Week 2: Lecture 04 - Ayur Siddha Nature Yoga

In this presentation, we'll be talking about the introduction of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy and Siddha. The PowerPoint has been prepared by Colonel Dr. Yashwant Joshi, Vice President of National Association of Palliative Care for Ayush and Integrative Medicine. As I told you, aim of National Association of Palliative Care for Ayush and Integrative Medicine is to integrate all the medical specialties like Allopathy, Ayush, etc. for the purpose of palliative care. So let us understand about Ayurveda. What is Ayurveda? The name Ayurveda is derived from two words in Sanskrit. Ayu means life or longevity and Veda means the science or sacred knowledge. Ayurveda's definition therefore roughly translates as the science of longevity or the sacred knowledge of life. Ayurveda is a holistic system of medical science and is the oldest healing science, almost 5000 years old. This system of medicine was shaped in ancient lands of India. Hindu Vedas consider Ayurveda as a gift of Gods to mankind, which was communicated to the saints and sages of India through deep meditation. Ved Vyasa, one of the greatest sages of India is considered to have written the Vedas for the first time. These Vedas have topics on health and the use of various herbs to cure the diseases. The four main Vedas are Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharveda. Ayurveda, the science of life is a subsection of Atharveda. In the beginning only Brahmins learnt the principle of healing and were considered as physicians. However, with time this changed and people from other castes also learnt this art of healing and the specific term Vairdhya was brought into use for these practitioners. Around 1500 BC, the use of Ayurveda increased for treating various diseases and it was divided into eight specific branches of medicine. In addition, two schools originated, Atre, the school of physicians and Dhanvantri, the school of surgeons. The Chinese, Tibetans, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Afghanistanis and Persians came to India to learn Ayurvedic principles of healing and treatment. Ayurvedic texts were translated into Arabic and these were used by physicians such as to establish the Islamic medicine. Besides this, Ayurveda became popular in Europe as well and it formed the foundation of European tradition in medicine. Parasilsus, the father of modern western medicines in 1600 AD, has also adopted from Ayurveda in the system of medicine that he practiced. In the past few centuries, Ayurveda went through a period of decline in India, especially during the period of British rule. During this period, it became the second option for treatment used mostly by traditional spiritual practitioners and the poor. After independence, Ayurveda started to gain importance again and several schools have been established ever since. Ayurveda recognizes five elements as fundamental building blocks of nature, the earth, the water, fire, the air and ether, that is the space. Ayurveda also identifies twenty qualities or gunas that can be used to describe every substance or experience. These qualities are organized into the following ten pairs of opposites, heavy and light, dense and liquid, slow, dull and sharp penetrating, soft and hard, cold and hot, stable and mobile, oily and dry, gross and subtle, smooth and rough and cloudy, sticky and clear. At the heart of Ayurveda is the principle of doshas, which are the metabolic types or bodily humors that make up a person's constitution. The doshas are essential forces behind an individual's physical, mental and emotional makeup. These are the three doshas, that is, water, pitta and kapha. An Ayurvedic lifestyle involves the diet, exercise, yoga and meditation, cleansing, massage as well as use of herbs. Yoga and naturopathy again are important part of lifestyle. Yoga is essentially a spiritual discipline based on an extremely subtle science, which focuses on bringing harmony between the mind and the body. It is an art as well as science for healthy living. The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuk, meaning to join, to yoke or to unite. Yoga also refers to an inner science comprising of a variety of methods through which human beings can achieve union between the body and mind to attain self-realization. The aim of yoga practice, sadhana, is to overcome all kinds of sufferings that lead to a sense of freedom in every walk of life with holistic health, happiness and harmony. Let us know about the history and development of yoga. The science of yoga has its origin thousands of years ago, long before the first religion or belief systems were born. According to yogic lore, Shiva has been seen as the first yogi or Adiyogi and the first guru or Adiguru. Several thousand years ago, on the banks of lake Kanti Sarovar in the Himalayas, Adiyogi poured his profound knowledge into the legionary Saptarishis. These sages carried this powerful yogic science to different part of the world including Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa and South America. Interestingly, modern scholars