Ancient Ayurveda and Ayurvedic remedies date back around 5000 years when a very learned sage Srila Vysadeva wrote the Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda). The Vedas had within them a branch known as the ayurveda which means ‘The Science of life’.
Truly, Ayurveda is the science of life. It tells us how by just changing our food habits according to our body needs and type (Doshas i.e. Pitta, Vayu and Kapha), we can transform our lives. The ayurveda contained such ayurvedic remedies which cured unimaginable diseases by just using natural herbal extracts. It is really surprising and at the same time interesting to know that how people 5000 years back discovered and utilized the healing properties of the nature. Neither did they have any latest equipment that we have today nor any chemical compounds that we use. But nevertheless, they created a huge corpus of Ayurvedic remedies on their own.
The Susruta Samhita and the Chakra Samhita were some of the works written during the Vedic era. The Chakra Samhita Sutra or simply Chakra Samhita is a work of several authors. It has a total of 120 chapters and is about how the patient should be judged. It has been shortened down to 10 simple points which are-
- Constitution
- Abnormality
- Essence
- Stability
- Body measurements
- Diet suitability
- Psychic strength
- Digestive capacity
- Physical fitness
- Age
The Susruta Samhita is a text on all of the concepts of surgery. It contains 184 chapters and detailed description of 1120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, a detailed study on Anatomy, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources. Cataract surgery was performed by Susruta before 800BC. Imagine a time so old and people here in India had already started practicing surgery without any latest equipment, medicines, hospitals, and others.
The third major text about Ayurvedic remedies is Ashtanga Hridaya, which is a combined work of Charak and Shushrut. These books are believed to be around 1,200 years old.
Hygiene is given utmost importance in ayurvedic remedies. It includes regular bathing, skin care, cleansing of teeth and eye washing.
Ayurvedic remedies use all plant based medicines and treatments. Minerals like sulfur, arsenic, lead, copper etc are also given to the patient as required and prescribed. This process of mixing minerals with herbs is known as Rasa Shastra.
Alcohol was used as a narcotic for the patient undergoing the operation. Both oil and tar were used to stop bleeding. There were many other ways to stop bleeding like ligation of blood vessels, cauterization by heat, application of herbal or animal preparations and other medicinal preparations to facilitate clotting so that not much blood drains out of the body. Honey made by honey bees was used to treat burns.
Application of turmeric boiled in mustard oil was used to relieve pain. 5000 years back there were no calcium tablets for calcium deficiency so people ate garlic. And garlic like today’s calcium tablets when consumed in excess cause side effects, but this little garlic didn’t do so.
Atharva Veda is one of the most ancient books in India also has 114 hymns about the cures of diseases. Ayurvedic remedies for various diseases and the formation of the diseases originated from these hymns.
We can see the influence of Ayurveda not only in India but also in the rest of the world. People come from all over the world to learn the art of Ayurveda. Avicenna and Razi Sempion translated the Ayurvedic texts into Arabic and established Islamic medicine.
In Europe, during the 16th Century, Paracelsus, who is also known as the father of Western medicine, adopted and invented a system of medicine which was influenced strongly from Ayurveda and Ayurvedic remedies. British physicians who traveled to India saw rhinoplasty being performed by native methods. This was published in the Gentleman’s Magazine 1794. Joseph Constantine Carpue, an English surgeon, spent 20 years in India to study local plastic surgery methods. He was then able to perform a major surgery in 1885 in the Western world.
Various body parts which come under the doshas are-
Kapha
- Sinuses
- Nostrils
- Bronchi
- Throat
Pitta
- Liver
- Spleen
- Gall Bladder
- Stomach
- Duodenum
- Pancreas
Vata
- Small Intestines
- Large intestines
Generally, every human being is a combination of two doshas. Some are purely dominated by one. While in others, we find that they are a combination of all three doshas (which is rare). In Ayurvedic remedies for these doshas, sometimes different people with the same disease receive different herbs. This is so because the nature of each individual is different. First the person has to be diagnosed of the imbalance and other developments in the body due to which there is a presence of some disease. Then it is determined that disorder of which dosha introduced this disease in the body.
Ayurveda is not only about herbs and medicines but it is also an art of living. It is original and safe and the Ayurvedic remedies are complete. It covers all the fields of medicine and is known as the complete medical system still in existence. Even though in today’s world there are other forms of medicine but we can’t call them complete. They are still lagging behind in some field or the other.
Ayurveda and Ayurvedic remedies gave us a new view towards life. It taught us that everyone can be beautiful and healthy inside and out irrespective of class or status. One doesn’t need to cost much while going for Ayurvedic remedies. Ayurveda is an excellent example to show that nature contains cures for all diseases, even though modern science is still not able to find cures for chronic diseases like cancer.
Ayurveda, being such an old text, has the cure for cancer too. Even though the results are not visible at the early stages of Ayurvedic remedies but when it shows results’ it leaves everyone baffled. We just need to have patience and faith.
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