Ayurveda the divine science of life -1

Ayurveda the divine science of life

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research

and experience broaden our knowledge, changes in practice, treatment and drug

therapy may become necessary or appropriate. Readers are advised to check the

most current information provided (i) on procedures featured or (ii) by the

manufacturer of each product to be administered, to verify the recommended dose

or formula, the method and duration of administration, and contraindications. It is

the responsibility of the practitioner, relying on their own experience and knowledge

of the patient, to make diagnoses, to determine dosages and the best treatment for

each individual patient, and to take all appropriate safety precautions. To the fullest

extent of the law, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any liability for any

injury and/or damage to persons or property arising out of, or related to, any use of

the material contained in this book.

  

Foreword

The two oldest extant and expounded systems of traditional

medicine are East Indian Traditional Medicine,

known as A - yurveda and dating back five to ten thousand

years, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

whose history arguably is known to extend as much as

5000 years into antiquity. While Western medicine

owes its origins to the Egyptian, Greek, Roman and

Arabic cultures, it has been hopelessly fragmented

several times over the last 2000 years due to the disintegration

of the Roman Empire, then the early suppression

by the church of any physical healing

methods, and more recently, the development of pharmaceutical

drugs.

It has been argued that A - yurveda is the basis for

traditional Tibetan medicine, TCM and later Greek,

Roman and Arabic (or Unani) medicines. All these traditional

healing methods share a common unified

body-mind-spirit orientation, meaning that disease

and health are the result of the interaction of all three

aspects of being. As well, all of them are energetic

medicines based on their heating and cooling energies,

for instance, of food, herbs, diseases and constitutions.

Just as there is a close relationship between Chinese

martial arts and related physical disciplines and

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there is also a

healing relationship between the disciplines of yoga and

A -

yurveda. Today yoga continues to grow in popularity

as it is increasingly accepted into the mainstream of

the West. During the 1970s some of these same spiritual

Indian teachers bringing yoga to the West were

also responsible for introducing A - yurveda.

Because A - yurveda was first introduced by spiritual

teachers along with other intended moral practices

such as vegetarianism, it is seen by many as a harmonious

system of medical support for vegetarianism

rather than the distinct holistic healing system that it

truly is.

My personal introduction, in 1974, was by Hari Das

Baba who may have been one of the first teachers in

the West, although Yogi Bhajan was another who

informally taught A - yurveda to his followers. In 1980

the Maharishi, founder of Transcendental Meditation,

began to popularise A - yurveda in the West and eventually

incorporated a line of A - yurvedic products as I had

done previously.

Since its introduction to the West, a number of

A -

yurvedics and Westerners trained in A - yurveda have

conducted clinical practice, taught, written books and

developed training courses in A - yurveda. One of the

first was Robert Svoboda, then David Frawley, a

Westerner who took it upon himself to master Sanskrit

and is now recognised throughout the world, including

India, as one of the foremost Vedic scholars. The

West owes a great debt to the dedicated and pioneering

efforts of Dr. Vasant Ladd, an Indian medical doctor as

well as A - yurvedic doctor. Now, the Canadian, Todd

Caldecott, has created a milestone in the evolution of

A -

yurveda in the West through his years of teaching

and now the authorship of this definitive book.

Apart from its association with spiritual and yogic

practices, A - yurveda is as relevant today for all people

throughout the world as it was when the first classic

texts were compiled between the first and sixth centuries.

Its recommendations and prescriptions are not

limited to any single class of people, neither to any specific

religious belief nor any particular dietary regime

since its origins as elucidated in the classic texts predate

Buddhist influence in India and include various

animal parts for food and medicine.

Just as Sanskrit is considered a root language whose

influence can be found in most of the languages of

Europe, A - yurveda is known by some as ‘the mother

of healing’. Because we live in a world where the

wisdom of all people and times are at once available,

it is possible to supplement the deficiencies of understanding

from one system of thought by looking

through the prism of another. This means that semantic

differences aside, aspects of A - yurveda – its theory,

principles, herbs, therapies – are to be found in all

major world healing systems.

Therefore, an understanding of A - yurvedic medicine

is bound to enhance and deepen the understanding of a

conventional Western medical doctor as well as a TCM

practitioner. In fact many of the treatments and even

the medicines used in A - yurveda are found in Western

medicine, such as Rauwolfia serpentina for high blood

pressure. In addition, a large number of herbs used in

A -

yurveda are also used as part of the medical armamentarium

of both Western and Chinese herbalists.

As another example, the three body types

(somatypes) developed by the psychologist William

Sheldon (1898–1977) during the 1940s closely corresponds

to one of the cornerstones of A - yurveda, called

‘tridosha’. The difference is that Sheldon only described

and used the body types for their psychological temperament

while A - yurveda uses them as a cornerstone

guiding lifestyle, dietary and treatment modality.

