The Spiritual Side of Ayurveda
http://www.ayurvedahc.com/articlelive/articles/299/1/The-Spiritual-Side-of-Ayurveda/Page1.html
Sangeetha Rajah, BAMS
Private practice, lecturer, writing articles for a Bangalore based website. Now based in Qatar. By Sangeetha Rajah, BAMS
Published on 11/22/2006
Ayurveda, the Science of Life, has its roots in spiritualism, though only the healing side of it has come to light. Ayurveda is a holistic way of life rather than just a medical science. It reveals the intimate relationship between the mind and body, humans and the cosmos.
The Spiritual Side of Ayurveda
“May all be happy, May all live free from diseases”, expound the Upanishads. Ayurveda, the Upaveda or subordinate to Rigveda, has its origin from Lord Brahma, the creator of this universe. It is not surprising that Ayurveda, the Science of Life, has its roots in spiritualism, though only the healing side of it has come to light. Ayurveda is a holistic way of life rather than just a medical science. It reveals the intimate relationship between the mind and body, humans and the cosmos. Ayurveda basically evolved not as a medical system but as a way of life that would enable man to reach the state of Brahman or Moksha or salvation, which is the highest and the last state of the four Purushaarthas, the other three being Dharma, Artha and Kaama. To attain this highest state of Brahman, man needed a healthy body and mind, which would help him, attain that state. After all, mind and body are but instruments to attain Moksha. To keep his body and mind healthy, he lived the ayurvedic way-a holistic approach for a happy, healthy and peaceful life. He followed the diet, regimen and routine accordingly thereby attaining Moksha through Ayurveda.
The story of how Ayurveda descended from the abode of Gods down to Earth is interesting. Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, recollected his knowledge of Ayurveda and taught Prajapati, who passed it on to the Aswini twins. They in turn taught Indra, the king of devas. Indra passed it on to the Rishis on earth like Bharadwaja, Atreya, etc…Thus the evolution of Ayurveda is by itself spiritual. All the Ayurvedic texts quote the attainment of the Purushaarthas especially of Moksha as the sole aim of Ayurveda.
The word Purusha in Sanskrit has many meanings like mankind, male, soul, creator, etc...In this context, it has to be taken as the creator or Brahman or the supreme spirit. Artha in Sanskrit means, meaning, for the sake of, wealth, etc...Therefore, the word Purushaartha means “attainment of the state of Purusha”. The four Purushaarthaas are Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. Now we will see each one in detail.
Dharma is righteousness in thought, word and action. As Vedas believe in the concept of rebirth and life after death, our righteousness in thought, word and action was essential to accumulate Punya or good points for a good life in the other world. Also our next birth is based on the good or bad actions of the present life. Vedas describe some ten forbidden activities considered to be sins like stealing others’ properties, telling lies, etc. [in Hinduism sin is defined as that which prevents you and others from developing inner peace]. Following the injunctions of the Vedas is Dharma. Being sattvic, not harming others, not being greedy, truthfulness, and helping the poor are some of the Dharmic injunctions.
Artha is to be understood as wealth in this context. Wealth can be taken as riches, worldly prosperity and also our knowledge quotient. With our wealth of knowledge, we earn to accumulate wealth.
Next is Kaama. The word Kaama in Sanskrit means “Desire”. Here, it means love or desire of sensual enjoyments. The Vedas describe begetting a progeny one of the most important duties of mankind. Man without a progeny is compared to a barren tree without flowers and fruits, indicative of his uselessness to others in the society.
The Vedas and Puranas describe in detail about death, its aftermath and what happens to the soul when it leaves the body. In the Garuda Purana, we find a vivid and convincing account of how the soul travels to the abode of our ancestors, how comfortable its journey is made by the rituals we perform, how the offerings we give in the name of the deceased reach them, etc. The belief in rebirth and the possible effect of good and bad actions in the next birth and the life after inspired man to beget a progeny so that he would be comfortably led to the abode of his ancestors by his son who will perform all the rituals for the same. So man had a big responsibility of passing his culture, customs, methods of doing rituals and ceremonies to his generation next so that he felt secured. Thus developed the Purushaartha Kaama. To make begetting a progeny a duty coupled with sensual enjoyments, Ayurveda helped him by describing habits, mantras, and foods that would bring about a healthy offspring.
