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AYURVEDA 5000-year old medical science for the next millennium
By Joseph Selvester ayurvedic practitioner / educator

Editor’s Note: Leo Galland, M.D., in his The Four Pillars of Healing: says, “Ayurveda, the ancient healing system of India, perceives health as a reflection of the proper balance of life forces within each person. The three doshas, or forces of life, are fire, wind and water. These determine each individual’s constitution and cause disease when they are out of balance. Although doshas are recognized as forces of life, the word dosha literally means “that which causes decay.” Their excess is the source of all disease. Ayurvedic philosophy embraces a concept that modern medicine still struggles to comprehend: Disease results from the body’s own efforts to preserve itself. The task of the Ayurvedic physician is to understand the pattern of dosha disharmony in each patient and prescribe remedies to pacify the forces of decay. Ayurveda, which means “wisdom of long life,” has always emphasized the promotion of health and prevention of sickness, an endeavor that Western clinical medicine willfully cast aside at the beginning of the nineteenth century, much to its detriment.”

We invited Ayurvedic practitioner and educator, Joseph Selvester, to give us an overview of Ayurveda. Mr. Selvester apprenticed as a physician’s assistant for five years in India under some of the great masters of Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic practitioner and Master Herbalist, he has lectured on Ayurveda nationally at Expos and seminars. He speaks regularly on radio and TV and publishes articles on Ayurveda in nationally-recognized journals and magazines.

The January morning was very cold for northern India, about 30 degrees, but I was hot, burning with fever. I had cerebral malaria, a new type of malaria with no known cure, from a new breed of mutant mosquitoes resistant to all pesticides after 50 years of spraying India’s marshlands. Sounds like something out of an apocalyptic horror movie? But this was worse because it was real.

The doctors at the hospital gave me three times the usual dosage of Chloroquine since I was three times the size of the average Indian. I became unconscious momentarily, then the fever and violent shaking left. After slowly recovering for one week, I appeared well. But the fever came back and the hospital doctors said there was nothing they could do. All the other patients with cerebral malaria died. Everything appeared hopeless.

Then the local people brought in an Ayurvedic doctor, hoping to effect an herbal cure. He was a tall, thin man with intense, piercing eyes and long fingers. He looked at my eyes, nails, palms and tongue, and then asked some questions. Finally he felt my pulse and then prescribed three different formulas. One was a very-pleasant tasting wine made from the bark of the neem tree along with several other herbs. The other two were small black pellets that looked like hamster turds. I closed my eyes and ate them, reasoning that even eating hamster turds would be better than the violent shaking and fever–and what the heck, the wine was a great chaser. The fever dissipated rapidly and my health returned almost completely within a couple of days. I decided to study more of this ancient wisdom known as “Ayurveda.”

I began studying the history of Ayurveda and discovered it to be the oldest known medical system in the world with origins dating back over 5000 years. In the Rig Veda it is described that Vishpala, wife of the Khela king, had a pair of artificial legs fitted to her body through prosthetic surgery after losing them during a war. Caesarian section, brain surgery and cosmetic surgery were performed between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago, as were removal of hemorrhoids, fistulas and cataracts. Even Pliny, the naturalist, complained to the Roman senate that the stores of gold were being drained from the treasury to pay for Ayurvedic medicines from India.

Ancient texts explained the development of the child in the womb from conception to birth. There are descriptions of the process for ascertaining what diet, herbs, exercise and massage were for whom in elaborate and complex detail, yet profoundly graphic and simple. Many of the procedures described in the texts do not differ from the way they are performed today. Further investigation of the texts yields information on more than 121 surgical instruments used by physicians of the period, like lancets, forceps, sounds, rectal and vaginal speculums and catheters. The Ayurvedic medical texts demonstrate an excellent comprehension of what we call modern sciences, even though they were written nearly 2,500 years ago and have an oral tradition dating back another 2,000 years.

The processes of digestion, the different gastric juices, anatomy, physiology, pathology, chemistry, physics and even atomic energy are discussed in minute detail. This knowledge of the ancient physicians of India includes a description of the process of circulation long before Harvey and informs us that the parental seed contained a microcosm of the whole parental organism well before Weismann.