The author of this book has absorbed many of the

dominant alternative healing systems known in the

West and has chosen to specialise in the practice and

teaching of A - yurveda. For the Western student this

means that much of the confusion between Western

herbal medicine, scientific herbalism and TCM has

been integrated by the author and the result is a text

that is persuasive and immediately communicable to

the Western mind without losing the flavour and

integrity of its origin.

I have known Todd Caldecott as a colleague and

respected professional member of the American

Herbalists Guild (AHG) and have seen him grow in

stature as one of the country’s leading herbalists and

one who is able to bridge the divide between various

systems of traditional medicine and Western medical

science. His book offers a clear and comprehensive elucidation

of A - yurveda that will guide the serious student

in acquiring the skills needed to become an

effective practitioner.

Michael Tierra

Chapter Title xiii

The genesis of the present work began in 1992 after

I returned from my first trip to India and West Asia,

where I spent a year travelling overland from Sri Lanka

to Western Turkey on only a few dollars a day. After

several months of staying in the cheapest guest houses

and eating at roadside stalls I unfortunately contracted

a very serious case of dysentery that I only partially

recovered from when I spent a month among the

Hunza people in Northern Pakistan. Upon my return

to Canada I sought treatment for what was now a

chronic digestive disorder, and after undergoing a variety

of treatments, including naturopathic and homeopathic

medicine, finally received relief under the care

of A¯ yurvedic physician Dr T. Sukumaran. The wise

counsel given to me by the Kerala-born Dr Sukumaran

impressed me greatly, and incited a passion to learn all

I could about A¯yurveda. Although there were some

good texts available at the time, there were none

I found that could deepen my interest in A¯yurveda.

During this time I enrolled in a 3-year clinical programme

in Western herbal medicine, and continued to

study A¯yurveda with Dr Sukumaran as well as other

teachers. When I completed my studies in Western

herbal medicine my thirst for A¯yurveda remained

unquenched, and in 1996 I left for India with my pregnant

wife and 1-year-old son where I studied at the

Arya Vaidya Chikitsalayam in Coimbatore, India. Here

I not only had the opportunity to study under the venerable

Dr V. Vasudevan, but other A¯yurvedic physicians

as well, sitting with them in clinic and in the hospital,

observing the skills they used in assessment and treatment.

While I was India I began to synthesise all of this

Preface

wonderful knowledge I had learned into the framework

of a text that would serve as the kind of reference

text I had sought a few years earlier. After the happy

birth of my second son in India, my family and

I returned to Canada where I opened a clinical practice,

using my skills as a Western herbal and A¯yurvedic

practitioner. I continued to work on the text, and made

a significant investment to acquire English translations

of all the classical A¯yurvedic texts available, as well as

texts on Indian botany, which I digested with a voracious

appetite. In 1999 I relocated to Calgary, Alberta,

and in addition to seeing patients began to offer an

introductory course in A¯yurvedic medicine at the Wild

Rose College of Natural Healing. In 2001 I became the

Director of Clinical Herbal studies at Wild Rose College,

where I developed a 3-year clinical programme in

Western herbal medicine. During this time I continued

to work on my text, rewriting large sections of the book

and adding the appendices found in the current version,

and converted all the Sanskrit terms into

Unicode-compatible diacritical format. Although the

present text is far from perfect, I believe that the almost

10 years I have spent working on it has come close to

my original vision. It is my sincerest hope that this text

is worthy of the serious student of the divine science

that is A¯yurveda.

Todd Caldecott

There are so many people to acknowledge:

First, I give thanks to my adoring family and loving

friends, to whom I am indebted for their patience, inspiration

and profound love.

Secondly, I thank the many colleagues, teachers and

friends that assisted me with their support, encouragement

and wisdom, including Dr T. Sukumaran, Jaisri

Lambert, K.P. Singh Khalsa, Dr Terry Willard, Chanchal

Cabrera, Christopher Hansard, Dr V. Vasudevan,

Dr S. Kumar, Dr D. Anandakusumam, Paul Bergner,

Michael Tierra, David Winston, Alan Tillotson, Madhu

Bajracharya and Vinod Haritwal.

Thirdly, I give my deepest veneration to the

A¯

yurvedic physicians and scholars of A¯ yurveda that

have illuminated the world with their wisdom, as well

as the holy rishis who think to benefit all humanity

when they reveal these sacred teachings.

Lastly, I give thanks to Mother Earth and the healing

medicines that arise from Her body, and Great Spirit

that infuses them with divine essence.

om bhais.

ajye bhais.

ajye maha¯ bhais.

ajye samudgate

sva¯ha¯ in divine recognition of you, the great medicine!

