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Ayurveda, the ancient science of life, originated first and foremost in India. It is regarded as an Upaveda of the Atharvaveda, and its evolution was not confined merely to human beings but extended to all living creatures. Even today, we possess texts such as the Ashvāyurveda (veterinary medicine for horses), Hastyāyurveda (for elephants), and Go‑āyurveda (for cattle). These works stand as testimony to the profound vision of the ancient Indian sages, who must have composed Ayurvedic treatises for every species of life. Sadly, many of these texts have been lost to time or destroyed during foreign invasions.
The extant Ayurvedic treatises, however, still illuminate both human and animal medicine. They prescribe vegetarian remedies for herbivorous beings and meat‑based treatments for carnivorous ones. Hence, these texts discuss the properties and virtues of plants as well as various kinds of flesh, enabling physicians to treat each creature according to its natural constitution.
In India, the development of Ayurveda was not merely for curing the sick but also for preserving the health of the healthy. The purpose of Ayurveda is clearly stated in the Charaka Saṃhitā:
“The aim of this science is the preservation of health in the healthy and the alleviation of disease in the afflicted.”
प्रयोजनं चास्य स्वस्थस्य स्वास्थ्यरक्षणम् आतुरस्य विकारप्रशमनं च।
Prayojanaṃ cāsya svasthasya svāsthya‑rakṣaṇam āturasya vikāra‑praśamanaṃ ca.
Charaka further defines Ayurveda as the discipline that teaches what is beneficial and harmful, pleasurable and painful, and conducive or detrimental to life and longevity:
“That scripture which expounds what is wholesome and unwholesome, happy and unhappy, and the measure of life itself is called Ayurveda.”
हिताहितं सुखं दुःखमायुस्तस्य हिताहितम्।
मानं च तच्च यत्रोक्तमायुर्वेदः स उच्यते॥
hitāhitaṃ sukhaṃ duḥkham āyus tasya hitāhitam,
mānaṃ ca tacca yatroktam āyurvedaḥ sa ucyate.
According to Ayurveda, human life is not uniform, for each person experiences the fruits of past actions and present effort differently. Some live in happiness and virtue, while others, driven by ignorance and cruelty, create suffering for themselves and others. Hence, life (āyu) is classified into four types:
1. Hita‑āyu — beneficial life,
2. Ahita‑āyu — harmful life,
3. Sukha‑āyu — happy life, and
4. Duḥkha‑āyu — unhappy life.
Charaka defines āyu as the union of body, senses, mind, and soul:
“The conjunction of body, senses, mind, and soul is called life.”
शरीरेन्द्रियसत्त्वात्मसंयोगो धारि जीवितम्।
Śarīrendriya‑sattvātma‑saṃyogo dhāri jīvitam.
This definition harmonizes four essential components:
1. Body (śarīra): Formed when the union of śukra (semen) and rajas (ovum) is infused with the soul. The five elements — earth, water, fire, air, and space — shape and sustain it.
2. Senses (indriya): Ten in number — five organs of perception (śrotra, tvak, cakṣus, jihvā, ghrāṇa) and five of action (hasta, pāda, vāk, pāyu, upastha).
3. Mind (manas): The inner faculty that bridges sensory perception and action, possessing qualities of both.
4. Soul (ātmā): The conscious principle that animates and perceives; life endures only while the soul remains united with body, senses, and mind.
Thus, Ayurveda presents a remarkably subtle and scientific understanding of life, death, health, disease, and therapy — formulated in an era when much of the world still wandered unclothed along seashores and forests.
The present treatise is a humble attempt to convey the profound health science expounded in the Charaka Saṃhitā and other classical texts in a simplified and modern idiom accessible to all. By following the regimen of life prescribed herein, anyone can remain healthy and attain full longevity. From Sadvṛtta (ethical conduct) to Svasthavṛtta (principles of healthy living), this work elucidates the entire journey from the origin of disease to its pacification.
We believe that this course will serve as a luminous guide for participants both scholars and the general public, fulfilling its noble role as a true pathfinder in the field of Ayurveda. May it inspire all — to benefit from its wisdom and preserve the harmony of body, mind, and spirit.
The body has a close and intrinsic relationship with food. Proper digestion nourishes the body. The four types of food consumed by humans—what is swallowed, drunk, licked, and chewed—when wholesome, are digested by the gastric fire. The resulting essence (rasa) spreads throughout the entire body, promoting bodily growth, strength, complexion, and health, thereby granting longevity. The body remains healthy when the rasa‑dhātu is well‑nourished (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 28.3).
