Ayurveda-vedanta: The Vedanta of Life Science

This is a verse from the Srimad Bhagavata Purana (11.5.32):
"In the age of Kali, intelligent persons worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly performs the sacrifice of congregational glorification of the Lord. Although His external complexion is not blackish, within, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanies by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions."
According to the opinion of many Acharyas who are experts in the study of Vedic literature, this verse describes the incarnation of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who descended to earth in the holy place known as Navadvipa on the bank of the Jahnavi (Ganges) river in the present state of West Bengal, India, in the year of 1486 A.D.
Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, became famous as Nimai pandita (pandita means a great scholar of the Vedas; having been born under the medicinal neem tree, He was known as Nimai) from His early childhood, because of his erudite scholarship of the vast ocean of Vedic literature. He compared the ten essential subjects of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana with the ten medicinal roots of the Ayurveda (Dasha mulas).
He explained that, just like the dasha mulas made into an "arishtam" cures the diseases caused by the imbalance of the three dhatus, viz., kapha, vayu and pitta (mucus, air and bile ), in the same way the dasha mulas of Srimad Bhagavatam (the ten root subjects) will cure the diseases of material identification caused by the imbalance of the three gunas, viz, sattva, rajas and tamas (goodness, passion and ignorance).
According to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srimad Bhagavata Purana is a natural commentary on the Vedanta-sutras of Srila Vyasadeva:
"The Srimad Bhagavatam is the natural commentary to the Vedanta-sutra. The full purport of the Mahabharata is also there. The commentary of the Brahma-gayatri is also there and fully expanded with all Vedic knowledge. Srimad Bhagavatam is the supreme Purana, and it was compiled directly by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His incarnation as Vyasadeva."
All Vedantic expositions are commentaries by various Acharyas on the Vedanta sutras. So the ten essential subject matters of Srimad Bhagavata Purana are like "Vedantic observation and prescription" by the (Ayur)Vedic Acharya Vyasadeva based on his own study of the (Ayur)Veda shastra, the Vedanta-sutras.
Thus there is no doubt that the Ayurveda shastras and the Vedantic shastras have a very similar, if not actually the same, purpose to them. Having established this samya and sambandha (resemblance and relationship) of Ayurveda and Vedanta, let us make an analytical study of the subject through the eyes of both Vedantic and Ayurvedic Acharyas:
Medicine and healing are the two most important physical sciences explored and developed in the Vedic times. The Nyaya, Vaiseshika and Sankya Darshanas are directly and intimately connected with these aspects of Vedic knowledge.
Hatha yoga, Tantra physiology, Siddha and many other yoga schools of study extensively deal in their anatomy sections with subjects from the diffusion of energy in the body through the nervous system (based on the chakra linked management of energy) up to the study of embryology, heredity and genetic codes.
I - Ayurveda as Part of the Vedas
The great Ayurvedic Acharyas have confirmed that Ayurveda is also part of the Vedas.
Susruta, one of the greatest Ayurveda Acharyas says in his Samhita (1.1.5) :
"Ayurveda is an upanga of the Atharva Veda, containing 100,000 verses in one thousand chapters. Brahma is the author of these verses."
While hands and legs are angas of our body, toes and fingers are upangas. The academic view may not be able to digest that such a large upanga would have been part of the Atharva Veda, because the entire available texts of the present Atharva Veda seem to be much smaller than Ayurveda alone as described in the above text!
But still Acharya Susruta's statement is an "apta vakya"; so it cannot be under-estimated or rejected as a mere exaggeration. There are reasons why the present numbers, shape and form of the Vedic texts do not tally with facts and figures mentioned in the Puranas and other Vedic literatures. That is yet another area of research and we do not want to go off the track from our present discussion.
As Ayurveda is an upanga of the Vedas, it has the same purpose in a different denomination. The Upanishads which are considered as the end of the Vedic knowledge (veda-anta or Vedanta), aim at understanding the absolute truth, Brahman, beyond the functioning of external, material nama-rupa-jagat (the constantly changing energy of name and form). In a different denomination of the level of expression, Ayurveda also aims at the study and maintenance of the mechanism of the body with a purpose of giving full potential functioning duration so that the aim of life can be achieved. Thus there is Vedanta in the Ayurveda - and it is in no way of a lesser voltage than any other upanga of the Vedas.
