ĀYurveda
ĀYURVEDA. The traditional Hindu system of medicine widely practiced in India, Āyurveda is based on authoritative treatises written in Sanskrit over approximately the past two millennia. Three major classical medical systems have flourished on the Indian subcontinent: Āyurveda among Hindus, Yunānī among Muslims, and Siddha among Tamils in South India. Their reliance on elaborate textual traditions distinguish these three systems from the assorted medical practices offered by astrologers, exorcists, priests, snakebite specialists, and kindred healers in the context of diverse folk traditions. In general, folk practices are associated with a magico-religious understanding of illness, whereas Āyurveda is associated with an understanding of illness that refers to the balance of three physiological principles suggestive of, yet distinct from, the Galenic humors. Such boundaries delimiting classical and folk traditions are not absolute, however, and humoral concepts pervade many folk practices just as magico-religious considerations have at times played a significant role in the practice of Āyurveda.
Texts
Major traditions evolving in the context of Hinduism frequently trace their roots to one of the four Vedic Saṃhitās, the earliest canonical texts, and Āyurveda is associated with the Atharvaveda. While all four Vedas demonstrate at least a peripheral concern for medical issues, they do so in the context of a decidedly supernatural worldview.
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