Ayurveda
: Ancient Heritage in the Age of Globalisation
97
There was a doubt from Amarjiva ji. Why Kerala
is so special? Kerala is one of the southernmost states in
India and said to be the most popular place for Ayurveda
while in other parts of the country it is either Susruta
Samhita or Caraka Samhita i.e. popular. Because in
Kerala, it is Astanga Sangraha or Astanga Hridaya is the
most popular. The author Vagbhata as I mentioned in the
beginning compiled the essence out of both the schools,
the surgical school as well as the medical school, and
compiled Astanga sangraha which is just nothing but the
completion of 8 branches of Ayurveda and that is still in
practice. So the completeness of the practice of Ayurveda
preservation was more common there in Kerala.
Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word. It is a combination of
two words:
Ayu
meaning life,
Veda
meaning knowledge.
There is in fact only one definition according to the
popular concept from Caraka Samhita, a very simple thing
he tells about Ayurveda is it is the knowledge system that
deals with what is good, what is bad, what is happiness,
what is suitable for life and what is unsuitable for life and
what is unsuitable for life. Caraka Samhita, Sutrasthana
(10.41) This translation is in fact an interpretation but it
is not compromising on what actually in the Sanskrit text
is. What we need to understand here is that no where
in this definition “medicine” “treatment” come. Just like
