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Basic Principles of Ayurveda
History of Ayurveda
Astanga Ayurveda
Ayurvedic Concept of Diseases
Diagnosis in Ayurveda
Prakriti - Constitutional Type
Ayurveda in Life Style
Panchakarma
Rasayana
Ayurvedic Education
Ayurvedic Books & CDs
Current Status of Ayurveda
Complementary Therapies
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According to the Ayurvedavatarana (the "descent of Ayurveda"), the origin of Ayurveda is stated to be a divine revelation of the ancient Indian creator God Lord Brahma as he awoke to recreate the universe. This knowledge was passed directly to Daksha Prajapati in the form of shloka sung by Lord Brahma. and this was in turn passed down through a successive chain of deities to Lord Indra the protector of dharma. According to this account, the first human exponent of Ayurveda was Bharadvaja who learned it directly from Indra. Bharadvaja in turn taught Ayurveda to a group of assembled sages, who then passed down different aspects of this knowledge to their students. According to tradition, Ayurveda was first described in text form by Agnivesha in his book the Agnivesh tantra. The book was later redacted by Charaka, and became known as the Charaka Samhitā. Another early text of Ayurveda is the Sushruta Samhitā, which was compiled by Sushrut, the primary pupil of Dhanvantri, sometime around 1000 BC. Dhanvantri is known as the Father of Surgery, and in the Sushrut Samhita, the teachings and surgical techniques of Dhanvantri are compiled and complemented with additional findings and observations of Sushrut regarding topics ranging from obstetrics and orthopedics to ophthalmology. Sushrut Samhita together with Charaka Samhitā, served as the textual material within the ancient Universities of Takshashila and Nalanda. These texts are believed to have been written around the beginning of the Common Era and are based on a holistic approach rooted in the philosophy of the Vedas and Vedic culture. Holism is central to ayurvedic philosophy and elements of holism is found in several aspects of ayurveda.

The emergence of different schools of Sanskrit philosophy like Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta and Mimamsa was another landmark in the history of Indian medicine. The principles expounded in these philosophies facilitated the development within Ayurveda of its theory of humoral pathology which propounds that the human body is composed of Tridoshas, the three humors – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. When these are in equilibrium they are called the Tridhatus. The body in which these three humors are in a state of equilibrium enjoys perfect health; their disequilibrium causes ill health.
The principles of Ayurvedic pharmacology are fundamentally different from those of other systems of medicine, especially evidence-based medicine. Most Ayurvedic medicines are prepared form herbs.
Shamana and Shodhana are the two concepts of disease management in Ayurveda. Shamana means alleviation. Shamana methods mitigate the disease and its symptoms. Shodhana means elimination and Shodhana methods aim at the elimination of the basic cause of disease.
Panchamahabhutas Tridosha System Triguna Sapta Dhatus Malas Agni Rasa Strotas
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