Science of life which has its roots in Atharvaveda, one the oldest treatises. It sheds light on many aspects of life, health, regeneration, society, etc,  it provides us with core principles which guide us to live life healthy, happy as well as beneficial to the health of the society. Ayurveda suggests Sadvrutta( right conduct) which will maintain health and happiness of an individual as well as his acts will be beneficial to growth of the society in which he lives.

Ayurveda mainly has two aims –
Maintenance of health (Swasthavritta)
Management of diseases (Aturvritta)

Swasthavritta

Definition of Swastha (healthy) by Ayurveda is an excellent example of its holistic nature. This definition includes a happy mind and soul along with optimally working body systems. Swastha vritta includes rules, principles and code of conduct for a Swastha(healthy) person in order to maintain the health and prevent diseases. It also includes Rasayan Chikitsa; rejuvenation therapies for longer lifespan.

This constitutes of certain do’s and don’t which have been mentioned in Ayurvedic texts with the aim of preventing a majority of disease conditions and  also maintaining good all-round health (i.e. physical, mental and spiritual health). For the purpose of simplicity this rules have been grouped into two parts. One part deals with day-to-day activities which remain the same more or less throughout the year. This is termed as the daily regimen or “Dinacharya” where “Dina’ means “day” and “Charya” means “regimen”. The other part is the regimen which should be followed during the various seasons. This part deals mainly with food-habits and physical or mental activities which should be done in accordance with the prevailing season so as to obtain  maximum benefit and act as a preventive  to any diseased condition that may arise on account of improper food intake or as a result of excessive or less physical activities. This is called as the seasonal regimen or “Ritucharya” where “Ritu” means “season” and  “Charya” means “regimen”.

We shall now deal with the daily regimen as mentioned in Ayurveda. It should be kept in mind that the prevailing social condition in the times which this texts were written have greatly influenced many of the suggestions made. However the underlying principles behind each are universal and can be applied anywhere and at any times  by making suitable changes according to the prevailing social conditions. Aachararasayana/sadvritta explain in detail.

Aturvritta

Atur is Sanskrit word for unhealthy person. Matter of subject related to unhealthy person like etiology, pathology, treatment is explained in Aturvritta. It is again described under two headings Nidan and Chikitsa.

Nidan is understanding why and how the disease develops.Ayurvedic Nidan is one of the crucial element in process of Ayurvedic treatment. Nidan allows us to seek the root cause.

Chikitsa is actual treatment part. It includes diet, lifestyle, medicinal treatment, Panchakarma treatment and other therapies like Agni karma, Ksharkarma etc.