According to Vedanta, life is eternal and was never produced or came into existence at a particular time in the history. The Upanishads are very insistent on this point of Vedanta. The Katha Upanishad 1.2.18 says:
"For the soul, there is neither birth nor death at any time. It does not come into being at any time, it is unborn, eternal and primeval. It doesn't die when the body is put to death."
The basic foundation of Ayurveda is also on the same platform. The life or Ayu is fully comprehended as eternal and beyond the bodily existence. Such knowledge (veda) makes the phrase "knowledge of life", viz., Ayurveda.
Vedas are considered as eternal sound vibration present in the akasha, shabda-brahman; the knowledge in the Vedas is eternal. Therefore the knowledge of Ayurveda, this knowledge of life, its force in the body and its distribution through the dhatus by the life airs is also eternal. There has always been the continuity of the science of life, viz., Ayurveda.
The different styles of systematic compilation of the knowledge and instructions for the practical application of that knowledge certainly have an origin in recorded history. But the spirit and soul of this knowledge is directly part (upanga) of the eternal, undying Vedic lore (Atharva Veda). It has never taken "birth" at a particular time.
Even though at present only the treatises of Charaka and Susruta, which were commented on by later Acharyas, are taken as Ayurveda, according to Susruta himself Ayurveda is the original teaching of Brahma which was later simplified into eight parts to suit the degraded intellectual quality of the people of this age of Kali.
There are eight departmental limbs (ashtanga) of knowledge in Ayurveda:
1) salya - surgery
2) salakya - treatment of head
3) kaya cikitsa - treatment of ordinary diseases of body
4) bhuta vidya - treatment of influence of goblins
5) kaumara bhrtya - treatment for children's diseases
6) aagada tantra - antidotes to poisons
7) rasayana - science of rejuvenation of body
8) vajikarana - revival of sexual strength
Having analyzed the authenticity of the Ayurveda as part of Vedas, now we will explore the contents of the texts of Ayurveda that confirms this conclusion.
II - Methods of Treatment in Ayurveda
The Atharva Veda deals with the treatment of diseases by seven kinds of prescriptions:
Svastyayana - propitiatory rites
Bali - offerings
Mangalahoma - oblations
Niyama - penances
Prayascitta - purificatory rites
Upavasa - fasting
Mantra - chanting of sound vibrations
- Charaka Samhita 1.30.20
Even the dietary regulations and the use of medicines fall within the category of bali, mangalahoma, upasana and niyama.
I have myself seen the father of my family doctor who was treating my father for respiratory malfunction, prescribe medicines with mantras to be chanted; and it worked like magic! Later on I have done a wide range of research on this field, both theory and practice, and it would be worth it to write a separate samhita on this subject.
III - The Human Body as a Modification of the Five Elements
The human body is regarded by Charaka as a modification of the five elements and the seat of consciousness ("cetanahistana bhuta", Charaka Samhita 4.4.6).
This fully echoes the statements of the Bhagavad-gita:
"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego - all together these eight constitute My separated material energies. Besides these, O mighty armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who exploit the resources of this material, inferior energy."
IV - Conception according to Ayurveda
The semen that passes into the ovary is constituted of equal parts of air, fire, water and earth. Later, ether becomes mixed with it in the ovary. Semen is the product of six kinds of fluids known as rasas.
- Charaka Samhita, 4.2.4.
The fetus cannot be produced simply by the union of the semen of the father and the sontia or blood of the mother. Such a union can produce the fetus only when the atman with its subtle body becomes connected with it by prarabdha karma of the past.
V - Elements of Conception
The elements that contribute to the features of the new body are (from the mother's side) blood, (from the father's side) semen, and the karma of the individual soul.
The mental attitudes are determined by the state of mind of the individual in the previous life.
- Charaka Samhita 4.2.27
This same truth is confirmed in the Gita (8.6) as follows:
"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail."
Again, Charaka clearly explains that when one dies, the soul together with the subtle body, in a subtle state and mind, passes invisibly into a particular womb on account of karma, and then, when the conception takes place, develops one's fetus:
- Charaka Samhita 4.2.3
VI - The Cause of the Senses
The child does not owe sense organs to his parents; he alone is responsible for his sense organs ("atma jannindriyani"). The cause for the status of his sense organs is daiva, fruits of his prarabdha (fructified previous reactions).
