by Rachna Chopra
Ayurveda is a traditional system of Indian medicine, attributed to Dhanvantari, the physician to the gods in Hindu mythology. Literally, the word means the science of life in its totality. Our modern existence with stringent demands on time has compelled us to reduce the complexity of the science of Ayurveda into simplistic understandings. Ayurveda is commonly understood as a set of healing medicines and massages. What is not commonly understood is how this healing occurs. Ayurveda in essence is an ancient science and art of right living, of which physical and mental healing is a consequence. A true science of living, will, in all fairness, lead us back to the Source, to the fire from which we have emerged as sparks.

Any sincere effort at right living must enquire into the question of who we are, from where have we come, and what is our relation to the environment. In actuality, if you are serious about understanding Ayurveda, you will be led back to the eternal question that Ramana Maharishi asked–Who Am I? Ayurveda is a retreat back to our quintessential nature, natural elements, natural forces and botanical plants. It is an acknowledgement of the incompleteness of modern medical science, and an acknowledgement that we, as whole beings, seek to close existential gaps.

The question before any Ayurvedic practitioner is where and whence did the gaps arise, and how did the imbalances occur. The quest is to restore the wholeness and harmony by intuiting and steering the primary forces operating in our body, and perceiving and directing the flow of the life force or prana inside the body, enabling this prana to operate correctly in an interactive universe. Ayurveda is an ocean of ancient knowledge whose each dip uncovers new wonders. Contained in the Atharva Veda (2nd millennium BC), this knowledge is as spiritual as the scriptures are.