The word "ayurveda" is often translated as "the knowledge of life",a more accurate translation is the "knowledge of longevity". the cherished goal of all ages has been the conquest of death. The desire to stay alive as long as possible is as fundamental to human nature as is its cause: the profound fear of death which lurks in the heart of every living being as the root reason for all other fears. Thousands of years ago the Rishis of India address the problem of eternal life, writing their answers to this conundrum in the four Vedas, the collection of hymns which are the oldest existing literary compositions of the human race. The word Veda is derived from Sanskrit root meaning "knowledge", and the Vedas are verily the seeds of universal knowledge which have bloomed in to Indian culture..