Thus there is no hard and fast rule that a child of a man who has defective senses will also have defective senses. (Charaka Samhita 4.3.25) It is not just the bodies of the parents which make the body of the child. Ayurveda is very clear about this. The idea that bodies create bodies and consciousness is only a product of matter is not supported by the Ayurveda. Such idea is declared as demoniac in the Gita (16.8)
"The asuras (demons) say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust."
VII - Awareness is intrinsic to the Soul
The spirit soul, is always with awareness. It is never without the "sattva", or the awareness:
- Charaka Samhita 4.3.26
In the material existence the spirit soul is aware through the mind stuff which is like a crutch that is used by a disabled person to walk. The healthy awareness is the consciousness which is the symptom of the spirit soul. This consciousness always exists and is not destroyed at the time of death.
In the Gita (2.17) we find:
"That which pervades the entire body (consciousness) you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that (only the body can be destroyed)."
Because this consciousness pervades the subtle mechanism, viz., the mind, one is able to perceive the world through the senses.
In the Gita (2.14) this is explained as follows:
"O son of Kunti, by touch of the sense objects (by the mind) one experiences heat, cold, happiness and miseries…."
Even without the functioning of the senses, this mind is always connected with the sense objects. That the self has consciousness even when the senses do not operate is well illustrated by our dream knowledge when the senses are not operating. (Charaka Samhita 4.3.31)
VIII - The Soul is without change
The organs and the limbs potentially existed in the joint causes that operated to bring the fetus into form. Of all these causes the self remains unchanged even when the bodily perceptions undergo different changes, viz., heat, cold, happiness and misery;
- Charaka Samhita 4.4.34
Thus the vikaras or changes of experiencing pleasure and pain, or other such perceptions, are actually due to the contact of mind with the sense objects, and they do not affect the soul proper.
Not only the changes of perceptions, but even the externally visible changes of growth and material transformation of the age and size of the body, does not affect the spirit soul. It remains unchanged, through all the changes of the body.
This Ayurvedic statement is supported by the Upanishads and the Gita (2.13):
"As the embodied soul continuously passes without changing, in spite of the bodily changes, from boyhood to youth and onwards to old age, it similarly passes into another body after death of the present body. A sober person is not bewildered by such a bodily change."
IX - The Three Dhatus and the Three Gunas
There are three dhatus which are the basic constituents of the body, and two modes, viz. passion and ignorance, that affect the mind. The imbalance of the three dhatus causes the physical diseases and the imbalance of the two modes causes the psychological problems.
The treatment of diseases through Ayurveda is founded on the knowledge that by proper prescription of medicine and diet, a healthy person can maintain the equilibrium of the dhatus and a sick person can regain it. Charaka says:
- Charaka Samhita 1.1.52
In the Vedanta the "guna samya", equilibrium of the three modes of nature, viz. sattva, rajas and tamas, which can be effected only by transcending them, is the prescription to become free from the disease of material existence, of repeated birth and death. In the Gita (14.20) it is said:
"When the embodied soul is able to transcend these three modes of nature associated with the body of matter, he can become free from birth, death, old age and other miseries associated with these. Thus one can enjoy the nectar (of immortality) even while living in the body."
Again in the second chapter, text forty-five of the Gita we find:
"The knowledge of the Vedas deal mainly with the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes (by the knowledge of these Vedas). Become free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in your 'self'."
X - Imbalance in the Dhatus
The cause of both the two categories of diseases, viz., physical and psychological, according to Ayurveda is the imbalance in the usage of the three dhatus; either excessive, deficient or misuse:
- Charaka Samhita 1.1.53
Vedanta confirms that by the improper use of the three modes of nature, viz., goodness, passion and ignorance, one aggravates the sickness of "samsara", the cycle of repeated birth and death; and in good balance of the gunas one becomes unaffected. In the Gita (14.23) this is stated as follows:
"One remains unwavering and undisturbed through the reactions of the modes of material qualities by remaining neutral and transcendental, knowing that the gunas alone are active."
It is interesting to meditate on the following analysis at this point of our comparison of Ayurveda and Vedanta:
1) From the gunas manifest the five material elements, viz., earth, water, fire, air and ether.
