Recommended Books on Ayurveda

When you start studying any subject, it is important to get the right books. This is even more important for Indology subjects because more than 90% books are written by authors who even don't understand the basics of subject.

There are some other problems as well. First of all the original text (Charak, Sushrut, Vagbhat) etc. are very old and not written keeping the present time in mind. Even some of the recent commentaries are pretty old and the language used is not very easy to understand. Also most of the books lack the practical approach and are almost with no examples. So here are few of my recommended books that I found the best available in the market -

IN HINDI

1. Chikitsa Chandrodaya by Babu Haridas Ji Vaidya (in Hindi)
Publisher: Haridas & Company (P) Ltd., Mathura
When I was searching for books I never thought that the best books will be from my neighbouring city. I am from Agra so I am very pleased that these books are published from Mathura. These books are talk in details about theory as well as practical. Almost all important diseased are dealt in this book. Also the author has also given Yunani medicine at many places.

2. Aadhunik Chikitsashastra by Dharmadutt Vaidya (in Hindi)
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
This is another gem of the book that I found. It is around 1000 page book which talks in detail about the Ayurvedic medicine as well as Modern medines for various diseases. There are other sections on medical emergencies and clinical method which make this book really useful. This book also bridges the gap between modern medicine and Ayurveda by using both the systems in complimentory way. Also use of Hing-lish make this book easy to read. I am not sure whether an Eglish translation of this book is available or not but definately hope for one.

IN ENGLISH

Truly speaking I have not found any good book in English on Ayurveda. One thing that I don't like about the books in English is that these book mix Ayurveda with other systems and hence diluting the subject. Some of the popular books are books by Vasant Lad, David Frawley and Svoboda. Out of these books, I liked Textbook Of Ayurveda (two volumes) by Vasant Lad. This is a good book from the theory perspective and dealt with theory in details. But once it come to the practical examples, this book cannot be compared with other books. In fact, in both the volumes, the author keep talking about theory which is very disappointing. Though seeing the dearth of good books on Ayurveda in English, this can be easily rated as the best book available in market. There is another popular books in English named Ayurveda Healing by David Frawley. Though keep in mind that this books is for beginner level and lacks the depth and details of the book by Vasant Lad.

Please note that above list of recommended books is written for people who want to get into the details of the subject. I'll rate the level of all above books from Intermediate to Advanced. In case you are just casual reader of Ayurveda, these are not the recommended books.

Books on Ayurveda

A comprehensive list of books on Ayurveda can be found at https://www.vedamsbooks.com/ayurveda.htm

Ayurveda Notes on Rasa and Dhatu

Signs and Symptoms of vitiated tissues (Dhatus)

Restlessness, palpitation, cardiac pain, exhaustion without cause, irritation by loud noises, haemoglobin deficiency, roughness and dryness of skin.

• Muscle (mamsa) - cracking joints, eye
• Fat (medas) - lassitude, overly thin constitution, exhaustion, falling hair, nails, teeth, loose joints
• Bone (asthi) - thinness, weakness, bone, lightness, Vayu bone diseases weakness, and dry mouth
• Marrow (majja) - pallor, lassitude
• Reproductive - exertion, impotence, non-ejaculation of semen
• Essence (ukra)

Sapta (Seven) Dhatus and their functions:

• Rasa (fluid) Dhatu -Derived from the digested food, it nourishes each and every tissue and cell of the body and is analogous to the plasma.
• Rakta (blood) Dhatu - Regarded as the basic of life, it is analogous to the circulating blood cells. It not only nourishes the body tissues, but provides physical strength and colour to the body.
• Masma Dhatu - The muscle tissue, its main function is to provide physical strength and support for the meda dhatu.
• Meda (fat) Dhatu - Consists of adipose tissue providing support to ashti dhatu. It also lubricates the body.
• Ashti Dhatu - Comprising of bone tissues, including cartilages, its main function is to give support to the majja dhatu and provide support to the masma dhatu.
• Majja Dhatu - Denoting the yellow and red bone marrow tissue, its main function is to fill up the ashti and to oleate the body.
• Shukra Dhatu - The main aim of this reproductive tissue is to help reproduction and strengthen the body.
• Blood (rakta) - cracks, loss of luster, emaciation (especially of buttocks, neck and abdomen)

Table 1: Dhatus. The information presented here is derived from Principles of Pharmacology in Ayurved by Dr. Kulkarni.