(As.

t.a¯n

.

ga Hr.daya, Su¯ trastha¯na, 18:17)

Acknowledgements

Notes on transliteration

Sanskrit is a complex language that originated in

India several thousand years ago, considered by modern

scholars to be a remote cousin of the ancient

European languages, including Ancient Greek and

Latin. It evolved from an earlier language found in the

R.

g veda and was refined into its present form by the

grammarian Pa¯n. ini in the 4th century BCE (BCE =

before common era). Since then the rigid grammatical

structure laid out by Pa¯n. ini has represented the ‘perfected’

(sam. skr. ta) form of the language, as opposed

to the many ‘unperfected’ (pra?kr. tas) regional

dialects that evolved before, during and after the time

of Pa¯n. ini. Today Sanskrit is primarily a language of

religion and scholarship, and like Latin is used in modern

science, serves to standardise traditional Indian

knowledge into a unified whole. The present text

attempts to preserve this precedent, and uses many of

the original Sanskrit terms found in the extant

A¯

yurvedic literature.

To best achieve a fluency in Sanskrit terms without

requiring the reader to learn the devana?garı?script in

which it is written, Western scholars use a system of

diacritics to transliterate these terms. It is important to

note that Sanskrit contains many more sounds than

does English, 49 letters in all as opposed to the 26 letters

in English, and thus this system of diacritics is

used to represent these different sounds, some of

which are difficult for the Western ear to detect.

In the pronunciation of Sanskrit letters there are

five possible regions from which a sound can be produced:

(1) guttural, (2) palatal, (3) cerebral, (4) dental

and (5) labial. Guttural sounds are produced by constricting

the throat at the back of the tongue; palatal

sounds are produced by pressing the tongue flat against

the palate; cerebral sounds are produced by turning up

the tip of the tongue against the hard palate; dental

sounds by touching the upper teeth with the tongue;

and labial sounds by pursing the lips.

Vowels

If language can be viewed as a living organism,

Sanskrit considers vowels to be the life-force that awakens

a language and gives it meaning. In total, there are

14 vowels, consisting of simple vowels (one vowel

sound) and diphthongs (combined vowel sounds):

Guttural

Palatal

Labial

Cerebral

Dental

Short (one beat)

a

i

u

r.

ı.

Pronounced like:

‘a’ in ‘america’

‘i’ in ‘bit’

‘u’ in ‘book’

‘ri’ in ‘rip’

‘tle’ in ‘bottle’

Pronounced like:

‘a’ in ‘calm’

‘i’ in ‘machine’

‘u’ in ‘rule’

A long r. sound

Not used in practice

Vowels simple

Long (two beats)

a¯

ı¯

u¯

r.¯

ı.¯

xvi Notes on transliteration

Palatal

Cerebral

Labial

´s

s.

s

‘sh’ as in ‘shut’

‘sh’ as above, but with the tip of the tongue touching the hard palate

‘s’ as in ‘sip’

Palatal

Palatal

Labial

labial

e

ai

o

au

Pronounced like ‘e’ in ‘prey’

Pronounced like ‘ai’ in ‘aisle’

Pronounced like ‘o’ in ‘road’

Pronounced like ‘ow’ in ‘cow’

Vowels : dipthongs

visarga

anusva¯ra

Occurs at the end of a word or

syllable, expressed as a kind of

breath sound, faintly continuing the

previous vowel

Occurs as a nasal sound before a

hard consonant, sounding like the

‘m’ in the word ‘sum’

h.

m.

Consonants

If vowels are viewed as the life principle of the Sanskrit

language, consonants are its body: the ‘stuff ’ that

makes up language and gives it form. Consonants can

be divided into two types: generic consonants, and an

assortment of semivowels, sibilants and an aspirate.

Like the vowels, each type of consonant is classified

according to where the sound is produced (i.e. gutteral,

palatal, etc.). Where an ‘h’ follows a consonant this

represents an aspirated sound, in which the consonant

is pronounced with a noticeable emission of breath.

In fact, the ‘th’ and ‘ph’ sounds as they are commonly

pronounced in English are not found in Sanskrit,

although the ‘ph’ sound can be found in modern Indian

languages influenced by non-indigenous languages

such as Farsi. Thus the famous A¯ yurvedic medicament

triphala is pronounced ‘tri-pah-la’ in Sanskrit and

‘tri-fah-la’ in the Farsi-influenced Hindi.

Guttural

Palatal

Cerebral

Dental

Labial

k

c

t.

t

p

g

j

d.

d

b

n .

