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Ayurvedic
Concept Of Total Health
Dr.Rajkumar Sharma
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Ayurveda India's Native Wisdom In Health And
Medicine Is Quite Simple But Great Medical Science To Explain And Treat Human
Bodies Normal Functioning Called Physiology, And Abnormal Functioning Termed As
Pathology Or Diseases. Since The Purpose Of Treatment Is To Bring Abnormal
State Of Body Back To Normal
State Hence Importance Of Keeping Our
Body In Balanced State And Understanding What Is Normal
Health Is Quite Important. Knowing What Is Health Is Also Important Because,
Because Of Wrong Eating Habits And Living Style Few Abnormal Changes Have
Become Part Of Our Life And We Have Accepted Them As Such, Believing That
Unhealthy Stage As Healthy One.
Ayurvedic Concept of Explaining Health Described
in the Form of Shloka Is
SAM-DOSHAHA
SAM AGNI SHCHA SAM DHATU MALAKRIYAH!
PRASANN ATMA INDRIYA MANAH SWASTHYA ITYABHIDHIYATE
This Simple Shloka Is The Basis Of Ayurvedic
Concept Of Health. To Understand The Meaning Of Total Health, Meaning Of Every
Word Of This Shloka, Needs To Be Explained. First Word Of Shloka Is:
SAM-DOSHA,
Which Is A Sanskrit Word Having Two Roots,
Sam Means Balanced Or
Equilibrium State Where As Dosha Is A Complex Phenomenon, Which Includes Total
Living Body In Biochemical Forms, And These Innumerable Biochemical Substances
Divided Into Three Groups With Specific Or Qualities Termed As VATA, PITA AND
KAPHA Expressed Through Different Features. So Sam Dosha Means Balanced State
Of Biochemical Levels Of Body Like Balanced (normal) Blood Sugar, Balanced
(normal) Blood Urea, Balanced (normal) Cholesterol Or Fats Etc. Modern Medical
Science Labels Body As Healthy Or Diseased By Determining Levels Of Blood
Biochemistry Like Normal Level Of Blood Sugar Up To 120 Mg. Per Hundred Ml. Of Blood,
And Normal Blood Cholesterol (total) Up To 250 Mg% Etc. Ayurvedic System Of
Medicine Explained All These Phenomena Thousands Of Years Ago In A Simplest
Term Called SAM DOSHA So You Can Be Called A Healthy Person If Your Doshas Are
In A State Of Equilibrium Or Balance.
Next Word In Shloka For Health Is Sam Agni
- Again Sam Means Balanced And Agni Means Fire. The Term Fire Is Not That
Simple As Fire From Matchstick Or Gas Burner In Kitchen. It Is A Complex
Phenomenon In Our Body Having 13 Types And Most Important Of Them Is Called
Jathar Agni Where Jathar Means Digestive System And AGNI Again Means Fire, So
Jathar Agni Means Digestive Fire.
This Fire Is Most Important Biological Factor
On Which Is Based Total Health Of Body. An Important Characteristic Features Of
Fire Is Considered As Power Of Converting A Substance From One Form To Other
Like Solid Into Liquid And Liquid Into Gaseous State, For Example Ice Into
Water And Water Into Vapors (gas). Digestive Fire Has Greatest Power of
Conversion, It Is So Powerful That It Can Convert Food, Which Is Normally a
Non-living Substance into a Living Form, Which after Digestion (conversion Into
Simpler Form) Gets Absorbed From Digestive System, Reaches Blood Circulation
And Through Blood It Reaches Every Cell. While Reaching Brain Cells It Starts
Thinking, On Reaching Cells Of Heart Muscles It Starts Pumping, While In Cells
Of Kidney Tissues It Starts Filtering, Where As In The Cells Of Lungs It Starts
Gaseous Exchange Etc. So The First Body Fire, Which Comes In Contact With Food,
Is Called Digestive Fire It Has Great Power Of Metamorphosing Food Into
Different Forms. Thus Conversion Of Food Into Living Biochemical Form Depends
Upon Agni, If This Agni Is Low, Conversion In Body Will Be Slow Or Low
Metabolic State, In Case This Agni Is High Or Hyper It Can Cause Burning Or
Over Cooking Again A Diseased State And If This Agni Is Sam As Explained In
Shloka, Body Is In A State Of Health. So To Be A Healthy Person We Must Have
SAM AGNI. Therefore Every Effort Should Be Made To Be Aware Of State Of Agni And Keeping It
Balanced By Wise Living Style And Eating Habits, Like Physical Activities And
Avoiding Too Cold Or Too Heavy Foods That May Adversely Affect Digestive Fire.
