The adulteration and Substitution of the herbal drugs is the burning problem in herbal industry and it has caused a major treat in the research on commercial natural products. The deforestation and extinction of many species and incorrect identification of many plants has resulted in adulteration and substitution of raw drugs. The concept of substitution prevailed ages back and in Ayurveda we can find this in the treatise of Bhavaprakasha and Yogaratnakara. This article throws the light on the concepts of substitution given by our preceptors and analyze these with the present day prevailing trend of adulteration and substitution