In other words, when food is properly digested, it divides into two parts: the pure essence (śuddha‑rasa) and the waste portion (mala). From the pure essence arise the nourishing dhātus—rasa, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow, semen, ojas, the substances of the five sense organs, bodily joints, ligaments, tendons, and other structural components.
From the waste portion arise sweat, urine, feces, vāta, pitta, kapha, and the waste products of the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hair follicles, reproductive organs, as well as hair, beard, and nails.
All these dhātus—whether nourishing (prasāda) or waste (mala)—maintain their proper quantity according to age and constitution. When they remain in proper proportion, they keep their supporting tissues balanced. If, due to any cause, the nourishing dhātus increase or decrease, the essence of food restores balance for the sake of health. Similarly, the waste products are also kept in equilibrium. When waste products increase beyond normal limits, they are treated with substances possessing opposite qualities—cold, hot, oily, dry, soft, sharp, etc.—to re‑establish balance (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 28.4).
Wholesome food keeps the body healthy, while unwholesome food makes it diseased. Yet, even those who consume wholesome food are sometimes seen suffering from disease, and others remain disease‑free. Similarly, those who consume unwholesome food may be diseased or disease‑free. How then can we identify wholesome and unwholesome food and keep ourselves free from disease? (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 28.6)
In ancient times, Agniveśa asked this very question to Ātreya. Ātreya replied: “O Agniveśa! Those who consume wholesome food do not suffer from diseases due to that food. But wholesome food alone does not eliminate all fear of disease, because many other causes also produce illness—such as eating unsuitable food at unsuitable times (kāla‑viparyaya), prājñāparādha (mental errors leading to infection, poisoning, inhalation of impure air, burns, injuries, external trauma, and emotional disturbances like jealousy, grief, fear, anger, pride, hatred), and the incompatibility of sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. Hence, even consumers of wholesome food may fall ill” (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 7.51; 7.52; 28.6.1).
Those who consume unwholesome food do not immediately develop disease because place, time, combination, potency, and quantity may reduce its harmfulness. Not all unwholesome foods provoke doṣas equally, nor are all doṣas equally strong. Bodies differ in disease‑resistance. Forbidden foods become harmful when intensified by place, time, combination, potency, and quantity.
For example, rice naturally increases pitta. In watery regions, rice increases pitta more; in desert regions, it increases pitta less. In autumn, it greatly increases pitta; in winter, less. Combined with jaggery, it increases pitta more; with honey, less. Hot rice increases pitta more; cooled rice less. Large quantities increase pitta more; small quantities less (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 28.6.2).
Those whose bodies are excessively obese, excessively thin, poorly structured in flesh, blood, and bone, weak, nourished by unwholesome food, consuming insufficient food, or possessing low mental strength are unable to resist disease. Conversely, those with well‑structured bodies, strength, wholesome nourishment, adequate diet, and high mental fortitude possess greater disease‑resistance (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 28.6.3).
Diseases caused by unwholesome food may be mild or severe depending on the doṣas—vāta, pitta, kapha—and bodily characteristics. When doṣas are abundant and disease‑resistance is low, diseases arise quickly and are more painful. When doṣas are fewer and resistance is strong, diseases arise slowly and are less painful (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 28.6.4).
As explained earlier, the constitution (prakṛti) of the body also determines a person’s health or illness. The bodily constitution is of three types—vāta, pitta, and kapha. Some individuals, from the moment of conception, possess a balanced constitution of vāta‑pitta‑kapha, while others are predominantly vāta, predominantly pitta, or predominantly kapha.
Among these four types, those with a balanced vāta‑pitta‑kapha constitution remain healthy, whereas individuals dominated by vāta, pitta, or kapha tend to be frequently ill. Due to the predominance of one doṣa, the bodily constitution becomes vāta‑dominant, pitta‑dominant, or kapha‑dominant.
Charaka considers only the balanced vāta‑pitta‑kapha constitution as anātura (healthy). Those dominated by vāta, pitta, or kapha cannot be called healthy because only a person with balanced doṣas is considered healthy. By nature, vāta, pitta, and kapha tend to produce disorders; hence they are called doṣas.
A question arises: If a person is born with vāta, pitta, or kapha constitution, why does it not always produce disease? Suśruta explains: Just as a worm born in poison is unaffected by poison, similarly, doṣas present from birth become natural and compatible (sātmya) to the body and therefore do not cause significant harm. Because they are only mildly harmful in such cases, Charaka calls vāta, pitta, and kapha “disease‑producing” (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 7.40).