Next is the last of the Purushaarthas, Moksha. The word Moksha in Sanskrit means to liberate, to free from, to get rid of, etc. Here it means freedom from the worldly bondages like love, anger, greed, delusion, lust and envy, which only lead to rebirth. The Upanishads state that man suffers from three types of Taapa or miseries in his worldly life namely Aadhyaatmika or those caused by the supreme spirit based on our good and bad actions of the past lives, Aadibhoutika or those caused by worldly beings like being bitten by a snake or betrayed by a friend, etc.. and Aadidaivika or those caused by fate or destiny. Moksha is the only way to get rid of these three miseries. In a nutshell, Moksha is the state of absolute bliss wherein we realise that the perceiver, the perceived and the object of perception are all one and the same. In other words, our search and queries about the whys and hows of our existence in this universe end here because we realise and experience the truth of all scriptures, of all the saints and of all the religions – The Power within us is the Power outside us that is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. So, Ayurveda helps man to achieve his ultimate aim of attaining Moksha and hence can be called a Spiritual Science as well.
© Copyright 2006 R.Sangeetha.
The story of how Ayurveda descended from the abode of Gods down to Earth is interesting. Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, recollected his knowledge of Ayurveda and taught Prajapati, who passed it on to the Aswini twins. They in turn taught Indra, the king of devas. Indra passed it on to the Rishis on earth like Bharadwaja, Atreya, etc…Thus the evolution of Ayurveda is by itself spiritual. All the Ayurvedic texts quote the attainment of the Purushaarthas especially of Moksha as the sole aim of Ayurveda.
The word Purusha in Sanskrit has many meanings like mankind, male, soul, creator, etc...In this context, it has to be taken as the creator or Brahman or the supreme spirit. Artha in Sanskrit means, meaning, for the sake of, wealth, etc...Therefore, the word Purushaartha means “attainment of the state of Purusha”. The four Purushaarthaas are Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. Now we will see each one in detail.
Dharma is righteousness in thought, word and action. As Vedas believe in the concept of rebirth and life after death, our righteousness in thought, word and action was essential to accumulate Punya or good points for a good life in the other world. Also our next birth is based on the good or bad actions of the present life. Vedas describe some ten forbidden activities considered to be sins like stealing others’ properties, telling lies, etc. [in Hinduism sin is defined as that which prevents you and others from developing inner peace]. Following the injunctions of the Vedas is Dharma. Being sattvic, not harming others, not being greedy, truthfulness, and helping the poor are some of the Dharmic injunctions.
Artha is to be understood as wealth in this context. Wealth can be taken as riches, worldly prosperity and also our knowledge quotient. With our wealth of knowledge, we earn to accumulate wealth.
Next is Kaama. The word Kaama in Sanskrit means “Desire”. Here, it means love or desire of sensual enjoyments. The Vedas describe begetting a progeny one of the most important duties of mankind. Man without a progeny is compared to a barren tree without flowers and fruits, indicative of his uselessness to others in the society.
The Vedas and Puranas describe in detail about death, its aftermath and what happens to the soul when it leaves the body. In the Garuda Purana, we find a vivid and convincing account of how the soul travels to the abode of our ancestors, how comfortable its journey is made by the rituals we perform, how the offerings we give in the name of the deceased reach them, etc. The belief in rebirth and the possible effect of good and bad actions in the next birth and the life after inspired man to beget a progeny so that he would be comfortably led to the abode of his ancestors by his son who will perform all the rituals for the same. So man had a big responsibility of passing his culture, customs, methods of doing rituals and ceremonies to his generation next so that he felt secured. Thus developed the Purushaartha Kaama. To make begetting a progeny a duty coupled with sensual enjoyments, Ayurveda helped him by describing habits, mantras, and foods that would bring about a healthy offspring.
Next is the last of the Purushaarthas, Moksha. The word Moksha in Sanskrit means to liberate, to free from, to get rid of, etc. Here it means freedom from the worldly bondages like love, anger, greed, delusion, lust and envy, which only lead to rebirth. The Upanishads state that man suffers from three types of Taapa or miseries in his worldly life namely Aadhyaatmika or those caused by the supreme spirit based on our good and bad actions of the past lives, Aadibhoutika or those caused by worldly beings like being bitten by a snake or betrayed by a friend, etc.. and Aadidaivika or those caused by fate or destiny. Moksha is the only way to get rid of these three miseries. In a nutshell, Moksha is the state of absolute bliss wherein we realise that the perceiver, the perceived and the object of perception are all one and the same. In other words, our search and queries about the whys and hows of our existence in this universe end here because we realise and experience the truth of all scriptures, of all the saints and of all the religions – The Power within us is the Power outside us that is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. So, Ayurveda helps man to achieve his ultimate aim of attaining Moksha and hence can be called a Spiritual Science as well.
© Copyright 2006 R.Sangeetha.