Chapter 1 Historical Context Part II Ayurveda

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

Ayurveda Ayurveda is an ancient system of healing which reveals the importance of the integration andbalance of the body-mind-spirit and of living harmoniously both within ones immediateenvironment and the universe at large. At its core, Ayurveda is focused on spiritual advancement of the individual, emphasizing thehealth of the body so that it may become a sound vehicle for the mind and likewise, the healthof the mind, so that it may serve as a clear channel for Consciousness or Spirit. Susruta, famous for his Ayurvedic treatise Susruta-Samhita, defined a healthy person as: Theone who is established in Self, who has balanced doshas (vata, pitta, kapha), balanced agni(digestive fire), properly formed dhatus (bodily tissues), proper elimination of malas (bodilywastes), properly functioning bodily processes and whose mind, soul and senses are full of blissis called a healthy person.Like Jyotish, Ayurveda acknowledges the uniqueness of each individual and, therefore, healthregiments are customized to address the individuals specific constitutional needs. Such healthregimens may include dietary recommendations, herbal and/or aromatherapy remedies, yogicexercise, pranayama, meditative practices, color therapy and spiritual worship. The Rg Veda and Arthava Veda: Like Jyotish, the first written reference to cures for ailmentsand treatment of disease is found in the Rg Veda. In his book The Arthava-Veda and TheAyur-Veda, Dr. V.W. Karambelkar states:Vedic literature in general refers to a number of things which directly or indirectly constituteancient medical tradition. Thus the Rg Veda refers to poison germs and their killing (I.191.1-16);

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removal of various yaksmas or diseases (X.163.1-6); curing of heart disease by the rays of theSun (I.50.11-13); water as medicine (X.137.6), I.23.19); herbs as medicine (X.97.1-23) Dr. V.W. Karambelkar goes on to quote Charaka as to the importance of the Arthava Veda:A physician should be particularly attached to the Arthava Veda for that Veda deals with thetreatment of diseases (Chikitsa) by advising propitiatory rites (Svastyayana), offerings (Bali),auspicious oblations (Mangala homa), penances (Niyama), purificatory rites (Prayaschhitta),fasting (Upavasa) and incantations.In fact, in the Arthava Veda the planets are invoked and propitiated in order to receiveblessings, fortune and good health.The Ashtangas: Overtime, Ayurveda developed into eight distinct branches, or disciplines,known as Ashtangas (astha means eight; anga means parts). The Ashtangas of Ayurvedaare:1. Kaya Chikitsa: Internal medicine2. Shalya Chikitsa: Surgery3. Kaumarabhrtyam: Paediatrics4. Salakyam: Treatment of diseases above the clavicle5. Bhuta Vidya: Psychiatry6. Agadatantram: Toxicology7. Rasayana: Prevention of diseases and rejuvenation8. Vajikaranam: Aphrodisiacs and progenyOf the above eight disciplines, Kaya Chikitsa (treatment of the whole body) and ShalyaChikitsa (treatment of foreign bodies through surgery) received more focus and attention and,therefore, are now the most prominent and authoritative works on Ayurveda.Ayurvedas Sampradaya: Each Vedic science has as its sampradaya (lineage of wisdom)whose genesis originates with a particular Lord or Goddess. Although the sampradaya ofAyurveda varies somewhat by source, all identify Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe, asits originator. It is said that Lord Brahma passed on the knowledge of Ayurveda in the form of ahundred thousand verse hymn to Sage Prajapati Daksa, a son born from Lord Brahmas rightthumb. Sage Prajapati Daksa, in turn, taught Ayurveda to the Aswhini Kumars (horse-headed twins),born of the union between Surya (the Sun) and his wife Sanjna (Consciousness), whose storyis told below. In time, this divine science made its way to Rishi Agnivesh who was the first toscript the knowledge of Ayurveda in his text, Agnivesh Tantra. Eventually a student of RishiAgnivesh, Sage Charak, made revisions and amendments to the text, which hence forthbecame known as the Charak Samhita and is today the primary treaty on Kaya Chikitsa, orinternal medicine. The Aswhini Kumars: The following is the story of the Aswhini Kumars, the celestialphysicians, who became famous not only for their knowledge of Ayurveda but also of Jyotish.

