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This ayurvedic herbal is an overview of the won-

ders of ayurvedic pharmacology: how Ayurveda

understands plants, how it prepares them and how

these preparations are used. I have written it for

ayurvedic specialists, herbal practitioners and

interested herbal enthusiasts alike. I hope that

these Ayurvedic insights give you the inspiration

to incorporate some of its deep understanding of

herbal medicine into your life and practice. It is

also relevant to note that as Ayurveda receives

official recognition as a bone fide medical system

in its own right its educational standards are also

becoming more standardised. ‘Ayurvedic

Medicine’ attempts to meet these broader curricu-

lum standards that require students to cross cul-

tural boundaries and understand traditional

medical models as well as modern sciences. In line

with this I have followed the proposed core cur-

riculum standards presented by the Department

of Indian Systems of Medicine as well as the

European Herbal Practitioners Association in rela-

tion to studying the ayurvedic materia medica and

pharmacology.

Ayurveda is literally translated as ‘science of life’

but it can also be described as ‘the way of living

with awareness and promoting longevity.’ An early

description given in the Caraka Sam. hita written

c.150BCE–100CE says:

‘It is called Ayurveda because it tells us which

substances, qualities and actions are life enhancing,

and which are not’

Su

trastha

na 30.23

(Quotes are translated by D Wujastyk and

reprinted with his kind permission from his most

poetic translation of ayurvedic texts ‘The Roots of

Ayurveda’.)

Broadly speaking, Ayurveda is understood to

be the generic term for traditional Indian medicine.

But as well as being a medical system it includes

aspects of philosophy, mythology, diet and yoga as

well as mental and spiritual refinement as part of

its teachings.

Ayurveda’s medical branch uses herbal medicines,

minerals, animal products, food, massage, air,

water, heat, earth, surgery, detoxification and toni-

fication to bring about health. Ayurveda focuses

on preventing disease and optimising vitality as

much as on removing an illness. Thus it has a

holistic approach to health that includes every

aspect of life in a philosophy where mind, body

and spirit are considered to be an integrated

whole. Nothing in the world is considered to be

separate from anything else. Everything is inter-

connected. Practising Ayurveda is as much aboutINTRODUCTION

understanding your own inner nature and fulfill-

ing your own potential as it is about helping

your patients to understand their nature and fulfil

their potential.

To achieve this end Ayurveda cultivates an inti-

mate understanding of and relationship with

nature and thus observing her tastes, aromas, tex-

tures and qualities is a central part of learning

Ayurveda. If we are not aware of what our nature

is and what the qualities of nature are, or we

choose to ignore them, then we will certainly

become ill. We will look at the causes of illness later

but surely a large part of the cause of the modern

malaise must be our separation and distance from

nature and her natural rhythms. Ayurveda offers

the potential to reconnect this disassociation.