Ayurveda, is composed of two words ‘ayur’ meaning ‘life’ and ‘veda’ meaning ‘science’, hence defined as ‘the science of life,’ is a holistic system of medicine, where the mind, emotions, body and spirit are all balanced. Ayurveda which dates back to over 5000 years to the ancient Vedic culture of India is anchored in Samkhya and Nyaya philosophies.
As there is no compartmentalisation of various disciplines, so the medical system of Ayurveda follows the Samkhya; ‘sat’ meaning ‘truth’ and ‘khya’ meaning ‘to know,’ philosophy in its scientific approach. The major Ayurvedic treatises are supposed to be compilation of the works of Sages Charaka, Sushruta, Vagabhata and Kashyapa.
The oldest known texts are, the Charaka Samhita in 400-200 BC which consists of eight books and one hundred and twenty....
