The Eight Branches of Åyurvedic Medicine
- Internal medicine, including physiology and pathology: Kaya-cikits ̄ a ̄
- General surgery: Íalyapahart ̄ Órka
- Eye, ear, nose and throat disease: Í ̄alakya ̄
- Pediatrics, including obstetrics and embryology: Kaum ̄ara bhÓrtya
- Psychology/psychiatry: psychotherapy, dream analysis, demonology:
Bh ̄uta-vidya ̄ - Toxicology: vi ́sagara-vairodhika-pra ́samana
- Geriatrics: and rejuvenation therapy: Rasayana ̄
- Sexology: V ̄ajikaraÓna^75
Body and physical health and illness are central in Åyurvedic medi-
cine. While body and health are important in classical Yoga, Yoga has
consciousness as its primary subject and agent of liberation. Yoga and
Åyurveda are sister sciences: practitioners of Yoga may study Åyurveda
prior to and along with their practice of Yoga, and Åyurveda’s science of
the body serves to make the body more fit and pure for undertaking the
spiritual science of Yoga. Moreover, when yogic disciplines are per-
formed, the activation of stagnant energies in the body/mind may result
in physical and psychological disorders that can be diagnosed and treated
with Åyurvedic methods.^76
Yoga and Åyurveda have in common strongly (but not exclusively)
S ̄amkhya metaphysical foundations, and in many respects their theoryÓ
and practice constitute applications of S ̄amkhya principles. A major dif-Ó
ference between Åyurveda and Yoga is that Åyurveda is primarily di-
rected toward the earthly goals of health and longevity, while Yoga has
spiritual liberation as its aim. Åyurveda is not, however, without religious
roots and applications. Its ultimate source is Brahm ̄a the creator, who
gave the knowledge of Åyurveda through the ÓrÓsis or seers who produced
the divinely intuited Vedas. Åyurveda’s claim to divine origin grounds its
assertion that it is not limited to any particular culture, religion, or period
of history. As a source of knowledge it considers itself to have no begin-
ning or end: Åyurveda deals with things inherent in nature, and based on
the assumption that such natural manifestations are eternal, the princi-
ples regarding medicine and health remain constant, though in applica-
tion their concrete particulars differ [CS 1:30.27]. Yoga is a liberative dis-
cipline, a mokÓsa- ́sastra ̄ whose benefits are also germane across time,
place, and circumstances. Though Åyurveda is not a mokÓsa- ́s ̄astra,the
body and philosophies of healing 37