Ayurveda is one of the main parts of the Veda. Originally it came from the Atharva Veda. By reading this Veda, we can know what is good and bad for longevity, the root cause of disease, how disease can be prevented, etc. Ayurved is really science of longevity, and that is what ,  its name means. Ayurvedic doctors always first examine the longevity, the vital energy, of their patients. If this has been exhausted, there is little use in treatment. A patient should be doctored just at the start of his disease before the life force has been impaired. A stitch in time saves nine. A simple disorder should be attended to just as if it were a fire or thief. Delay can be fatal. After careful examination the doctor should select medicine and give prescriptions. The patient must attend his physician faithfully. It is only by belief in God, pilgrimages, brahmins, mantras, gurus, and doctors that these can be effective. God is really the first physician. Once medicine is taken in the name of the ever rejoiceful God, disease cannot remain.

Whatever the origin of Ayurved, human or divine, what we see is that it has come down to us through seers. Lord Buddha, under whose influence King which Asoke accomplished so many marvels-among which was certainly the preservation of Ayurved-was born in 567 B. C. Long before the time of Buddha however, Ayurved experiments had gone on under various seers in India. The science was further developed in different ages by Drirabal, Nagarjun, Bagvat, Madabkor, Chakrapani, etc. After Buddha and Asoke there was considerable growth. Charak and Susruta had hardly ever used minerals as medicines, but in the Tantric Age mercury and other minerals were used plentifully by Somdeb, Gobinda, Nagarjun, etc. Nagarjun is sometimes called the Lavoisier of Tantric Times. Bhab Misra in the sixteenth century wrote about syphilis, a new foreign importation. After the sixteenth century Ayurved continued, but in 1835 a college of Allopathy was started in Calcutta. Up to that time Allopathy had not made such great progress in this country. We did not, and sometimes we do not even now, like to give a glance in the direction of Allopathy, but it is doubtful if Ayurved could have gone ahead as it has, without the help of allopathic chemistry.