Fundamentals of Dravyaguna (Paper 1- Chapter 1 to 22, Set of 2 Volumes)

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Ayurveda, is one among the various medical sciences that are present in the world right from the time of evolution and understanding. It has been the main stream of healthcare system until the emergence of the Modern system of medicine. The use of chemical-based substances as medicine although initially had a great achievement, but its rampant side effects made people look back into these traditional systems of medicine with a new hope of maintaining health and cure disease. Along with this the changing geopolitical situations, invasion, colonialism, etc had made Ayurveda to face tough challenges through the period. Still the creditable performance and noteworthy contributions have made it stand tough.

Among the various main treatment components of any system of medicine, substance or dravya assumes a greater importance. It is the basic necessity for a physician to have so that they can treat the needy. Mere presence of substance will not be helpful, but it also needs to be understood and given judiciously to obtain the best benefit out of it. On the contrary, if used injudiciously and ignorantly the same substance may not act as desired and also has a high chance of causing unwanted effects. Hence, it is quite important to know that the knowledge of disease and their treatment along with the right choice of medication for achieving the said objective.

A proper knowledge of medication is only complete when we can understand how it acts on the body both externally and internally along with how the body reacts to it. This aspect gives a clear idea as what is to be done with a given medication and also what to be expected out of it. Thus, there are two aspects in the understanding of the substances that interact with us namely -

1. How the medicament acts on the body - Pharmacodynamics

2. How the body reacts to the activities of the substance - Pharmacokinetics.

There are many more aspects of the pharmacological knowledge, but the two assumes a major importance as they are the ones which produce the outcomes.

It is to be inferred that there are more than 3000 biochemical reactions that happen within the body which make us function. These reactions when happens in a very synchronized manner as per the necessity, they result in health. But when these go out of their way and act in an unsynchronized manner, then they cause diseases. Medicaments effect these biochemical reactions at large and make them come back to normal such that the health is restored. But these do have the ability to cause modifications that may result in disease which are known as adverse re-actions too. Thus, the constituents present in the organic and inorganic substances play a very important role in ascertaining the actions within the body.

The subject of Pharmacology is the one that deals with all the relative aspects of the substance given as medicaments including the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. The same is known as Dravyaguna in Sanskrit language as mentioned in the field of Ayurveda. The subject has undergone a considerable growth and understanding during the years right from the time of Vedas. The changes are so evident that it has obtained the status of being said as a branch of Ayurveda in the text Raja Nighantu. It also has obtained literatures that are exclusively dedicated in the form of Nighantus.

The concepts of Dravyaguna and its precise explanations are not only helpful for the readers to have a better understanding but also for application of the same in different sub-fields like Research, Clinical practice, Academic, Quality assurance, etc.

In the present era, where new substances are being studied and incorporated into the system, needs a very comprehensive knowledge of the concepts that are necessary to evaluate it. Hence, the present governing body of Ayurveda, NCISM has devised a syllabus that have emphasized the objective of giving more depth into the concept and also ways to evaluate them. Thus, in view of the syllabus being mentioned by NCISM, the book systematically covers it and presents in front of the stakeholders accordingly.

The book covers all the necessary aspects of the syllabus along with relevant examples and research to fulfil the necessities and objectives of the syllabus. It enables the students, teachers and the professionals to have a well-organized appropriate knowledge and along with relevant information from the experts of the field. This makes the book highly informative and authentic for the purpose along with the ability to fulfil the objective of the syllabus as laid down by NCISM.

The possibility of such an enormous work is not possible by one person as it needs expertise and help of many. Thus, with the generous help of management and colleagues, it became a possibility. Our authors namely Dr. Subrahmanya P., Dr. Farhan Zameer, Dr. Soumyashree, Dr. Anjali Kumari MU, Dr. Lakshmi Pai, Dr. Sriwidya Bharati and Dr. Akshaya have shouldered generously with me and contributed to the task overwhelmingly.

The subject of Dravyaguna Vignyana, is an important subject among others in Ayurveda. It creates an impression into every section of Ayurveda. The subject is one that gives precise knowledge of Dravya or substance which are more of a necessity or need rather than just knowledge for a good practitioner of Ayurveda. Hence, it is all that more important to have a sound and a detailed knowledge of the principles and concepts that govern the subject of Dravyaguna.

The foundation of Dravyaguna is based on the various concepts and principles that have been constituted from the Darshanas, Samhitas and Nighantus. These literature are considered to be authentic and have stood the tests of time till today. But the recent advances in basics of science has given further insight into the understanding of the concepts along with better interpretation of the concepts of Dravyaguna. Thus, to achieve this objective, a new syllabus has been formulated by the National Council for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), which has been followed in the present text as a guideline for the content.

The concepts that have been mentioned in the syllabus of NCISM has been divided into 3 volumes by the authors which shows the effort of the team to give a comprehensive and well-structured content to the readers. The team of authors headed by Dr. Mahesh T. S. followed by Dr. Subrahmanya Padyana., Dr. Farhan Zameer, Dr. Soumyashree and Dr. Anjali have taken up this task. They all have formidable experience in the various sub-fields concerning academic, research and clinical importance.

The present paper titled "Fundamentals of Dravyaguna" is divided into 2 volumes. Volume 1 deals with the first 10 chapters mentioned in the syllabus, while the remaining 12 Chapters of to Dravyaguna Paper 1 are will be explained in Volume 2. These chapters contain the basic concepts and principles of Dravyaguna which are obtained from the Ayurvedic literature. The relevant research contents and references are also being highlighted in the text by the authors. The authors have also emphasized the importance of Dravyaguna along with the possible modern correlations to make it more compatible with the requirements of the syllabus.

The team of authors have given the much-needed insight into the concepts in this volume. Their immense efforts in compiling and restructuring the different information has given the much-needed insight into the concepts of Dravyaguna.

The text is a mammoth effort where the students and teachers can find a great friend and guide in the form of textbook that not only caters to the academic needs but also as a good basic reference for further research and development in the field of Dravyaguna.

Even though the main purpose of the text is to help the students and academicians, the books can also lead to the understanding of the fundamental concepts of Dravyaguna to others in the form of a reference books, including clinicians.

Thus, 1 conclude by congratulating the team of authors who have put their mind, speech and effort in the form of words in the text and also wish them all the best for their future volumes.