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As of now, we don't have Ayurveda.SE. And many times, its proposal has failed. But now Hinduism.SE is live and the Vedas are part of it.

Now my concern is, on Hinduism.SE, are Ayurveda-related questions completely accepted (with no restrictions whatsoever) or only partially accepted?

If they're only partially accepted, to what extent are Ayurveda questions on-topic?

6 Answers 6

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Ayurveda related questions should be on-topic only to a certain extent.

If the question is entirely based on Ayurveda and has nothing to do with other Hindu facts, mythology, system, etc., then, it should be either closed, or migrated to Biology.SE.

However, if it's regarding the history of Ayurveda, or is with reference to other parts of Hinduism that are considered on-topic, then, we definitely want it here.

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Ayurveda is indeed a part of Hinduism and the literal translation means "life knowledge". As Wikipedia also suggests, it is a system of Hindu traditional medicine and several old Sanskrit texts are known to exist which are among the foundational and formally compiled works of Ayurveda.

Avurveda offers many Hinduism centric ideologies and terminologies and as long as the questions are harmless i.e we are not suggesting someone away from medical care, we should consider them on-topic on this site.

It should be acceptable as long as people are not trying to solve problems which clearly may involve medical attention. In this case, we should deem it as off-topic or too serious and recommend seeing a professional practitioner.

To be very clear, as long as we are talking about stuff like stomach aches and any help which Ayurveda can provide along with Modern medicine, we should deem it on topic. Our goal is not to substantiate and fight between the two and provide alternative forms of medicine which can be deemed dangerous in any form.

Also, questions regarding Ayurvedic terminology should also be considered on-topic and any questions about the history of Ayurveda as well.

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    +1 for making the distinction between "stomach aches" and legitimate discussions. Migration to Biology.SE will definitely not get us anywhere.
    – cheenbabes
    Jun 19, 2014 at 15:06
  • Ayurveda is a legitimate part of Veda and Vedas are the centerpiece of Hinduism.
    – user3603546
    Jun 21, 2014 at 10:54
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    The fact that there may not be a Stack Exchange site for Ayurveda should not be a criterion for whether to include it here. This site is undergoing review for whether it should be continued (from Private Beta to Public Beta), and it very much depends on whether we can have a strict enough scope and focus on quality, rather than on universality.
    – ShreevatsaR
    Jun 26, 2014 at 6:08
  • @ShreevatsaR Indeed you are correct. But it's the same story as how Stack Overflow, Super User, Code Review might have different content now, but at some point, everything was at Stack Overflow because it was a legitimate part of SO before something more specialized came into picture.
    – Aditya Somani
    Jun 26, 2014 at 6:13
  • @AdityaSomani: The issue right now is whether this Hinduism site will even continue to exist or not: see this thread from the official Stack Exchange team. The most urgent need is to focus on quality, and be strict about our scope. (It is fine if there are intrinsic reasons for considering Ayurveda within scope, and the community decides so; I'm just saying that the reasons must be good.)
    – ShreevatsaR
    Jun 26, 2014 at 6:15
  • @ShreevatsaR I see your POV as well. I think we need more people voting on meta then. Also, I should revise my answer indeed.
    – Aditya Somani
    Jun 26, 2014 at 6:20
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Questions like below are clearly off topic and should be closed or migrated.

  • Can * be cured in Ayurveda?
  • Why are onion and garlic avoided in Ayurveda?

Questions that relate to both Ayurveda and Hinduism can be accepted, like

  • Any references of Ayurveda in Mahabharat?
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  • It is not at all clear to me. The onion question is already here: hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/109/… , but OP did not relate it to Ayurveda. And the answers are primarily philosophical, not therapeutic.
    – user3603546
    Jun 21, 2014 at 10:50
  • IMO even though ayurveda is related to hinduism, not all questions in ayurveda can be put in hinduism. questions that need therapeutic answers should be avoided. looks like i was wrong about the onion and garlic topic, i have edited my answer
    – Tejesh Alimilli
    Jun 21, 2014 at 11:16
  • If somebody asks and answers about curing cancer or myopia, I would actually be interested to read that too. Because these questions also have philosophical answers. And the topic about 6 tastes and how they affect the human character is entirely my favorite. After all, Ayurveda is based on sankhya philosophy, not trial-and-error with humans or animals.
    – user3603546
    Jun 21, 2014 at 11:50
  • i don't see how answers about curing cancer and myopia can be philosophical, you can correct me here? I would love to see the answers too but, if they are not philosophical I would like to see them on another SE site
    – Tejesh Alimilli
    Jun 21, 2014 at 11:56
  • Nothing happens without a cause, and most diseases have clear and logical psychological or karmic causes related to the sinful attitude of the sufferer. One who exploits others ungratefully becomes himself consumed by cancer. One who pays too much attention to sex gets moderated by skin diseases and ugliness. One who offends Agni (spits in fire) looses eyesight etc.
    – user3603546
    Jun 21, 2014 at 12:07
  • I understood your point, but I don't agree. If we are talking about cancer, I don't want to hear karma as a cause and prayers as a cure. This is my opinion, thanks.
    – Tejesh Alimilli
    Jun 21, 2014 at 18:01
  • Would you say that is not a part of Hinduism? I would say both karma and prayers are prominent parts of Hinduism and Ayurveda does indeed recommend prayers.
    – user3603546
    Jun 22, 2014 at 6:30
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IMO, Ayurveda is completely on-topic. because Ayurveda is ancient and originated from Hinduism. Posts which are completely about Ayurveda should also be welcomed with a tag . I don't agree on having Ayurveda topic on different site as this is a sub-branch of Hinduism itself.

I think it will be better to keep every thing which comes under Hinduism at one place.

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    Mostly agree with you.
    – Pandya Mod
    Dec 21, 2016 at 7:09
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Ayurveda is a Upaveda of Athervaveda. So is obviously on-topic here.

I think we should allow all the Ayurveda questions that are related to scriptures, principles and practices of Ayurveda.

Charaka Samhita and Sushurta Samhita are the popular Grantha of Ayurveda. Besides, we can accept other treatises and works on Ayurveda.

But if the questions are about personal advice or scientific explanation, then they are considered as off-topic.

Visit Ayurveda article on Hundupedia to know more about principles and practices of Ayurveda.

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Ayurveda is Vedanga. So long as there is not a separate place for Ayurveda in Stack Exchange, just like Jyotisha, I think they should be accepted. This stack exchange is not exactly so active that it warrants a split. And certainly not in Biology should they be directed, that is Western science. If Ayurveda questions are not allowed, then they have no real home in Stack Exchange, and that is unfortunate.

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  • Ayurveda is Upaveda, not Vedanga.
    – Pandya Mod
    Dec 21, 2016 at 11:55

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