2) The five elements constitute the physical body.
3) From the same gunas manifest the identity, intelligence and mind, which constitute the subtle body.
4) Three dhatus are direct manifestations of the three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas) and they work by the function of two gunas (passion and ignorance).
5) The imbalance of the dhatus causes the diseases. Either excessive, deficient or misuse of the potency of the body causes this imbalance. The purpose of Ayurveda is to prescribe medicine and diet to balance the dhatus.
6) The imbalance of the gunas causes the repetition of material existence and the miseries therein. The transcending of the gunas is the solution. Thus one becomes free from the miseries, even while living in the body.
XI - The Quality of the Body
The quality of the body is of two kinds:
Mala - that which contaminates the system, and Prasada - that which sustains and purifies. (Charaka Samhita 4.6.17)
The mala or contamination from which the soul should become free is explained as follows in the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.9):
esho anur atma cetasa veditavya yasmin pranah pancadha samvivesha pranais cittamsattvam otam prajanam yasmin vishuddhe vibhavatyesha atma
"The atomic soul can be perceived by perfect intelligence as floating in the five kinds of life airs (prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana). When the consciousness (that pervades from the soul through the entire body) is purified from the contamination of the five kinds of material airs, its spiritual influence is exhibited."
The prasada, or purifying quality, is confirmed in the Gita (2.64-65) thusly:
"One who is free from all attachment and aversion and is able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom factually attains 'prasada'."
"In the prasada platform of existence, all miseries become non-existent. In such satisfied consciousness one's intelligence is soon well established."
XII - The Vedanta
Just like many undesirable bodily growths form in the pores of the body, unconstitutional desires grow in the aggregate consciousness forming the malas of desire and hatred ("iccha dvesha sukham dukham sanghatash cetana dhriti" - Gita 13.6).
Sometimes the blood and other liquids, which are ingredients for the sustenance and growth of the body, turn into puss. Similarly, the real energy of consciousness, which is love for God, turns into lust for sense enjoyment, and the proxy consciousness in the subtle body, viz., external identity, intelligence and mind, become materially motivated.
Due to excessive, deficient and misuse, the mucus, bile and air become either more or less than the required measure. Similarly, the three gunas which influence the consciousness try to supersede each other and thus pull the consciousness to bodies situated in different positions in the world.
Dalhana identifies the connection between the gunas and the dhatus as follows:
In contrast to this, other Ayurveda Acharyas, such as Susruta, have explained the connection between the dhatus and gunas differently. Susruta states that in a functioning capacity as a cause for the designing of the body, Kapha acts in the upper portion, i.e., as sattva. This seemingly contradiction will be dealt with in our ensuing article, "Doshas, Dhatus and Gunas".
Susruta says the dhatus are "deha sambhava hetava", causes for the formation of the body. While acting in this function, the dhatus are connected to the gunas and bodily system as follows:
Vata - lower portion of the body - tamas
Pitta - middle portion of the body - rajas
Kapha - upper-portion of the body like pillars - sattva
Now let us look at what the Vedanta has to say about positions or formation of bodies according to the gunas. The Gita (14.18) states:
"Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets. Those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets. And those in the mode of ignorance go down to lower species."
Thus the position that a spirit soul takes in this world determines his lifestyle for the maintenance of his existence through the impetus of the influencing modes of nature ("sthanam poshanam utayah" - Srimad Bhagavatam).
The spirit soul is part and parcel of the divine; His struggle in the world is due to subtle and gross identity. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (15.7):
"The spirit souls in this world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to the conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."
In an imbalanced state of the dhatus, the resistance goes down and other entities subsisting in the body tend to weaken and destroy the body. Similarly, the ulterior and external motives which are material and unconstitutional (to the soul), viz., the fruitive, speculative and exploitative motives, weaken the consciousness and destroy the mission and real goal of life.
The essential part of digested food is 'rasa' (chyle) and the contaminations which are left are the malas.
Similarly, if the sense perceptions and the ensuing attachments that are aroused by the modes remind the soul of its divine and original constitution (viz., sat - "eternal", chit - "awareness", ananda - "bliss"), that is the real 'rasa'. ("raso vai sah")
Malas which create problems for the healthy functioning of the body are unconstitutional to the body.
