Ayurveda
The BRICS of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is the summit of five emerging countries. BRICS was formed in contradistinction, if not opposition, alternative to the G7 of the seven leading developed countries. What all BRICS countries have in common is that they have a large land area, a large population, and abundant resources. Leaders of at least three of the BRICS - India, China and South Africa - share a commitment to promoting their local traditional medical system as an alternative to the scientific Allopathic mainstream modern medicine of the developed countries.
Ayurveda is an ancient medicine system of the Indian subcontinent. Ayurvedic medicine is one of the world’s oldest medical systems and remains one of India’s traditional health care systems. It is said to have originated in India about 5000 years back. The word Ayurveda is a conjugation of two Sanskrit words ‘ayus’, meaning 'life' and ‘veda’, meaning 'science', thus ayurveda literally means the 'science of life'. Unlike other medicinal systems, Ayurveda focuses more on healthy living than treatment of diseases. The main concept of Ayurveda is that it personalizes the healing process.
The Rig Veda especially speaks eloquently about the different stages of progress of the Indo-Aryans. The first thing which they used as medicine was water. The next thing which they termed as eradicator of all diseases was the Soma juice. Now, what this Soma plant is, it is difficult at the present day to decide. The Sanscrit literature is divided into three great periods—the Vedic, the Brahminic and the Ruranic. The works that were composed during the Vedic period of the Sanscrit literature were the four Vedas, six Upavedas, six Vedangas and several Vedantas, Ayurveda holds the first place among these Upvedas (or Supplements of the Vedas). Its authorship is attributed by the majority of the Hindu authors, though not by all, to Shiva.
The Ayurveda, supposed to be the work of a celestial physician, as a revealed science precludes improvement from experience. That “poison is the antidote of poisons" was the Homeopathic doctrine established by Shiva. This practice was encumbered with many difficulties, and the spirit of useful inquiry repressed by sanguinary, mistaken, and injudicious laws. The disclosure of a substance injurious to health, unaccompanied by its corresponding antidote, was punished with the penalty of death; and the door of improvement closed. The most valuable remedies were proscribed, from the apprehension of mischief arising from their injudicious application.
About 80% of the total Indian population believes in Hinduism. The cow was associated with Aditi, the mother of all gods described in the most ancient Hindu scripture. The holiness of the cow is deeply rooted in their emotions, feelings, and dreams, making them believed that protecting and caring for cows is their religious obligation. The Hindu religious system places great value on the products of cows. They believe that the byproducts of cows such as dung, ghee, milk, curd, and urine are purifying agents.3 In Hinduism, the cow dung is used to clean homes and for prayer rituals. They believe that it has therapeutic and antiseptic properties. The orthodox Hindu wing considers the products of the cow as the panacea to everything.
Narendra Modi’s pandemic strategy was fraught with cultural assertions promoted the mythical knowledge of ancient Indians as an alternative to conventional medicine. Some members of the Hindu nationalist party demanded that cow urine and dung can prevent and cure COVID-19. Therefore, the Indian superstitious, fanatic politicians and some other leaders disseminating the propagation that cow dung can cure COVID-19 among the general religious population. BJP MP Pragya Thakur, addressing party workers in Bhopal on 18 May 2021, said: “If we have desi gau mutra (urine from an indigenous cow) every day, then it cures lung infection from Covid,... I consumed cow urine daily and it is a kind of acid which purifies my body. It also purifies the lungs and saves me from Covid-19 infection. I don’t take any medicine against corona but I am safe.” [she thinks Mahatma Gandhi’s murderer a true patriot].
“Cow dung is nothing but body waste. Applying cow dung and urine can never boost immunity or protect you from getting coronavirus. Instead of proving helpful, cow dung would give you other infections, including mucormycosis,” said Mona Desai, chair of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) women’s wing, referring to a rare but serious fungal infection. Mucormycetes are present in animal dung. Therefore, the experts suspect a relationship between the surge in mucormycosis (black fungal disease) and the use of cow dung during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic in India.
Minister of Health Harsh, a medical doctor, was present in February 2021 at an event to promote Coronil, a herbal concoction that was formulated by Patanjali, a company founded by self-styled “godman” Baba Ramdev. When Coronil was first promoted by Ramdev, “it was with the false claim that this would be a Ccovid cure, with ‘100 per cent recovery guaranteed’ within seven days", local media reported. The IMA described the claims about Coronil as a “false and fabricated projection” of an “unscientific medicine”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted the AYUSH therapies for improving the “immunity” during the Covid pandemic. AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. Modi advised the use of alternative medicine systems such as homoeopathy and Ayurveda to ward off coronavirus. Modi asked people to follow an advisory issued by the Ministry of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy), which suggests a range of home remedies to boost immunity.
Journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem and activist Erendro Leichombam were arrested 13 May 2021 for Facebook posts that said ‘cow dung and cow urine’ don’t cure Covid. Wangkhem and Leichombam were arrested after BJP functionaries complained about their Facebook posts, which said that “cow dung and cow urine” don’t cure Covid-19. It was in the context of state BJP leader S. Tikendra Singh’s death due to the illness. Imphal West District Magistrate, Th. Kirankumar, ordered their detention under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) on 17 May on the grounds that their posts could “endanger the maintenance of public order”. A case was filed under sections 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 505(b)(2) (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the state or against the public tranquility) of the Indian Penal Code.
