Foundations
Classical Texts
Classical Ayurvedic texts: the foundational treatises of Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhata and the Nighantu lexicons, and what each one contains.
Classical Texts Ashtanga Hridayam The third of Ayurveda's three great classics: a concise verse synthesis of the whole tradition, written by Vagbhata. Read article Classical Texts Bhaishajya Ratnavali The great Ayurvedic formulary whose name means the jewel mine of medicines: a practical compendium of more than a thousand classical preparations. Read article Classical Texts Charaka Samhita Charaka Samhita is the great classical text of Ayurvedic internal medicine, the foundation on which much of the whole tradition rests. Read article Classical Texts Kashyapa Samhita Kashyapa Samhita is an early classical Ayurvedic text remembered above all for its teaching on the care of mothers, infants and children. Read article Classical Texts Madhava Nidana The classical Ayurvedic handbook of diagnosis, an eighth-century text that gathered the signs of illness into one ordered reference for practitioners. Read article Classical Texts Sahasrayogam Sahasrayogam, the classical Ayurvedic recipe book whose name means a thousand formulations, much loved in the south for its ready-to-use preparations. Read article Classical Texts Shad Rasa, the Six Tastes The six tastes of Ayurvedic dietetics, the system by which the tradition reads the action of every food and herb from the way it tastes on the tongue. Read article Classical Texts Sharangadhara Samhita The classical handbook of Ayurvedic pharmacy, the text that set down in clear order how the tradition's medicines are weighed, prepared and made. Read article Classical Texts Sushruta Samhita The Sushruta Samhita: the classical treatise on surgery attributed to Sushruta, one of the great foundational texts beside Charaka and Vagbhata. Read article