“Ayurveda a living tradition backed by documentation, evidence and unbroken practice”: Dr. Rama Jayasundar
During an engaging session at IIMB, the AIIMS professor discusses the history, literature and fundamentals of Ayurveda, along with its contemporary relevance
13 November, 2025, Bengaluru: “The increasing burden of diseases and the dismal healthcare scenario have resulted in a growing interest in Ayurveda worldwide. There is realization that conventional medicine facilitated by allopathy and biomedical sciences alone, may not be enough to handle the phenomenal rise of diseases”, explained Dr. Rama Jayasundar, Professor and Head, Department of NMR and MRI Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, while delivering a lecture on, ‘Ayurvedic Framework for Wellness’, earlier today, at IIM Bangalore.
Hailing Ayurveda for its scientificity, she added: “The world is undergoing a crisis in terms of delivering healthcare services and hence it is important to look at the large body of documented knowledge and experience of Ayurveda. What makes Ayurveda stand apart is the fact that its is a systematized stream of medicine – backed by documentation, evidence and unbroken practice. It is a living tradition.”
She went on to explain the framework of Ayurveda, its comparison with other modes of medicine and its relevance in the contemporary health scenario. She also spoke about the history of the evolution of Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Acharyas and literature of the past, how it focused on offering solutions for increasing ill health due to the advent of diseases impeding long life and happiness of creatures – humans, animals and plants, and about the science of life. “There were conferences conducted on Ayurveda by the ancient Acharyas who recorded the proceedings of such conferences. There was a focus on rationality during such talks; rules and regulations were laid down. But we have lost many of the books/documents”, she lamented.
Dr. Jayasundar highlighted the different ways of looking at the human system and said that logical, rational and systematic thinking and observation have played an important role in the evolution of Ayurveda. “The Ayurvedic framework covers various complexities at each level – physical, physiological, psychological, sensorial, emotional, social, environmental, ecological and other dimensions – and infers that health is a balance of several factors and not just the absence of disease, a view that is currently reflected in the guidelines laid out by the World Health Organization.”
She pointed out that the view adopted by Ayurveda is more holistic, while that of conventional medicine is reductionistic. “While the core tenets of worldview reflect that mind and matter are separate and larger objects can be reduced to smaller ones through structural reductionism, Ayurveda adopts the worldview that reality exists in continuum – the human system is a seamlessly connected whole. Ayurveda never delinks mind from matter. However, we need to adopt the best practices from both the systems for the interest of healthcare delivery”, she emphasized.
Stating that functional classification in Ayurveda includes movement, metabolism and growth, she added that, “The job of the Vaidya is to get all in balance and they have translated this into a successful medical practice.” She also explained the concepts of Vata, Pitta and Kapha (VPK), the three fundamental bio-energies governing the body's physical and mental functions, with focus on their correlation with food, activities, seasons, clinical symptoms, etc. “The concept of VPK is broad based and works better on complex human systems. Once accurate diagnosis is done, treatment becomes easier. Ayurveda has a multidimensional understanding of management of health and disease. Multimodal delivery in Ayurveda depends on regional, occupational, seasonal and environmental factors, as well as family traditions, festivals, age, etc., apart from general rules.”
Underscoring the importance of mental health in Ayurveda, she added, “A healthy mind is a must for overall health. Ayurveda offers a number of techniques for training the mind. The different states of mind – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas – affect how people react to different situations, which in turn impacts their overall health, and there are practices to nurture these.”
During the Q&A session following her talk, Dr. Rama Jayasundar explained that Ayurveda is equally effective in prevention as well as cure of diseases. “It addresses all aspects of the disease – treatment, without any side effects or recurrence. It looks at long term cure. Logic and rationalism are abundant in Ayurveda. Even acute and emergency situations can be handled by it. The study of Ayurveda offers us a wealth of information that we can benefit immensely from – it is a tool that empowers individuals.”
Dr. Ravikumar KR, Senior Resident Medical Officer, Health Centre, also shared that Ayurveda is the way forward in terms of healthcare, with many hospitals and other medical facilities looking at incorporating the same in their healthcare delivery regimen in the (near) future.
Prof. M Jayadev, Dean, Administration; Chairperson, Centre for Capital Markets & Risk Management, and faculty of the Finance & Accounting area, felicitated the speaker. Arvind Soundarajan, Senior Manager, Human Resources, anchored the session, introduced the speaker and delivered the vote of thanks.
About the speaker: An ambassador of Ayurveda, Dr. Rama Jayasundar acquired her PhD in NMR (Physics) from Cambridge University, UK. She has also pursued a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) degree from Chennai. Her area of specialization is Biomedical NMR – radio-frequency (RF) coil designing and building, RF pulse sequence programming, clinical imaging and spectroscopy, and neuroscience applications of MR. She has wide experience in both experimental and clinical MRI and spectroscopy. She developed indigenously, a low cost RF transmitter / receiver coil for clinical use, for which she received the Young Scientist Award. During her stint as a Visiting Professor at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen, Germany, she worked on functional MRS techniques. She has a number of research publications, awards and honours to her credit. Using her vantage position as a physicist and an Ayurvedic physician, she is currently involved in scientific research in Ayurveda, its concepts, methods, pharmacology and clinical practices using NMR, MRI and a number of analytical techniques. She is also actively engaged in dissemination of knowledge of the science behind Ayurveda.
