ABSTRACT
Disease (dis-ease), is the disturbance of ease i.e. comfort, freedom from constraint, annoyance, awkwardness, pain or trouble both bodily and mental. Since time immemorial, man has tried to lead a disease free life. In one of the oldest repositories of human knowledge, vedas of Aryans (veda means to know, knowledge), the plants with medicinal virtues have been identified as oushidhis which are to be distinguished from ahara the edible plants. After vedas, further developments in various spheres of human life gave rise to Indian medicine called Ayurveda (Ayuh – life, veda – science). Dhanwantri, said to be the father of Indian medicine, lived in 7th century BC., as compared to Hippocrates who lived in 5th century BC. After Dhanwantri, the system of Ayurveda developed further, and peaked at the time of Charak Sanhita and Sushrut Sanhita, the treatises on medicine and surgery written about 1000 BC to 1000 AD. Charak Sanhita is said to be a compilation of proceedings of a symposium held in the Himalayas, to discuss the cure of various diseases which had originated at that time due to urbanization. For this purpose, the ancient scholar divided Ayurveda into the following eight disciplines:
Internal medicine
Ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology
Surgery
Toxicology
Psychiatry
Paediatrics
Rasayana, which in broad terms means rejuvenator
Vajikarna, the literal meaning is to have the sex power of a horse, but is often considered as fertility inducer or procreator.