have noted and marveled at the close parallels found between ancient cultures across the globe. However, it was in India that the yogic system found its fullest expression. Agastya, the Saptarishi who travelled across the Indian subcontinent, crafted this culture around a core yogic way of life. Yoga is widely considered as an immortal cultural outcome of the Indus-Saraswati Valley Civilization dating back to 2700 BC and has proven itself to cater to both material and spiritual uplift of humanity. A number of seals and fossils remains of Indus-Saraswati Valley Civilization with yogic motifs and figures performing yoga, sadhana, suggest the presence of yoga in ancient India. These seals and idols of mother goddesses are suggestive of Tantra yoga. The presence of yoga is also available in folk traditions, Vedic and Upanishadic heritage. Buddhist and Jain traditions, Darshanas, epics of Mahabharata including Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana, theistic traditions of Shaivas, Vaishnavas and Tantric traditions. Though yoga was being practiced in the pre-Vedic period, the great sage Maharishi Patanjali systematized and codified the then existing yogic practices, its meaning and its related knowledge to Patanjali yoga sutras. The widely practiced yoga sadhanas are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Samadhi, Bandhas and Mudras, Shatkarmas, Yuktahara, Mantra-japa, Yukta-karma, etc. Yamas are restraints and Niyamas are observances. These are considered to be prerequisites for further yogic practices. Asanas capable of bringing about stability of body and mind. What is naturopathy? The term naturopathy originates from natura, Latin root of birth and pathos, the Greek root for suffering, to suggest natural healing. Naturopaths claim the ancient Greek father of medicine, Hippocrates, as the first advocate of naturopathic medicine before the term existed. Naturopathy has its roots in the 19th century, natural cure movement of Europe. In Scotland, Thomas Ellison started advocating his hygienic medicine in the 1880s, promoting a natural diet and exercise with avoidance of tobacco and overwork. Naturopathy is an art as well as science of healthy living and a drugless system of healing based on well-founded philosophy. It has its own concept of health and disease and also principle of treatment. Naturopathy is a very old science. We can find a number of references in our Vedas and other ancient texts. The morbid matter theory, concept of vital force and other concepts upon which naturopathy is based are already available in old texts. The revival of naturopathy started in India by translation of Germany's Louis Pune's book, New Science of Healing. Shri D. Venkat Chelapati Sharma translated this book in Telugu language in 1894. Shri Shroti Kishan Swaroop of Bijanur translated this book into Hindi and Urdu languages in 1904. All this gave a wide propagation to this system. Gandhiji was influenced by the book, Return to Nature, written by Adolph Just. The paradise regained and new science of healing and became a firm believer of naturopathy. He not only wrote several articles in favor of naturopathy in his newspaper, Harijan, but did its several experiments on himself too, on his family members and members of his ashram. It may be noted here that Gandhiji used to stay at the Nature Cure Clinic of Dr. Dinshaw Mehta, situated in Pune, during 1934 to 1944. In his memory, the Government of India established National Institute of Naturopathy in 1986 at that place. Gandhiji included naturopathy in his constructive programs. Due to influence of Gandhiji, several national leaders joined this minority health movement. The names of ex-Prime Minister Shri Morarji Desai, ex-Governor of Gujarat Shri Manna Narayanji, ex-President Shri V. V. Giri, Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Shri Balkova Bhave need special mention in this regard. These are the glimpses of Bapu Bhavan at Nature Cures, Seva Gram Ashram, where he is practicing naturopathy. Siddha, the Siddha system of medicine is the traditional Tamil system of medicine, prevalent in ancient Tamil land, is the foremost of all other medical systems in the world. Its origin goes back to before say between 4000 to 10000 years. As per the textual and archaeological evidences, antiquity of the Dravidian civilization existed in the erstwhile submerged land Kumari Kanna, that is the Lemuria continent situated in the Indian Ocean. Thus, the Siddha system of medicine is contemporaneous with those of the submerged lands of Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Chinese and Grecian medicine. The uniqueness of Siddha system is evident by its continuous service to the humanity for more than 5000 years in combating diseases and also in maintaining its physical, mental and moral health, while many of its contemporaries had become extinct long ago. The roots of ancient Siddha system are intertwined with mythology and culture of the ancient Tamil civilization, that existed in the southernmost tip of Indian peninsula, predating much of recorded history. Mythically, the origin of Siddha is attributed to Lord