The word 'Ayurveda' comes from the Sanskrit word 'ayur' meaning 'life' and 'veda' meaning 'to know'. Ayurveda means 'the science of life', and is a medical system practiced in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It deals elaborately with measures for healthy living through the entire span of one's life.

Ayurveda is considered the 'upaveda' or accessory Veda to the Atharva Veda, which is the first Hindu text on medicine and is the fourth book of the Vedas. The four Vedas are the world's oldest literary documents in an Indo-European language Interestingly, Ayurveda's mythological origins are attributed to the Indo-European Nasatya or Aswins, twin physicians of the gods of the ancient Indo-European pantheon. Four thousand year old references to the Nasatya are found in the now extinct, Hurrian and Hittite languages in Turkey and in the Sanskrit language in India.