World Health Organi- sation (WHO) has only recently adopted the same ethos for the definition of health. Thus Ayurveda is the knowledge by which a healthy human life in all aspects-physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual lives and mainly concerned with the prolongation of a healthy life and prevention of diseases and senility and oc- casionally with the curing of diseases. This came into existence possibly in 5000 BC deriving concepts and rules laid down in the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda. Ayurveda is a combination of two components: ‘Ayu ’ meaning life or age or longevity and ‘Veda ’ meaning knowledge. Only subsequently, in post Vedic era they got printed in the forms of various epics including treatise like Bhagvat Geeta. Out of the four Vedas Rik, Sham, Yadu and Atharva, the Rik and Atharva Vedas extensively covered health of human being. They were never found in print form at that period. Extremely knowledgeable sages and saints perceived various aspects of nature and universe, experimented with their ob- servations, concluded and transmitted their findings through the Vedas also known as ‘Sruti ’ meaning hearing. India has a heritage of knowledge dating back to 8000 BC. 3 History is a record of these defining moments.
In this text we primarily deal with the Original history (but also a bit of Reflective and Philosophical history). 2 The history in itself can be of three types the contempo- raneous writings limited to deeds, events and concepts which are witnessed by the very eyes or are in collective consciousness is called Original history a history that reflects on events in past, written at some temporal distance from the events considered is Reflective history and a history which does not concern merely with the events but searches the root cause for them is the Philosophical history. Or maybe it is sui generis, neither science nor arts, but a sole independent faculty with altogether different mindset. in some different sense, with its own methods and canons, no less exacting, perhaps than those of the sciences of nature, but resting on foundations different from them.
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