Samvad-Rotary

    Role of Ayurveda in Indian Philosophy & as a Lifestyle

Aim of Ayurveda

Aim of Ayurveda is promotion, prolongation & maintenance of Healthy & Happy Life. It also aims for prevention & cure of diseases when needed.

If one will read the aims of Ayurveda carefully, he will understand that more emphasize is given to teach humans how to take care of their health.

This ancient old science is originated for the wellbeing of mankind.

First intention of Ayurveda aims for maintenance of health in a healthy person & if he becomes ill, then second aim is to cure his disease.

Even after treating a patient, Ayurvedic Treatment provides a compulsory prophylactic regime including diet regulations & behavioral regulations.

This shows how Ayurveda emphasizes more on taking good care of our health holistically. It can also seen in the definition of healthy person in ancient Ayurvedic Texts which clearly mentions that a healthy person is a person who has healthy body, healthy mind & healthy soul. This is the reason why Ayurveda is called as a lifestyle.

First of all; Ayurveda emphasizes on improving our immunity to Physical, Mental & spiritual problems. If we strive for this kind of ‘Holistic Health’, we will have a very few health problems. Just in case we get infected, we need a little assistance of medicines.

 A healthy person hardly needs too much of medicines & can be cured with medicines quickly without any residual problems.

Ayurveda – Path to achieve Four Basic Aspects of Life

Ayurveda is a philosophy of Life, a special Lifestyle that helps a person to live a Physically, Mentally & Spiritually Healthy Life.

According to Indian Philosophy a fulfilled Life is that which completes all the four aspects of Life. Following are the four aspects of Life;

• Dharma – These are social & moral rules. It tells a person about his duties towards himself & others, as a human being & also as a part of ‘Universal Energy’. Social conducts, Family responsibilities & Religious duties come under this aspect.
• Artha - Literally speaking Artha means understanding our surrounding by sense organs of body & thinking over it. One part of this aspect is economical achievements like property, earning money.
•  Kama - means Desire. As a human being a person desires for many ‘Pleasures’. All kind of desires come under this aspect. A person should try to fulfill all his desires but under guidance of Dharma.
• Moksha - means salvation. This is ultimate goal of a human. While living a material life a person should always keep in mind that he is part of ‘God’.

Ayurveda helps humans to achieve all these four aspects of life.

Ashtanga Ayurveda – Main eight branches of Ayurveda

• Kaya chikitsa - Medicinal branch. This branch deals with diagnosis & treatment of ailments.
• Balaroga – Pediatrics. This branch gives thorough knowledge about taking care of babies. It also deals with diagnosis & treatment of pediatric problems.
• Graha chikitsa – This branch deals with Psychiatry & disorders due to spiritual possessions.
• Urdhavanga chikitsa – This is the branch which can be named as ENT specialization. This branch helps to diagnose & treat diseases of the organs above the Supraclavicular notch in Sternum i.e. part of body above collar bones.
• Shalyachikitsa – This is Surgical branch of Ayurveda & the Great Sage Sushruta was the world’s first ever Surgeon to invent number of surgeries namely Cataract Surgery, Cosmetic Surgery etc. 
• Danshtra or Agadtantra – This is Toxicology Branch of Ayurveda. It gives knowledge about poisonous animals & treatment on the toxicity due to these animals.
• Jarachikitsa or Rasayan chikitsa – This branch deals with Geriatric practices & also gives knowledge about rejuvenation.
• Vajikaranchikitsa – This branch gives knowledge about treatments of sexual problems & Sexually Transmitted Diseases. It also guides to have healthy sexual life & helps to treat infertility.

The eight branches described above show that Ayurveda was a full-fledged Medical Science of ancient India. All these branches were practiced & taught by experts in that field.

For example, Maharshi Sushruta was expert Surgeon & Maharshi Kashyapa was expert Pediatrician of that time. These experts did thorough researches & passed this revised knowledge to their successors. This makes Ayurveda an invaluable knowledge which is a result of thorough research of thousands of years.

Ayurveda – a tool to achieve human goals

Ayurveda plays a very important role in Indian Philosophy as it is the tool to keep ourselves fit to achieve all the aspects of our life as human being & also as a part of its divine creation called Universe.

Ayurvedic texts guide us about importance of our existence in this world & how to respect our energy space in this universal energy i. e. our soul.

Ayurvedic Philosophy is so beautifully woven with Indian Culture that it has become an inevitable part of Indian Culture.

Although these ancient sciences have their own drawbacks especially having old practices of making medicines, they give us valuable morals & researches. If we use this knowledge with assistance of modern equipment, it works dramatically for us. Many practitioners are experimenting with these ideas.

Our impatience & ignorance to our cultures & heritage is causing a big danger of extinction of these valuable treasures. We need to take time to have a keen look on this knowledge & should try to understand logic behind these practices. This will help us to know many alternatives therapies & will also provide us a perspective to understand historical & logical importance of these practices.

 That is why, if we want to protect our ancient cultures & heritage, we have to understand role of Ayurveda as one of the ancient sciences in this world!!!!!!!!!!

  Dr. Sharduli Terwadkar

Ayurvidya Holistic Healthcare,

Centurion, South Africa

email: [email protected]

website: www.drsharduli.com