A Brief History of the evolution of Ayurveda

The term Ayurveda meaning knowledge (Veda) concerning the maintenance of life (Ayus) is considered as the most ancient and authoritative work on the Hindu system of medical sciences. It is the only applied science which is still in practice having an unbroken continuity.

Origin of Ayurveda

According to the medical texts of Ayurveda, Brahma, the first specialist in medical science, is considered to be the original propagator of Ayurveda. The order of transmission of the knowledge of Ayurveda as set forth in the Charaka Samhita is from Brahma – Daksha Prajapati – Aswini twins – Indra. Indra revealed the knowledge of Internal medicine (Kayachikitsa) to Bharadvaja and the knowledge of Surgery (Shalya) to Divodasa, the king of Kashi who was also an incarnation of the divine Dhanvantari.

From Bharadvaja internal medicine was passed on to Atreya Punarvasu. Atreya had several disciples like Agnivesha, Bhela, Jatukarna, Parashara, Harita and Ksarapani, all of whom were also the authors of Ayurvedic texts in their respective names. Agnivesha’s work was subsequently redacted by Charaka and Drdhabala. (The original work of Agnivesha is not available now).

From Divodasa, the knowledge of surgery was passed on to his chief disciple Sushruta, son of Vishwamitra.

The mythical stories about the origin of Ayurveda may have been circulated to make it acceptable to people. Just as good reviews or opinions expressed by eminent authorities make a book more acceptable to people now-a-days, it seems in the same manner, in ancient times, manuscripts or knowledge said to have a divine origin or basis was more acceptable.

Ayurveda’s connection with Atharvaveda

Sushruta calls Ayurveda a upanga of the Atharvaveda and Vagbhatta the elder refers it as a upaveda of the Atharvaveda. But the treatment of disease (chikitsa) in the Atharvaveda is largely religious and ritualistic, emphasizing such practices as the articulation of ‘sacred utterances’ (mantras), penances (niyama), sacred oblations (mangala homa) and purificatory rites (prayascitta). At the same time Atharvaveda also contains material about human autonomy, herbal medicines and classification of diseases. References are made to ‘wandering medical practioners’ (aranyavidyas) and those trained in medical science (vaidyas). Of the eight branches of classical Ayurveda, Bhuta Vidya, Agadatantra and Vajjikarna belonged to Atharvaveda and the other five branches developed altogether independently of Atharvaveda.

Philosophical basis of Ayurveda

The influence of Samkhya and Nyaya Vaisheshika systems, in particular on the development of the philosophical basis of Ayurveda was considerable. Examples of this influence may be seen in the Ayurvedic belief in the utility of analysis and the reliability of reason and the acceptance of the reality of the external world.

Branches of Ayurveda

Ayurveda has eight specialized branches, namely

• Shalya tantra – Surgery
• Shalakya tantra – Treatment of diseases of the eyes, ears, nose and throat
• Kayachikistsa
• Bala tantra/Kaumarabhrtya – Pediatrics
• Agada tantra – Toxicology
• Bhuta Vidya – Treatment of seizures by evil spirits and other mental disorders
• Rasayana tantra – Geriatric, including rejuvenation therapy
• Vajikarana tantra – Sexology and use of aphrodisiacs

Doctrine of Tridosha

The practitioners of Ayurveda believed that the body is a community of the variants of the five elements namely space, air, fire, water and earth which were in turn called dhatus. When the dhatus hold together and remain in equilibrium, the state is called dhatusamya which is equivalent to health. When their normal measure is disturbed and they are in disequilibrium, the result is dhatuvaishamya or ill health. The tridosha concept which forms the cornerstone of Ayurveda holds that of all waste products produced by the body, vata, pitta and kapha are primarily responsible for ailments and they are called doshas.

Texts of Ayurveda

The Indian tradition speaks of three major source books of Ayurveda figuratively called Brhattrayi (the great trio) or the Vrddha trayi (the three elder ones). These are Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Ashtanga-Samgraha of Vagbhatta. Vagbhatta composed the Ashtanga-Samgraha by bringing together the relevant medical knowledge contained in Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Bhela Samhita, Kashyapa Samhita, Harita Samhita, etc.

