Etmology of the Eight parts of Ayurveda

JAY SHREE POOJYASHREE SHREE AMMA
JAY MAHAN BRAHMASHREE GOPALAVALLIDASAR
JAY SHREE RADHEKRISHNA SATHSANG

Dear Readers,

Wishing all of you a very happy and prosperous new year!
All of us think about improving our life in some way or the other at the outset of every new year. So this year let us think of improving our life by devoting some portion of our valuable time towards attaining spiritual knowledge. We, the members of Radhekrishna Sathsangam urge our readers to do more and more chanting of the Radhekrishna namam and attain spiritual bliss.

We have started the topic on the Eight Specialties in Ayurveda in the previous blog post. The shloka mentioned in the previous post contains the names of each of the eight specialties. In this article let us take a look at the etmology of the eight specialties. Given below are the meanings of each of the terms mentioned in the shloka. Please read the blog post for 22nd December 2008 to know about those terms and the shloka.

1. Kaya + chikitsaa = Body + treatment

2. Sala – Saalaakyam = Relating to the upper branches of ear, nose, throat and the eyes.

3. Salya + apa + hartrkam = to be removed by thorn (knife) i.e. surgery

4. Visha + gara + vairodhika + pra + samanam = poison + venom + resisting + pacification = toxicology

5. Bhuta + vidya = that which was (ghost) + knowledge = psychology

6. Kaumara + brtyakam = child + service = Pediatrics

7. Rasayanam = treatment with chemicals (science of rejuvenation)

8. Vajikaranam = stimulating amorous desires = Aphrodisiacs

Section II : Information about Indian herbs

In this post let us know about the herb known as Indrayan (Hindi) also known as Colosynth in English and Citrullus Colocynthis in Latin.

· It is a creeper with large flowers

· It has a bitter fruit

· The pulp of its fruit and the root are used in medicine; both are cathartic

· It is also useful in cases of rheumatism and syphilis

· It is a cure for chronic catarrh and premature graying of hair

That concludes the topic for this forthnight.

Till the next forthnight, Radhekrishna to all our readers!

Sarvam Guruvaarpanam