Udara Roga in the Sushruta Samhita: The Eight Types of Abdominal Swelling in Ayurveda (Nidana Sthana)

Quick Summary Roughly two thousand years ago, the surgeon-physicians of India sat down and did something remarkable: they sorted the...

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Taila Varga: The Ayurvedic Science of Oils in the Ashtanga Hridaya (Tila, Eranda, Sarsapa and the Sneha)

Quick Summary Long before anyone bottled a “cold-pressed” oil, the old Ayurvedic physicians had already read the whole oil shelf...

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The Six Factors That Form a Human Being: Garbhavakranti and Shad Garbhakara Bhava in the Charaka Samhita

Quick Summary What, exactly, makes a human being? Two thousand years ago the Charaka Samhita took that question with complete...

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Anjali Pramana: The Body Measured by the Handful in the Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya and Bhavaprakasha

Quick Summary Long before beakers, weighing scales or a single blood test, classical Ayurveda had already asked a strikingly modern...

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Prameha and Madhumeha in Ayurveda: The 20 Classical Types in the Sushruta Samhita (Nidana Sthana, Chapter 6)

Quick Summary Few chapters of classical Ayurveda have fascinated modern readers as much as the one on Prameha. In the...

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Milk, Curd, Buttermilk and Ghee in Ayurveda: The Kshira Varga of the Ashtanga Hridaya (Dugdha, Dadhi, Takra and Ghrita)

Quick Summary No cupboard in the Indian kitchen has been studied as lovingly by the old physicians as the one...

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