ñ

n.

n

m

‘k’ as in ‘kite’

‘c’ as in ‘chair’

‘t’ as in ‘tea’

As in first sound

of ‘thirty’

‘p’ as in ‘punch’

kh (aspirated)

ch (aspirated)

t.h (aspirated)

th (aspirated)

ph (aspirated)

‘g’ as in ‘gum’

‘j’ as in ‘jar’

‘d’ as in ‘day’

As in the first

sound in ‘thus’

‘b’ as in ‘butter’

gh (aspirated)

jh (aspirated)

d.

h (aspirated)

dh (aspirated)

bh (aspirated)

‘ng’ as in ‘finger’

‘ni’ as in ‘onion’

‘n’ as in ‘fund’

‘n’ as in name

‘m’ as in ‘mother’

Palatal

Cerebral

Dental

Labial

y

r

l

v

‘y’ as in ‘young’

‘r’ as in ‘real’

‘l’ as in ‘laugh’

‘v’ as in ‘vast’, but without pressing the upper teeth hard against the lower lip

Generic consonants

Semivowels

Sibilants

h ‘h’ as in ‘harmony’

Aspirates

In addition to the vowels described above, there are two

special supporting vowels used in Sanskrit, called

visarga and anusva¯ra:

 1: Agnimañtha bark (Premna integrifolia)

2: 􀆖malak􀆯 fruit (Phyllanthus emblica)

 3: Arjuna bark (Terminalia arjuna)

4: A􀄞vagandh􀆗 root (Withania somnifera) Figure 5: Bal􀆗 stem and leaf (Sida cordifolia)

 6: Bhall􀆗taka fruit (Semecarpus anacardium)

 7: Bhr􀌡ngar􀆗ja herb (Eclipta alba)

 8: Bh􀇌nimba stem and leaf (Andrographis paniculata)

 9: Bibh􀆯taka fruit (Terminalia belerica)

10: Bilva fruit (Aegle marmelos)

 11: Br􀆗hm􀆯 stem and leaf (Bacopa monniera)

12: Candana wood (Santalum album)

13: Citraka stem and leaf (Plumbago zeylanica)

14: Devad􀆗ru bark (Cedrus deodara)

 15: El􀆗 fruit (Elettaria cardamomum)

 16: Goks􀌡ura fruit (Tribulus terrestris)

 17: Gud􀌡􀇌c􀆯 stem (Tinospora cordifolia)

 18: Guggulu resin (Commiphora mukul)

 19: Haridr􀆗 rhizome (Curcuma longa)

 20: Har􀆯tak􀆯 fruit (Terminalia chebula)

 21: Hin.gu resin (Ferula foetida)

 22: Jat􀌁􀆗m􀆗ms􀆯 rhizome (Nardostachys grandiflora)

 23: J􀆗t􀆯phala fruit (Myristica fragrans)

 24: Jyotis􀌡mat􀆯 fruit (Celastrus paniculatus)

 25: Kan􀌞t􀌁ak􀆗ri fruit (Solanum xanthocarpum)

 26: Kapikacch􀇌 fruit (Mucuna pruriens)

 27: Kat􀌁uka rhizome (Picrorrhiza kurroa)

 28: K􀇌s􀌡m􀆗n􀌞d􀌡a fruit (fresh) (Benincasa hispida)

29: Kus􀌡t􀌁ha root (Saussurea lappa)

 30: Kut􀌁aja bark (Holarrhena antidysenterica)

 31: Man􀌞d􀌡􀇌kaparn􀌞􀆯 stem and leaf (Centella asiatica)

 32: Mañjis􀌡t􀌁h􀆗 stem and root (Rubia cordifolia)

33: Mustaka rhizome (Cyperus rotundus)

 34: N􀆗gake􀄞ara flower (Mesua ferrea)

 35: Nimba stem and leaf (Azadirachta indica)

 36: Nirgun􀌞d􀌡􀆯 stem and leaf (Vitex negundo)

 37: Pippal􀆯 fruit (Piper longum)

 38: Punarnav􀆗 root (Boerhavia diffusa)

 39: 􀄝􀆗laparn􀌞􀆯 leaf (Desmodium gangeticum)

Figure 40: 􀄝ankhapus􀌡p􀆯 whole plant (Evolvulus alsinoides)

Figure 41: 􀄝at􀆗var􀆯 root (Asparagus racemosus) Figure 42: 􀄝il􀆗jatu (unprocessed)

.

43: 􀄝yon􀆗ka root and root bark (Oroxylum indicum)

 44: Trivr􀌡t root (Operculina turpethum)

 45: U􀄞􀆯ra root (Vetiveria zizanioides)

 46: Vac􀆗 rhizome (Acorus calamus)

 47: Vam􀄞arocan􀆗 (Bambusa arundinacea)

 48: V􀆗saka stem and leaf (Adhatoda vasica)

 49: Vid􀌡anga fruit (Embelia ribes)

 50: 􀈊a􀈞􀆗n􀆯 fruit (Trachyspermum ammi)

.

.