Third Word Of Shloka Is Sam Dhatu - Made Up Of Sama And
Dhatu Means Balanced Dhatus, Or Balanced Physical Constituents, Unit Of Bodies
Constituent Is Cell, Which Forms Tissues, These Tissues Make Organs And Body
Systems, Coordination Between Various Body System And Their External
Manifestation Is Called Life Whose Study Is Called Ayurveda (Science Of Life)
So For A Body To Be Healthy We Must Have Healthy Body Constituents, Every Cell,
Tissue, Organ Or System Should Be Sama Or Balanced, If It Is Out Of Balance
Body Is Considered As Diseased E.g. If Cells Or Tissues Are Structurally Bigger
In Size, Smaller In Size Or Malformed Then Medical Term For Them Are
Hypertrophy, Hypo-trophy Or Dystrophy Of Organ Respectively Which Is A State Of
Disease Where As Sama Or Balanced Structure Of Dhatus Is Called A State Of Health.
To Be A Healthy We Must Have Sama Dhatu Or Equilibrium Of Structural Form Of
Body. Tumors In Body That Can Be Benign (noble) Or Malignant (cancerous) Are
Nothing But Unbalanced Dhatus Or Asam Dhatus. It Is True For Enlargement Of
Liver, Heart, and Kidneys Etc.
Next Word in Shloka for Health
Is Sam
Mal Kriya
Here Mal Means Wastes, Excreta
Or Toxins And Kriya Means Functioning. Hence Sam Mal Kriya Means Balanced Or
Normal Functioning Of Systems Of Wastes Disposal From Body Which Are Primarily
Of Digestive System, Urinary System, Sweat Glands And Other Channels Of Body In
Eye, Nose, Ear, Skin Etc. Which Also Excrete Wastes. If There Is No Proper
Disposal Of Toxins, And Wastes From The Body They Will Adversely Affect The
Body Functioning And Structure Thereby Producing Imbalance Or State Of Disease
In The Body, So Disposal Of Wastes Or Toxins Is Equally Important As Is
Maintenance Of Balance Of Body Functions I.e. Doshas, Or Structure I.e. Dhatus.
So To Be Healthy, Have A Healthy Or Balanced Excretory System Or Sam Mal Kriya.
These Four Words SAM DOSHAS,
SAM AGNI, SAM DHATU, SAM MAL KRIYA In The First Line Of Shloka Explain State Of
Health Of Physical Body Only And Not That Of More Important Than Physical Body
Segment Of Individuals, Another Extremely Important Plane Of The Body Because
Of Which A Person Basically Falls Ill Is Mental Level. In Second Line Of Shloka
That State Is Explained Through PRASANNA
ATMA, INDRIYA, MANA. Prasann Means Pleased Atma Means Pleased Soul,
Indriyas Are Sense Organs And Mann Is Mind. Atma Is Beyond Attributes And Is A Spiritual State, Which Acts As Observer It Cannot
Be Influenced Destroyed Or Created. Indriya I.e. Sense Organs And Mann I.e.
Mind Are Interlinked. Sense Organ After Coming In Contact With Their Objects,
Transfer Messages To Mind Which Analyses Them And Put Impact On Various Body
Organs Causing Their Normal Or Abnormal Functioning Producing Health Or
Illness. So State Of Health Totally Depends
Upon State Of Mind
Influenced Through Sense Organs Or Indriyas. Sense Organs And Mind If Pleased
Or Prasann Will Create Health And If Not Prasann (pleased) Will Cause Illness.
It Can Be Now Concluded That
SAM-DOSHAHA
SAM AGNI SAM DHATU MALAKRIYAH!
PRASANN ATMA INDRIYA MANAH SWASTHYA ITYABHIDHIYATE!!
Is A Holistic Approach Towards Explanation Of
Health In Total Where Mind And Body Are Considered Inseparable And
Interdependent Entity.
Surprisingly World Health Organization (W.H.O.)
Concept Of Health Which Is Read As Health
Is A State Of Complete Physical, Mental & Social Well Being And Not Merely
The Absence Of Disease Or Infirmity; Is Almost Same As Defined In Ayurveda
Which Reflects Richness Of India's Native Wisdom In Health And Medicine I.e.
Ayurveda, Science Of Life.
Principal,
Dayanand Ayurvedic
College,
Jullundhar (Punjab) INDIA
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-Editor-
JAY
