AYUSH Products – Gift of God or Freebie of God men

Had the products of Siddha and Ayurveda came to mankind more as freebie from the figment of imagination of ancient God men than from God himself? It is claimed that the ancient systems viz., Ayurveda and Siddha have come from Dhanvanthri and Lord Siva respectively.

If we study the evolution of AYUSH systematically, we can fairly understand the fact that it had initially started off with several pieces of advice and instructions meant for healthy and disciplined living. It means AYUSH came with abundant bio-moral recipes than drugs.

Self-discipline, special discipline to be followed during different seasons, moral code of contact, dress code, diet regimen, respect for elders, respect for teachers & scholars, importance of Satsang (association with holy people), doing charity and offerings to poor people and God men, performing special poojas, chanting mantra and hymn, worship of special deity etc., are some of such instructions the God men in the beginning. The above bio-moral instructions were not for the patients alone to follow, even the relatives and those who attend the patient also must follow such bio-moral recipes.

It appears all the above bio-moral instructions and recipes were created more for the common man than for Kings or God men may be because the common men only needed these instructions. It looks like this is the early phase or origin & development of AYUSH – Bhakti Marg (devotion movement).

After creation God as a nucleus of human life, the man has turned his focus towards achieving long and healthy life to attain Siddhi or divine abode. Creation of temples, worship places, development of different types of offerings to God to please him/her etc., came in great force during this period. This second phase of focus and development was more towards having a healthy life or protect the health. Healthy, long life desired by many was more to attain divine abode or eternal salvation than to live healthy and happy life or anything else. The concept of Kayakalpa appeared to have come more for the above purpose.

When all virtuous advice, praying to God etc., failed and people become sick, addressing such problems of people assumes urgent necessity for the god men because people in the society always looked upon them for the solution to all problems.

Since everybody was looking at the holy men/god men for a solution as they are believed to be appointed by none other than God for ordinary men. This whole-hearted surrender and submission of people for solution unto the holy men would have naturally made the holy men to devise some new methods to address the issue.

Keeping the acute necessity of how to retain the faith of people in them and to retain an own identity as god men, they would have started to examine the patients more from spiritual and superstition point of view. Perhaps such examination would have been done by the ancient holy men more to fulfill own curiosity to know how different the patients were from healthy people than from diagnosing the disease. They also would have shared their observations and learning to their followers casually. The philosophical concept of Tridosha, Pancha butha, nomenclature of different diseases like for example, padar thamarai for dermatophytosis (spreads like lotus flower) purely based on the physical appearance etc., would have come more to differentiate the wisdom of God men from ordinary people than anything to do with science of the disease or disease predisposition.

Undoubtedly the prayers, chanting hymns, performing special poojas, following some practices and disciplines etc., would not have provided any relief to the patients because all such instructions are unscientific and absolutely faith dependent. The holy men hence would have thought of adopting some other means to retain the faith of the patients in God and also to help the patients to achieve self-cure through faith. Such an approach became necessary for the early God men to knot the society in the thread of faith, spirituality, god etc., to keep their holy business and spiritual bazaar un-questioned and unchallenged. Perhaps this would have been the important phase of development of faith cure.

The people always like to follow some physical or materialistic fulfillments especially when they were sick than just praying to God. This need gap, the God men would have realized and as a result, they would have brought out several herbal, animal, mineral and metal based products as freebies. This would have been the last phase of development of AYUSH especially the Siddha system. In fact, these products would have come as freebies to people especially to retain their faith in holy men and also may be to increase own PR ratings.

If we look at the highest form of imagination that finds the centre stage in Siddha system– the transmigration of the soul of early god men to other bodies clearly suggests nothing but their acute necessity to somehow retain the faith of people upon them. Through such high sounding imaginary fallacy, the early god men also have created incredible stories about their ability to see and interact with departed souls. Further they also used such capability to mesmerize the people to read their future and help them to change the course of future. When people fail to get any real benefit from everything suggested by the God men, immediately the God men have worked out another beautiful story called karma of previous birth.

From the impartial reading of some of the AYUSH literature, the writing on the wall is clear. From beginning to the end, AYUSH is product of human imagination purposefully created to keep the society to have faith in God. Only when people have long lasting faith in God, they would listen to God men. It is like only when more devotees visit the temple, more thattu kasu or kanikai (money offered to the priest and temple Hundi).

During early days of post independence, patriots and patriotism were only ruling our country than rampant and all pervasive corruption, land grabbing and scandals etc. Since all diktat were projected and promoted as part of our culture, religion and spiritual living, some patriots would have naturally got attracted to towards them and would have decided to promote them.

Early days of post independence, India also witnessed the scientific growth and credibility of allopathic system of medicine thanks to imperial rulers. The principle of allopathic system of medicine largely relies upon drug and proper diagnosis of every disease.

The lovers of AYUSH then would have groped with the idea of hiring some tenets of western medicine to promote AYUSH. If those AYUSH lovers ever advise chanting mantras, praying to God or other obscurant practices to people to treat their diseases, all such instructions of AYUSH would have bomb shelled because science and allopathic medicine has already occupied the centre stage.

Knowing fully well about the likely outrageous rejection of AYUSH, the proponents of AYUSH have converted what the early god men offered to us as freebies to reaffirm our faith in them, as drug and cure based system of medicine. Because AYUSH enjoys the approval of religion and tradition, even though it offers faith cure and placebo effects, still it could get great the patronage and sponsorship from Government since independence.

The question is how long we can ride on mere faith. When we are hungry, can faith fill our stomach, when we are sick, can the faith offer treatment etc., are the biggest challenges of many AYUSH graduates in private practice otherwise why should they engage in cross pathy. They are licensed to act only as non MBBS doctor in our society.

The non MBBS doctors have to retain their identity as doctor among patients as well as retain the faith of people in AYUSH ie., it is effective, safe etc., To achieve both the above goals, many of them have adopted wonderful method called cross pathy.

Many AYUSH vaidyas in private practice use allopathic drugs to treat the patients and to hold the faith of patients in AYUSH, use some AYUSH products. It is not quackery from just medical or legal point of view, but it is indeed scientific quackery.

Interestingly some AYUSH vaidyas even started acting like full fledged MBBS doctors, started claiming they have right to practice allopathic drugs, CCIM has given such right, state Government permits them to do so as per Drugs and Cosmetic act, they have court permission to use allopathic drugs especially under emergency situation to save the life of patients etc. The irony is that they argue more such rights to use allopathic drugs than AYUSH products. They have studied AYUSH for 5 ½ years.

Getting admission for AYUSH course is quite easy. Hence get the AYUSH degree easily and then use the back door to enter the main stream as full fledged MBBS doctor may be the plot some AYUSH vadyas in private practice adopt.

Thanks to allopathic drugs, we are not only treating our health problems, but even helping AYUSH to survive as medical science.

Should we not ask what AYUSH has done to our society? Why the health care system is so bad in states that produce large number of AYUSH vaidyas and most of them may have been engaged in cross pathy as well.

Doesn’t such statistics show the following truths that AYUSH, AYUSH vaidyas and cross pathy by some AYUSH vadyas in private practice in all those states have failed miserably?

Why we refuse to read the truth that so visibly glaring at us? Why we do injustice to us in the name of praising our ancient tradition, occultism and deny science to our growth and prosperity?

Hope the day is not far away, the people in our country would wake up to truth and recognize AYUSH more as paramedical practice and not as system of medicine and revolt against cross pathy and quackery.