Indian Name	Modern Translation of Meaning	Indications of Favorable Condition
Rasa	nutrient portion of the blood	good skin quality, vitality
Rakta	blood (e.g., blood cells)	good coloration of the cheeks, lips, ear lobes, tongue, tip of nose; warm palms and soles
Mamsa	muscles and soft tissues	muscles of chest, arms, and legs are strong; facial muscles yield good expression and eye movements, speech is clear
Medas	lipids (fats, membranes)	proper moisture of skin, eyes, lips, and hair; normal sweating without bad odor; no excessive accumulation of fat in the area of abdomen, hips, back, and neck
Asthi	bones, cartilage	well-proportioned body, strong teeth and nails, thick hair; joints are supple and freely mobile
Majja	marrow	glowing face, healthy skin, soft voice
Shukra	vital fluid, semen	eyes are bright, teeth are white, skin is soft, voice is pleasant, sexual vitality is strong but controlled

Commentaries on Classical Literature of Ayurveda

I was searching commentaries on various classical literature of Ayurveda. I personally found that going thorough the recent commentaries are the best and the easiest way to learn the subject. There are lots of books available both by Indian authors and Western authors, but I don't find them useful enough, especially when you have the original text available with you. I also didn't find any good book either by Western or an Indian that shows their experience. So, after doing some googling on Internet, I found following list that looks very good to me -

S.No	Name of the Text Book	Author/Commentator	Year of Publication
1.	Sushrutarthsandipan Bhasya	Harana Chandra Chakravarthy	1908
2.	Charakopaskar	Yogindranath Sen (Calcutta)	1920
3.	Charakapradipika	Jyotishchandra Saraswati (Calcutta)	20th Century
4.	Nighantu Ratnakar	Duttaram Chaube (Mathura)	-do-
5.	Commentary on Charaka Samhita, Chikitsa Kalika & Bhaisajya Ratnavali	Jaideo Vidyalankar	1970
6.	Commentary on Charaka Sushruta & Astanga Samgraha	Atrideo Vidyalankar	20th Century
7.	Commentary on Charaka, Astanga Hrdaya etc.	Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma (Patiala)	-do-
8.	Commentary on Sushruta Samhita etc.	Bhaskar Govinda Gharekar (Varanasi)	-do-
9.	Commentary on Rasaratna Samuchchya	Duttatraya Anant Kulkarni (Varanasi)	-do-
10.	Critical Commentary on Astanga Hrdya, Bhava - Prakash & Ashtanga Samgraha.	Lal Chandra Vaidya (Varanasi)	-do-
11.	Rasa Hrdaya Yantri, Rasa Sara and 14 Other Books	Yadavji Vikramji Acharya	1910-1911
12.	Padarth Vijnana	Pt.Ramrakshaji Pathak	20th Century
13.	Ayurveda Kriya Sharira	Vd.Ranjeet Roy Desai	-do-
14.	Abhinava Prasut Tantra	Pt.Damodar Shastri Gaur	-do-
15.	History of Medicine in India, Dravya Guna Vijnana (Varanasi) and Indian Medicine in Classical Age etc.	Acharya Priyavrat Sharma	1972

Though I don't posses all above commentaries mentioned above, but out of whatever I have, I personally found Lal Chandra Vaidya's commentaries very good and well written. I also like commentaries by Pt. Ram Prasad Sharma. The one I didn't like is Sushrut Samhita's commentary by Atrideo.

The article from where I have taken the list talks a lot about other commentaries as well at different period of time. The details article can be found here.

All of above commentaries are Sanskrit-Hindi commentaries. I am still looking for some good commentaries in English language. If you know good commentaries in English language, please let me know.

Correct Way Of Performing Neti

1 JALANETI - (CLEANSING OF NASAL PASSAGE BY USE OF WATER)

Contraindications : Blocked nostrils. Salt not to be used if a person is
suffering from hypertension or if salt is contraindicated for any other reason.
Materials Required : Jalaneti cup, glass/tumbler, body-warm potable water,
common edible salt, spoon and a napkin. Saline water should be prepared by
adding half a teaspoon of salt in half a litre body-warm water. Adjust the
quantity of salt and temperature of water as per needs.
Technique : Stand comfortably, preferably before a basin or in a bathroom.
Alternatively, sit on a chair or squat in the open space.
Fill the Jalaneti cup with saline water. Hold the filled cup in the left palm,
keeping four fingers outside and thumb towards the body. Hold the cup firmly
fixing middle finger and thumb in the depressions provided on the respective
sides of the Jalaneti cup. Bring the chin towards chest and tilt the head
suitably towards the right side. Insert the spout of the Jalaneti cup in the
left nostril, keep the mouth open and breathe through mouth throughout. Raise up
the cup slowly taking left elbow up but without changing the position of the
head unless the change is absolutely necessary. Due to this, saline water will
enter from the left to the right nostril and glide down from it. Let the flow of
water coming out of right nostril be slow, smooth, continuous and uniform.
Repeat the above actions, now holding the filled Jalaneti cup in the right
hand for getting the flow of water out from the left nostril. This completes one
round of Jalaneti. Normally, one round of Jalaneti, practised preferably in the
moring, is enough. In special conditions, however, rounds of Jalaneti can be
increased and practised for more than once in a day and at convenient times, as
per needs.

