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Basis of Ayurveda
The origin of Ayurveda: The
history of Ayurveda goes back to a long time - the age of the
Holy books, Vedas. Ayurveda is considered to be the oldest and
most holistic medical system available on the present world.
According to the ancient mythology, the knowledge and
teachings of Ayurveda was taught by Lord Brahma, the Creator
of this Universe. There are four types of Vedas – Rig Veda,
Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. These Vedas were
written almost 5000 years ago. Amongst all these four, the Atharva Veda consists of the medical knowledge that is based
on the principle of Ayurveda.
Before the introduction of
writing, this form of ancient wisdom of healing was considered
to be a part of the spiritual tradition, ‘Sanatana Dharma’ or
Universal Religion or Vedic Religion. After the birth of
writing, the famous sage VedaVyasa, the shaktavesha avatar or
incarnation of Lord Vishnu, recorded the complete knowledge of
Ayurveda, along with the more directly spiritual insights of
self realization into a body of scriptural literature called
the Vedas and the Vedic literatures.
Ayurveda or the science of life, as the name suggests, can be
applied to each and every living being. Remember, Vedic
science attributed life to more things than we usually do
today- the things like air, wind, fire, the earth, planets and
stars were all believed to possess conscience like living
beings. So, the fundamental principle of Ayurveda is that the
whole universe belonged to/is a part of one singular absolute.
According to the Ayurvedic school
of thought, the five elements of nature combine in pairs to
give rise to three dynamic forces called the “Doshas”. The
word ‘dosha’ means something that undergoes change and comes
from ‘dus’, the English equivalent to ‘dys’ like dysfunction
and dystrophy. In this context, the term ‘dosha’ can mean a
fault, flaw or mistake – a disobedience of the cosmic rhythm.
These doshas are moving continuously in an energetic and
vibrant balance, one with the others is essential for the life
to go on naturally. Hence, in Ayurveda, dosha is considered to
be the governing principle as all living things in nature are
characterized by the dosha.
The three doshas that I spoke about
earlier are
• Vata (formed by the combination of the elements – Air and
Ether)
• Pitta (formed by the combination of the elements – Water and
Fire)
• Kapha (formed by the combination of the elements – Water and
Earth)
Vata – As discussed, the
dosha vata is a combination of the elements, Air and Ether or
space. How active or strong this dosha is, depends on the
proportions of ether and air. The amount of space influences
the ability of air to gain momentum. If there is a huge amount
of space available, air can gain momentum and become extremely
powerful. Vata can be described as “wind, to move, flow,
direct the processes of, or command.” It is vata that
facilitates the other two doshas, pitta and kalpa, to be
expressive. The actions related to vata are – drying, cooling,
light, agitating and moving.
The responsibility of vata is to regulate the natural
processes like breathing, blinking, moving of the muscles and
tissues of the body, monitoring the heart beats, the movement
of cytoplasm and cell membranes and all the expansion and
contractions of the body. It also monitors feelings and
sensations like fear, anxiety, pain, nervousness, freshness
and tremors. The primary point of location of this dosha is
supposed to be the colon; however, it is also believed to
dwell in the skin, bones, large intestine, ears, hips, thighs
and pelvic cavity.
Pitta
– Pitta is formed by the combination of water and fire. Since
both of these elements are extremely powerful, they cannot
change each other; rather, they regulate each other and play a
very important role in the process of life.
The responsibility of Pitta is to monitor the natural
practices like digestion, absorption, nutrition, metabolic
rate, body temperature, and coloring of the skin, the gleam of
the eyes, intelligence and intellect. It is supposed to
stimulate feelings like hate, anger and jealousy; it is
believed to dwell in the small intestine, stomach, blood,
sweat glands and eyes.
Kapha – The last of the
three, Kapha is the conceptual equilibrium of water and earth.
It is the force of structure and lubrication and can be
defined as the most inspiring dosha of our body. This dosha is
responsible for providing the material for physical structure
and lubricates the joints. Moreover, it heals injuries, gives
moisture to the skin, offers strength, vitality and stability;
supports and enhances memory, gives immunity and supplies lots
of energy to the heart and lungs. Kapha is believed to
stimulate feelings and emotions like greed and envy and is
also expressed in tendencies toward calmness, forgiveness, and
love. It resides primarily in the chest.
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