The contaminations of the consciousness are unconstitutional to the soul. They are material, viz., temporary, full of ignorance and miserable, and thus just opposite to the original constitution of the soul. For this reason they are termed as malas, or "pollutions".
Only for the purpose of experiencing the reactions of the previously fructified actions from past lives and thus finishing off the prarabdha karmas does one need to identify with the body. While perceiving this world with the senses and functioning with the material body, one has to balance between this rasa and the malas. That balanced life is known as sadhana:
"Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat - and by so doing you shall never incur sin."
"He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system."
Charaka says (4.28.3):
Thus if rasa and mala are balanced and are kept in their required quantity they cooperate to sustain the body to 'live'.
XIII - The Conclusion of Ayurveda (Ayurveda-Vedanta)
Vagbhatta says that as the manifold universe is nothing but the manifestations of the gunas, so all the diseases are but modifications of the three doshas.
As the three gunas work together manifesting the diversity in the world, the three doshas manifest the diversity of diseases.
- Ashtanga-samgraha 1.21
"The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of the ever diseased living entities simply by His fame personified, and only because of Him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices, and it is He only who inaugurated the medical science or the knowledge of medicine in the universe." - Bhagavata Purana 2.7.22
As stated in the beginning of the Bhagavata Purana, everything emanates from the ultimate source, the Personality of Godhead - "janmady asya yathah". It is therefore understood in this verse that medical science or knowledge of medicine was also inaugurated by the Personality of Godhead.
The body is a symbol of disease. The disease may differ from one variety to another, but disease must be there, just as there is birth and death for everyone. So by the grace of the Personality of Godhead, disease of body and mind are cured. Not only are diseases of the body and mind are cured, but also the soul is relieved of the constant repetition of birth and death - our ultimate disease. The name of the Lord as the source of curing the disease of material existence is "bhavausadhi", or the source of curing the disease of samsara.
"When the body has lived its duration of time and has been caught up in the diseases therein, the medicine is Ganga water and the doctor is Narayana who takes away everything."
According to the Vedanta philosophy, our very existence within matter is a disease. Within that diseased condition, due to the influence of avidya (ignorance), we identify some as being healthy and some as being sick.
The purpose of Ayurveda is to enlighten us with the "knowledge (veda) of life (ayuh)".
This knowledge of life is not just knowledge of our existence within dead matter, for that is not actually "life". Knowledge of life is knowledge of the pure spirit soul, situated beyond the limitations of the three gunas. We are all in reality "chaitanya", or the divine 'life force' within the body. The purpose of Ayurveda is to bring us to that complete understanding of our selves as pure life energy.
To bring about this great realization of identity, the Ayurveda science prescribes a lifestyle by which the tenets of the truths of "chaitanya" can be understood in the simplest manner.
The body is itself a temple of diseases (shariram vyadhi mandiram), thus it is impossible to cross beyond these limitations while living in the body if one is identifying with the body; for that misidentification is the actual root of all disease.
By raising the consciousness beyond the limiting influences of passion and ignorance (the gross influencing modes of matter), one can re-identify with the soul through factual realization of the "self beyond the body".
Thus one can face the challenge of matter and become totally free from the sufferings caused by the imbalance of 'dhatus' and the resultant 'doshas'.
Lord Krishna describes this in the Gita as follows:
"One must see that birth, death, old age and disease are caused by the imbalanced doshas. To see this is called knowledge. Any other vision is ignorance."
From the perception of the body the doshas are the imbalance of the three constituents of the body, (viz., kapha, pitta and vayu) which lead one to experience disease, old age, death, and rebirth.
But from the perception of the soul, the three imbalanced doshas are the modes of nature, viz., sattva, rajas and tamas, which are the productive cause of the cycle of samsara, repeated birth and death.
Understanding that the root cause of diseases is the imbalance of doshas is 'knowledge of life", "Ayur-Veda"; and to understand how the pure life force, the "chaitanya", has been conditioned by the doshas of the three modes of nature, is called "Vedanta", or "the conclusion of knowledge (of life force)".
The purpose of this treatise is to harmonize by linking the "knowledge of life" with the "conclusion of knowledge of life force" - thus we have the "Ayurveda-Vedanta".
