areas
where medicinal Plants & Trees exist or existed. Each "Vanaspati Van"
should have an area of 3000-5000 ha, with irrigation facility
and managed by a registered society headed by Divisional Forest
Officer.
It should effectively regulate extraction and transport of
medicinal Plants & Trees from wild. Department should maintain a list of
petty traders, private agents, wholesale dealers and final
consumers of medicinal Plants & Trees. It should organise training and
awareness campus on various aspects of medicinal plant
development.
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