3

PART 1

Chapter 1

FOUNDATION

1.1         ORIGIN OF A¯YURVEDA

According to tradition, the teachings of A¯ yurvedawere

recollected by Brahma¯, the Lord of Creation, as he

awoke to begin the task of creating the universe that

we inhabit now. This idea suggests that A¯ yurveda transcends

the period of this universe, stretching beyond

the concept of time itself, having no beginning and no

end. Brahma¯ taught this knowledge to Daks.a Praja¯pati

(the protector of all beings), whom in turn taught it to

the As´vinı¯ Kuma¯ ras (the twin holy physicians), who in

turn taught it to Indra (King of the Gods). When disease

and illness began to trouble humanity the great

r.

s.

is (‘sages’) of the world assembled in the Himalayan

mountains, seeking to learn A¯ yurveda from Lord Indra.

Among these sages one named Bharadva¯ ja volunteered

and made the journey to Indra’s court on Mount

Kailash,1 where he undertook the study of A¯ yurveda.

In a few short quatrains Lord Indra expounded the

entire teaching of A¯ yurveda, and the profound nature

of this unfolded like a lotus in the illuminated mind of

the accomplished sage. After he had heard and understood

this teaching Bharadva¯ ja returned to establish

the first school of A¯ yurveda, and revealed this knowledge

to the assembled sages. These sages in turn taught

this knowledge to their own disciples, and one named

Punarvasu A¯ treya held a competition to see which student

best understood ka¯ya cikitsa¯, or the practice of

internal medicine. Among his students the treatise of

Agnives´a was judged best, celebrated by all who

heard it, and thus the Agnives´a sam.

hita¯ became

the authoritative text on internal medicine. Although

this text is no longer available it exists in a revised

and edited version compiled by the physician Caraka,

whose Caraka sam.

hita¯, with the later additions of

Dr.d.

habala¯ , is now considered the most authentic

OBJECTIVES

● To understand the anthropological and

philosophical origins of A¯ yurveda.

● To understand the bioenergetic and

spiritual models underlying the system of

A¯

yurveda.

4 PART 1: Theory and practice of A-yurveda

and authoritative text on the subject. A contemporary

of A¯ treyawas Kasiraja Divoda¯ sa Dhanvantari, the sage

who revealed the art and science of surgery, or s´alya

cikitsa, to his student Sus´ruta (whose name means to

‘listen sweetly’).2 Sus´ruta compiled Divoda¯ sa’s teachings

into a text, which along with the later revisions

of the renowned Buddhist scholar Na¯ga¯ rjuna, forms

the Sus´ruta sam. hita¯, the primary A¯ yurvedic text

on the theory and practice of surgery. Another important

early text is the Ka¯s´yapa sam. hita¯, which is concerned

with the theory and practice of paediatric and

obstetric disease (kauma¯rabhr. tya). Unfortunately

only portions of this text have survived the millennia,

and the remainder of the original texts on each of the

separate specialities of A¯ yurveda are either hidden,

have been damaged over time, or have been completely

lost. Fortunately both the Caraka and Sus´ruta

sam. hita¯s are broad enough in scope that they

describe almost the entire system of A¯ yurveda.3

The Caraka sam. hita¯ states that the term

‘A¯ yurveda’ is derived from two words, a¯yus and veda.

Many A¯ yurvedic commentators define a¯yus as ‘life’,

but Caraka expands upon this definition, telling us

that a¯yus is the ‘. . . combination of the body, sense

organs, mind and soul’, the factor (dha¯ri) responsible

for preventing decay and death, which sustains

( jı¯vita) the body over time (nityaga), and guides the

process of rebirth (anubandha). The second part of

the word is veda and can be translated as ‘knowledge’

or ‘science’, but more specifically suggests a deeply profound

knowledge that emanates from a divine source,

and hence A¯yurveda is known as the ‘divine science

of life’.

As a s´a¯stra (‘teaching’) of the Vedas, A¯yurveda is

allied with the four principle Vedas of ancient India,

which similarly issued forth from Lord Brahma¯ at the

time of Creation. The Vedas include the R.

g veda,

Yajur veda, Sa¯ma veda and the Atharva veda, and

are considered by Hindus to be a sacred knowledge, an

eternal and unending truth called the sana¯tana

dharma. The Vedas can be organised in a few different

ways, including into six a¯ñgas (‘limbs’) or six

dars´anas (‘perceptions’). Among the six dars´anas the

theoretical structure of A¯ yurveda draws primarily from

the Nya¯ya, Vais´es.

ika and Sa¯n.khya dars´anas. Both

the Nya¯ya and Vais´es. ika dars´anas are concerned

with logic, analysis and distinction, whereas the

Sa¯n . khya dars´ana is a kind of ontology that describes

the emanation of the universe from a divine source

(see Ch. 2). To a lesser extent A¯ yurveda also draws upon

the other three dars´anas, including Mı¯ma¯m. sa¯

(knowledge and ‘interpretation’ of Vedic rituals and

rites), Yoga (‘union’, spiritual discipline) and Veda¯nta

(‘esotericism’). Although the teachings of the Vedas

are at the theoretical core of A¯ yurveda, the practice of

medicine in India has also been influenced by the later

spiritual traditions of India, especially during the

Buddhist period (c. 600 BCE–700 CE). (Note. BCE =

before common era; CE = common era.) During this

time several famous centres of medical learning

evolved that taught an apparently advanced knowledge

of surgery and other specialties, such as the Taks. as´ila¯

university in what is now modern-day Afghanistan.

