| An aspiring Ayurveda practitioner who has obtained thorough knowledge about diseases, and their signs and symptoms from Nidanasthana and studied rasa prabhava and dosha prabhava in the context of dravya and vyadhi from Vimanasthana may have built a foundation in disease management, but cannot initiate treatment until he has a thorough knowledge of the human body. Therefore, a logical continuation from the preceding sections is this section on the human physiology and anatomy especially body’s connecton to the universe. As mentioned earlier, the concept of purusha is integral to understanding sharira, and therefore understanding Sharirasthana. This chapter therefore deals with various topics related to purusha such as its types, origin, constituents, details about mind and soul, the process of knowledge, the theory of evolution and destruction, types of diseases and their causative factors, treatment of the diseases of past, present and future, desire as the ultimate cause of sorrow, the method by which an individual can get the permanent relief from pain, role of yoga in achieving salvation, and the means of salvation. | | An aspiring Ayurveda practitioner who has obtained thorough knowledge about diseases, and their signs and symptoms from Nidanasthana and studied rasa prabhava and dosha prabhava in the context of dravya and vyadhi from Vimanasthana may have built a foundation in disease management, but cannot initiate treatment until he has a thorough knowledge of the human body. Therefore, a logical continuation from the preceding sections is this section on the human physiology and anatomy especially body’s connecton to the universe. As mentioned earlier, the concept of purusha is integral to understanding sharira, and therefore understanding Sharirasthana. This chapter therefore deals with various topics related to purusha such as its types, origin, constituents, details about mind and soul, the process of knowledge, the theory of evolution and destruction, types of diseases and their causative factors, treatment of the diseases of past, present and future, desire as the ultimate cause of sorrow, the method by which an individual can get the permanent relief from pain, role of yoga in achieving salvation, and the means of salvation. |
| This chapter also deals with a philosophical approach to human body and mind (apparent, since the chapter deals with a complex concept like the purusha). All eastern philosophies consider the atma (soul) as the entity that is responsible for all actions and therefore the recipient of the consequences of those actions. The ultimate reason for all kinds of pain and sufferings is that human beings do not realize or consider the body and the soul to be two distinct entities. The relationship between the soul and the mind is complex and subtle. One has to “rein in” the mind and also strive to stay detached from all the actions performed by him to liberate himself from this material world. A person who is detached from worldly possessions and actions is free from the karmic cycle of actions and consequences, and birth and death. Thus the chapter describes some of the basic physical and meta-physical aspects of the human entity. | | This chapter also deals with a philosophical approach to human body and mind (apparent, since the chapter deals with a complex concept like the purusha). All eastern philosophies consider the atma (soul) as the entity that is responsible for all actions and therefore the recipient of the consequences of those actions. The ultimate reason for all kinds of pain and sufferings is that human beings do not realize or consider the body and the soul to be two distinct entities. The relationship between the soul and the mind is complex and subtle. One has to “rein in” the mind and also strive to stay detached from all the actions performed by him to liberate himself from this material world. A person who is detached from worldly possessions and actions is free from the karmic cycle of actions and consequences, and birth and death. Thus the chapter describes some of the basic physical and meta-physical aspects of the human entity. |