Textbook of Ayurveda

This book is phenomenal. As a yoga and Sanskrit student, this book answers many questions I have about my studies. It has also influenced me to attend the Ayurveda Institute this fall '09. I am also looking forward to a career in Ayurveda where I can help people live long, happy lives. I included this book in my best reads list in my yoga journal: http://mariaradloff.com/yoga_journal/?page_id=49

Destined to become the definitive English-language textbook of ayurveda Dr. Vasant Lad is a world-renowned ayurvedic physician, born and educated in India, with more than forty years of clinical experience. He is one of the world's leading teachers and scholars of ayurveda, and served as professor of clinical medicine at the University of Pune College of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery as well as director of its affiliated hospital. Currently, he is president of and a senior faculty member at the Ayurvedic Institute, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Vasant Lad is the author of several professional texts and popular works on ayurveda and has written countless articles on the subject. There have been many textbooks published for intending practitioners of ayurveda, but until now nearly all of these have been in Sanskrit or more frequently Hindi or one of India's regional languages. Lacking facility in one or more of these, the English speaking student was left with one of two relatively time-consuming and unsatisfactory alternatives: consulting English-language translations of ayurveda's classics (i.e., the Sushruta and Charaka compendiums and the Astanga Hridaya, inter alia, a prospect unwieldy to say the least given the host of ancient therapies no longer in existence in today's world and the often untranslatable proper names of conditions and medicines) or compiling and correlating information from popular works on the subject and online sources. Dr. Vasant Lad's "Textbook of Ayurveda: Fundamental Principles" has resolved this daunting task for the professional student of ayurveda and provided in one well-organized, well-written and very clear English-language volume all salient aspects of the philosophical and scientific foundation that ayurveda stands upon: from the metaphysical underpinnings to the foundations of ayurvedic anatomy and physiology. The book is arranged into ten sections covering, respectively the shad darshan (the metaphysical assumptions underlying ayurveda); the elements, gunas (qualities of matter) and the tridoshic theory; dosha subtypes and their locations and functions; agni (degistive processes) the sapta dhatus (seven tissue types); srotamsi (channels or meridians), ojas, tejas, and prana (subtle forms of the doshas), digestion and nutrition and swasthavritti (ayurvedic concepts of healthy lifestyles and regimens). The flow of instructional material in the book is superlatively well-organized, with the information provided in one section providing a knowledge base for the effective study of material provided in subsequent sections. With the coming of ayurveda to the West, there has emerged a great need for a foundation-level textbook that not only caters to Western learning styles but that also forges a link between ayurveda's conceptions of anatomy and physiology and those of Western biomedicine. It contains the necessary foundation for the understanding of a paradigm of health and disease far removed from the Weste

I think this is a through textbook. I do yoga, meditation for 20 years and have read a lot of books, still there is a lot to learn in this book. Also as an MD(Internal medicine)i enjoy adding knowledge of ayurveda and i feel using that for my regular office based patients is a big plus . i strongly recommend this book .

I've recently purchased several ayurvedic books and will be returning most of them now. This book has everything. I MUST have. It is very thorough and extremely interesting. Not just a rehashing of information found elsewhere. If you only have one book - get this one!

Thank you Vasant Lad for this great tool that helps one unlock the truth called Ayurveda. Vasant Lad has presented a true text book that will become a companion of the modern day Ayurvedic student. Normally if one was to source concise information on the fundamentals of Ayurveda then one had the difficult task of studying the translations of Caraka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Vagbhata Samhita. While these texts are the foundation for modern Ayurveda they can be daunting to the student new to this amazing science. The only other method was to correlate information from books written by Vasant Lad, David Frawley, Atreya, Robert Svoboda, Subhash Ranade, Maya Tiwari etc.... and then one would build up a collection of information from different sources. Whilst this is not a bad thing (and I will continue to read books offered from these great teachers) finding enough detailed information was sometimes very hard. "The Text Book of Ayurveda: Fundamental Principles" is truly amazing. It is a must for the serious student of Ayurveda. Vasant Lad has indicated that this if the first of three, the next two dealing with; the clinical assessment of health and disease, and the management of disease. The contents of this book is vast, it covers all aspects of the philosophical foundation that Ayurveda stands upon, The Tridosha, Agni, The Seven Dhatu, The Fifteen Srotas, Ojas, Tejas, Prana, Digestion and Nutrition, to be honest this does no justice to what is actually in this textbook. Get it!