Dear readers,
In the last blog we have seen how Ayurvedic scholars in ancient times had very well knowledge of epidemics and microorganisms. Moving further, in today’s blog let’s see why & how Ayurveda can recommend a proper solution to this pandemic of Covid-19.
First we are going to understand the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2(corona virus) according to conventional medicine & Ayurveda, in brief.
After reading above charts you must have understood how the microorganism works and disturbs the balance of doshas and dushyas. This imbalance leads to occurrence of symptoms. Depending upon the vitiation of doshas, their involvement with dushyas, grievance of symptoms differs. As you already know Ayurveda see infectious diseases as Agantuj vyadhi (exogenous disease). We can correlate Covid 19 with shleshmaka jwara and shwasanaka jwara which grossly represents influenza and pneumonia respectively. To get a better idea refer the following chart. This chart shows how similar are the symptoms described by both the sciences.
तस्मात् आतुरं परीक्षेत् प्रकृतितश्च, विकृतितश्च, सारतश्च, संहननतश्च, प्रमाणतश्च, सात्म्यतश्च,सत्वतश्च, आहारशक्तितश्च, व्यायामशक्तितश्च, वयस्तश्च इति, बलप्रमाणविशेषग्रहणहेतोः।। च.वि. 8/94
In the above shloka Charaka mentions that even if a vaidya is not able to diagnose a disease by its name, he still can treat the disease accurately, if he knows which doshas are vitiated, their depth of involvement with different dushyas and basic prakruti of the patient. He mentions dashvidha pariksha for diagnosis, where following ten points are considered to decide the course of treatment.
1. Prakruti (basic constitution of a person based on dosha predominance)
2. Vikruti (deciding the pathological developments)
3. Saar (examining the strength of systems)
4. Samhanana (examining strength of body mass)
5. Pramana(proportion of different organs related to other organs/systems according to age)
6. Satmya (getting accustomed to certain food/lifestyle due to habit formation)
7. Satva (checking mental condition of patient)
8. Aaharshakti (checking capacity of intake & digestion)
9. Vyayamshakti (capacity to exercise)
10 .Vaya(avastha)– (deciding age of patient or chronicity of the disease)
Reference shloka
Ayurveda believes in understanding the body and its constitution carefully in order to find out the root cause of the disease and treat it.
So keeping this in mind now we can understand why Ayurveda has treated many diseases like cancer, HIV, hormonal disorders successfully, though they are not mentioned in the ancient Ayurvedic texts.
To decide the line of treatment, we have to first understand the imbalanced dosha-dushya-malas.
Basic line of treatment is
- Anulomana (to correct vitiated vata)
- Deepana (to correct vitiated pitta and kpaha)
- Pachana (to correct vitiated kapha and pitta)
- Lakshanika chikitsa (this is given as per symptoms) such as kasahara, jwarahara, balya chikitsa etc.
- Panchakarma therapies, in the later stage as per necessity.
This is an outline of the treatment. Depending upon the factors like rutu(season), desh(place/country) etc, line of treatment varies again. Ayurvedic physicians always consider individual’s diet, lifestyle, mental and physical strength while treating a patient.
We can definitely think of few important medicines which can be used to treat covid 19. Sookshma triphala, guduchi satva, guduchi ghana vati, mahasudarshana choorna, shadangpaniya, kasahara vati etc are the few to name. As I always mention, no medicine is to be consumed without vaidya’s (physician’s) advice. Dosage and duration is to be decided by the vaidya only.
One more psychological factor to consider is the panic and insecurity generated in the society due to the constantly increasing number of infected patients. Ayurveda along with herbs like bramhi, jatamansi etc also suggests satvavajaya/daivavyapashraya chikitsa which includes chanting of mantras, meditation to strengthen the mind.
Some of the agantuj vyadhis are contagious. To prevent them and to subside them, proper guidelines were given by Ayurveda scholars like Charaka and Vagbhata.
त्यागः प्रज्ञापराधानां इंद्रियोपशम स्मृतिः।
देशकालात्मविज्ञानं सद्वृत्तस्यानुवर्तनम्।
आगंतुनाम् अनुत्पत्तौ एष मार्ग निदर्शितः।।
cha. Su. 7/53,54
अनुत्पत्तौ समावेश विधिरेष प्रदर्शितः।
निजागंतुविकाराणां उत्पन्नानां च शांतये।।
Ashtang Hri. Su.4/34
Here they advise to behave ethically, follow dincharya/rutucharya (healthy diet and lifestyle) and sadvritta palana (keeping distance, avoiding contact etc). These things not only prevent but also help cure these diseases.
Using these methods of diagnosis and treatment, even the newest or the most novel diseases can find there cure in Ayurveda. This proves that this ancient medical knowledge is timeless.