One of the more interesting historical accounts of

ancient A¯yurvedic practices comes to us from the

Vinaya pit.aka of the Pa¯li Canon, which recounts the

tales of the famed physician Jı¯vaka Koma¯ rabhacca.

Both the Caraka and Sus´ruta sam. hita¯s are highly

technical texts, and many subsequent A¯ yurvedic

scholars felt the need to contribute to the storehouse of

A¯

yurvedic literature, to make it easier to understand, to

simplify and arrange the material in a more accessible

way. Among these A¯yurvedic scholars was Va¯gbhat.

a

(c. 600 CE), author of the As.t.

a¯ñga Sangraha and the

Box 1.1 Jı¯vaka Koma¯rabhacca

Jı¯vaka was a famous A¯ yurvedic physician during the

6th century BCE, and personal physician to the

Buddha. His life began under very humble circumstances,

when he was found lying in a trash heap,

having been abandoned by a prostitute. He was discovered

by chance by a prince who found him still

‘living’ ( jı¯va), named him Jı¯vaka, and raised him as a

son. At a young age Jı¯vaka travelled to Taks.

as´ ila¯ to

study medicine. As part of their final examinations

the teacher asked his students to search through the

forest and find one thing that could not be used as a

medicine. As the students made their way back from

their search, each one of them had found something

that had no use as a medicine. After waiting an

exceptionally long time Jı¯vaka finally returned to his

teacher, crestfallen and empty handed. He had found

no substance which could not, in some way, be used

as a medicine. To his surprise the teacher congratulated

Jı¯vaka and gave him his blessing as a physician.

The rest of the students were berated: only Jı¯vaka

had truly understood the heart of A

-

yurveda.

Foundation 5

As.t.

a¯ñga Hr. daya, who created these texts for those of

us of ‘weaker intellect’. The As.t.

a¯ñga Hr.

daya is his

most succinct compilation of the teachings of both

Caraka and Sus´ruta. Together, the teachings of Caraka,

Sus´ruta and Va¯gbhat.a form the br.hat trayı¯, the

‘greater triad’ of surviving texts that are the heart of

A¯

yurvedic literature. Standing beside these is the

laghu trayı¯, or lesser triad, composed of comparatively

later texts including the Ma¯dhava nida¯nam (c. 700

CE), S´ a¯ran . gadhara sam. hita¯ (c. 1300 CE) and the

Bha¯vapraka¯s´a (c. 1300 CE). Besides these texts, however,

there are many more that are highly respected

among A¯yurvedic physicians, including the Cakradatta

(c. 1100 CE) and the Bhais.ajyaratna¯valı¯ (c. 1700

CE). Due to the hard work of modern A¯yurvedic

scholars such as Dr K. R. Srikanthamurthy and

Dr P. V. Sharma, many of these works are now

available as English translations.

Given that the As.t.

a¯ñga Hr.

daya is eminently suitable

to those of us suffering from an intellectual deficit

I have chosen it as my primary inspiration, as well as

additional materials from other texts listed in the bibliography,

and teachings that have been communicated

to me personally. Translated into English, the As.t.

a¯ñga

Hr. daya literally means the ‘heart’ (hr. daya) of the

‘eight limbs’ (as.t.

a¯ñga) of A¯ yurveda, which are the

eight specialties originally revealed by Bharadva¯ja.

These a¯ñgas or cikitsa¯ (‘treatments’) are:

1. Ka¯ya cikitsa¯: general internal medicine

2. Ba¯la cikitsa¯: treatment of infants and children

3. Graha cikitsa¯: treatment of spiritual possession

and medical astrology

4. U¯ rdhva¯ñga cikitsa¯: treatment of the eyes, ears,

nose and throat

5. S ´ alya cikitsa¯: treatment requiring the use of

a knife, i.e. surgery

6. Dams.t.

ra¯ cikitsa¯: treatment of animal inflicted

wounds, poisoning, i.e. toxicology

7. Jara¯ cikitsa¯: treatment of ageing; i.e. rasa¯yana

(‘rejuvenative’) therapies

8. Vr.s.

a cikitsa¯: treatment of impotence and sterility,

i.e. vajı¯karan. a (‘aphrodisiac’) therapies.

