Introduction

The word "Ayurveda" is a tatpurusha compound of the word āyus meaning "life," "life principle," or "long life" and the word veda, which refers to a system of "knowledge." Thus "Ayurveda" roughly translates as the "knowledge of life," "knowledge of a long life" or even "science of life." According to Charaka Samhita, "life" itself is defined as the "combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, which sustains the body over time, and guides the processes of rebirth."According to this perspective, Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect "ayus", which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony.It is a time-tested holistic system of medicine since the origin of human socialization; it has devoted itself to the health & happiness of the people.

Ayurveda is the traditional medicine of Nepal. Ayurveda is not merely a science of doctor & patient but is a science of day to day life. People adopt it as a life style & hence, it has been remaining live with their valuable tradition from era to era. There are different medical systems in the world. And Nepal, too, is in the stream of the countries that use modern allopathy predominantly for their peoples’ health. But studies show that more than 60% of the Nepali people use Ayurveda for any aspect of the primary health care & it is estimated that 90% of the diseases, at present, can be cured by Ayurveda, without any side effects & even with less expenses.

Today, the world is suffering from a burden of communicable & non-communicable diseases of different prognosis. Although there is a lot of advancement in disease diagnosis & treatment, these all are of a little importance due to emergent life-threatening disease like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Muscular dystrophy etc. So, the world is in search of such therapy that can combat against diseases & guide people for eternal happiness. For this reason, the world is in search of holistic medicine. In a study conducted in Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, on the topic “Attitudes of doctors of Bir Hospital towards the harmonization of Ayurveda & Modern medicine”, 84.52% of the doctors inquired were positive about the combined Rx (treatment) of Ayurveda and Modern medicine to get superior results where no one system is successful. More than 65% of the doctors inquired accepted that they prescribed Ayurveda medicine & more than 33% accepted that they had referred their patients for Ayurveda.