A brief introduction to Ayurvedic system of medicine and ...

Indi an Journal of Trad it ional Kn ow ledge Vol. 2(2). April 2003. pp. 159- 169

A brief introduction to Ayurvedic system of medicine and some of its problems

M V Vi swanathan l *, P M U nikr

s hn a n ~, Katsuk o Komatsu. Hirotos hi Fushimi l and Puru sotam Ba s n e t ~

III -H, Nccthi Apartments. R4. J.P. Ex tcnsion. Dclhi 110092

2 Foundation for Rev itali sati on of L oc al Health Traditi ons. 50. M SH La yout. A nand Nagar. Bangalore 560024

' Institut e for Natural M cdi cincs. T oy ama M edica l & Pharmaceutical Universty . T oy ama. Japan ~ Sc hoo l o f Pharillaccutica l Scicnces. Pokhara Uni ve rsity. Pokhara. Ncpal

Receil'ed 23 .1111." 2002: re\'i.led 20 .IWIIIOrl' 2()()3

Thc paper gi vcs a bri ef introducti on to th e A y urved ic sys tclll and so mc of the prob lems faccd by it espcciall y with rcs pec tto identifi ca ti on o f drugs.

Keywords: Ay urvcda. Drugs of co nfuscd idcntity. Indi gcnous healthcare.

Today the medical wo rld is posed with co mpl ex challenges . Thus tim e demands an integrated and pluralistic approach towa rds hea lthcare to cope effectively with thi s situati on. There has been a grow ing interest in Ayurveda in the pas t few yea rs. To initiate fruitful dia logues bet ween Ayurveda and modern science, an in-depth understanding of both th e sys tems becomes an essent ial prerequi site. Such an exercise should e merge from a standpoint accepting that th ere are different worldviews existing in the world , Ayurveda being one among th em. Thi s may sound quite contrary to the common belief that the science is only one as expressed in modern scientific

* Correspondcnt author.

paradi gm. Both modern sC ie nce and Ayurveda have uni versa l attributes and share the common objective of well being of mankind . But th ey are quite different in their philosophical and epi stemologi cal foundations , conceptual fram ewo rk and practical outlook. So. let us exa min e what are th e fundamental di fferences between Saslra (Ay urveda) and the modern sCience.

Ayurvcda IS based on the SOllkhya, Nya va and Vais esika philosophical schoo ls whereas Modern science is based on Logical pos iti vism, Cartesian phil osophy and later school s. Ayurveda uses concepts like Pall ca I/IOI/(/blwlo .I'iddhanlo, Tridosa siddhallla , wh ere as modern science uses atomic theory, phYlo-chemistry , pharmacology, etc . At

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IND IAN J TRADITIONAL K NOWLEDGE. VOL 2. No.2. APRIL 2003

th e practical leve l th e A~ / urv e dic o utl oo k is holistic and indi viduali zed a nd mode rn science's approach is frag mented and spec ific. So far, th e modern studi es o n Ay urveda have been res tricted to ex ploration of drug so urces, soc iol og ical, anthropological studies, etc ., and no rigorous foundational correlation has been attempted. This predi sposes th e need of a strong foundat io nal dialogue. Fro m thi s perspective le t us go into some of th e basic concepts o f Ayurveda.

l.l What is Ayurveda Ayurveda is th e kn ow ledge of life a nd

lo ngev ity. The term Veda denotes knowledge and Ay us can be defi ned with th e following verse.

" Tafrayuscefi cefallal1.u vrfih ji vitam alll/balldflo dhari clla".

Ayus is the continuance of co nsc iousness (Ce /ww llu vrtti), ani mati on (Jivita), continuous tlow (Allubandha), sustaIlllng the body (Dhari). Thus Ayurveda encompasses the knowledge of diffe rent facets of life. With such a broad definition Ayurveda advocates various mea ns to protect health and to alleviate disorders. Ayurveda is the knowledge that indicates the appro priate (Hita) and in appropriate (A hita), happy (Sukha) and sorrowful conditions (Dukha) of living, what is appropriate and inappropri ate for lo ngevity as we ll as the meas ure of these. The core objective of Ayurveda is to have happy life (Sukhayu) , s ustainabl e happiness in life (Hitayu), longev ity of life (Dirghayu).