RUBBERNETI (CLEANSING OF NASAL PASSAGE BY RUBBER CATHETER)
Contraindications : Growth of bone or flesh in the nostrils, septum deviation
or blocked nostrils.
Materials Required : 1) Rubber Catheter (surgical quality) of suitable length
and diameter. Clean the catheter thoroghly. Dip it in boiling water before and
after use for making it hygienic. Use the moist/wet catheter only. 2) Clean
napkin. 3) Clean hot and cold potable water.
Technique : Stand before the basin or in a bathroom/ open space or sit in a
chair or squat. Take wet catheter in the right hand. Open the mouth, tilt the
head a little up and back. Give a slight inward curvature to the tapered end
side of the moist/wet catheter and gently insert that end of the catheter in the
right nostril. Along with the inhalation, gently push the catheter inside. If
needed, one can close the left nostril while inhaling by right nostril to
increase the force of inhalation which will enable catheter to go inside along
with forceful
inhalation. But the force should not be more than required as otherwise the
catheter may go more to the upside and touch the olfactory nerves which may
cause intense pain.
Coughing or irritation felt at the throat are the sure indications of catheter
having entered in a throat. At that stage, stop pushing the catheter further
inside. Now wide open the mouth. Enter the pair of thumb and the index finger or
that of index finger and the middle finger inside the throat and catch the
tapered end of the catheter. Slowly pull the catheter out from mouth,
simultaneously loosening the other end of the catheter. Catch hold of upper end
of the catheter in the right hand thumb and index finger and its lower end
coming out from the mouth in the left hand thumb and index finger. Keep the
mouth open and give a gentle massage to inner layer of the nasal passage by
gently moving the catheter to and fro for 3 to 5 times. If required, the number
of massaging movements can be increased provided they are done comfortably and
with the least efforts.
Gently pull the lower end of the catheter out from the mouth simultaneously
loosening the other end of the catheter for facilitating the catheter to come
out comfortably. The upper wide open end of the catheter will cleanse the nasal
passage and remove dirt while coming out from the mouth. Clean the catheter
thoroughly both from inside and outside before using it again. Do the same
action of Rubberneti through the left nostril. Cleansing right and left nostrils
with the rubber catheter will complete one round of Rubberneti.
After completing the practice, clean the catheter thoroughly inside-outside,
shake off water from the catheter, wipe it with a clean and dry cloth. This
should be done meticulously as otherwise lapse in it may prove dangerous. Keep
the catheter in an air-tight box of a suitable size and* preferably of a round
shape.
Notes :
1. One round of Rubberneti may be practised daily or as and when
required,
preferably in the morning. One can practise Rubberneti from any of the
nostrils first.
2. In the beginning, one can lubricate the tapered end of the
catheter with a
suitable edible oil or ghee for ensuring smooth and comfortable
movement of catheter inside the nostrils.
3. Nails of index, middle and thumb fingers must be well trimmed and
filed so hat they don't hurt the mucous membrane while taking out end of the
catheter from the mouth.

Benefits :
1. Cleanses the nasal passage thoroughly.
2. By gentle massage, refreshes nerve ends at the inner layers of
nostrils.
3. Increases the resistance and tolerance level of
delicate inner layers of the nostrils and the nerve ends.
4. Helps to prevent and cure functional types of cold , asthma,
bronchial troubles and breathing problems. Improves the overall health of the
ear, nose and throat.
5. Prevents and restricts septum deviation and troublesome growth
of bone or flesh in the nostrils. Improves breathing.
6. When practiced along with other nasal cleansing processes like
Jalaneti, Shwasana-Marga Shuddhi, Kapalabhati, benefits get enhanced.

Taken from a post from AyurvedaOnline forum. Please check the full post here.