Basics
What Is Ayurveda? A Plain-English Introduction
Ayurveda is India's traditional medicine, more than two thousand years old. In plain terms: the ideas it rests on, what it is made of and how it is recognized in India.
What is ayurveda, in plain terms
Ayurveda is India’s traditional medicine, also called ayurvedic medicine. Put simply, it is a body of knowledge about how to stay healthy and how to help in illness through diet, daily routine, herbs and treatments. It took shape in India more than two thousand years ago and still works there as one of the state systems of medicine.
The word is Sanskrit and has two parts: “ayus”, life, and “veda”, knowledge. Together, “the knowledge of life”. The name is apt: ayurveda deals not only with disease but with how a person eats, sleeps, works and lives through the change of seasons.
Today the word is everywhere: on spa menus, on packets of tea and cosmetics, in the names of tours to India. Below is what really stands behind it: where ayurveda comes from, what ideas hold it together and how it is practiced in India.
Where ayurveda comes from
Ayurveda comes from India. Tradition traces it to the Vedic era and regards it as a supplement to the Vedas, the country’s oldest sacred texts. It has come down to us as a complete medical system in the classical treatises, the samhitas.
- The Charaka Samhita. The main text on internal medicine: the body, the causes of disease, diet, routine, treatment with herbs and procedures.
- The Sushruta Samhita. A text centered on surgery.
- The Ashtanga Hridaya. A later compendium that gathered the teachings of the first two books and added to them.
These books have no exact dates, and estimates differ by centuries. Where to start reading and which modern books to pick up is covered in Books on ayurveda: what to read and where to start. Tradition places the core of the Charaka Samhita — a treatise by the physician Agnivesha — in deep antiquity. Historians are more cautious: the texts took shape over a long time, through several revisions, and in the form that has come down to us they are about two thousand years old. One of the last redactions of the Charaka Samhita was made by the physician Dridhabala, who lived around 300 CE: he restored lost parts of the text.
The core ideas in plain terms
The essence of ayurveda lies in a few concepts it uses to describe a person.
- The five elements. Ayurveda describes everything in the world, including the body, as a combination of five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth.
- The three doshas. The elements combine into three principles the tradition uses to explain how the body works. Vata governs movement, pitta transformation and heat, kapha structure and stability. In detail in The three doshas: vata, pitta, kapha.
- Agni. The name for the digestive fire — the ability to digest and assimilate. When agni weakens, according to ayurveda, ama is left in the body — what has not been fully digested. See Agni and ama.
- Constitution. Everyone is born with their own balance of doshas, prakriti. The current state that has drifted from it is called vikriti. Explained in Prakriti and vikriti.
From these ideas follows the main principle: there are no recommendations that fit everyone. A food, oil or treatment that suits one person may not suit another. Hence the first practical step — find out your dosha: 21 questions based on the classical texts.
What the practice involves
Ayurveda is not just medicines. A doctor’s tools look like this:
- Diet. What, when and how much to eat — taking into account the doshas, digestion and the season.
- Routine. Dinacharya, the daily routine, and ritucharya, its seasonal adjustments.
- Herbs and preparations. Almost all plant-based; some classical formulations contain minerals and metals. We come back to this below.
- Treatments. Oil massages, heat therapies, dharas — an even stream of oil or decoction over the head or body. The kinds of treatments and how they differ are covered in Ayurvedic treatments.
- Panchakarma. A course of cleansing procedures with preparation and a return phase, prescribed and supervised by a doctor. In detail in What is panchakarma.
Ayurveda in India today
In India ayurveda is not an alternative practice but a state-recognized system of medicine. Since November 2014 it has had its own Ministry of AYUSH. The name is an acronym: ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy.
Ayurvedic doctors are trained in colleges. According to the ministry, as of 1 April 2024 there were 538 ayurveda colleges in the country running the basic degree program. At the start of 2024, nearly 372,000 ayurveda practitioners were listed in the registers of doctors. The basic degree is the BAMS, Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery. After it come master’s and doctoral programs. What such a doctor is taught, for how long, and what happens at their consultations is covered in The ayurvedic doctor: who they are and what they do.
Outside India the status is different. In the United States, for example, the practice and teaching of ayurveda are largely unregulated, and no state requires a license.
