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medicine builds upon the tripartite Vedic approach to the world. It is noteworthy that
there is a close parallel between Indian and Greek medicine. For example, the idea of
breath (prana in Sanskrit, and pneuma in Greek) is central to both. Scholars believe that
the idea of the correct association between the three elements of the wind, the gall, and
the phlegm, which was described first by Plato in Greek medicine, appears to be derived
from the earlier tridosha theory of Ayurveda. Apparently, the transmission occurred via
the Persian empire. Rhythms of life
The moon is called the ``lord of speech'' in the Rigveda. Other many
references suggest that in the Rigvedic times the moon was taken to be connected with the
mind. This is stated most directly in the the famous Purushasukta, the Cosmic Man hymn, of
the Rigveda where it is stated that the mind is born of the moon. It appears that the
relationships between the astronomical and the terrestrial were also taken in terms of
periodicities and so there was knowledge of biological cycles.
What are the seats of these cycles? According to tantra the chakras
of the body are the centers of the different elements as well as cognitive capacities and
rhythms related to "internal planets.'' The knowledge of these rhythms appears to have
led to astrology.
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