Va¯gbhat.

a tells us in the second verse of the

As.t.

a¯ñga Hr.

daya that ‘. . . persons desirous of long

life which is the means for achieving dharma (‘duty’),

artha (‘wealth’) and sukha (‘satisfaction’) should

repose utmost faith in the teachings of A¯ yurveda’.

I humbly invite the reader to consider this present text

not the word of the a¯carya¯s (‘wise teachers’) but as

a condensed and hopefully useful guide for practitioners

and lay persons alike. Any interpolations, inaccuracies

or mistakes are my own and are not reflective of the

vast storehouse of wisdom that is A¯yurveda.

1.2 PHILOSOPHICAL ORIENTATION

OF A¯ YURVEDA

It seems to be an inherent aspect of human nature to

recognise the basic duality that pervades life. The

ancient Chinese describe the dynamics of yin and yang,

Judeo-Christian culture teaches the concepts of good

and evil, and Jungian psychoanalysis organises the

psyche in terms of anima and animus. Even the binary

function of the computer on which I am writing this

text is an example of this intrinsic duality. A¯yurveda,

too, recognises this duality, although its characteristics

are unique. According to Veda¯nta, the last and most

profound of the Vedic dars´anas, what we call reality is

really a self-developed illusion called ma¯ya¯, created

and perpetuated by the ignorance of the ego. It is this

conditioned existence that fragments an experience of

brahman, the ‘vast expanse’ of the Whole, which is

unattributed and unknowable. The attainment and

integration of brahman into our consciousness is the

moks.a, or liberation from this world of illusion, where

suffering ceases and one merges with the Totality. The

ego with its ignorance, aversion and attachments

clings to this fragmented world, inventing semantical,

personal, cultural and social realities that blind us to

our true nature, that we are God:

Pu¯ rn.

am adah. pu¯ rn.

am idam pu¯ rn.

a¯t pu¯ rn.

am

udacyate

pu¯ rn.

asya pu¯ rn.

am a¯da¯ya pu¯ rn.

am eva¯-

vas´is.yate

‘That is the Whole. This too is the Whole.

The Whole comes out of the Whole.

Taking the Whole from the Whole,

The Whole itself remains.’

-Isa Upanis.ad, invocation

There is perhaps no other hymn in the Vedic literature

that so clearly defines the orientation of holism

and holistic medicine. It is a realisation that transcends

the knowledge we gain from our corporeal existence,

6 PART 1: Theory and practice of A-yurveda

where the fragmentation of knowledge ceases to obscure

true understanding, where we arrive at a knowing that

is complete, and yet cannot be described:

Avijña¯tam. , vija¯nata¯m.

, vijña¯tam, avija¯nata¯m

‘It is not understood by those who understand it,

It is understood by those who don’t understand it.’

-Kena Upanis.ad, 2:3

Within a human being this pervasive and yet unrealised

state of totality is called the jı¯va¯tma¯n, and it is

this that is the ‘seed’ or spark of life. From the accumulated

karma (‘actions’) of repeated births, through

the ignorance and desires of the aham. ka¯ra (‘ego’),

each of us have bound up our true nature with tremendous

sam. ska¯ras – actions whose fruits have yet to be

realised. It is our reaction to these fruits, either by luxuriating

in or by being repulsed by them, that generates

further karma, binding us to sam. sa¯ra, the wheel

of life and death. Thus the path that leads us from

dukha (‘suffering’) to sukha (‘happiness’) lies

between the push and pull of life. It is a paradoxical

state, to be remote yet fully engaged, remaining as the

Chinese Taoists say, as ‘. . . an uncarved piece of wood’.

Freed from desire, ignorance and hatred, karma never

has a chance to develop, and that which comes to fruit

is allowed to ripen, without inducing a conditioned

response. In this state of being the aspirant is freed

from birth, and ‘. . . sees how all things pass away’,

entering into the abode of nirva¯n. a.4

1.3 THE Pañca kos´a: THE FIVE SHEATHS

OF BEING

According to the Taittirı¯ya Upanis.ad a corporeal

being is born with five sheaths (pañca kos´a) that are

organised into three bodies (s´arira). The sthu-la

s´arira or ‘gross body’ is definitive of physical being

and is the corporeal manifestation of all the other

s´arira: the gross yet highly organised manifestation of

matter. It is also called the annamaya kos´a, or ‘food

sheath’, and is discarded upon death. Progressing

inwards, we come next to the su¯ ks.

ma s´arira, or ‘subtle

body’, which comprises three kos´as or ‘sheaths’:

1. The pra¯n. a¯maya kos´a, comprising the five

‘winds’ or pra¯n. as (pra¯n. a, apa¯na, uda¯na,

vya¯na and sama¯na) which provide the impetus

and energy for all actions in the body (see 2.9

The subdos.as: subdivisions within each dos.a).

