Ayurveda is in existence since the existence of life and universe. Its principles of healing are based on laws of nature which are ageless and eternal. According to Ayurveda all physical matter as well as our body is made up of five elements-

Earth, Water, Ether, Air, Fire.

The only difference is that our body has a sixth element called Soul while non-living things have only five elements in different ratio and proportion. The working components of these five elements are represented by the three basic physiological humours.

"Hitahitam Sukham Dukham Aayustsya Hitahitam Maanam Chtachh yatroktam Ayurved S Ucchayate"

This ancient saying defines Ayurveda as the "Science of Life Management", which explains about the principles of diet and lifestyles that are good or bad for life, what leads to a happy or unhappy life and what is the exact span of life, is Ayurveda.

"Samdosha samagnisch samdhatu malkriya Prassnatma indriya man swasth ityabhidhiyate"

According to Ayurveda Health is a balance of these tri components. Their imbalance is the cause of diseases or ill health.

Health is defined in Ayurveda in the as following:-

Perfect balance between physical and mental bio energies, digestive and physiological fires, balanced anabolism, proper excretory functions, blissful soul, senses and mind is health and their imbalance is disease.

Veda-Vedic literature is the ancient treasure of knowledge which is originated from God himself. He has created this world and has given us a manual in the form of Vedas explaining how this world works. Ayurveda is a manual of life management given by God explaining how to lead a healthy and happy life in every aspect. Ayur- literally means life span and Ayurveda is knowledge of life. It is God's manual to tell us how to lead a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous life, preventing diseases and leading a respectful social life.'Tri-components' doing all the movement, metabolic reactions , providing support and nutrition. These biological tri-components are called – Vata ( Kinetic Energy) , Pitta ( Thermal Energy) and Kapha (Potential Energy)Vata ( Kinetic Energy) , Pitta ( Thermal Energy) and Kapha (Potential Energy)

Ancient Ayurveda scholar Charaka explains about What is Ayurveda and why it is important:-

"Dharmartha- kama- moksanam arogyam uttamam rogastasyapahartarah sreyaso jivitasya ca"

Goals of religion or Karma, material world, sensual pleasure or liberation can be achieved only if the person is healthy. The disease destroys health, well being and whole life.

(Charka Sutra Sthana 1- 15) - This ancient verse clearly indicates the importance of health to lead a happy, prosperous and peaceful life. Ayurvedic techniques focus on achieving that balance of Vata, Pitta, Kapha – called the trienergies.

The balance of these 'Tri-energies' can be maintained by our diet, lifestyle, different Ayurvedic herbs, minerals and purification procedures. Their balance is disturbed by irregular life style, prolonged physical and mental stress, wrong dietary habits, incompatible foods, misuse of senses.Ayurveda is a way of living in harmony with nature and guides us how to maintain a steady healthy state. It explains details about body care, daily routine, diet and various foods to promote health and maintain the balance of the 'Tri-energies' .

If we do not sleep early in the night, the vata (Air element) increases leading to painful bones, cramps in the muscles, dark circles around eyes or sleep bags, constipation, dry mouth and hastens ageing process. Stale and kept overnight food also causes increased Vata. Excessive work, long travelling leads to fatigue, which is a symptom of increased Vata. This all leads to diseases like joint pains, cervical pain, backache, nervousness, confusion, insomnia, constipation etc.

Similarly Pitta (Fire) is excessive heat. Consuming food, herbs and our behaviour similar to properties of Pitta leads to increase in Pitta. Excessive consumption of hot potency food, spices, alcohol, disturbs Pitta. The seat of Pitta is liver and stomach. Excessive aggression, anger, jealousy, hatred etc. leads to increased Pitta. This leads to diseases like peptic ulcers, liver diseases, blood pressure etc.

Excessive consumption of fat rich food, sedentary life style leads to vitiation of Kapha. Excessive Kapha blocks all the nutrition and elimination channels leading to obesity, diabetes. Diet and behaviour opposite to the nature of Kapha leads to cleaning up the system and balancing the kapha. (Earth + Water) There are other concepts like Ojus, Aama, and Dhatus which need clarification here.

According to Ayurveda - The 'Ojus' is the vital energy present in our body that is responsible for our healthy physical and mental outlook. It gives glow to our skin, strength to our heart and body. The toxins or free radicals deplete the 'Ojus' within our body and there is a feeling of fatigue and depression. The toxins create imbalance of the tri-energies which also has a great negative impact on 'Ojus'. In Ayurveda, a lot of emphasis is laid on improving the vital energy or the resistance of the person called 'Ojus".

Aama – It is a kind of sticky substance that forms within the body due to excessive consumption of heavy, greasy food on regular basis. Aama can be understood as disturbed form of 'kapha' which coats the tongue, the entire length of intestines, blocks entry and exit through micro channels of the cells, clogging of arteries. This leads to congestion within the system, leading to fermentation of the stale, undigested food lying in the intestines. This leads to formation of endotoxins, which disturb the immunological system leading to all auto-immune diseases. Herbal remedies like Sanjeevani Vati, Arogyavardhni Vati etc. clear this "Aama" and offer an effective solution to such problems.

Similarly there are great chances in females getting ovarian cysts, breast cancer or uterine fibroids due to abortion or a miscarriage. Abortion or miscarriage leads to accumulation of left over hormones/chemicals which are released from the hypothalamus and pituitary to help maintain a pregnancy. After abortion, those hormones which brought changes in female reproductive organs, within the breasts are no longer useful. The changes which they did are not completely undone. God decided for a woman to be pregnant and give life to someone and that woman decided to abort it. She suffers ultimately with problems caused by "Aama".