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“Ayurveda a living tradition backed by documentation, evidence and unbroken practice”: Dr. Rama Jayasundar
During an engaging session at IIMB, the AIIMS professor discusses the history, literature and fundamentals of Ayurveda, along with its contemporary relevance
13 November, 2025, Bengaluru: “The increasing burden of diseases and the dismal healthcare scenario have resulted in a growing interest in Ayurveda worldwide. There is realization that conventional medicine facilitated by allopathy and biomedical sciences alone, may not be enough to handle the phenomenal rise of diseases”, explained Dr. Rama Jayasundar, Professor and Head, Department of NMR and MRI Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, while delivering a lecture on, ‘Ayurvedic Framework for Wellness’, earlier today, at IIM Bangalore.
Hailing Ayurveda for its scientificity, she added: “The world is undergoing a crisis in terms of delivering healthcare services and hence it is important to look at the large body of documented knowledge and experience of Ayurveda. What makes Ayurveda stand apart is the fact that its is a systematized stream of medicine – backed by documentation, evidence and unbroken practice. It is a living tradition.”
She went on to explain the framework of Ayurveda, its comparison with other modes of medicine and its relevance in the contemporary health scenario. She also spoke about the history of the evolution of Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Acharyas and literature of the past, how it focused on offering solutions for increasing ill health due to the advent of diseases impeding long life and happiness of creatures – humans, animals and plants, and about the science of life. “There were conferences conducted on Ayurveda by the ancient Acharyas who recorded the proceedings of such conferences. There was a focus on rationality during such talks; rules and regulations were laid down. But we have lost many of the books/documents”, she lamented.
Dr. Jayasundar highlighted the different ways of looking at the human system and said that logical, rational and systematic thinking and observation have played an important role in the evolution of Ayurveda. “The Ayurvedic framework covers various complexities at each level – physical, physiological, psychological, sensorial, emotional, social, environmental, ecological and other dimensions – and infers that health is a balance of several factors and not just the absence of disease, a view that is currently reflected in the guidelines laid out by the World Health Organization.”
She pointed out that the view adopted by Ayurveda is more holistic, while that of conventional medicine is reductionistic. “While the core tenets of worldview reflect that mind and matter are separate and larger objects can be reduced to smaller ones through structural reductionism, Ayurveda adopts the worldview that reality exists in continuum – the human system is a seamlessly connected whole. Ayurveda never delinks mind from matter. However, we need to adopt the best practices from both the systems for the interest of healthcare delivery”, she emphasized.
Stating that functional classification in Ayurveda includes movement, metabolism and growth, she added that, “The job of the Vaidya is to get all in balance and they have translated this into a successful medical practice.” She also explained the concepts of Vata, Pitta and Kapha (VPK), the three fundamental bio-energies governing the body's physical and mental functions, with focus on their correlation with food, activities, seasons, clinical symptoms, etc. “The concept of VPK is broad based and works better on complex human systems. Once accurate diagnosis is done, treatment becomes easier. Ayurveda has a multidimensional understanding of management of health and disease. Multimodal delivery in Ayurveda depends on regional, occupational, seasonal and environmental factors, as well as family traditions, festivals, age, etc., apart from general rules.”
Underscoring the importance of mental health in Ayurveda, she added, “A healthy mind is a must for overall health. Ayurveda offers a number of techniques for training the mind. The different states of mind – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas – affect how people react to different situations, which in turn impacts their overall health, and there are practices to nurture these.”
During the Q&A session following her talk, Dr. Rama Jayasundar explained that Ayurveda is equally effective in prevention as well as cure of diseases. “It addresses all aspects of the disease – treatment, without any side effects or recurrence. It looks at long term cure. Logic and rationalism are abundant in Ayurveda. Even acute and emergency situations can be handled by it. The study of Ayurveda offers us a wealth of information that we can benefit immensely from – it is a tool that empowers individuals.”
Dr. Ravikumar KR, Senior Resident Medical Officer, Health Centre, also shared that Ayurveda is the way forward in terms of healthcare, with many hospitals and other medical facilities looking at incorporating the same in their healthcare delivery regimen in the (near) future.
Prof. M Jayadev, Dean, Administration; Chairperson, Centre for Capital Markets & Risk Management, and faculty of the Finance & Accounting area, felicitated the speaker. Arvind Soundarajan, Senior Manager, Human Resources, anchored the session, introduced the speaker and delivered the vote of thanks.
About the speaker: An ambassador of Ayurveda, Dr. Rama Jayasundar acquired her PhD in NMR (Physics) from Cambridge University, UK. She has also pursued a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) degree from Chennai. Her area of specialization is Biomedical NMR – radio-frequency (RF) coil designing and building, RF pulse sequence programming, clinical imaging and spectroscopy, and neuroscience applications of MR. She has wide experience in both experimental and clinical MRI and spectroscopy. She developed indigenously, a low cost RF transmitter / receiver coil for clinical use, for which she received the Young Scientist Award. During her stint as a Visiting Professor at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen, Germany, she worked on functional MRS techniques. She has a number of research publications, awards and honours to her credit. Using her vantage position as a physicist and an Ayurvedic physician, she is currently involved in scientific research in Ayurveda, its concepts, methods, pharmacology and clinical practices using NMR, MRI and a number of analytical techniques. She is also actively engaged in dissemination of knowledge of the science behind Ayurveda.
Click here for photo gallery