The unique system of healing believes is not only treating the ailments of body alone but also the mind and spirit. The most amazing part of ayurveda is that it uses almost all methods of healing like yoga, meditation, purification, regime, astrology, and incorporates herbs, gems, colour, massages, diet, exercise etc, which can be individually used to heal a number of ailments in a suffering person.

According to Ayurveda everything in nature -the body, foods, season etc are all composed of five elements originally called panchmahabhuts. These are Earth, water, Fire, Air & Space. Practioners or Vaidyas group these five elements into three categories called Doshas. These are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. They believe that an imbalance in these doshas causes illness. Ayurveda believes is treating the sick and restoring the health of a healthy person.

The ancient wisdom of healing system was a part of spiritual tradition of Vedic religion. Dhanwanthari moorthy is considered as the god of Ayurveda. Originally four main books of spirituality, which covers a vast number of subjects from astrology, health, business etc are written in Sanskrit and are known as Vedas. These Vedas belongs to approximately 2500 B.C or earlier and known as oldest writing in the world. They are 1] Rigveda 2] Yajurveda 3] Samaveda and 4] Atharva Veda.

During 3000 to 2000 B.C Atharva Veda was written of which Ayurveda is upaveda [Sub-section]. This was first time the traditionally practiced oral form of ayvrveda was written in a text form as an independent service.

Atharva veda lists eight divisions of ayurveda. These are Kayachikitsa (Internal medicine), Shalakyachikitsa(surgery of head, neck ophthalmology (ornithology), Shalayachikista(Surgery), Agadtantra (toxicology), Bhootvidya(psychiatry),Kaumaryabhrityatantra(paediatrics), Rasayan(Gerontology or science of rejuvenation) and Vajikaran(science of fertility). The oldest treastise available on this version is Atreya Samhita.

Around 1500 B.C two school of thoughts existed and those made Ayurveda a scientifically verifiable and classified medical system.

1] Atreya-: The School of Physicians.

2] Dhanwantari-: The School of Surgery.

Both school thoughts had their own philosophy, diagnostic patterns, treatments and medicine. They had different followers and the texts were written by the school accordingly.

Ancient Ayurvedic School of Thoughts

The texts are divided into two major categories namely 1] Brihat trayi 2] Laghu trayi. Brihattrayi includes Charaka Samhita, Sushrut Samhita and Ashtanga Hridayam. Laghutrayi includes Sharangdhar Samhita, Bhavpakash and Madharnidam.

These text describes the basic principles and theories from which ayurveda has evolved. They also include vast clinical information of many diseases and their management.

Charaka is one of the most well known physician of ancient times. Charaka Samhita followed the Atreya School of thought and explains the logics and philosophy on which the system of medicine is based. Most of Charaka Samhita is in the form of meeting where Scholars taken into consideration before comes to conclusion. Thus ayurveda is a result of constant verification and authentication by a group of learned physicians.

Pinda Bramhanda Nyay:

According to the law of microcosm and macrocosm every thing that exist in the vast external universe or the macrocosm, also appears in the internal cosmos of the human body or the micro cosm. This in Sanskrit is known as the ' Pinda Bramhanda Nyay'. It is believed that the microcosmic body when healthy is self-perpetuating and self-correcting.

Pancha Mahabhuta(The five elements)

All the matters in the universe is made up of five elements such as Earth, Water, Fire, wind and space or void or ether. Earth represents the solid heavy state; water represents the free flowing liquid state. Fire represents a substance's ability to undergo change, wind represents the gaseous state, void or ether is space, which encompassed the matter.

Samaan Viparita Nyay.

Since body is also an object, it is also made up of five elements. The health is preserved only when these five elements comprising our body are in homogeneous state and equilibrium. Our food and life style has impact on this delicate balance of five elements. However these foodstuffs and lifestyles have three types of effects on the body.

1] It can act as food and nourish the body.
2] It can act as medicine and bring about balance in the elements.
3] or it can act as poison and disturb on the body functions.

Guna(Qualities)

Any substance ranging from fruits, vegetables, meat, grains, herbs, minerals etc are carriers of number of qualities. Some of the qualities of substance are very innate and cannot be segregated where as in others it can be changed by processing the substance.
Ayurveda lists ten pairs of qualities which are opposite to each other in nature. They are heavy&light, Slow acting and fast acting, cold and hot, Greasy and moist and dry, smooth and rough, viscous and clean, soft and hard, stable and mobile, subtle and gross, Sticky and non sticky.

Tridosha [Three functional Elements]

Three dosha activates all five elements in the human body. Five elements in the cosmic universe have their counterparts encompassed in tridoshas in the body. The work dosha is derived from the Sanskrit root 'dosh' meaning to corrupt. This dosha corrupts the tissue and the waste products in the body, which leads to diseases. However disease occurs only when there is an unibalance in those three doshas , where as in equilibrium they help to bring about all physical activities and chemical changes taking place in the body via digestion, assimilation, circulation, metabolism etc. These three dosha are vata, pitta and Kapha.

Vata is predominantly made up of air and ether elements, where as pitta is made mainly of fire while the Kapha has earth and water as its primary elements.

Dhatus: The three doshas displays their activity by acting through the tissues and the waste products that makes up the body. The food and water that we consume undergo chemical changes and produce seven tissues that are known as dhatus.