Preparations: only as prescribed by a doctor
Almost all ayurvedic remedies are plant-based. But classical pharmacology has a branch called rasa shastra, in which metals and minerals are deliberately included in formulations. Such remedies call for particular care. The reliable route is simple: preparations taken internally are used only as prescribed by a doctor and from a reputable, GMP-certified manufacturer, and “ayurvedic” pills are never bought at random online. In pregnancy, while breastfeeding and for children — only after consulting a doctor.
Ayurveda and medicine: what doctors think
In India ayurveda is medicine in the full sense of the word: a profession recognized by the state, with its own colleges, degrees, registers of doctors and hospitals, as described above. For an ayurvedic doctor with a BAMS degree it is their specialty, and doshas, agni and constitution are the working language of examination and prescription.
On practical rules, a conscientious ayurvedic doctor and an ordinary GP will say the same thing:
- Prescribed medication is not stopped. Ayurveda goes alongside conventional treatment, not instead of it.
- Tell your doctor about herbs and preparations. Herbs and supplements can interact with medicines, so your doctor should know about any such products.
- Preparations by prescription. A doctor chooses them after an examination, and they are bought from a reputable, GMP-certified manufacturer.
- Cleansing procedures only with a doctor. Panchakarma is a doctor-led program with examination and supervision, not a course you do on your own.
Keeping ayurveda in its proper place
- Alongside treatment, not instead of it. Ayurveda is no reason to put off seeing a doctor or to replace prescribed treatment. Medication is not stopped on your own.
- More than a spa menu. An oil massage in a spa is a small part of ayurveda. In a clinic, treatments are prescribed by a doctor after an examination and adjusted as you go.
- More than an online quiz. A “find your dosha” questionnaire doesn’t replace an examination: it sees your opinion of yourself, not your constitution and current state.
Why Kerala is famous for its treatments
Ayurveda is practiced all over India, but Kerala, a state in the country’s south-west, is the most famous for its treatments. Over the centuries a school of its own grew up here, known as Kerala panchakarma. Its principles are those of the classical texts, while its treatment techniques developed in close contact with local folk medicine.
From Kerala come the treatments that many people today see as the face of ayurveda: pizhichil, pouring warm oil over the body with massage; njavara kizhi, heat therapy with boluses of rice cooked in milk and a herbal decoction; and dharas over the head and body.
Ayurvedashala teaches ayurvedic massage and panchakarma in Kerala: in clinics, alongside doctors, hands-on at the treatment table. If reading about ayurveda isn’t enough and you want to learn to work with your hands, take a look at our training programs.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is ayurveda a medicine or not?
In India, yes: it is an officially recognized system of traditional medicine with its own ministry, colleges and registered doctors. Ayurveda does not cancel prescribed treatment; it goes alongside it.
What do doctors think of ayurveda?
For an ayurvedic doctor in India it is their specialty, with a degree and a register. On practical rules a conscientious ayurvedic doctor and an ordinary GP agree: don't stop prescribed medication, and tell your doctor about any herbs and preparations.
What does the word 'ayurveda' mean?
From Sanskrit, 'the knowledge of life': 'ayus' means life and 'veda' means knowledge. That is why ayurveda deals not only with disease but with how a person eats, sleeps and lives day to day.
What does 'ayurvedic' mean on a package or a spa menu?
The word itself guarantees nothing: it is put on tea, cosmetics and ordinary oil massages alike. An honest 'ayurvedic' has specifics behind it: a formula or treatment following a classical recipe, questions before the session, an oil chosen for you and respect for contraindications. Without any of that, only the name is left of ayurveda.
Are ayurvedic medicines safe?
Almost all of them are plant-based. Some classical formulations contain minerals and metals — these are taken only on a doctor's prescription. The reliable route is products from GMP-certified manufacturers, not pills of unknown origin from the internet.
Can I start practicing ayurveda on my own?
The gentle things — a daily routine, simple warm food at regular times, an early dinner — yes. Herbs, preparations and cleansing procedures are prescribed by a doctor after an examination.
Which books on ayurveda should I read, and where do I start?
The primary sources are the same three classics: the Charaka Samhita on internal medicine, the Sushruta Samhita on surgery, and the later Ashtanga Hridaya. The Charaka Samhita is available online with an English translation and commentary on its concepts — the articles in this section cite it. Among modern textbooks, Vasant Lad's 'Textbook of Ayurveda' is the most widely used. No book replaces an examination, though: herbs, preparations and treatments are prescribed by a doctor.
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