Shiva, who is supposed to have handed it down to his consort Parvati, that is Shakti, who in turn passed on the sacred knowledge to Nandi, from whom it was transmitted to the first of the Siddhas. Siddha is a Tamil word derived from Siddhi, attaining perfection in life or heavenly bliss. The system is said to have emerged in antiquity from the highly evolved consciousness of Siddhas. The clarified intellect and heightened intuition of the Siddhas, resulting from their yogic powers enabled them to explore the world around them and exploit its natural resources for the sake of humanity. This unique legacy was bequeathed to select disciples or Siddhas by word of mouth. It is believed that there was a line of 18 Siddhas with Agastya being the foremost and a large portion of Siddha lore is credited to him. The time this oral tradition was transcribed on palm leaf manuscript, that now serve as major repository of the knowledge. Development of Siddha medicine was nurtured and developed in different point of times where three Tamil academies, Tamil Sangam of which the first Tamil Sangam dates back to 3000 B.C. The oldest Tamil book Tolkapiyam is also considered to be written in 3000 B.C. As R.S.H. Rizvi rightly puts, Deccan itself is one of the ancient geological formations in the world and the great Tamil scholar K.A. Appadurai states that the culture of the Tamils is a cradle of civilization. The third Tamil academy Kadai Sangam was established in the 2000 B.C. The books like Thiru, Kural and others are the monumental evidences to administer antiquity. The philosophy and the medicine are two sides of the coin. The great philosophers like Aristotle, Galen were the great philosophers and also physicians. The Siddhas were also the great philosophers and physicians. Some of the treatises in Tamil have been named in the name of medicine like Thiru, Kadugam, Thirupanjant and Elathi, Cardamom, though there is no relevancy with the medicine. Maratha rulers promoted medical science. King Shaji from 1684 to 1712 constructed a hospital and employed physicians from Hyderabad and Arabia. Sarpoji Raje Bhosale from 1798 to 1832 took interest in preservation and propagation of indigenous medicines. He published Sharabendra, Vaidya, Muraigal. The Dhanvantri Mahal, a hospital established at Tanjore by Sarpoji took care of all patients of all specialities and research was also practiced in the Tantric system like Siddha, Yunani and Ayurveda. In the British period in 1919, the Madras Maharaja Sabha wrote to the government about the importance of indigenous medicines. The objectives were sound, vernacular, indigenous medical education to the children of this country and to afford cheap and good medical help to the public, systematizing the existing indigenous medical help. Thereafter, some funds were allotted to upkeep of libraries consisting of books related to Ayurveda, Yunani and Agatsya traditional medicine. Khan Bahadur Sir Mohammed Usman, 1884 to 1960 was an Indian politician, Hakeem and socialite who served as Minister of Home for the Madras Presidency in Justice Party Government of the Raja of Bobilli and as the first Indian Acting Governor of Madras from 16th May 1934 to 16th August 1934. Usman was born into an aristocratic family of Tanjore in the Madras Presidency in 1884. He graduated from Madras Christian College and joined the Justice Party. He was elected to the Madras Legislative Council and later to the Governor's Executive Council. Usman served as a member of Posts and Heirs in the Viceroy's Executive Council between 1942 to 1947. He died in 1960 at the age of 76. He was a part-time Hakeem or doctor in Yunani medicine and used his influential position in the Provincial Administration to promote indigenous systems of medicines. Trismani Committee Report on Indigenous Systems of Medicines in Madras 1923, commissioned by the Madras Government in 1921, is the first major health report to be published in India. It is commonly referred to as the Usman Report, after the Committee's Chairman Mohammed Trismani. Its main purpose was to provide indigenous practitioners with an opportunity to put forward a strong case for state encouragement and financial support. Let us know about the medical development in the Tamil Nadu. It was established in the Government School of Indian Medicine in Madras in 1925 to teach Ayurveda, Siddha and Yunani, established Provincial Rural Dispensaries, Municipal and District Board Dispensaries, established in 1926, a Government Hospital of Indian Medicines attached to the above school, instituted a post-graduate course in 1930 in Indian Medicine for the graduates of Western Medicines, titled as Fellow of Indian Medicine, Associated Licentiate in Indian Medicine. Thereafter, other medical schools and hospitals came up. The guiding principles according to the Siddha system, the individual is a microcosm, the universe. The human body consists of the five primordial elements, earth, water, fire, air and space. The three humors, vata, itta and kapha and seven physical constituents, food is the basic building material of human body and gets processed into humors, tissues and