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Surya (the Sun) was married to Sanjna, the daughter of Vishvakarman, the Cosmic Architect.Together Surya and Sanjna conceived three children Vaivaswat Manu (the ruler of the currentmanvantara period of 306 million years) and the twins Yama (God of Death) and Yami (Yamassister). Despite Sanjnas extreme love and devotion to Surya, she found Suryas intense heat andbrightness unbearable and eventually decided to leave him for a period of time. So that Suryawould not notice her absence, Sanjna created her identical twin Chhaya (Shade) to take herplace and look after her three children. Before departing, Sanjna insisted that Chhaya promisenever to reveal to Surya her true nature. Sanjna then left for her fathers house to inform him of her decision to leave her husband. Uponhearing her daughters plans, Vishwakarma begged her to return to Surya and her family.Refusing to do so, Sanjna took the form of a mare and ran off into the forest to live a life ofrecluse. In the meantime, Surya lived happily with Chhaya, who eventually bore him three children Shani (the planet Saturn), Savami Manu and Tapati. As time passed, Yama began to notice thatChhaya increasingly showed favoritism towards Shani, Savami Manu and Tapati over him andhis siblings. One day, in a fit of hurt and anger, Yama threatened to kick Chhaya for herpartiality. Outraged, Chhaya immediately placed a cursed on Yama that he would lose his foot. Yama went straight to his father to complain about Chhaya. How can this be, thought Surya,that a mother would show partiality amongst her own children and place a curse on one ofthem? Confronted by Surya, Chhaya broke down and confessed, explaining how Sanjna hadleft and begged her to remain in her place. Upon hearing this, Surya became furious and left for Vishwakarmas home. Once there,Vishwakarma explained to Surya that his heat was too intense for his daughter to bear and thatshe had left to live in the forest by herself. Out of love for Surya, Vishwakarma offered to shaveoff some of Suryas excessive brightness, which Surya eventually agreed to. [Vishwakarmaused the shaved pieces to craft the many weapons and articles that are found in the hands ofthe Lords and Goddesses.]Surya, in his new, less intense form, immediately left in search of Sanjna. Realizing that Sanjnahad turned herself into a mare, he took the form of a stallion. Upon finding Sanjna, Suryaapproached her with love and devotion. Sanjna immediately recognized Surya and, as theyembraced, they exchanged breaths through the nostrils. From this exchange of prana, Sanjnagave birth to the Aswhini Kumars. As mentioned in the previous section, in time, Sage Prajapati Daksa taught the Aswhini Kumarsthe secrets of Ayurveda. They used this knowledge to heal the Gods and Devas and eventuallybecome known as the Celestial Physicians.The Rg Veda speaks of the Aswhini Kumars as lords of one hundred powers and tells of theirmany healing abilities:

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you (Aswhini Kumars) restore the realized sages and arrange for the healing of theirwounds you restore eyes of an employee, giving light to the blind so that he might see youcure maimed and invalids you restore to life a virtuous person seriously wounded at severalplaces 1.117 Rg Veda.There are many noteworthy metaphors in the above story which find application in Jyotish.Firstly, as the Healers of the universe, the Aswhini Kumars are born of the union between theSun and his wife. As a result, the Sun is the significator for the medical and healing professions.If prominently placed in kendras (1H-4H-7H-10H), the Sun may indicate a medical physician(especially if Saturn and Mars the planets of technical skills are also in kendras) or a healer,particularly if Jupiter, the humanistic planet of compassion and intuition and the planetrepresenting knowledge associated with a lineage (i.e. Ayurveda, Reiki, etc.), is in a kendra. Note that the Aswhini Kumars were birthed through Sanjnas nostrils after an exchange ofbreaths between Surya and Sanjna and, as such, is suggestive of the twins rulership over theinhalation and exhalation of the breath. This also alerts us to one of the most fundamentalprinciples of Ayurveda, the importance of the breath, or prana, and its ability to support a stateof health and well-being when steady, focused and paced. This simple principle is the bases forthe in-depth science of pranayama, a yogic practice which heals on the physical,mental-emotional and spiritual levels. Interestingly, in ancient Vedic literature the horse was ametaphor for prana! Then we have the nakshatra of Aswhini, named after the Aswhini Kumars, and the first of the 27Nakshatras (lunar constellations). When critical planets (Ascendant, Moon, Sun, 1HL, 10HL,6HL) are positioned in Aswhini, the person is likely to have a strong interest in the healing fieldsand are often students or practioners of Ayurveda.In the story, we also learn about Vishwakarmas (sometimes referred to as Twashtar) ability toreengineer, or redesign, Surya by shaving off some of his brightness. Vishwakarma is the divinearchitect and cosmic craftsmen of the universe, responsible for the architectural design (i.e.stellar positioning of the luminaries and planets) of our solar system. Vishwakarma rules overChitra, a nakshatra which tends to be prominent in the charts of artists, craftsmen andengineers.Another interesting side to the Aswhini Kumar story is that Sanjna, the Suns wife, found itnecessary to leave him due to his heat and brightness. This alerts us to the fact that the Sun,although noble and compassionate, has the ability to blind and overshadow others through hisbrilliancy. In Jyotish, we look to the house placement of the Sun to see those relationshipswhich may have elements of intensity, power struggles or control issues, especially if the Sun isstrong in the chart (exalted, swa, dig bala). And, just as with Sanjna, who felt it necessary toleave her husband, the Sun has the ability to separate us from the people represented by hishouse placement in the birth chart. As is hopefully evident, it is the ancient stories of the Vedas, Puranas and Epics that enlightenus to the nature and more subtle meanings of the Navagrahas (nine planets).

