History of Ayurveda

"Ayurveda" literally means "the science of life". It is the oldest and most holistic medical system available on the planet today. It was placed in written form over 5,000 years ago in India, it was said to be a world medicine dealing with both body and the spirit. Before the advent of writing, the ancient wisdom of this healing system was a part of the spiritual tradition of the Sanatana Dharma (Universal Religion), or Vedic Religion. VedaVyasa, the famous sage, shaktavesha avatar of Vishnu, put into writing 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.
There were originally four main books of spirituality, which included among other topics, health, astrology, spiritual business, government, army, poetry and spiritual living and behavior. These books are known as the four Vedas; Rik, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. The Rik Veda, a compilation of verse on the nature of existence, is the oldest surviving book of any Indo-European language (3000 B.C.). The Rik Veda (also known as Rig Veda) refers to the cosmology known as Sankhya which lies at the base of both Ayurveda and Yoga, contains verses on the nature of health and disease, pathogenesis and principles of treatment. Among the Rik Veda are found discussions of the three dosas, Vayu. Pitta and Kapha, and the use of herbs to heal the diseases of the mind and body and to foster longevity.
The Atharva Veda lists the eight divisions of Ayurveda: Internal Medicine, Surgery of Head and Neck, Opthamology and Otorinolaryngology, Surgery, Toxicology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Gerontology or Science of Rejuvenation, and the Science of Fertility. The Vedic Sages took the passages from the Vedic Scriptures relating to Ayurveda and compiled separate books dealing only with Ayurveda. One of these books, called the Atreya Samhita is the oldest medical book in the world! The Vedic Brahmanas were not only priests performing religious rites and ceremonies, they also became Vaidyas (physicians of Ayurveda). The sage-physician-surgeons of the time were the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people, who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation. In other words, the knowledge of the use of various methods of healing, prevention, longevity and surgery came through Divine revelation; there was no guessing or testing and harming animals. These revelations were transcribed from the oral tradition into book form, interspersed with the other aspects of life and spirituality. What is fascinating is Ayurveda's use of herbs, foods, aromas, gems, colors, yoga, mantras, lifestyle and surgery. Consequently Ayurveda grew into a respected and widely used system of healing in India.
Around 1500 BC, various authors took ayurvedic passages from the four scriptures and created ayurvedic texts for at least eight specific branches of medicine, divided into two main schools: ATREYA, or physicians, and DHANVANTARI, or surgeons. Through experimentation and research, these two schools transformed ayurveda from a primarily religious discipline to a scientific medical system.
Scholars from China, Tibet, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome flocked to India's Ayurvedic schools to learn about this holistic medicine.
Over 1,200 years ago, masters of the two schools assembled their knowledge into essential texts. Charak, a doctor of the Atreya school, compiled information on diagnosis and prevention of disease, internal and external causes of illness, herbal prescriptions and anatomy. He stated that all disease - physical, mental and spiritual - is fundamentally caused by a separation from Divine Oneness. He also gave strikingly detailed descriptions of human fetal development month-by-month.
Sushrut, from the Dhanvantari school, classified functions of organs, nerves and joints, catalogued various kinds of wounds and described sophisticated surgical equipment used in technical procedures like amputation and plastic surgery. His text also includes the first mention of the science of massage using MARMA points, vital nerve intersections like those used in Chinese acupuncture.
After the flowering of ayurvedic knowledge came hard times. First, schools began splitting over technical interpretations. In the 1600s, the British East India Company took control over the subcontinent. By 1833, it had sufficient authority to ban all ayurvedic colleges and opened the first Western-style medical university. Ayurvedic medicine survived only in rural areas where local doctors treated those who could not afford Western medicine.
Only in 1920 did the discipline of ayurveda begin to regain its former respect. When India established independence in 1947, ayurvedic medical schools were once more officially accepted and allowed to open.
Today, well over 100 ayurvedic colleges in India grant degrees after a five-year program. More than 300,000 ayurvedic physicians belong to the All-India Ayurveda Congress, making it the largest medical organization in the world.