Scope of Ayurveda

We often say with pride that modern science has developed the emergency treatment to its fullest and any kind of patient can be saved. Truly it is an advantage in cases of direct physical trauma and certain acute disorders. But certainly it is not the medicine, which somebody should prefer to use in case of routine health problems. It seems to have more disadvantages there. Why? Obviously it is due to its nature of fast action. Though this action momentarily obstruct the disease yet do not help the body on long run. This medicine fights with the disease and forgets the body.

These are few questions, which are often asked and answers to all these queries are not simple.

If a drug can save a dying person then it is not useless. If a drug can give life at one place then why it cannot be used in routine disorders? The answer to it looks contradictory but it is true. If a person is at the deathbed then prime objective of the treatment is to save the life, ignoring few harmful effects of medicine on the body. But routine use of this medicine in minor ailments will lead to accumulation of the harmful effects. Its cumulative effect often results into an irreversible damage and dependence upon some life saving wonderful drugs.

We are so much involved in appreciation of these life saving drugs that we tend to forget the misuse and consequent side effects of these drugs, which leads to condition of chronic ailments. So let us be very practical and look for the scope of modern medical field in context of routine health ailments. On analyses of the whole problem, we find that correction in the approach is needed. Where the rectification is needed? What is the cause of whole situation?

The answer lies in the fact that the modern medical field has become staunch objective. It has forgotten the body in its persuasion to eradicate the disease . Modern medical field has become so aggressive in disease eradication that knowingly or unknowingly it ignores minor bruises to the body while the medicine is working.

Modern medicine really produce very useful effects and person feel great after use of medicine in very short time interval. But the harmful waste left in the internal environment goes un-noticed. It is the accumulation of waste inside the body that alarmingly leads to an emergency. This emergency may prove fatal too.

Can this kind of approach be right? This kind of approach cannot be right certainly. We need to find a drug, which will work in harmony with working of the body. We need to have the subjective approach. Why the modern objective approach could not solve this problem? Why creating harmony with the body is such a big problem?

Fault lies in certain basic assumption of the modern medical sciences. One of them was that the organisms are the cause of diseases. The new assumption, which is gaining strength slowly, is that the organism is not the cause of the disease. It is the inability of the body to prevent the organism from the invasion, which lead to the disease. It is a drastic change in the fundamental approach.

It means that cause of the disease lies in the disturbance in the defense mechanism. A look into the factors, which disturb this normal physiology, is needed for the proper understanding of causation of disease. Understanding of harmony in the body has opened the windows to the subjective approach. Knowing the body in true sense and knowledge of the internal and external environment of the body is part of the subjective approach. Internal environment of the body is directly related to the external environment. Both of them maintain a harmony. Any slightest change in external environment (surrounding) brings about a corresponding change in internal environment of the body. So understanding of the body, along with all those factors which can bring change in the body, is part of the true subjective approach.

A true subjective knowledge can come out only if method of knowing is also truly subjective. In philosophy, the process of gaining knowledge has also been analyzed and that has been developed to form the ‘Darshans' in Indian philosophy. All the six Darshans i.e. Nyaya, Vaisheshik, Saankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta are direct outcome of quest for true knowledge with a definite scope in their own point of view.

Ayurveda has developed along with Darshans to evolve into a true medical science.