Archeological digs in Mohenjadaro (an ancient city in Northern India dating back to 4,000 B.C.) have revealed skulls upon which cranial surgery was performed. Another significant find was neem leaves (Azardirachta indica). According to Ayurvedic medical texts, neem is the first choice for malarial fever and has been used that way for thousands of years. Even Chloroquine-sensitive and Chloroquine-resistant strains of malaria were effectively eradicated by components of an ethanol extract of neem leaves and seeds. It is in this area, the field of phytopharmacology, that India, perhaps with the exception of China, stands head and shoulders above the rest of the world in both quality and quantity of medicinal plants available. With drug resistant strains of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites growing each day worldwide and the drugs themselves causing severe side effects (9.6 million adverse reactions each year from pharmaceutical drugs), it is no small wonder that concerned patients and physicians alike are looking everywhere for safe natural alternatives.

With medicine in a state of flux today, powerful forces have brought things full circle. That includes the reintegration of the world’s oldest medical science, Ayurveda, into modern society due to the verification of its authenticity by modern medical research. After India achieved independence from Great Britain, the newly-formed government started to revive its cultural roots. Part of that process was to establish Ayurvedic medical schools throughout the country. Furthermore they also set about to re-establish systematic training in all branches of Ayurveda in order to restore Ayurveda to its original and full glory.

History repeats itself. In order to understand the Ayurvedic medical system one must first comprehend Sankhya. Sankhya is essentially premed: it is the analytical study of the manifestation of the universe and the 24 elements from which the universe is constructed. It is chemistry, physics and biology, and by understanding what the macrocosm (the greater universe) and the microcosm (the smaller universe of the body) are made of and what qualities make up their nature, one can understand how to create health and harmony within each of them and between each of them. This is the fundamental principle of Ayurveda.

In Figure 1, starting on the top line of the graph, you will see the five elements listed from left to right. According to Sankhya, the universe and everyone in it is comprised of these five basic elements. Some people may think that this is overly simplistic when compared to the more than 100 elements contained in the Periodic Table of Elements. However, if you analyze the universe the way the ancient sage Kapila did, according to Sankhya Yoga, you may see it in a different light. Let us imagine for a moment that everything solid in the universe is equivalent to the element earth, everything liquid is equivalent to the element water and everything gaseous is equivalent to the element air. Now the element of fire is understood, according to Sankhya, to transform earth by melting it into liquid, transform liquid by evaporating it into air, and transforming air into fire itself by consuming air to fan its flames. All of this would take place in what quantum mechanics calls the field or ether (space). This understanding is concise and simple, yet extremely profound.

The second line shows how the elements are paired off to categorize the “prakruti” or nature of everyone and everything in the universe. The third line is an English translation of the Sanskrit concepts described on the second line.

The nature of “Kapha” or the Structive Biological Mode is that it is responsible for developing the structure of the body: the bones, fat and muscle, and for keeping the body lubricated (developing synovial fluid in the joints, interstitial fluid between the organs of the body and the mucosal lining of the intestines and the respiratory tract).

The nature of “Pitta” or the Transformational Biological Mode is that it transforms the elements from the macrocosm into something usable in the microcosm of our bodies. All food and water that enters the system is transformed into usable nutrients by the hot liquid substances in the body like hydrochloric acid in the stomach and bile in the gall bladder and liver. Air is transported by the blood from the lungs to these liquids to be utilized by the fires of digestion. Even information we receive everyday is transformed by a subtle form of “Pitta” in the brain into usable knowledge and wisdom.

Finally the nature of “Vata” or Kinetic Biological Mode is that it is responsible for moving all of these substances around. “Vata” moves the food down through the digestive tract. The urine, the menses and the baby are all moved out by “Vata.” The circulation of the blood, the movement of information along the neurotransmitters and all the other movements in the body takes place by force of “Vata.”

In the fourth line I have given what would be the equivalents in Chinese medicine so that those coming from that discipline can have a clearer picture. In the fifth line I have given the equivalents according to the naturopathic concepts of acid and alkaline balance.

The sixth line shows the devolution of the three natures back to the original elements in order to show how the elements are present in the six tastes of herbs and food. You will then see the two elements that comprise each taste. There are further considerations of taste in Ayurveda: one is whether its action is heating or cooling. Sweet, bitter and astringent are heating. The other is what those tastes on the tongue taste like to your tissues after digestion. Sweet and salty on the tongue tastes sweet to the tissues, sour tastes sour and pungent, bitter and astringent taste pungent. These three concepts are called “Rasa,” “Virya,” and “Vipak” in Sanskrit or taste, action and post-digestive effect (see Figure 2).