This kn o wl edge ex ists in two major school s. Th ey are the medical and s urg ical sc hool s. Caraka Samhita , a c lass ica l text o f ISOOBC-200A D represents th e med ica l sc hoo l and SlIsntta Salllhifa of ISOOB C-300A D represents the surg ical sc hoo l. The Ayurvedic c lass ica l tex ts me nti o n e ight di ffere nt spec iali zation s. They are Kaya cikitsa (Inte rnal medi c ine), Bala (Paediatri cs), Cralla (Mental diso rders & afflictions), Urdhvallga (Diseases of ear, nose, throat and eye), Salya (S urgery ), Darnstra (Tox ico logy), Jara (Geriatrics/R ejuvenati o n), Vrsa (Reproductive health) .

1.2 What is health according to Ayurveda

To be established 111 o nese lf or one's ow n natural state is defined as Svasthya (perfec t hea lth in Ayurveda). For thi s. a perso n should ha ve a "Structural" a nd " Phys iol og ical " eq uilibrium (Sarnadosa), equilibrium of metabolic processes (Samagni), equilibrium of body ti ss ues (Sallladhafu), equilibrium of eliminati ve system (Samal'llalakriya), equilibrium o f se nses (Prasannendriya), equilibrium of mind (Prasannamana), state of pure awareness or a contended self (Prasalllla atll/ a).

There are three di ffe rent treat ment methods adopted in Ayurveda to achieve the above state. Th ey are: Daivavyapasraya - Treatment by doing rituals, wearing auspicious ge ms, chanting mantras, etc.; Satvavajaya Control of mind through practices of yoga, meditation , etc.; Yukli vyapasraya Treatment with dru g material s such as plants, animals, min eral s and metals.

V ISW r\ NATfM N 1'1 af: I TROJ) UCT IO I TO A Y URVED IC SYSTEM Or: M ED ICI I E

I () I

Thu s. ill th e YlIklil 'WII )(I,\'/'m'o meth od o r treatm ent. A y urveda uses dirferent drug ma terial s. Now let us sec how th ese drug so urces arc understood In A y urvedic phannaco poe ia.

1.3. The three le vels of understa nding of a drug material

T he Or{/\ '-,'ag //lwl 'ijllall(/ is th e sec ti on or Ay urveda dealin g w ith drug so urces . Thi s is divided into Par/arl"m 'ijllollo and /)rm 'val'ijll{/f/(/, Th e cntire ed ifice o r th e Ay urved ic kn ow ledge stems rrom th e view o r simil arit y or man and nature. or III othcr term s m ierocos m and macrocos m. both havin g been const itut ed

by th e rundam ental prilc

l e~. , Thi s i"

understood at SIx Icve ls kn own as

Pada rl/w ,\ , Podorlhm 'ijll ollu i:-, th e

sc ience. w hi ch deal s w ith th e study or

th ese basic cx istential principles, IC,

Or(/\'\,o (s ubstratum ). g llll (l (qu aliti es),

ko nllo (act ion s). SOIlWIlI'O (ge neri c).

I l i s~a

(s peci ri c). W /I//(f I'OVO ( inh erence ),

Ora I'va VijllCII I({ IS the ,dctai Icd

pharmaco logy , Thi s i, di v ided into three

sub-topi cs nam ed Nail/ a, RlIfJo and YlIkli

jllalla , wh ich con stitutes th e three-ti er

un derstandi ng o f w/ ,wdhi (drug

material s). Th e chart below gi ves an idea

about th e stru cture of Ayurvedic

pharmacol ogy,

Nama jl/al/a (No menclature )

Ayurvedic pharmacology (Dral'yagulla Ilijl/al/a )

Nupajl/al/a (Identitication)

Yllkli jl/al/a (Application )

Pol y nomials Basion), ms

S~ ' IHl y ms

(;ul/akarma jl/al/a (Qualities and actions )

Textual descriptions Etymological studi es Ficld data

Yogajl/alla (C la ss iticatioll s)

Nasa (Taste ) GUI/a (Q ualities) Virl'a (Potency ) Viflaka (Post di gestive Effect) Prahlwl'a (S pecili c action )

Karma (General action)

Varga (N o n - t h e r a p e u t i c ) Gal/{J (the ra peutic )

Yoga (Formulations) Methods or comhining drugs

f)osakarma (Action 011 dosa ) /)/wlukartlw (Ac tion on bod y tissues ) Malakarma (Ac tioll on excl'etOl'Y mechanism )

Kalp{Jl/a jl/al/a (Pha rmaceutical methods)

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