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preventing them from attaining the
four aims of human existence: dharma

(righteousness), artha (economic values),
kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation),

which pave the path to spiritual fulfillment.
To help out the suffering humans, the
divine sages living on earth requested Lord

Indra to teach them the ancient teachings.
So, Sages Dhanvantari, Bharadwaja,

Punarvasa and others learned the divine
science of Ayurveda, and then they taught
it to their disciples on earth, including Later, three more ayurvedic

Agnivesa, Parasara, Sushruta and others. encyclopedias, called Laghu-Trayī, or the
In time, these spiritual teachers went on to three minor works, came out. They were

write the classical texts of Ayurveda which Madhav Nidana (7th Cent CE) which
we still use today. covers diagnosis and pathophysiology,
Sarangdhar Samhita (1300 CE), a general

The three most famous ayurvedic works medicine compendium that also covers
are called Brhat-Trayī, or the three great pulse diagnosis, and Bhavprakash (1500

treatises. They form the backbone of CE) Nighantu, an in-depth review of
ayurvedic science. The first compendium Materia Medica and the pharmacology of
is the Charaka Samhita, composed by herbal plants.

Agnivesa and later edited by Charaka
(ca 200-400 BC), focusing on general Rooted in the sacred Vedic scriptures,

medicine. The second, is the Sushruta Ayurveda has withstood many historical
Samhita (ca 500 BC), composed by trials. Ayurvedic surgery nearly
Sushruta, who is known as ‘The Father of dissolved during the Buddhist period,

Surgery’. And finally, Ashtanga Hridayam as it was considered a form of ahimsa
Samhita was written by Vagbhata (ca (non-violence). This was followed by

600 AD), a combination of the previous a period of Ayurvedic alchemy, which
two books; it is written in simple prose, flourished during the Medieval period.
making it a preferred reference for many Then came the time of the Moghul

ayurvedic practitioners. Empire, in which many ayurvedic
texts and even large universities were

Did you know: Acharya Sushrut performed destroyed in the ensuing wars. Finally,
the first rhinoplasty around 500 BC, while the period of the British Raj challenged
the first documented rhinoplasty in the the very basis of Ayurveda as an effective

western world was in 1794! healing modality, calling it ‘quackery’,
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