Ayurveda, the science of life

by Miran PERERA

Ayurveda means Ayu (life) and Veda (knowledge) the science of life. Its main objective according to Pandit Shiva Shanma is to maintain and promote physical mental and spiritual health of the individual and the community. The other is to prevent diseases cure through the primary purpose of Ayurveda is to help mankind. There are Ayurvedic texts that deal with the treatment of elephants, horses, cows, and other animals.

Vruksha Ayurveda deals with the art of preserving and healing plants. Inscriptions at Medirigiriya in Polonnaruwa contain an edict of rules on the management of Vedahals or hospitals which depended on the income from the lands and villages donated by King Mahinda IV. The regular inspection of hospitals by the Lords of the palace is recorded in the inscription as well.

Ven. Mahinda's mission

Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) said; 'Let it be said that in the absolute sense there is no health what we have so named is entirely relative to the conditions of life. If a person were to remain perfectly healthy he would live forever. It follows that no man lives a life of perfect health. The idea of absolute health therefore may be cast aside as an illusion.

The Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda) was a highly developed and universally accepted form of treatment when it was brought to Sri Lanka by Ven. Mahinda, the son of King Asoka in the 3rd century B.C. At that time Sri Lanka too had an advanced civilisation. Ven. Mahinda was able to learn the language of the country and produce commentaries to the Buddhist scriptures into the Sinhala language.

Sri Lanka also had an advanced system of medicine called Desiya Vaidya Chikithsava (Traditional system of medicine). However Ayurveda, the system of medicine absorbed the native system of medicine and this resulted in a complementary mixture of both systems. However, even today there are time honoured and popular medicines used in Sri Lanka but not found in the Indian pharmacopoeia. (eg. Sitarama Vati, Jeevananda Vati, Desadun kalka, Buddharaja Kalka, Navaratne Kalka, Siddhartha oil, and seethodaka oil etc.)

Inscriptions of Kasyapa V

A little away from the Vatadage at Medirigiriya the Archaeological Department has conserved a structure of stone pillars identified as a hospital. A medicine trough probably used by the hospital has also been discovered. An inscription of Kasyapa the V records the existence of medical halls in Anuradhapura.

Its second inscription there records the remuneration fixed for physician to applied leeches and dispensers of medicine. The application of leeches was a very ancient form of treatment Sushrata who lived about the 5th century B.C. described this as the greatest method of bleeding. Our indigenous system of medicine has got intermixed with more systematic systems of treatment which have been introduced to Sri Lanka through India and Arab countries.

Three systems of medicine namely Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani have thus influenced our system of medicine. Indian tradition says that the mythical king of Sri Lanka Ravana was a great physician and credits him with the authorship of five books on medicine. Arkaprakash, one of the five books in a later edition is available in Sanskrit even today.

In a war between an Indian prince and the son of Ravana, the Indian prince was seriously injured in the battlefield. Only a Sri Lankan physician could have cured him. The physician went to the battlefield and cured the Indian prince. This is the role of the Red Cross today, and the practice of helping an enemy in distress at war was started by a Sri Lankan physician.

Dealing of native systems

In view of the large variety of medicines used in Ayurveda there was a need among Ayurvedic practitioners for an elaborate system of weights and measures. The practitioners resolved the problem of weighing very small quantities of the ingredients of a drug by utilising seeds. The mustard seeds, sesame seeds, grains of paddy and madatiya seeds were commonly used to weigh small quantities of Ayurvedic medicines.

The madatiya seeds are used by the Ayurvedic practitioners in Sri Lanka even today to weigh small quantities of raw materials. At the ancient Mihintale hospital site two blue glaze jars of Persian origin were found. They were used to store medicinal spirits. There were also beautifully designed boxes at that time for storing pills etc.

These beautifully carved boxes were made of ivory. They are similar in purpose to the physician's bag that is taken to private patients by allopathic doctors today. Between 5 BC - 11th century AD and after when the native treatment system declined yet practically each village had a local physician to whom the villagers used to go for treatment. The physicians were divided mainly in to two segments.

They are general physicians and specialists in fields such as snake bites, ENT diseases, mental diseases etc. Another branch of treatment was the local veterinary specialists.

Treatment, a service to the sick

These local physicians regarded treatment as a service and not a commercial transaction. The efficacy of this system is proved by the fact that there were no epidemics reported during the period. The Indian authorities record three of the greatest names in ancient Ayurveda-Sushruta, Charaka, and Vagbhata. King Buddhadasa of Sri Lanka, a senior, contemporary of Vagbhata produced a book in Sanskrit named stating Sarartha Sangrahaya incorporating the Ayurvedic medical knowledge available at that time in Sri Lanka. 4th century AD. Mahavamsa credits him with a number of incredible operations on both animals and human being. Therefore, until about the 13th century AD Ayurveda flourished in Sri Lanka under royal patronage.

However, with foreign invasions Ayurveda and the Buddhist scholarship underwent a period of decadence. Fortunately the monks during that period preserved the priceless books on Buddhism and Ayurveda. No one is healthy as long as people are falling ill, suffering and dying from causes that could have been prevented. This has been one of the central forces that have prompted the evolution from disease curability to health promotion. The desire to live long without being subject to ill-health, decay and disease is human. This led to the research and development of medicine and community health programs.

The hospital clinics and medical centres staffed with doctors and para medical staff were able to bring down the mortality rate. The 20th century has seen remarkable progress in Ayurveda in Sri Lanka. The Ayurvedic practitioners in the rural areas continue to serve the people. As medical knowledge was bequeathed from father to son and as the Ayurvedic physicians made their own drugs the system continues without outsiders.

There are Ayurvedic practitioners with long experience who help patients with chronic diseases such as persistent, backache, stress, arthritis, kidney stones etc. Many tourists have had access to the benefits of Ayurveda and are now leading healthy and painless lives.

Any information on Ayurveda and its practioners can be obtained from the Director 'BMARI' Nawinna Sri Lanka. This modern Institute employs a team of highly qualified Ayurvedic research scholars.