Date of Charaka

Gerald James Larson opines that Charaka was possibly a court physician to king Kanishka in the 1^st century A.D. and the Charaka Samhita was completed by a certain Drdhabala in 500 A.D. But Ram Karan Sharma and Vaidya Bhagvan Dash suggest that probably Charaka flourished in 8^th century B.C. and Drdhabala who lived before 300 A.D. was most probably none other than Charaka the second who was the court physician of king Kanishka. According to O.P.Jaggi Charaka may have lived between the 2^nd century B.C. and 2^nd century A.D. and the most accepted date for the redaction of the Charaka Samhita by Charaka is around A.D.100 and it was during the 9^th century A.D., the Charaka Samhita was again edited and reconstructed by a Kashmiri Pandit name Drdhabala. He redacted the Charaka Samhita which was available only in 3/4^th of the original contents and added the 1/4^th portion himself. There are as many as 43 Sanskrit commentaries on Charaka Samhita of which that of Chakrapani Datta is considered to be the most authoritative.

Charaka Samhita is divided into eight section, namely

• Sutrasthana
• Nidanasthana
• Vimanasthana
• Sharirasthana
• Indriyasthana
• Cikitsasthana
• Kalpasthana and
• Siddhisthana

Date of Sushruta Samhita

According to the authors of Sushruta Samhita, A Scientific Synopsis, the original Sushruta Samhita may have been composed in a period intermediate between the time of Buddha (6^th century B.C.) and that of Katyayana, a scholar who lived in the court of king Nanda (350 B.C.). Katyayana refers to Sushruta as the author of a treatise bearing the same name Sushrutena proktam Saushrutam. The date of the recension of the Sushruta Samhita by Nagarjuna may have taken place between 3^rd to 4^th century A.D.

Priya Vrat Sharma is of the view that there were two Sushrutas, Sushruta I and Sushruta II. The former was the contemporary of Divodasa who lived during 1500 – 1000 B.C. and received the knowledge of surgery directly from him. Sushruta II who expanded and refined the text of Sushruta Samhita lived during 2^nd century A.D. The redactor of this text Nagarjuna lived during 5^th century A.D.

According to O.P.Jaggi Sushruta may have lived around 6^th century B.C. and wrote Shalyatantra which was revised, supplemented and renamed as Sushruta Samhita by Nagarjuna sometime between the 3^rd century and 4^th century A.D.

As regards to Nagarjuna, there were at least three Nagarjunas in the first millenium A.D., apart from Nagarjuna, the founder of the Madhyamika school of Buddhism and all of them were experts in alchemy and medicine. The redactor of the Sushruta Samhita may have been one of them. The practice of adopting the name of a previous authority as a title, or a pseudonym has been fairly common in the history and literature of India in all ages. Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya denies the role of Nagarjuna, the Buddhist philosopher in revising the Sushruta Samhita.

Works on medicine and surgery by Aupadhenava, Aurabhra or Pauskalavata as mentioned in commentaries of Dallanacarya and Cakrapani Datta have not been traced so far. Only Nagarjuna’s revised version of Sushruta’s work remains as evidence of the existence of the high attainment of this ancient Indian science of surgery.

A number of commentaries were written on Sushruta Samhita but at present only that of Dalhana’s (12^th or 13^th century A.D.) is available in complete form. Dalhana made use of all commentaries written on Sushruta Samhita by Jejjada Acharya, Gayadasa, Bhaskara, Madhava, Brahmadeva and Chakrapani Datta in revising and collating the text of Sushruta Samhita.

Shalya is the name applied to the art of surgery in Indian medicine. In classical times surgery was regarded as the most important branch of medicine and in Ayurveda itself it is accorded the first place and heads the eight divisions of medicine. Sushruta Samhita is divided into five sections, namely

• Sutrasthana
• Nidanasthana
• Sharirasthana
• Cikitsasthana
• Kalpasthana and
• Uttara tantra which is believed to be added to the original text by redactor Nagarjuna.

The basic commentary on Charaka Samhita, the Ayurveda-Dipika of Chakrapani Datta was composed in the 11^th century A.D. and the basic commentaries on the Sushruta Samhita namely the Bhanumati of Chakrapani Datta and the Nibandhasamgraha of Dalhana were composed in the 11^th and 13^th century A.D. respectively.

Kashyapa Samhita and Bhela Samhita

Other important classics on Ayurveda are Kashyapa Samhita and Bhela Samhita.

Kashyapa Samhita contains the teachings of Kashyapa and was compiled by his disciple Vrdha Jivaka in the 2^nd century A.D. Later it was known as Vrdha Jivaka Tantra and was redacted by Vatsya in the 7^th century A.D. It is the only available source book on Kaumarabhrtya (pediatric) and today there is only one edition of Kashyapa Samhita with Hindi translation.

The compendium by Bhela has come down to us in a single manuscript which is written in Telugu script. The extant manuscript has been written about 1650 A.D. and preserved in the Palace Library, Tanjore.

