Health and Disease (in Āyurveda)

Āyurveda teaches that human being is a microcosm, having a Universe within it. Man is a child of the cosmic forces of the external environment, the macrocosm. His individual existence is indivisible from the total cosmic manifestation.

Āyurveda views health and disease in holistic terms, taking into consideration the inherent relationship between individual and cosmic spirit, individual and cosmic consciousness, energy and matter.

Health is order and disease is disorder. Within the body, there is a constant interaction between order and disorder. The internal environment of the body is constantly reacting to the external environment. Disorder occurs when these two are out of balance. To change the internal environment in order to bring it into balance with the external environment, one must understand how the disease process occurs within the psychosomatic being. Āyurveda provides explanations for diseases; Āyurveda restores order and health from disorder and disease.

What is a 'disease'–'dis' means "deprived of" and 'ease' means "comfort". In the Oxford Dictionary of English, 'disease' is defined as:

"A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury."

Āyurveda generally considers anything that afflicts the puruṣa (the self) as disease; and that disease has its primary seat in the spring of vitality from which it flows out to the surface, the external body.

Accordingly, Āyurveda, serves two purposes–

(i) alleviation of disorders in the person affected by diseases and

(ii) maintenance of the health of the healthy being (Suśruta, Sūtrasthāna, I.14):

āyurvedaprayojanaṃ—vyādhyupasṛṣṭānāṃ vyādhiparimokṣaḥ svasthasya rakṣaṇaṃ ca ||

The Caraka Samhita (Sūtra. 25.8 cd) states that diseases spring from the afflictions of the self and then come out to attack the body:

ātmajaḥ puruṣo rogāścātmajāḥ kāraṇaṃ hi saḥ ||

According to Āyurveda, all diseases in the human body are due to one or more of the five causes:-

1. Prajñāparādha (unwholesome thoughts and actions),
2. Apathya (unwholesome diet),
3. Kāla (time),
4. Jarā (ageing) and
5. Daiva (fate.)

(a) Prajñāparādha–

In Āyurveda, prajña is wisdom or intellect, and when transgression or fault associates with this it is known as prajñāparādha–'intellectual error'. On par with poor diet as a detriment to good health, this is considered as the original cause of disease in a human being. That is, impure thoughts and unwholesome actions such as–over-indulgence or suppression of natural urges, immoral and unrighteous conduct, lack of modesty and compassion, friendship with the wicked, jealousy, hatred anger, fear, greed and lack of discipline and enthusiasm,–are deemed to be intellectual errors–prajñāparādha. They vitiate all three doṣās.

In other words excessive, negative and perverted use of one's body, speech and mind are considered as intellectual errors. These almost invariably lead to physical and mental disorders.

(b) Apathya–

Āyurveda lists seven aspects of an unwholesome diet. They are:- prakṛti–one's constitution; svabhāva–nature of the food; karaṇa–how it is prepared; samyoga–combination of various ingredients; rāśi–amount of food being consumed; deśa–place where it is being consumed; and kāla–time of consumption.

Errors and imbalance in these seven aspects are the leading causes of diseases at the physical level. They also adversely affect a person's mental state.

Foods that are against one's own constitution, acidic and tamasic foods, irregular eating, immoderate consumption, processed, canned and fried foods and overeating and late eating make for an unwholesome diet.

(c) Kāla–

Man's body is at weakest during the changing seasons. Vāta gets vitiated in the rainy season; Pitta gets vitiated in summer season; and Kapha is vitiated in the spring season. Based on one's own constitution, it is particularly important to pay attention to one's diet at the cusp of seasons. It is one of the greatest preventive measures one can take to stay healthy.

Āyurveda, also refers to the time when one should eat. Eating late also vitiates Kapha and Vāta.

(d) Jarā–

The body naturally becomes weaker as one ages. The kidneys, heart, intestine, muscles, and bones become weaker. The skin loosens and wrinkles; also the sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous systems become weaker.

Memory loss, hair loss and loss of appetite are normal as is infirmity, physical and mental. With ageing, doṣās accumulate and vitiate more quickly.

It becomes harder to pacify them with medicine. It is in these later years that one will harvest the rewards of the care he took of his body in his youth.

If one eats and lives healthily when one is young, he has much less to worry about with ageing. One's body can take a lot of ill treatment when one is young. From unhealthy diets to impure thoughts, it can handle almost anything. But it all adds up and grows at the core of the consciousness, waiting to burst like a volcano, when the body or mind grows weaker with age.

While ageing cannot be avoided, one can certainly delay it with wholesome living–a right mindset and a right diet. A noble mind helps one to age gracefully. This is the best one can do with ageing and make it graceful.

(e) Daiva–

Daiva is listed as one of the factors that can as easily be the cause of a disease as any of the other four factors. Āyurveda intricately linked to Vedic thought, considers one's fate to be linked to his karmic cycle. An infant, who has no ' karma' at his birth, who is born to perfectly fit parents with great genetics, may still be born disabled or ill. The other four factors have not played a part yet in this infant's life. Such mystery, as per Āyurveda is due to fate. Therefore Āyurveda texts specifically list fate as one of the five factors that cause disease.

The uniqueness of Jivānandana lies not merely in the fact that it is an allegorical play, but in the content of the text, propagating the basic principles of Āyurveda and its application. Knowing well that Āyurveda concentrates mainly on the material welfare of mankind, unlike the other abstract Śāstras, Ānandarāya Makhin had chosen the direct way of teaching this through the mode of drama so that all in the audience, made of people of varied interests learn about it. Hence, the play-wright focuses his attention on Āyurveda. And this Ayurvedic aspect strongly helps the author to establish a firm foundation for the development of the subject-matter from one act to the next one.