By Invitation
Back to health
Democratisation and concerted efforts by governments helped Ayurveda return to its path of glory after a decline
A
Dr K G Paulose
yurevda, which had been the science of health through the ages, went into a phase of decline in the 18th and 19th centuries, before making a comeback in the 20th century. What led to the loss of sheen for Ayurveda? There are three reasons. 1. Possession of knowledge From ancient times onwards, across the cultures worldwide, there has been a tendency to possess and hide knowledge, without sharing. People who had custody of knowledge in a particular field always kept it as their secret possession and exposed that knowledge only to limited hands, mostly of the same clan. This mystification of knowledge was in vogue in India also. The old Indian system of education—the Gurukula tradition— was a face-to-face transmission of knowledge, and this individuality was its main characteristic. But this method had certain limitations. On due course of time, it became just repetitions or re-distribution of same old information. Research, an important facet in the process
Painting of Susrutha, the patron saint of surgeons, performs a surgery. of knowledge creation, is found missing here. All ancient Indian sciences, including Ayurveda, faced this saturation point. This means, knowledge, possessed by a certain group, had to face a declension in growth in due course of time. 2. Lack of well trained physicians Only a limited percentage of students were lucky enough to get
In the beginning, Ayurveda vaidyas neglected ‘English’ medicine and they were not ready to accept it as something worth in healthcare. But it was too late when they could understand that they were losing the soil under their feet so fast
proper, complete training in the Gurukula tradition due to several reasons. This limited number of experts could not cover the healthcare problems of all members of society. This resulted in the entry of a number of non-experts in the field, which adversely affected the quality of treatments. This problem became severe when the British rulers of India brought a rule which insisted on the arbitrary registration of all traditional healthcare professionals. The presence of non-experts was a reason for Ayurveda’s decline. 3. Foreign rule The main factor which catalysed the downfall of Ayurveda in 19th 15