Characteristics of Vāta, Pitta, and Kapha Constitutions
Kapha is oily, smooth, soft, sweet, dense, slow, steady, heavy, cold, slimy, and clear. These qualities manifest in individuals with kapha constitution:
1. Due to kapha’s oiliness, such individuals have unctuous body parts.
2. Due to smoothness, their limbs are soft and smooth.
3. Due to softness, they appear beautiful, delicate, and graceful.
4. Due to sweetness, they possess strong virility, sexual capacity, fertility, and fair complexion.
5. Due to density, they are strong, well‑built, and robust.
6. Due to thickness, their limbs are full and well‑developed.
7. Due to slowness, they act slowly and eat slowly.
8. Due to steadiness, they perform tasks with calmness and have mild impulses of desire and anger.
9. Due to heaviness, their gait is slow but steady, and their actions are stable and serious.
10. Due to coldness, they experience less hunger, thirst, heat, and sweating.
11. Due to sliminess, their joints are well‑lubricated.
12. Due to clarity, their eyes and face are clear, their complexion is bright, and their voice is smooth and clear.
Because of these qualities, kapha‑dominant individuals tend to be strong, wealthy, learned, radiant, calm‑minded, and long‑lived (Charaka Saṃhitā, Vimānasthāna 8.96).
Pitta is hot, sharp, fluid, foul‑smelling, sour, and pungent.
1. Due to heat, pitta individuals cannot tolerate warmth. Their face feels hot, their limbs are soft and clear, and they tend to develop small boils, freckles, moles, and pigmentation. They experience strong hunger and thirst. Wrinkles appear early, hair becomes grey and falls quickly; beard and moustache are usually soft, sparse, and reddish.
2. Due to sharpness, they are bold, have strong digestive fire, eat and drink in large quantities, and cannot tolerate hardship. They eat frequently.
3. Due to fluidity, their joints and muscles are loose and soft; they sweat, urinate, and defecate more.
4. Due to foul smell, their eyes, mouth, head, and body emit odor.
5. Due to sour and pungent qualities, they have low virility, low sexual capacity, and fewer children.
Because of these qualities, pitta‑dominant individuals possess moderate strength, moderate lifespan, moderate knowledge, and moderate wealth (Charaka Saṃhitā, Vimānasthāna 8.97).
Vāta is dry, light, mobile, abundant, quick, cold, rough, and clear.
1. Due to dryness, vāta individuals have dry, thin, lean, and small bodies. Their voice is dry, weak, cracked, obstructed, and aged. They sleep little and stay awake more.
2. Due to lightness, they walk lightly, act lightly, eat lightly, and are restless.
3. Due to mobility, their joints, eyes, eyebrows, jaw, lips, tongue, head, shoulders, hands, and feet are constantly moving.
4. Due to abundance, they talk excessively and have prominent tendons and veins.
5. Due to quickness, they act quickly, become anxious quickly, fall ill quickly, get frightened quickly, love quickly, and break relationships quickly. They remember quickly and forget quickly.
6. Due to coldness, they cannot tolerate cold, shiver continuously, and their body stiffens.
7. Due to roughness, their hair, beard, skin, nails, teeth, and limbs are coarse.
8. Due to clarity, their limbs crack, and their joints make noise while walking.
Because of these qualities, vāta‑dominant individuals tend to have low strength, short lifespan, few children, limited resources, and little wealth (Charaka Saṃhitā, Vimānasthāna 8.98).
When qualities of any two doṣas combine, dual constitutions arise—such as vāta‑pitta, vāta‑kapha, and pitta‑kapha (Charaka Saṃhitā, Vimānasthāna 8.99).
When the qualities of all three doṣas appear together in harmony, the constitution is called samadhātu prakṛti (balanced constitution) (Charaka Saṃhitā, Vimānasthāna 8.100).
According to the principles of Svasthavṛtta, individuals with vāta, pitta, or kapha constitutions should consume diet and follow lifestyle possessing qualities opposite to their constitution. Balanced individuals should consume all tastes in proper proportion while avoiding incompatible combinations.
In essence, one should choose diet and lifestyle based on the opposite qualities of their constitution. For balanced constitutions, “equal use of all tastes” means not equal quantity but appropriate use considering properties and compatibility. For example, honey and ghee in equal quantity become poisonous; sweet taste is used in much larger quantity compared to sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes. Thus, “equal use” refers to thoughtful application, not equal measurement (Charaka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 7.41).