|
Home
>> About Kerala
>> Ayurveda of Kerala
Ayurveda
- Kerala
Discover
Ayurveda
Ayurveda
is the oldest surviving complete medical system in the world.
Derived from its ancient Sanskrit roots - ‘ayus' (life) and
‘ved' (knowledge) – and offering a rich, comprehensive
outlook to a healthy life, its origins go back nearly 5000 years. To
when it was expounded and practiced by the same spiritual rishis,
who laid the foundations of the Vedic civilisation in India, by
organising the fundamentals of life into proper systems.
The main source of knowledge in this field therefore remain the
Vedas, the divine books of knowledge they propounded, and more
specifically the fourth of the series, namely Atharvaveda that dates
back to around 1000 BC. Of the few other treatises on Ayurveda that
have survived from around the same time, the most famous are Charaka
Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita which concentrate on internal
medicine and surgery respectively. The Astanga Hridayam is a more
concise compilation of earlier texts that was created about a
thousand years ago. These between them forming a greater part of the
knowledge base on Ayurveda as it is practiced today.
No philosophy has had greater influence on Ayurveda than
Sankhaya’s philosophy of creation and manifestation. Which
professes that behind all creation there is a state of pure
existence or awareness, which is beyond time and space, has no
beginning or end, and no qualities. Within pure existence, there
arises a desire to experience itself, which results in
disequilibrium and causes the manifestation of the primordial
physical energy. And the two unite to make the "dance of
creation" come alive.
Imponderable, indescribable and extremely subtle, this primordial
energy – which and all that flows from it existing only in pure
existence – is the creative force of all action, a source of form
that has qualities. Matter and energy are so closely related that
when energy takes form, we tend to think of it in terms of matter
only. And much modified, it ultimately leads to the manifestation of
our familiar mental and physical worlds.
A Sanskrit word with no exact translation, Ahamkara, is a concept
not quite understood by everyone as it is often misleadingly equated
to `ego’. Embracing much more than just that, it is in essence
that part of ‘me’ which knows which parts of the universal
creation are ‘me’. Since ‘I’ am not separate from the
universal consciousness, but ‘I’ has an identity that
differentiates and defines the boundaries of `me’. All creations
therefore have Ahamkara, not just human beings.
There arises from Ahamkara a two-fold creation. The first is Satwa,
the subjective world, which is able to perceive and manipulate
matter. It comprises the subtle body (the mind), the capacity of the
five sense organs to hear, feel, see, taste and smell, and for the
five organs of action to speak, grasp, move, procreate and excrete.
The mind and the subtle organs providing the bridge between the
body, the Ahamkara and the inner wisdom, which three together is
considered the essential nature of humans.
The second is Tamas, the objective world of the five elements of
sound, touch, vision, taste and smell – the five subtle elements
that give rise to the dense elements of ether or space, air, fire,
water and the earth – from which all matter of the physical world
is derived. And it is Rajas, the force or the energy of movement,
which brings together parts of these two worlds.
|
Dense Element
|
Subtle Element
|
Sense Organ
|
Motor Organ
|
Function
|
|
Space
|
Sound
|
Ears
|
Vocal Chords
|
Speaking
|
|
Air
|
Touch
|
Skin
|
Hands
|
Grasping
|
|
Fire
|
Sight
|
Eyes
|
Feet
|
Moving
|
|
Water
|
Taste
|
Tongue
|
Genitals
|
Procreating
|
|
Earth
|
Smell
|
Nose
|
Anus
|
Excreting
|
Ayurveda thus offers a unique blend of science and philosophy that
balances the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual components
necessary for holistic health.
Ayurvedic
Treatments
Harmony
of Body, Mind & Soul ||
Rejuvenative
Programmes ||
Therapeutic
Programmes
Discover
Ayurveda ||
Ailments &
Remedies ||
Curative Yoga
Sex
& Ayurveda ||
Ayurvedic
Centers
Ayurvedic
Hospitals
|