Different authors between 10^th and 16^th century A.D. have made reference or cited quotations from Navanitaka, a compendium of medicine. Composed in broken Sanskrit mixed with Prakrit and written in Gupta script of 4^th or 5^th century A.D., this manuscript is also known as Bower’s Manuscript as this manuscript was purchased by a person named Bower. The author of this work quotes from Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Bhela Samhita.

Teaching of Medical science in Ancient India

During ancient times Ayurveda was taught in universities and Taxila was a great centre of medical education during the time of Buddha. It is said that Jivaka, the royal physician of king Bimbisara of Magadha, spent seven years at Taxila to study medicine. Jivaka was a specialist in the treatment of children’s diseases and also treated Buddha of his ailments.

Another method of the study of the Ayurvedic system of medicine involved attachment to a teacher as an apprentice resident in the teacher’s household. Education according to classical texts, involved several years of memorizing and understanding a text as well as practical experience before students would be permitted to establish an independent practice. Learning Ayurveda also required a high level of literacy in Sanskrit. Successful practitioners were those who served successful rulers and either through regular service or because of some special healing act, were granted an area of land.

Decline of Ayurveda during the Muslim and British period

During the Muslim rule over India, the State patronized the Unani system of medicine and as a result its practitioners, the Hakims were appointed in hospitals and dispensaries opened by the Muslim rulers. At the same time Muslim scholars translated the anthologies of Ayurvedic texts into Persian and Arabic languages and adopted drugs and other therapies from Ayurvedic practice.

Early during the British rule over India, the Native Medical Institution (NMI) was established where Ayurveda, Unani and European medical science were taught. But after Macaulay’s Minute on Education (1835), the NMI ceased teaching Ayurveda and Unani and only European medicine was taught in English medium. Medical bureaucrats became hostile to indigenous medicine at the turn of the 19^th century and at the end of World War II, medical advisors to the provincial governtments asserted that the Indian system of medicine were archaic, incapable of advance and based on unsound principles. In between 1912 and 1919 Medical Registration Acts and Medical Degrees Act were passed in all provinces which restricted the use of the title ‘Doctor’ for Ayurvedic practitioners.

Revival of Ayurveda

Growth of nationalism led to the revival of Ayurveda and its reformation. Ayurvedic medical colleges and hospitals were established and courses in anatomy and physiology were added to traditional subjects. In 1907 the All Indian Ayurveda Conference was founded by Shankaradaji Shastri Pade and in 1909 the All India Ayurvedic Vidyapita was established with the object of promoting Ayurvedic science and its practitioners.

Encouragement to the study of indigenous systems of medicine including Ayurveda began with the introduction of Local Self Government in 1919. Committees were set up in different provinces to study and recommend how best the indigenous system of medicine could be promoted and given state recognition. Between 1921 -1947 many of these committees met and made their recommendations, but the action taken on these recommendations remained insignificant.

Ministry of Ayush

After 1947, the Pandit Committee (1949), the Dave Committee (1955), the Udupa Committee (1957-58) and the Mudaliar Committee (1961) were set up and made several recommendations. Later the Government constituted the Council of Ayurvedic Research and in 1969, the Central Council for Research in Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy was constituted to initiate, aid and develop and coordinate scientific research in different aspects, fundamental and applied, of Indian medicine including Homoeopothy. In 1995 the Department of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H) was formed and it was renamed Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Ayush) in November 2003 and in 2014 the Ministry of Ayush was formed for developing education, research and propagation of traditional medicine system in India.

Reference

• O.P.Jaggi – Ayurveda: Indian System of Medicine, History of Science, Technology and Medicine in India, vol -iv, Atma Ram & Sons, New Delhi, 1981
• M.S.Valiathan – Glimpses of Ancient Indian Medicine – Part- I, Current Science, vol – 59, No.9, 10th May 1990
• Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya – Science and Society in Ancient India, Research India Publications, Calcutta, 1977
• Priyadarajan Ray, Hirendranath Gupta, Mira Roy – Sushruta Samhita (A Scientific Synopsis), Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 1993
• Ram Karan Sharma & Vaidya Bhagwan Dash – Agnivesha’s Caraka Samhita (based on Cakrapani Datta’s Ayurveda Dipika), Vol – I, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Varanasi, 1983
• Susruta Samhita, with English translation of text and Dalhana’s commentary along with critical notes, vol – I, Edited and translated by Priya Vrat Sharma, Chaukhambha Visvabharati, Varanasi, 2013
• Gerald James Larson – Ayurveda and the Hindu philosopical Systems, Philosophy East and West, vol 37, No.3, July 1987
• Jeffery Roger – The Politics of Health in India, University of California Press, 1988
• Md Nazrul Islam – Repackaging Ayurveda in Post-Colonial India: Revivalism and Global Commodification, PhD thesis, University of Hong Kong, 2008