History of Ayurveda

History of Ayurveda

Ayurveda, the "science of life" or longevity, is the holistic alternative science from India, and is more than 5000 years old. According to Indain mythology the knowledge of Ayurveda was first perceived by Brahma and then handed down to Daksha prajapati then to the Ashwin twins (the divine doctors),then passed to Indra.The trail after indra varies accordind to different ancient ayurveda texts.

• According to Shurshrut Samhita, Lord Dhanavantri Learnt from INdra and taught it to Shushrut and other scholars
• According to Charak samhita, Atreya and other seers learnt it from Indra
• As per Kashyap samhita Indra taught ayurveda to Kashyap,Vashistha,Atri and Bhrugu.
• According to Ashtang samgrah Indra imparted the knowledge of Ayurveda to group of Scholars consisting of Dhanvantari,Atreya,Bhardwaj,Nimi,and Kashyap
• According to Aashtang Hridaya and Bhavprakash samhita Indra passed ayurveda to Atreya and others who further gave it to Agnivesha etc
• According to Brahma Vaivarat Puana, Bhaskara composed Ayurveda as fifth Veda on advice of Prjapati and passed it to his 16 disciples
• While Charan Vyuha and Prasthana bheda described Ayurveda as an Upveda of Rgveda

Classics of Ayurveda: There are two sets of classics in Ayurveda which consists of three classical texts:

Classics Classical Texts Brihatrayi Charak Samhita Shushrut Samhita Ashtang Hridaya Laghutrayi Madhav Nidan Bhavprakash Samhita Sharangdhar Samhita