Ayurveda – Yoga – 1

The above two are one of the most heard, used, abused, misused topics that I can hear on all types of media with its own proponents and opponents.

Lets take the first system – Ayur meaning Life and veda crudely translated meaning science. So it has been called the life science handed over from our rishis who have taken the short cut with out experiments as it got transimitted from their concious minds. For a person to enjoy the beneifits of this beautiful system – the first thing is to find the right doctor.

This is where the problem begins. When the doctor does not diagnose the problem correctly, no amount of medicine change or doctor change can help you. The result would be in your answers like – I tried it too, but no help!

Traditionaly ayurvedic pundits check your pulse ( nadi) and catagorize your body into either khapa,vaatha,pittha,ushna etc and accordingly provide the cure. Now a days the ayurvedic doctors sport things from sphygmomonometer to stethascopes which are not inteded by lord dhanvantrhi – the vishnu incarnation originally. For Example, a medicinal herb can contain gastric pain in people of vaatha nature but increase gastric activity if given to people with ushna category!!!!

The modern ayurvedic doctors also specalize in branded medicines which to my amusement is what the system did not envisage at all!! The fact is that horlicks has nutrients is as good a lie as shankapushti helps in easing breathing problems!! The ayur texts lay down the rules that the person has to be properly diagnoised, use herbs in order of increasing order of sevierity with close dieatary controls. But, in the modern world who has time for all those diets? Pop a pill and forget the ill is the mantra!! Ayurveda just does not function that way at all!!

The last straw in the game was when USA and Europe citing high concentrations of mercury,lead and other heavy metals beyond norms banned those ayurvedic preperations. The fact is these metals independently are toxic but in quantities mixed with other medicines/herbs dont exhibit the same potency. The english medicine does not believe in mixing up things – no issues there but the Ayurveda attempts curing the root cause not the symptom!

Medicinal preperation is another delicate issue here. The texts lay down strict methods for example while preparing a particular khashya, the cleaned leaf has to be dried in sun for 29 days and then boiled. But, our modern factories take short cuts and use machines to dry out the leaves quickly. The rhyme and reason of drying in sun is not questioned but the factory wants to make quick buck there and how do you expect results from such medicines?

Neither do we understand those sanskrit texts, nor do we have those herbs to prepare at home but depend on allopathic type of diagnosis, branding, preperation and usage. The results are extremly poor and the system gets blamed for that!!!

to be continued…..