Figure 2
Taste
Rasa 		Elements Energy
Virya		 Post
Digestive
Effect
Vipak		 Exception
To
The
Rule
Prabhav
Sweet Earth and Water Cooling - 3 Sweet SaltyHoney (Hot)
Salty SaltyWater and Fire SaltyHeating - 3 SaltySweet SaltyTamari (Cold)
SaltySour (Acid) SaltyEarth and Fire Heating - 2 Sour Lemon (Cold)
Astringent Earth and Air Cooling - 2 Pungent Pomegranate (Sweet)
Pungent Air and Fire Heating - 1 Pungent Onion (Cold)
Bitter Air and Ether Cooling - 1 Pungent Turmeric (Hot)


It is with this understanding of how the elements interact that Ayurveda is able to resolve imbalances in the body with herbs and diet. To understand this process I offer the following example. Peter has a primary nature of “Pitta” and a secondary nature of “Vata;” let’s say it is normally 60/40, but right now Peter has a “Kapha” imbalance. “Kapha” makes up fat, flesh and mucus in the body from the elements of earth and water. Peter is therefore overweight with an excess cholesterol problem. So which herbs can be used to resolve this imbalance? Ayurveda states that Peter should use guggul.

The taste of guggul on the tongue is bitter, pungent, astringent and sweet. The sweet taste will help to alleviate Vata, the astringent taste will alleviate pitta and the bitter taste will alleviate Kapha, Thus all three doshas–Vata, Pitta and Kapha–will be alleviated. Hence we create balance with guggul in a complex situation. Secondly, guggul is heating in potency, which will help to burn off excess fat. Finally according to Ayurvedic principles, guggul is pungent in its post-digestive effect on the tissues and is thought to remove “kleda” or excess sticky material in the body like cholesterol and mucus. Even though it has a strong heating effect on the body, because of other balancing factors, it will only mildly increase Pitta if used for a long period of time.

Modern science has studied the Ayurvedic formula guggul. In phase II clinical trials conducted in India by S.C. Malhotra, M.M.S., Ahuja, and K.R. Sundaram, which were published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in 1977, gugulipid (which is the active ingredient in guggul) equivalent to 25 mg guggulsterones was administered three times daily for four to six weeks in 245 hyperlipidemic patients. There were 80 percent responders with an average reduction in serum cholesterol levels of 27 percent and reduction of triglyceride levels of 22 percent.

In phase III double-blind, cross-over trials, gugulipid and clofibrate were administered to 64 patients with primary hyperlipidemia. The percentage of responders to both treatments was almost the same, but gugulipid showed excellent tolerance with no side effects.

The ancient physicians of India used an analytical process of observation and deduction to decide on which tastes of which herbs contained which elements that would balance the various imbalances in the individual constitutions of their patients. Codifying this process into a system of formulas and procedures of diet and exercise became the system of Ayurvedic medicine. Their analysis, however, was based on an observation of qualities, not quantities. The modern system of healing is medicine by numbers. What are the numbers of the blood test, the urine test, the stool sample, the X-ray and the clinical trials?

Both systems have their strong points and both have their shortcomings, but considering how often a person feels terrible even though the numbers appear normal, one would have to ask the question: Is there another way?

Ayurvedic physicians observed the qualities of the patient: Is s/he hot or cold, moist or dry, irritable or depressed? They observed the effects of the herbs: do they cool or warm the body; will they dry up excess fluids or moisten and lubricate the body; will they calm the nerves or excite the nerves? What about the qualities of the diet: will they enhance the actions of the herbs? Should the qualities of the exercise be more aerobic or strengthening or a combination of both?

It is often stated that America has the greatest medical system in the world. My observation is, and there are many who agree with my assessment, America has the greatest emergency medical management system in the world. We must ask ourselves why we had to develop the greatest emergency medical management system? What is wrong with the rest of our medical system that we constantly create emergency conditions? How do we prevent emergencies from happening in the first place. If our present system of prevention is simply a variety of expensive, invasive, periodic testing while we wait for the inevitable, then what do we need to do to change that? I think we should integrate the best of the East with the best of the West so that we can provide the whole world with the best of the best.

References available upon written request to totalhealth magazine.
 
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