AYUSH will never die! So don’t bother about critics, criticism and science

Many believers, followers, proponents and graduates of AYUSH often make tyrannical statement that the so called scientists, science or modern medicine cannot destroy or kill AYUSH. It has survived through 5000 years and will continue to exist without any death. Absolutely they are right and more right than wrong.

Despite the absolute growth, development, limitations and side effects of science and the absoluteness of modern medicine, its inevitability, success and failure, still some reclusive local health methods or practices that had existed in most countries in the world in the name of local health practices/tradition do still co-exist even these days with the patronage and sponsorship of Government.

The truth we miss out miserably in the above debate is mostly due to our wrong understanding or interpretation. Science has never emerged to destroy superstition, faith, occultism or the existence of some obscurant practices as medical science.

Science came more as an answer to multi various problems of man. When these answers were clear, simple and realistic, people have grabbed it. With time, the science again grew and developed further. As a result of that some of the pre-existing scientific practices and the products of science underwent serious modification, rejection, change and newness.

Science has neither cared about obscurantism nor questioned them. The people started to look at many so called obsolete medical practices in a scientific way to understand its science and merit, as result, the confusion has started.

Most scientists could not find any science in AYUSH. Some scientists having already reached their senescence could conveniently excuse their inability to do much research in this field but become passionate promoters of such practices and are extremely broad minded and generous to gift AYUSH exclusively for others than for own use.

On the other side of the board, many students of AYUSH may be without knowing either the direction of the world, the current century or other advancement, still argue, debate and sermonize that the faith based AYUSH requires no science as it is gift of God, evolved empirically, time tested science, holistic etc.

The point is different. AYUSH will ever die? Certainly it will not and it cannot. Will God ever die? No God will die. Even if they die, they live in heaven and just to prove that God will not die, the God men would re-incarnate them in other names.

Where is heaven, one must die only then one can know about heaven and God. How do we know about heaven after death, experience by self and do not ask such silly questions will the diktat of God men. How these God men knew all these details when they are alive? Never question God men as they are appointed by God.

Anything born out of faith will never die. So all obsessed lovers of ancient health care tradition either follow for self or altruistically gift it to others need not worry about the critics or criticisms because the faith based AYUSH will never die.

It cannot be destroyed either by any weapons or by fire or by water or by other means.
“na jayate mriyate va kadacin
nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano
na hanyate hanyamane sarire”–
Bhagavat Gita

[For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain].

The beauty is that such faith based system also cannot grow, become meaningful and develop.

People raise several questions not to demean or belittle AYUSH. But to kindle the system to see and develop the science to promote the system in a scientific way and not to harp on just faith and try to sell dreams and promises.

Forget how it had survived in the last 5000 years but start to think how it can be made to survive another 5000 more years. Even if we don’t develop AYUSH, it will exist because its existence is linked with human faith. As long as man exists on this planet the faith based AYUSH also will exist in some corner of earth either as subterranean or sedentary certainly without any use.

By bringing science or mocking at the science less state of AYUSH, nothing can wound AYUSH because it enjoys the faith and trust of people. The point for discussion is that when we en-cash the faith and trust of people by ‘selling AYUSH’, are we doing at least an iota of justice to those innocent and or ignorant believers?

Is it secretly prescribing allopathic drugs along with some AYUSH products (cross pathy) by several institutionally qualified AYUSH vaidyas in private practice amounts to doing justice to poor people? By doing so, are we not exploiting the faith and innocence of people and make them continue to believe in AYUSH purely with the help of allopathic drugs?

By cross pathy, are we not re-instating the faith of people in AYUSH than taking science of AYUSH to people. If we allow cross pathy by AYUSH vaidyas in private practice, can we develop the science of AYUSH or faith in AYUSH? Can we find any medical system, drug and cure based science on earth ever work on faith of the patients or would address the health problems scientifically?

If the Government wants to be benevolent and kind towards the survival of several AYUSH vaidyas in private practice and hence are adopting strategic silence towards cross pathy and quackery, should the same Government does not hold the same responsibility for all those innocent people who purely due to their unquestionable faith in AYUSH fall victims to cross pathy and likely to suffer from medication health fraud, the term so beautifully coined by US FDA?

None of the proponents and obsessed lovers of AYUSH needs to worry about the death of AYUSH as AYUSH will never die and so are our Gods. The only thing they need to worry is about the growth, development, relevance and usefulness of AYUSH.

Use all the questions and criticism as clean mirror to see own face and reflect whether it need urgent ‘scientification’ and ‘trueness’. Stop harvesting your AYUSH crop from faith and start sowing the seeds of science and develop the system.

Let us not fall into the whirlpool of debate or argument whether AYUSH remain immortal or die etc. People criticize the system because of lack of merit as proven by many institutionally qualified AYUSH graduates in private practice by trespassing to allopathic system and doing cross pathy.

God, faith and AYUSH will never die. Both God and faith are invisibly visible in our life. So is AYUSH, many says it is effective, but for what, when, were and how, none answers.

Let us make the invisibly visible AYUSH as visible and vibrant science for humanity.

Dear institutionally qualified AYUSH vaidyas in private practice (those who are engaged in cross pathy), stop grazing from your neighbors’ farm land, develop your own farm, toil and harvest from the system for developing both the system and to serve humanity.

S Ranganathan