These leftover hormones can also be understood as "Aama". Other things which can be correlated with "Aama" are Rheumatoid factor, HLA B 27 and other immunological factors responsible for autoimmune diseases. The digestive fire and individual tissues fire burns these factors and mediators, if treated properly.

Dhatus (Tissues) - There are seven Dhatus which support our body. They are Rasa (Plasma) Rakta (Blood) Mamsa (Muscles) Meda (Fatty tissue) Asthi (Bones) Majja (Bone Marrow) Shukra (Semen & Reproductive tissue)

The "Dhatus" described in Ayurveda are the various organs and parts of our body.

Eight branches of Ayurveda

Ayurveda is one of the ancient systems of Medicine in world. The meaning of Ayurveda is "Science of Life." Ayurveda is originated from two Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (knowledge). It is broad system of treatment with different therapies and herbal remedies for treating different ailments. In Ayurveda, human beings are treated on the basis of their physical and mental set up so same medicines are not recommended for different persons. Ayurveda follows a principle 'One man's food is another man's poison'. Ayurveda comprises different branches according to the medical need of human body. It mainly uses two ways- Curative and Preventive. Preventive measures mainly focus on prevention of disease. It gives more importance to regular practice (Din Acharya) to prevent the disease rather than to treat health issues.

Curative methods deal with the treatment of diseased conditions.

Ayurveda is categorized into eight different branches and collectively it is known as Ashtang Ayurveda. Ashtang means eight parts or limbs. The basic mode of treatment of all these is same. "Kaaya baala graha urdhvaanga shalya damshtra jara vrshan Ashtau angaani tasyaahuh chikitsa yeshu samsthitaah."Ashtanga hrdayam

The eight branches of Ayurveda are:

Kaaya Chikitsa (Internal medicine) Baala Chikitsa (Pediatrics treatment) Graha Chikitsa or Bhoot Vidya (Psychiatry) Urdhyaanga Chikitsa (treatment of eyes, nose, throat, head related disease) Shalyaroga Chikitsa (Surgery) Damstra Chikitsa – Agad Tantra (toxicology) Jara Chikitsa – Rasayana (Geriatrics) Vrishya Chikitsa or Vajjikarana (Aphrodisiac therapy)

1. Kaaya Chikitsa Kaaya means agni – the digestive fire in the body. It is holistic approach of medicine which is mainly helpful in treatment of whole body. It is derived from Sanskrit word "Chin- Chayane" which means to collect. This collection refers to food. Kaaya mainly helps in food digestion and metabolism. So it is considered as Kaaya Chikitsa that means treatment of disease due to metabolism problem in body. Imbalance of kaaya may occurs which results in many diseases. It deals with treatment of general diseases like fever, cough by balancing agni. Treatment may be internal or external.

Internal Treatment :- The medicines are given orally or through Sodhana i.e. eliminative procedures of Panchakarmas means five treatments which are Vamana (Emesis), Virechana (purgation), Vasti (Enema), Nasya (nasal medications) and Raktamokshna (bloodletting).

External Treatment :- It involves local application of creams (lepan), lotions and ointments.

2. Baala Chikitsa It is also called Kaumara Bhritya. It is the branch of Ayurveda which is concerned with treatment of children. In this the care of baby and mother is discussed. This branch deals with child care and it includes diseases of children, causes of vitiation of breast milk, diseases caused by this vitiated milk and their treatment, any infection in child. It also includes methods of conception, age, gender, childhood diseases.

To treat children three things must be remembered:-

• 1- Children cannot explain their problem.
• 2- Dose regimen is different for children.
• 3- Medicines must be palatable.
According to Acharya Harita, antenatal care and management of pueperium (end stage of pregnancy) is also included in this branch.

• 3. Graha Chikitsa It is the branch of ayurvedic science which deals with treatment of diseases of mind. Management of psychiatric disease like Unmada and Apasmara are also under this branch. Besides herbs, diet chart, yoga therapy, Deep-breathing, Mantra Chikitsa etc.are used.
• 4. Urdhyaanga Chikitsa It is also called Shalakaya Tantra. The Physician uses a special instrument called Shalaka. It mainly deals with treatment of upper part of body that are eyes, nose, throat and ears.
• 5. Shalyaroga Chikitsa Shalya means foreign, roga means disease. It is also mentioned in Susruta samhita which is synonym for surgery. This branch deals with surgical procedures. This is done with various instruments like scissors, scalpel etc. Various operations like cataract, Kidney stones, piles or even perforations of abdomen were described by Sushrutacharya. Sushruta is considered as father of Plastic Surgery.
• 6. Damstra Chikitsa This branch deals with study and treatment of toxins or poisons like air and water pollution, toxins in animals, minerals and vegetables.
• 7. Jara Chikitsa Jara means old age. It is also known as Rasayana means rejuvenating property. It deals with various diseases associated with aging process. Its main aim is to achieve long and healthy life. It includes different aspects like longevity, memory, complexion, glow, strength of senses.
• 8. Vajjikaran Chikitsa (Vaji - Horse) As per Ayurveda, sex is one of the important aspect of life this branch deals with pleasure and satisfaction of sex. It also deals with the diseased conditions related to infertility problem and problems with shukra dhatus or vital reproductive fluid in the body.