Fundamentals of Ayurveda
....and what our products mean to you

Below is a brief description of the fundamentals of Ayurveda. Please read this page and you will understand the basis for our products, and the basis for what causes the physical and mental defects in our body.

Ayurveda is an ancient medical science from India and is over 5000 years old. Ayurveda in Sanskrit literally means "Science or Knowledge of life" ("Ayur" means life, and "Veda" means science or knowledge). Ayurveda understands the world in terms of five great elements --air, fire, water, earth, and ether. Each of these elements have a set of qualities.

Table 1.
ElementQualities
Air lightness, mobility, roughness
Fire hotness, lightness, sharpness, liquidity
Water coldness, liquidity, softness, smoothness
Earth heaviness, solidity, stability
Ether minuteness

Now, Ayurveda as a healing system describes the above five elements (see Table 1) in a simplified form of three vital energies called doshas--vata, pitta, and kapha. Each of these three doshas is a combination of two elements.

Vata is a combination of air and ether elements
Pitta is a combination of fire and water elements
Kapha is a combination of water and earth elements

These three doshas (vital energies) are the basis for the physiological and psychological processes in our body and mind. These three vital energies are the dynamic forces that determine the growth, decay, physical characteristics, emotional tendencies and everything else our body and mind goes through in our lifecycle.

Our body and mind is in complete health only when these three vital energies are in harmony and work together. The state of imbalance between these three doshas is what causes disease, sickness or any abnormality we find in our body or mind. Ayurveda is based on restoring physical and mental equilibrium and balance to our doshas which are unique to each of us. This restoration of our vital energies translates into restoration of our full health and elimination of disease or defects in our body and mind.

You have a problem because.....

Whether you have stretch marks, dark circles, pimples, fever, nausea or whatever other physical or mental ailment, it is because the harmony between the three doshas has been disturbed. That means, the elements of these doshas have been disturbed which in turn means that the qualities of these elements (see Table 1) have been altered. In Ayurveda, these qualities of elements are organized into ten pairs. Each pair represents two extremes of a continuum and are relative to each other as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2.
Pair Two Extremes
1 Heaviness, Lightness
2 Coldness, Hotness
3 Dullness, Sharpness
4 Stability, Mobility
5 Softness, Hardness
6 Smoothness, Coarseness
7 Solidity, Liquidity
8 Minuteness, Grossness
9 Unctuousness, Roughness
10 Non sliminess, Sliminess

Ayurveda is a science of qualities. According to Ayurveda, we experience everything through the above 10 pairs of fundamental qualities. Nothing is absolute in Ayurveda. Everything is relative. Hot is only hot relative to something cooler. Hot and cold are the extremes of the same continuum. Changes in these qualities in one pair have an effect on other pairs thus influencing the equilibrium of our doshas. Ayurveda is based on restoring the balance to these subtle changes in our body so that it functions normally and in full health.

How are our products related to Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is so profound that it combines yoga, herbs, meditation and massage to restore our three vital energies. In Ayurveda, herbs are used for the pacification (and the rejuvenation that follows) and the general maintenance of health. Ayurveda uses the deep knowledge it has on herbs and their effects by correctly matching them to the doshas in our body. Ayurveda understands herbs in terms of their qualities and their effects in the body and on the three vital energies. Roots Herbal products are made with these very herbs that understand the changes, abnormalities and imbalances in our skin, hair and scalp. The herbs in our products aim at restoration of these changes to normality. Ayurveda generally does not try to treat the problem; rather it tries to deal with the cause that treats all the resulting problems. For example, restoring pigmentation to skin could treat stretch marks, white skin patches, spots etc. Restoring strength to hair roots prevents hair fall, greying and promotes hair growth. Our products are based on this simple philosophy of bringing balance and that is the reason why each of our products are capable of treating more than one problem. Please remember that the vital energies that determine the state of our body is unique to each of us. Therefore, there is no absolute treatment or cure that suits everyone in the same way. We bring to you these products with the best intentions of treating your problem. We sincerely hope that you find our products helpful.

Additional Ayurveda resources: Ayurveda is so enormous and profound that it is beyond the scope of this website to put everything here. The information you just read is only to give you an idea about the basis for our products. You will find thousands of resources on Ayurveda all over the internet, or any bookstore or library.