The story of Ayurveda, the science of life, with its myriad beginnings, has no conclusion.  Transcending time and narrator, this ancient loren, in which fact and fantasy as well as science and conjecture are interwoven, is dyed into the very fabric and texture of Indian life.  Delving into this vast sea of knowledge, this nook shines a light on nuggets of information on Ayurveda as diverse as the mythological and the scientific, the temporal and the divine, and also the concrete and the abstract. 

Mythological origins
In India, knowledge is considered sacred since it is believed to have emanated from the gods.  According to Hindu mythology, the harmony of the universe is maintained by the Trimurtis (triumvirate) – Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Siva the Destroyer.  At the time of creation, Ayurveda is believed to have originated as a ray of enlightenment in the cosmic consciousness of Brahma.  This self-existent creator composed Ayurveda as a branch of Atharva Veda.  Consisting of a hundred thousand verses in a thousand chapters, it was divided by him into eight sections or parts, according to sushruta the ancient surgeon.

Ayurveda-the knowledge of life
Brahma is believed to have imparted the knowledge of Ayurveda to his disciple Daksha Prajapati, who passed it on to the Aswins, the twin gods, who in turn conferred it on Indra, the king of the gods.

While all this happened in the heavens, humanity continued to be plagued by pains and illnesses.  Great seers meditated upon remedies for the numerous human maladies but in vain.  It was decided that the eminent sage Dhanwantari, reincarnated as Divodasa, and the sages Bharadwaja and Kashyapa be deputed to go to heaven to learn the divine science of healing directly from Indra.  That, according to legend, was how Ayurveda descended form the skies to alleviate suffering on the mortal plane.