Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia, in literal sense, means a book containing list of drugs, their formulas, tests for their strength and purity, and other related information. Ayurveda, in spite of being a
very ancient medicine system, has its own pharmacopea which can rightly be
termed as ayurvedic & herbal pharmacopoeia- herbal because it is an
alternative medicines system. The
original scriptures of Ayurveda written in
ancient India, contains
padartha vidyan or the knowledge of raw materials-
so basic to medicinal preparations. Apart from this, the ayurvedic
pharmacopoeia also gives elaborate knowledge about
bhaishajya kalpana.
Bhaishajya means medicine and kalpana means forms. Thus, the ayurveda
pharmacopea not only tells about materials but also about all the forms-
syrups, juice, tablet, powder etc. As ayurvedic pharmacopoeia covers all the
branches of ayurved, it can rightly be called ayurvedic encyclopedia.