waste. The equilibrium of humors is considered as health and its disturbance or imbalance leads to a disease state. Saint Thiruvallur has indicated the same view in his Thirukurana, reflecting this theory of cosmic oneness. The five senses are said to correspond with the five elements, itha, veli is responsible for hearing, air, katu for sense of touch, fire, ti for sight, water, nir for taste and earth, man for the sense of smell. Mind body continuum, Siddha is a comprehensive system that places equal emphasis on the body, mind and spirit and strives to restore the innate harmony of the individual. Treatment is aimed at restoring balance to the mind body system, diet and lifestyle play a major role not only in maintaining health, but also in curing diseases. This concept of the Siddha medicine is termed as pathyam and apathyam, which is essentially a list of do's and don'ts. Food itself is medicine and medicine itself is food. Materia Medica involves the drugs used by Siddharas can be classified into three groups, Thavaram herbal product, Thatu in organic substances and Jangamam animal products. Unique diagnostic methodology in Siddha treatment is as it is made purely on the basis of clinical acumen of the physician. The pulse, skin, tongue, complexion, speech, eye, stools and urine are examined. This approach is collectively known as eight types of examinations and among the eight the examination of pulse is very important in confirming the diagnosis. So comparing the Ayurveda and Siddha, in case of cult Ayurveda has Vaishnavi cult, whereas Shiva has, Siddha has Shaiva cult. Head is Vishnu or Dhanvantri in case of Ayurveda and in case of Siddha it is Shiva or Vaitheeswaram. Ambassador is Brahma and here Parvati, oblique Nandi. Team leaders are Ashwini Kumaram in case of Ayurveda and in case of Siddha it is Agastya. Language is Sanskrit in case of Ayurveda and Tamil in case of Siddha. Dissemination of Ayurveda extended up to Tamil Nadu due to Indo-German style of acceptance whereas, Siddha is limited due to Tamil tradition. In case of Ayurveda the period is Vedic and in case of Siddha it was Tantric. Evidence in case of Ayurveda are Samhitas and in case of Siddha, Tolka Piyam, areas of congruence in Ayurveda and Siddha, they involve the disease caused, Tridosha or derangement in Ayurveda and Tridosha and or derangement in Siddha too. Six taste theory Rasa in case of Ayurveda and Suvaigal in case of Siddha. Evolution in subcontinent, northern subcontinent it is Ayurveda and southern subcontinent it is Siddha. Religious links are Acharyas in case of Ayurveda and Siddhars in case of Siddha. Both of them have holistic approach. Both of them treat the cause. Now, both of them are having pre-preparatory procedures. Both of them have seven Thatus and nomenclature similarity of prepared drugs is common almost in both of them. Differences in Ayurveda and Siddha. The trait in case of Ayurveda is Aryan and in case of Siddha it is Dravidian. Hypothesis, in case of Ayurveda it is Vedic and in case of Siddha it is Tantric. Formulation differences, in case of Ayurveda invariant ratio is there and Siddha it is true. Usage of Goglu, it is higher in case of Ayurveda and lesser in case of Siddha. Usage of Arishtams is higher in case of Ayurveda and lower in case of Siddha. Medicine of higher order is absent in case of Ayurveda and present in case of Siddha. Detoxification, Verechanam, Vamanam and Varthi in case of Ayurveda and Vethi, Vanthi, Anchanam in case of Siddha. Life span, KVP and in case of Siddha it is VPK. Pulse diagnosis is primitive in case of Ayurveda and accurate in case of Siddha. External therapies involve regenerative therapy in case of Ayurveda and therapeutic in case of Siddha. Amchi Shova Rigpa is the Tibetan medicine also known as Amchi system of medicine in Ladakh and commonly known as Shova Rigpa. Has similarities with Ayurvedic medicine in India and it is the traditional medicine in many parts of Himalayas. It is one of the most ancient well documented living medical traditions in the world. Shova Rigpa means science of healing and is known for its rich accumulation of science, art and philosophy. It aims to systematically and logically understand the body, disease in relation to the environment. Until the early 1960s, Amchi medicine used to be the only kind of system of medicine for the rural people of Ladakh and other trans-Himalayan regions. Hence, people in these societies have deep faith in the Shova Rigpa system and it is deeply rooted in their culture. Amchi practitioners are highly respected both socially as well as spiritually. For they are believed to be the representatives of Sangyas Manla that is the medicine Buddha. For centuries, every major village and hamlet had their own Amchi. Besides treating patients, Amchis are the most learned and resourceful persons of the village. This system changing due to the introduction of allopathic medicine is really a pity that the world is not returning to more natural medical systems like Amchi medicine since there is a need to encourage practitioners to re-adopt this holistic system of medicine for everyone's sake. Thank you.