There is more to yoga and Ayuvada than just asanas and medicinal plants! Both of them encompass all of human life and the entire universe. Both Yoga and Ayurveda are historically closely related and have developed in tandem with each other since ancient times. They have diverged in modern times, over the last hundred and fifty years, particularly outside of India, in which Yoga without Ayurveda was for a long time the norm. However, Yoga and Ayurveda are becoming reconnected again, not only in India but across the globe. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that theirreintegrationis the reintegration of the circle of consciousness,life, healing and transformation! Therefore, it is important to understand the respective roles of Ayurveda and Yoga in the Vedic system.
History of yoga :
The genesis of yoga dates back to theage of Mantra Yoga of the Rigveda; the ancient Vedic text that came into existence five thousand years ago. The mantras mentioned in them of the Rishis promote a Yoga or union with the higher powers of consciousness in the universe, providing the basis for self-knowledge and cosmic knowledge that were later mentioned in the Vedanta and the Vedic sciences as well. Vedic mantras, along with corresponding rituals and meditations, were commonly utilized both for spiritual development and for the achievement of the outer objectives of life by invoking the Devatas or the Divine powers behind nature and the soul. These vast energies are characterized mainly as four important elements in the Vedas; namely Agni (fire), Vayu or Indra (air and electrical vitality), Surya (sun) and Soma (moon). Their light forms are symbolic of yet more profound inward powers of Agni as speech, Vayu/Indra as Prana, Surya as Atman (soul), and Soma as the brain. A variety of such formulations exists in Vedic texts.
The story of Ayurveda :
Ayurveda emerged in the Vedic context as the Upaveda or supplementary Vedic text that focused on the well-being and overall healing of both body and mind. Ayurveda initially emerged as an application of Vedic mantras and not as a different train. Every Vedic text available has a potential Ayurvedic or recuperating application, particularly Vedic customs and mantras. Numerous Vedic practices are said to allow ‘sarvayur’, which means life span as well as the totality of life, as one of their essential objectives.Recuperating and life span are thought to be common consequences of Vedic practices, with some Vedic hones particularly identified with these. Also Learn about the various importance of yoga. Ayurveda is normally thought to be a branch of the Atharva Veda, which carries the most mantras pointed particularly at recuperating. In any case, parts of Ayurveda can be found in all the Vedas and are inborn in the Vedic gods (Devatas) and in the Vedic cosmology. ‘Vedic Yoga, for example, we find in the Svetsvatara Upanishad, underlines how the Vedic Devatas or inestimable energies like Agni, Vayu and Soma work in the mind as powers of interior reconciliation and self-acknowledgment.
Vedic Chikitsa :
Chikitsa is a Sanskrit term for therapy. Ayurvedic course readings like Charak, Sushruta, and Vagbhatta all contain segments called ChikitsaSthana, or the ‘areas identifying with chikitsa or treatment’. They have complementary areas like NidanaSthana, ‘segment concerning to diagnosis’, and ShariraSthana, ‘segment identifying with the embodied soul’, which incorporates the anatomy and physiology of the physical body. The Ayurvedic perspective of our embodied nature (body, brain and soul) and how itworks, the reasons for infection and the treatment of illness are altogether connected in an excellent, clear, and wonderfulsystem of optimal health and ideal well-being. Ayurveda addresses all areas of medicine, which includes diet, using herbs, drugs, surgery, bodywork, and its own extraordinary clinical methods like panchakarma. It acquires ritual, mantra and meditation for healing of both the body and the mind. Furthermore, it imparts life-style instructions for health, life span, and avoiding illness and also exceptional procedures for rejuvenation of body and mind. It incorporates the acts of Yoga from asana and pranayama to mantra and reflection as a major aspect of its recuperating tools. Yoga writings like the Yoga Sutras have segments like Samadhi Pada- ‘segment identifying with Samadhi or profound meditation’;SadhanaPada- ‘area identifying with spiritual practice’;VibhutiPada- ‘segment identifying with yogic powers’; and KaivalyaPada- ‘segment identifying with liberation and freedom’. The yogic study of consciousness, the inconspicuous energies of prana and mind, and different kind of spiritual practices are all associated with each other. Yogic writings contain topics of meditation, concentration, mantra, ritual, pranayama, asana, and related factors but as part of spiritual practice, not as a therapy. We don’t discover any Chikitsa Padas or treatment segments in the standard Yoga writings. This is because the concerns in classical Yoga is related toSadhana and not Chikitsa, which was viewed as the field of Ayurveda. Above all, there is no discovery of disease, pathology, diagnosis, or strategies apart from the approach of Ayurveda in Yoga writings. There is no Yoga system of medicine as far as diagnosis, pathology, and treatment, apart from Ayurvedais concerned. What is discovered in standard Yoga writings are discussions of the pranas, senses, mind, nadis, and chakras, worship of deities, discussion of the inner self and nature of consciousness, and also the type of samadhi or inner assimilation. Malady is briefly discussed in some Yoga writings as it is viewed as one of the fundamental obstructions to Yoga practice. In any case, when this occurs, the dialect of Ayurveda is normally employed.