The earliest source of ayurveda is the Rigveda. Ayueveda, the science of healing, as mentioned in the Rigveda, was revealed to Rishi Bharadwaja from the great Cosmic Intelligence. The knowledge consists of three aspects known as the Trisutras of ayurveda, which are-Etiology or the science of the causes of disease, Symptomatology or the study and interpretation of symptoms and Medication and herbal remedies. It was during 4,000 to 3,000 BC, that Samaveda and Yajurveda, the second and third vedas came into being. The former was on chanting of mantras and the latter was on the performance of rituals. And the fourth Veda, Atharva Veda, came to being between 3,000 to 2,000 BC. It is in this Veda that ayurveda is an upaveda (Subsection). Though it had been practiced all along, it was around this time that ayurveda in India, was codified from the oral tradition to book form, as an independent science. The oldest treatise available on this codified version is Atreya Samhita. The most fascinating aspect of ayurveda is that it uses almost all methods of healing like lifestyle regimen, yoga, aroma, meditation, gems, amulets, herbs, diet, astrology, color. Surgery etc. in treating patients.

Though ayurveda came into being as an independent upaveda of Atharvana Veda, it has close links with other vedas also. The Yajurveda, which recommends rituals to pacify the pancha maha bhootas in a view to heal both the Cosmic Being and the individual soul, is related to ayurveda in its principles and regulations of lifestyle. The upaveda called Dhanur Veda or the martial arts and ayurveda both refer to each other in the treatment of marmas or sensitive points in the body. Ayurveda recommends specific ayurvedic massages, exercises and bodywork for this purpose.

Around 500 AD, Vagbhatta compiled the major treatise on ayurveda, Astanga Hridaya. It contains knowledge comprising the two schools of ayurveda and it is being followed by ayurveda practitioners and vaidyas in India.

A Synopsis of Ayurveda

Ayurveda has three objectives:-

• To prevent diseases, (preventive medicine),
• To cure & bring relief to the sick (curative medicine)
• To rejuvenate a person of poor health back to good health (Rejuvenate medicine).
• It is not a system of treatment alone but it is a science of health.

The basic theory of Ayurveda –

• Any material on earth is composed of five basic elements – Earth, water, fire, air and Ether. The human body thus is made up of these five Bhuthas.
• These five elements combine in pairs and form three forces – "Doshas." These three doshas are vata, pitta and kapha
• There are seven "Dhatus" or tissues in the human body. These are Rasa (chyle), Rakta (blood), Mamsa (flesh) medas (tissue, fat), Asthi (bone), Majja (marrow) and sukla (reproductory element)
• There are three "Malas" Faeces, Urine and sweat.
• Ayurveda believes that good health results when the three doshas remain in a state of equilibrium and ill health results when this equilibrium is upset.
• The early texts on Ayurveda, composed from the Vedas are Charaka Samhita and Shusruta Samhita.
• The latter deals with hundreds of herbs. In subsequent years more plants were added and their number gradually increased to more than thousand.
• Ayurveda treats the disease and not the symptom. Treating the symptoms gives temporary relief. The underlying cause is treated by Ayurveda.