Caraka-samhitÓ a ̄ states that Åyurveda is sacred because it benefits human-
kind in “both worlds,” this one, and the life beyond [CS 1 :1.43].
The Åyurvedic texts present medical theory in the context of medi-
cal practice, so the theoretical principles of Åyurveda have to be pieced
together and conceptually reconstructed. Jean Filliozat writes that
Åyurvedic medicine is a rational system based on experience, and Gerald
Larson corroborates this by describing the practical operational charac-
ter of the medical literature, wherein symptoms and diseases are classi-
fied, contextualized with respect to diagnosis, prognosis, and so on, then
addressed therapeutically.^77 The major texts that have preserved knowl-
edge of Åyurveda to the present day are together called BÓrhattrayi,“The
Great Trio.” The encyclopedic Caraka-samhitÓ a, ̄ compiled in the first cen-
turies of the common era, and commented on and revised in subsequent
centuries, is used in present-day traditional Indian medical practice. The
samhitÓ ̄aor collection of Su ́sruta is similar in content to the samhitÓ a ̄ of Ca-
raka, except that the Su ́sruta-samhitÓ a ̄ emphasizes surgery.^78 The third
major Åyurvedic text is the AsÓÓt ̄a ̇nga-hÓrdaya-samhitÓ a ̄ of Vagbhata.^79
The Caraka-samhitÓ ̄a has eight volumes. Its chapters deal with con-
cerns of practical medicine such as pathogenesis, diagnosis, pharmaceuti-
cals, and therapeutic measures. The first volume, Sutra-sth ̄ ana ̄ (‘the sec-
tion on fundamentals’), presents essential principles of maintaining
health and preventing and curing disease; thus it is particularly valuable
for study of Åyurveda’s concepts of health and the philosophical and reli-
gious implications of Åyurvedic medical philosophy.
Caraka describes Åyurveda as “the science through the knowledge
of which one can obtain knowledge about the useful and harmful types
of life, happy and miserable types of life, things that are useful for such
types of life, the span of life and the very nature of life” [CS 1:1.41].
Åyurveda’s aim is preservation and restoration of health, and assistance
in attaining the four puruÓsarthas ̄ or principles of life: dharma (righteous-
ness), artha (prosperity), k ̄ama (enjoyment), and mokÓsa (liberation) [CS
1:1.15]. Åyurveda’s commitment to the puruÓs ̄arthas demonstrates that
Åyurveda serves the quest for religious liberation and is not merely for
material well-being.
The origins of Åyurveda are evident in the Atharva-veda(c. 1500–
1000 b.c.e.), in which both religious (e.g., m ̄antric), and medical (e.g.,
pharmacological) approaches to healing are represented. Hundreds of
medicinal plants are listed in the Vedas, as, for instance, in this passage:
Most efficacious for healing this disease [leprosy] is the medicine known
as Rajan ̄ı, thou posessest the healing power of Suparna. Asuri-named38 religious therapeutics