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The Churning of the Ocean Another important lord connected with Ayurveda is Lord Dhanvantri, an incarnation of LordVishnu. It is said that Lord Vishnu incarnates as Lord Dhanvantari to reestablish the wisdom ofAyurveda when the world is filled with sickness and disease. Lord Dhanvantari first appearedduring the churning of the great white ocean, as retold below. As you will see, it was also duringthe churning of the ocean that Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the Moon, came to be.The Churning of the Ocean: There came a time in the world in which the power of the demonshad become so great that the devas decided to approach Lord Vishnu for his advice. LordVishnu told the devas that they must uncover the vessel of amrita (the nectar of immortality)which lies at the bottom of the celestial ocean of milk, by churning the great white ocean. Theconsumption of amrita, said Lord Vishnu, would make them immortal, while the demons wouldcontinue to die and eventually become extinct. So the devas devised a grand plan to retrieve the vessel of amrita. In order to assist the devasin their scheme, Lord Vishnu assumed the incarnation of Kurma, a giant tortoise. In this form, hefirmly placed himself at the bottom of the ocean. The devas then placed a high mountain,Mandarachala, on his back which prevented the mountain from sinking into the ocean. Lastly,they wrapped the snake Vasuki around the mountain to use as a rope for churning the ocean. Tricking the demons into assisting them by agreeing to share the amrita, all the devas lined upon one side holding Vasukis tail, while all the demons lined up on the opposite side and heldVasukis head and neck. They then began in earnest to churn the ocean.

To everyones surprise and alarm, the first thing that appeared out of the ocean was a deadlyblue posion (hala hala) capable of destroying all the worlds. Lord Shiva graciously cameforward and swallowed the posion. However, it left his neck permanently blue and, to this day,many refer to Lord Shiva as Neelakantha, the Blue-Throated Lord. After Lord Shiva drank theposion, many wonderful treasures began to emerge from the oceans depth. Among such giftswere Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow, who was given to the seven Rishis (Saptarishis);Varuni, the goddess of wine, whom the demons claimed; Rambha, the heavenly dancer, whowent to live with the celestial singers in heaven and Chandra, the Moon, who was presented toLord Shiva to adorn the top of his head in appreciation for his consumption of the poison.

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Finally, Lord Dhanvantri appeared, dressed in golden garments and carrying a bundle of herbs,the treatise of Ayurveda, a leech (used in Ayurveda to detox the blood) and the vessel of amrita.Lord Dhanvantri handed the amrita to the devas for consumption. In order to distract the demons while the devas partook of the amrita, Lord Vishnu assumed theform of a beautiful enchanting woman named Mohini. As the devas began to drink the nectar, ademon by the name of Rahu disguised himself as a deva and sat amongst the other devasawaiting his share. The Sun and Moon spotted Rahu and immediately notified Lord Vishnu, whotook his chakra (disc) and threw it at Rahu, cutting him in half. Unfortunately, Rahu had alreadysipped from the vessel of amrita, thereby making him immortal. Having been cut in two, thehead of the demon became known as Rahu and the tail as Ketu. From that day forward, theSun and Moon became the mortal enemies of Rahu, as it was they who told Lord Vishnu abouthis disguise. Rahu and Ketu were eventually awarded the status of shadow grahas and theircritical role in Jyotish is discussed in a later chapter.

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Chapter 1 Historical Context Part II Ayurveda