Ayurvedic medicines could be used as a therapeutic system to reduce costs otherwise incurred by Public Health systems. A few studies suggest that Ayurvedic preparations may reduce pain and increase function in people with osteoarthritis and help manage symptoms in people with type 2 diabetes, but most of these trials are small or not well-designed. There is little scientific evidence on Ayurveda’s value for other health issues.
Ayurvedic medicine uses spices, vitamins, minerals and herbs that are sometimes mixed with metals such as lead, mercury, arsenic and zinc. The presence of metals in some Ayurvedic products makes them potentially harmful to humans. They are poisonous to the body depending on the level. Some Ayurvedic preparations may contain lead, mercury, or arsenic in amounts that can be toxic. Several Indian-manufactured products could result in lead and/or mercury ingestions 100 to 100,000 times greater than acceptable limits.
Global populations are increasingly in search of safe, natural, holistic, and affordable alternatives to current mainstream medical practices. Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Yoga, Siddha, Unani, Chinese traditional medicine, are examples of therapeutic systems that have been utilized traditionally in various parts of the world. With the advent of conventional medicine (known also as modern or western medicine) focus shifted away from these therapeutic systems.
It is mandatory to get AYUSH License in India from the Ministry of Ayush for those manufacturers who involved in the manufacturing of the Ayurvedic or Herbal products in India. The Ministry of AYUSH was founded on 9th Nov 2014, before this it was called "The Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy" which was introduced in 1995. The All India Institute of Ayurveda was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2017.
According to Ayurveda, the human body is composed of four basics-the dosha, dhatu, mala and agni. There is immense significance of all these basics of the body in Ayurveda. These are also called the ‘Mool Siddhant’ or the ‘basic fundamentals of Ayurvedic treatment’. The three vital principles of doshas are vata, pitta and kapha, which together regulate and control the catabolic and anabolic metabolism. The main function of the three doshas is to carry the byproduct of digested foods throughout the body, which helps in building up the body tissues. Any malfunction in these doshas causes disease.
Dhatu can be defined as one, which supports the body. There are seven tissue systems in the body. They are as Rasa, Rakta, Mamsa, Meda, Asthi, Mjja and Shukra which represent the plasma, blood, muscle, fat tissue, bone, bone marrow and semen respectively. Dhatus only provide the basic nutrition to the body and it helps in the growth and structure of mind.
Mala means waste products or dirty. It is third in the trinity of the body i.e. doshas and dhatu. There are three main types of malas, e.g. stool, urine and sweat. Malas are mainly the waste products of the body so their proper excretion from the body is essential to maintain the proper health of the individual. There are mainly two aspects of mala i.e. mala and kitta. Mala is about waste products of the body whereas kitta is all about the waste products of dhatus.
All kinds of metabolic and digestive activity of the body takes place with the help of the biological fire of the body called Agni. Agni can be termed as the various enzymes present in the elementary canal, liver and the tissue cells.
Life in Ayurveda is conceived as the union of body, senses, mind and soul. The living man is a conglomeration of three humours (Vata, Pitta & Kapha), seven basic tissues (Rasa, Rakta, Mansa, Meda, Asthi, Majja & Shukra) and the waste products of the body such as faeces, urine and sweat. Thus the total body matrix comprises of the humours, the tissues and the waste products of the body. The growth and decay of this body matrix and its constituents revolve around food which gets processed into humours, tissues and wastes. Ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and metabolism of food have an interplay in health and disease which are significantly affected by psychological mechanisms as well as by bio-fire (Agni).
According to Ayurveda all objects in the universe including human body are composed of five basic elements (Panchamahabhutas) namely, earth, water, fire, air and vacuum (ether). There is a balanced condensation of these elements in different proportions to suit the needs and requirements of different structures and functions of the body matrix and its parts. The growth and development of the body matrix depends on its nutrition, i.e. on food. The food, in turn, is composed of the above five elements, which replenish or nourish the like elements of the body after the action of bio-fire (Agni). The tissues of the body are the structural whereas humours are physiological entities, derived from different combinations and permutations of Panchamahabhutas.
Health or sickness depends on the presence or absence of a balanced state of the total body matrix including the balance between its different constituents. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors can cause disturbance in the natural equilibrium giving rise to disease. This loss of equilibrium can happen by dietary indiscrimination, undesirable habits and non-observance of rules of healthy living. Seasonal abnormalities, improper exercise or erratic application of sense organs and incompatible actions of the body and mind can also result in creating disturbance of the existing normal balance. The treatment consists of restoring the balance of disturbed body-mind matrix through regulating diet, correcting life-routine and behavior, administration of drugs and resorting to preventive Panchkarma and Rasayana therapy.
The National Ayurveda Day is celebrated every year on the occasion of Dhanwantari Jayanti (Dhanteras) since 2016. Ayurveda is perceived as one of the most ancient and well documented system of medicine equally relevant in modern times. Its holistic approach whether for healthy individuals or for diseased ones remains unparalleled. Prevention of disease and promotion of health is the main aim of Ayurveda. Lord Dhanvantari is considered as divine propagator of Ayurveda. He is conferred with the virtues of granting health and wealth. Therefore, Dhanvantari Jayanti was preferred for celebration of Ayurveda Day to nationalize this system of medicine which can prove to be a cornerstone for its ultimate globalization.
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