ABSTRACT
Ayurveda is a science of life, developed and practiced in India for several thousands of years. Even though modern engineering principles are developed during the last few centuries, many of the engineering principles were used in the theory and practice of Ayurveda. In this chapter, the engineering principles embedded in Ayurveda are investigated and an engineering model of Ayurveda is presented. In Ayurveda, the human body, mind, and spirit are considered as a single “system,” and the rest of the universe is considered as “surroundings.” Both the system and surroundings are made of five elements or panchabhutas. The state of health of the system is governed by the equilibrium and stability characteristics of the system within the system and with respect to the surroundings. The treatment procedure plays the role of control. The conservation laws are applicable as there exist heat and mass transfer between the system and surroundings. The formation of diseases, maintaining health and treatment procedures are modeled in an engineering approach. The engineering approach provides confident that practically every disease is curable. This model can be extended to investigate cause and cure of many diseases.