The five pra¯n. as are the vital force that underlies

the function of the five karma indriya¯s (‘organs

of action’), i.e. the mouth, hands, limbs, eliminative

organs and genitalia.

2. The manomaya kos´a, comprising the five jña¯na

indriya¯s (‘organs of knowledge’), i.e. the nose,

ears, eyes, skin and tongue. When these five senses

are activated by the citta,5 or innate consciousness,

they form the manas, or ‘lower mind’.

3. The vijña¯namaya kos´a, comprising the

aham. ka¯ra (‘ego’) and buddhi (‘intellect’, or

higher mind).6

The su¯ks.

ma s´arira is equivalent to the astral body

of Western occultism, where the body exists in an

energetic form but nonetheless retains aspects of

individuality. It is a subtle realm experienced by most

people in trance states, dreams and visions. As the

su¯ ks.

ma s´arira contains the five senses (jña¯na

indriya¯s) and the five organs of action (karma

indriya¯s) with which we receive sensory information

and act upon it, all corporeal activities are first manifest

within this realm. It is within this subtle arena that

everything we think or feel becomes manifest. Whether

or not this manifestation occurs on a corporeal level is

dependent upon the strength and clarity of a given

thought or emotion. In the physical realm manifestation

occurs relatively slowly, and because of this one

Anandamaya kosa

Pranamaya kosa

Manomaya kosa

Vijnamaya kosa Annamaya kosa

Figure 1.1 The pañca kos´a.

Foundation 7

thought or feeling may be countered by another. This is

why, if we want to obtain a result on a physical level,

we must purify our intent and develop clarity about

what it is we want. This is one of the purposes behind

the use of mantra, which through the repetition of

special sounds organises consciousness in the su¯ks.

ma

s´arira around a single purpose or vibrational quality.

The su¯ks.

ma s´arira is also the realm within which the

cakras exist, and through the conscious and directed

flow of pra¯n. a (‘vital force’) through the energetic

channel that connects them (i.e. the sus.umna¯ na¯d. ı¯),

we can awaken the spiritual energy in these energy

centres. Many extrasensory abilities such as clairvoyance

or the influence and guidance of other beings,

such as channelling, occur within the su¯ ks.

ma ´sarira.

The final body is the ka¯ran.

a s´arira (‘causal origin’),

also known as the a¯nandamaya kos´a, or ‘bliss

sheath’. This is perhaps the most appropriate place for

us to designate the soul, the interface between the

lower and higher aspects of our being. It is the most

subtle state of being, beyond the push and pull of the

ego (aham. ka¯ra), resting in pure knowledge (jña¯na),

acting as the impetus for the development of the

increasingly grosser forms of a living being.

The jı¯va¯tman, the individuated aspect of brahman,

interfaces with these five sheaths to provide life, and in

association with karma, is bound to them, to sam. sa¯ra,

the never-ending cycle of birth, death and rebirth. As

beings evolve spiritually, consciously progressing

inwards towards the attainment of moks.a (‘liberation’),

they may find themselves partially existing

within these subtle realms, developing certain spiritual

powers called siddhis, such as clairaudience, clairsentience

or clairvoyance. It is even possible to be reborn

within the heavenly realms of the su¯ks.

ma s´arira,

although this temptation is considered to be a serious

pitfall in spiritual development. The su¯ ks.ma s´arira is

the realm in which the devas (‘heavenly beings’) and

asuras (‘demons’) are said to exist, enjoying the power

and pleasure of the astral realms, living as immortals,

or rather, as beings with extraordinary longevity and

subtle powers. It was for this reason that the Tibetan

Bardo Thodol (‘Book of the Dead’) was written, as

a set of instructions to guide the dead past the enticing,

yet illusory astral realms and onward to the greater

realization of brahman (in Tibetan, ‘dzogchen’). The

beings that are said to exist within these subtle realms

maintain different levels of awareness, some focused

entirely on their own pleasures and desires, and others

with a more noble intent, working towards their further

development and for the benefit of all living beings.

Fully realized beings, however, understand that any state

of being is still a state in which karma and its fruit can

be generated and thus know that they are subject to

the unyielding power of impermanence and decay.

So far we have learned that prakr. ti represents the

created world, synonymous with the concept of ma¯ya¯,

or self-created illusion. Although A¯yurveda is the study

of prakr. ti, it is a path of knowledge that is designed to

explain phenomena within the veil of ma¯ya¯, a path

through which we gain insight into its illusory nature.

A¯

yurveda does not deny the importance of physicality,

but advocates a specific methodology that facilitates the

realization that prakr. ti is purus.a. Thus, the correct

study of A¯ yurveda and the practice of dharma will

automatically lead us to the path of brahman.

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

(My humble salutations to H H Maharshi ji,   Sreeman Todd Caldecott, Elsevier’s Health Sciences and others other eminent medical scholars and doctors   for the collection)