The opening chapter of the Ashtanga Hrudaya, Ayuṣhkamiya Adhyaya, has long been acknowledged as foundational; yet its interpretation has largely relied on dominant northern commentaries, leaving Kerala exegetical traditions comparatively underexplored. In particular, the distinctive readings of Vyakhyasara remain insufficiently examined in contemporary scholarship. The present review addresses this gap by analysing Ayuṣhkamiya through the doctrinal lens of Vyakhyasara and situating its insights alongside earlier authorities. Drawing on manuscript sources of Vyakhyasara and cross-referencing them with the Charaka Saṃhita and Sushruta Saṃhita, we conducted a qualitative, textual analysis focused on key constructs: Ragadaya, Prakruti, Vyadhi, and Chikitsa Pada Chatushṭaya. Attention was given to hermeneutic strategies, psychosomatic formulations, and prognostic reasoning. The findings indicate that Vyakhyasara frames Raga and allied mental afflictions as primary pathogenic forces, establishing a clear psychosomatic sequence from mental disturbance to doshic imbalance and tissue pathology. Prakruti is defined as stable constitutional identity, distinct from vikruti, thereby safeguarding individualized therapeutics. Prognosis, moreover, is linked not solely to disease severity but to the discernment and steadiness of the physician. Ayuṣhkamiya thus emerges not as a preliminary chapter but as a clinical orientation. By foregrounding mental causation, ethical discipline, and constitutional reasoning, Vyakhyasara offers an interpretive model that strengthens contemporary discussions on psychosomatic medicine and Ayurvedic pedagogy.
Dr. Jiji U. Nair*1, Prof. Mahesh Vyas2, Dr. Anirban Dash3, Dr Shinitha P. V.4 (Sat,) studied this question.