Maintenance of Healthy Lifestyle with special reference to Sūtra Sthāna of Charaka Saṃhitā

Abstract: India is a beautiful and vast country enriched with unique culture, glorious tradition and ambrosia of knowledge. Ancient India is augmented with distinctive sacred scriptures like Vedas, Upaniṣads, purāṇas, Bhagavad Gīta, Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata, Bible, Quran, Yogasῡtra of Patanjali, Dharmaśāstra etc. Amidst these four Vedas like Rigveda (knowledge of the hymns of praise), Sāmaveda (knowledge of the melodies), Yajurveda (knowledge of the sacrificial formulas), and Atharvaveda (knowledge of the magic formulas) are exclusive Hindu sacred scriptures. The original source of Āyurveda is ascribed to Atharvaveda where discussion is made on several diseases with their treatments. The Charaka Saṃhitā is a famous book of antique medical treatises based on Āyurveda. We know that ‘śarīramādyaṃ khaludharmasādhanaṃ’. It means our body is the main point of focus for the performance of our duty properly. Our body and mind are the basic sources to get caturbarga. So the care and safeguard of them should be very essential. The diet plays a very crucial role which has direct impact on three doṣas. If we maintain our diet in a balanced way then these three doṣas get balanced. Balanced diet provides us complexion, longevity, brilliancy, pleasure, satisfaction, nourishment, vigour, energy, etc. The diet that contains all the nutrients in a proper amount and nourishes both the mental and physical built is called balanced diet. Apart from diet there are several other factors like oral hygiene, personal hygiene, proper sleep etc. which are responsible for healthy lifestyle. This paper focuses mainly on the factors behind healthy lifestyle, their maintenance and to some extent their present relevance.