Let's go back 5000 years and dive into the Veda, sacred texts of Hinduism: there we find the principles of Ayurvedic medicine, according to which individuals are distinguished in three doshas, precise anatomical and character types. Let's find out more about what it is.
The origins of Ayurvedic medicine
The origins of Ayurvedic medicine date back 5, 000 years and its principles are to be found in the Vedas, sacred texts of Hinduism, spiritual science in the form of books. In particular, in the Atharva-Veda there are notions of anatomy and numerous references to various disorders and possible therapies for treatment.
Ayurvedic medicine, however, has its sacred texts, which are milestones such as the Charaka Samhita and the Sushhruta Samhita, dating back to around 200 and 300 BC.
Ayurvedic medicine was originally intended as a gift from the gods . Brahma, the primordial factor in the creation of the universe, is indicated as the one who created Ayurveda. This knowledge was passed on to other gods such as Daksha, Prajapati or the Ashwins .
Thus Indra, king of the gods, received this knowledge and communicated it to his disciples, Atreya, Bharadwaja, Kashyapa and Dhanyantari, who transmitted it to their disciples and brought it to earth in the form of Ayurveda to serve humanity. It was then divided into eight macro-topics (such as general surgery, internal medicine, etc.), to be able to study it better.
The five elements and the three doshas of ayurveda
According to Ayurvedic medicine, all that exists is generated by the interaction between five elements with specific functions: earth, water, fire, air, ether.
The earth ( prithivi ) corresponds to the bones; water ( jala ) is associated with fluids, or blood and lymph, and soft tissues such as fat; fire ( agni ) corresponds to metabolic processes; the air ( vayu ) must be associated with the senses and physical activity; the aether ( akhasa ) represents the nerves, veins and arteries.
These five elements generate three types of energy that govern the psychophysical, emotional and structural functions of each individual: the doshas .
If vayu and akasha predominate , Vata is responsible for the phenomena inherent in the nervous system; Pitta is composed of tejas and jala and concerns the hormonal and metabolic processes, Kapha is formed by jala and prithivi and is responsible for the formation of tissues in the body.
