The ancient Hindu medicine dates back to the prehistoric time and it is as old as the civilisation is. The rudiments of ancient medicine started from Vedic period and in the there are mentions of medicinal plants and herbs. The introduction of Ayurveda in earth was made by Lord Brahma when he saw the suffering of human beings.Archaic Hindu medicine in its earliest context is to be found mostly in the hymns of the Atharva Veda, and the Vedic term 'bheshaja', used to denote medicinal charms, which occurs also in the Avesta as baesaza or baesazya, suggests a common Aryan origin. It is a 'psychosomatic' approach to healing, part of a philosophical system. It is a scheme in which the lay physician and the priest perform their respective roles in controlling the ills of the body and of the soul. Native pre-Aryan tradition and practice were imbibed. Mohenjodaro, which had the finest public health facilities in the ancient East, could boast bathrooms and a drainage system, and no doubt influenced personal hygiene. The deity Dhanvantari, custodian of the elixir of immortality, became the fount of wisdom for virility and duration in life (ayurveda) and the remedies (bhaishajya) to ensure these. He figures in Susruta as the divine authority in medicine.
The theoretical basis of ancient Hindu medicine was metaphysical and was restricted by tradition and by isolation from other sciences. In the practice of ancient Hindu medicines, diseases like fever was considered as a demon, offspring of indigestion, the commonest cause of illness. According to ancient Indian scriptures, the human body was maintained in a state of health by the three humours, phlegm, gall, and wind (or breath) in their correct proportions. These proportions could be achieved by proper diet, an important consideration in a trying climate. The humours were forms of the life-energy and corresponded to divine forces or agents in the macrocosm, i.e. outside the body; thus phlegm, cool and heavy, which resided in the chest and lungs, was associated with the moon. Hindu interpretation gave wind prime significance among the humours, since it appeared to govern the dynamics of the body; from the pre-Aryan Yoga to the Vedanta philosophy there developed a theory of winds (vayu) or manifestations of the life-breath.
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