Ayurveda in One Page

Ayurveda — literally the knowledge (veda) of life (ayus) — is India's classical science of health. Its first aim, stated in the Charaka Samhita, is to protect the health of the healthy (swasthasya swasthya rakshanam); only its second is to relieve the disease of the sick. Food (ahara), daily and seasonal routine (vihara) and the state of the mind are its three main tools for the first aim. This volume is about those tools as they are lived out in a kitchen and a household — especially for people in the second half of life.

Sushruta describes a healthy person (swastha) as one whose doshas are in balance, whose digestive fire is even, whose tissues and wastes function properly, and whose senses, mind and spirit are content (prasanna). Notice that health here is not only the absence of disease: it includes good appetite and digestion, regular elimination, sound sleep, clarity and cheerfulness. Each of these is something a kitchen and a daily routine can support.