The four Upavedas — the applied sciences

The Upavedas are the Veda turned toward the world: four applied sciences, each traditionally attached to one of the four Vedas, and each still practised.

Āyurveda

Not a system of remedies but a theory of life: the three doṣas (vāta, pitta, kapha) as the functional principles of the body, the seven dhātus as its tissues, agni as the digestive and metabolic fire, and the prakṛti — the constitution one is born with, which is the medical form of the same idea as svabhāva. Its eight limbs include internal medicine, surgery, ENT, paediatrics, toxicology, geriatrics, virility and psychiatry; Suśruta describes cataract couching, plastic reconstruction of the nose, and over a hundred surgical instruments.

Gāndharvaveda

Bharata's Nāṭya Śāstra is the foundation of Indian theatre, dance and aesthetics. It gives the rasa theory — the eight (later nine) aesthetic sentiments — and the doctrine that art's purpose is the evocation of rasa in the audience. The Nāṭya Śāstra calls drama the fifth Veda, made accessible to all, and states its reason plainly: so that those who could not study the Vedas would still receive their content.

Sthāpatyaveda and Vāstu

The science of building: the orientation of a structure, the vāstu-puruṣa-maṇḍala on which a plan is laid, the proportional systems of temple architecture, and town planning. The same principles govern a house and a temple, because the same correspondence of body, building and cosmos underlies both.

॥ ❖ ॥

Last revised 2026-08-16. Corrections are welcome — see how this site is written.