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Ayurveda is the oldest
surviving complete medical system in the world. Derived
from its ancient Sanskrit roots "ayus" (life)
and "ved" (knowlwdge) and offering a rich,
comprehensive outlook to a healthy life, its origin go
back nearly 5000 years. To when it was expounded and
practiced by the same spiritual rishis, who laid the
foundation of the Vedic civilization in India, by
organizing the fundamentals of life into proper systems.
The main source of knowledge in this field therefore
remains the Vedas, the divine book of knowledge they
propounded and more specifically the fourth of the
series, namely Atharvaveda that dates back to around
1000 BC. Of the few other treatises on Ayurveda that
have survived from around the same time, the most famous
are Charaka Samhita nad the Sushruta Sanhita which
concentrates on internal medicine and surgery
respectively. The Astanga Hridayam is a more concise
compilation of earlier texts that was created about a
thousand years ago. These between them forming a greater
part of the knowledge base on Ayurveda as it is
practiced today. |
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