Ayurveda Research Paper

CHAPTER – 1

INTRODUCTION

Our Mother Nature stands as an inexhaustible source of therapeutic agents for thousands of years and a remarkable number of modern medicines find their origin in natural products. Natural products, including plants, animals and minerals have been the basis of treatment of human diseases. The plants based herbal drugs are currently in great demand all over the globe as they imply safety in contrast to the synthetic modern medicines that are even though very effective but regarded as precarious due to their side effects to humans and environment. Modern health care system stressed more on the curative and lesser extent to the preventive aspects of diseases and very little has been done on the health promotive aspects.

Its diversity is unmatched due to the presence of 16 different agro climatic zones, 10 vegetative zones and 15 biotic provinces. The country has about 18,000 species of angiosperms, 23,000 fungi, 2500 algae, 1800 bryophytes and 30 million micro-organisms (Kamboj, 2000).In India, drugs of herbal origin have been used in traditional systems of medicines such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Folk (tribal) medicines since ancient times. Among these systems, Ayurveda is most practiced and widely accepted alternative system of medicine in India. Ayurveda, dating back to 1500-800 BC has been an integral part of Indian culture. As the name implies it is not only the science of treatment of the ill but covers the whole array of happy human life involving the physical, metaphysical and the spiritual aspects. Ayurveda is gaining prominence as the natural system of health care all over the world. The number of plant based crude drugs included in Ayurvedic Materia Medica ranges from about 260 in DhanvanthryaNighantu which is considerd to be the oldest written document to 570 in BhavaprakashaNighantu, written around 1500 to 1600

This concept about the usage of a substitute drug was well mentioned by Acharya Bhavamishra in his classical work Bhavaprakasha. Bhavaprakasha is an important treatise on Ayurveda being counted as one of the LaghuTrayi (Three minor treatises), others being MadhavNidan and Sharangdhar Samhita. It is comprehensive in nature containing all important aspects of Ayurveda doctrinal and applied blended together. The book is entirely composed of Sanskrit verses of different metres whereas verses of other texts have also been incorporated. The text has about 10268 verses, distributed among three khandas (sections) and 80 prakaranas (chapters). PratinidhiDravyas are substitute drugs utilize for the drugs which are not available. As the main requirement for an appropriate PratinidhiDravya is to possess similar gunas to that of original drug, the AbhavaPratinidhidravyas were compared on basis of their Rasapanchak i.e. Guna (properties), Rasa (taste), Vipaka (post digestion and metabolism effect), Veerya (potency) along with Karma (actions) and Roghanata