Understanding Ayurveda! Ayurveda comes from a Sanskrit word meaning life.

That which eliminates diseases, miss happenings and generates/eliminates the fluids for a happy, blissful, healthy and prolonged life is called Ayurveda. With Ayurveda one learns and lives life. One is alive as long as the soul is encapsulated in the body. Life is the time in which the soul resides in the body. With Ayurveda one prolongs his/her life and knows the effects of karma (Acts) and chemicals, biochemicals and metals. Ayurveda is believed to be brought on earth by Sage Shushrut from Heaven when he pleaded the King of Heaven Indra to help him eliminate the sufferings on earth. When he came down to earth he wrote a Sanhinta (Book) which got famous by the name of Shushrut Samhita. The Aim of the book was to treat the humanity to lay foundations of a healthy society and prosperous future. More recently, the German translation of the a copy of the text that dates back to less than 1000 B.C.E., contributed to modern medicine the discipline of plastic surgery. Susruta mentions eight branches in Ayurveda - General medicine, Surgery, ENT and Eye diseases, Toxicology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Sexology and Virility According to Ayurveda the body is constituted by 24 elements and soul. To help understand the 24 elements and the soul Prakruti (nature) should be defined. Soul is like a flame, a light, continuous, untouchable, and without any properties. The moment it comes in contact with body it sparks up life to deliver or to take the three basic forms of Prakruti- Sattva, Raja or Tama. These are the 3 qualities of Prakruti that are all equal and uniform. The Chetna (consciousness) by the grace of God helps create life. Sattva is like light and responsible for enlightment and happiness. Raja brings in diseases, sufferings, guilt and leads to depression and wrong doings. Tama disillusions the mind and creates attachments and affections. Prakruti is the cause of life, unreasonable Sattva, Raja and Tama and Universe. It exists in 8 basic forms. It cannot be confined in any known or unknown boundaries. Its existence cannot be seen or explained. Sometimes I wonder if this is the same as the dark energy that the modern scientists are talking about. I cannot conclude in the light of the current knowledge. But the experience tells me to follow it without questioning or reasoning. The things that can be explained in the current knowledge give me an urge to follow that which cannot be explained. Sattva along with Raja produces eleven Indri (Senses)-ear(audio), skin(feel), eye (visual), tongue(taste),nose (smell), speech, hand (touch), legs, reproductive organs, anus and eleven mind(mentality). The first five indri are dependent upon the mind and are called Budhdhendri (Buddhi + Indri) and the remaining dependent upon the Karma (act) are called Karmainndri. To explain this take for example two activities-looking or listening and walking. You might have your eyes open and still you will not see or hear anything if you are day dreaming or lost in your thoughts but at the same time you might be walking or driving. The intelligent people called mind only as the Karmaindriya and Budhdhendriya as all activities are controlled by mind alone. Nature (Prakruti) is not the effect but the cause of all. The 10 indri, mind, Panch Mahabhuta ( 5 elements of Nature) and 8 forms of nature constitute the body. I Know its little complex for a beginner for a lot of reasons-Cultures, beliefs and current knowledge. Precisely there are internal factors and external factors

and on the interface lies the mind. The mind is affected by these and has the power to change these. Ayurveda is about the balancing effect for a healthy wellbeing. Its a very fast field and one needs to understand the basics to get a true holistic picture. People have twisted it and distorted it to satisfy their interests. We will explore this further as we go along in my future articles. Jai Devi! Rajnish