ABSTRACT
Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya (AH) provides, among other topics, valuable advice on food habits favorable to disease prevention. Many novel concepts are also inbuilt in AH. They include mind and causation of diseases, chronobiology of tridōṣa, diseases caused by subtle beings, fasting, colon-targeted drug delivery, versatile therapeutic measures, therapeutic heating of body, fecal microbiota transplantation, cream as dosage form and food fortification. When viewed from the perspective of sociology, AH opens a window to the culture prevalent in north and north-western India of 7th century A.D. Internal pieces of evidence of gender bias suggest that AH was composed in a male-dominant society. Sexual liberalism was in vogue and so was consumption of wine. The widespread use of wine in northern India is attested by the fact that alcoholism is considered as a major disease in AH with 115 quatrains devoted to its treatment. Though present-day Hindu society views cow as a sacred being, AH recommends cow meat as remedy for diseases. Redaction of AH in the light of modern knowledge, objective way of teaching AH, inclusion of many thrust areas in clinical practice and making Ayurveda therapy more affordable are some of the challenges to be faced before the soul of AH is rediscovered.