In the contemporary times, it is Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who has elaborately presented this vision, or "darshanam", of "Ayurveda-Vedanta". He is the great Kaviraja (physician) of modern times, presenting the perfect medicinal arishtam to balance the three doshas of sattva, rajas and tamas.
He has instructed that by taking the ten medicinal "roots", the "dasha mula" of Srimad Bhagavatam (the ten subject matters discussed in that classic), we can balance the three doshas of sattva, rajas and tamas, and cure the disease of conditioned material life.
Explaining this truth, Lord Chaitanya has given His prescription, in His composition known as Sikshashtakam, which is a poetically beautiful and philosophically meaningful summary of Ayurveda-Vedanta:
"The dasha-mula of Srimad Bhagavata Purana cleanses the heart of all accumulated pollution and permanently extinguishes the great forest fire of repeated birth and death. These ten medicinal roots are like an effulgent lotus of good fortune that has been fed with the moon-beams of life. It is the eternal companion of vidya-jeevanam ('the knowledge of life', or Ayurveda). By taking this arishtam of Srimad Bhagavatam the ocean of bliss increases at every step, allowing one to relish the deathless life (amrita) of one's constitutional position. Let all souls bathe in the panacea of this immortal nectar!"
Question One: What is the position of the Sun god, who is often addressed as Surya Narayana?
There is a particular category of deva known as the 'adityas', of which there are twelve. One of these adityas becomes the sun god for a particular period of time, and then another one will take the post after him. It is just like the position of Yama. At a particular time one person will be acting as Yamaraja, and then another person will take over that function. They are all jivas; they are not vishnu-tattva; they are not Lord Narayana, but when an aditya becomes the sun god he is empowered by Lord Narayana. This is why he is known as Surya Narayana. It is similar to the case of Vyasa Muni, who is an empowered jiva. The difference between the Vyasa category of empowerment and the Surya category of empowerment is that Vyasa does not perform administration, whereas the sun god is the administrator of the universe. By the diffusion of Surya's energies of heat and light he manages the entire universe. Everything that functions and moves within the universe is empowered by his heat and light.
Surya is a very unique living entity in that the Paramatma (Supersoul) present in his heart is a different form of the Lord than the general paramatma present in the hearts of all living entities. His Paramatma is described as possessing a golden mustache, with two-hands and effulgent.
Surya is also the original teacher of the Vedas. Thus he has two functions, one in administration and one in education. He is already situated beyond liberation, and that's why he does not have a four-handed Paramatma within his heart. The four-handed Paramatma leaves the living entity when the jiva is situated constitutionally. That is the point of liberation: muktir hitvanyatha rupam sva-rupena vyavasthitih.
Question Two: How can there only be one sun in the universe?
Every object in creation has light in it due to the presence of the fire element of the pancha-bhutas. If there is fire there is also light. Thus every object emits light to some degree. An object that does not emit light cannot be seen. The moon and other heavenly bodies also emit light by borrowing from the sun. All the planets and stars are effulgent, but they aren't as effulgent as the sun, and their rays of light are not administrative rays, they are only influencing rays. The Vedic conception does not accept many suns within one universe. There are innumerable universes, each universe possessing fourteen planetary systems which are illuminated by one sun.
There are other fiery heavenly bodies, just as the sun is primarily a fiery planet. Some move in circular orbits and others move back and forth like the Dhumaketu. Though there are many fiery planets, their fire does not function as the stimulator of every other object within the universe. It is something like the traffic department's police vehicle and the vehicles of others driving in the street. The police drive on the roads to make sure that the traffic is all right, the roads are safe, etc. The other cars are only traveling for their own function; they are not doing anything for the road. Like this, the sun's functioning is administrating the universe. The sun's fire provides the energy for every object to move and expand. In addition to this the sun's control goes all the way down to the working of the elements, their movements and interaction. This is why there is a conception of the sun being the controller of everything, God. Other fiery planets have fire and are hot, but they are not controlling the elements nor administrating the universal diffusion of energy for action. Thus they are not considered as 'suns'.
The Bhagavatam states:
"In the midst of that region of outer space is the most opulent sun, the king of all the heavenly bodies that emanate heat. By the influence of its radiation, the sun heats the universe, maintains its proper order and gives light to help all living entities see."
The words tapatam patih indicate that the sun is the supreme among those heavenly bodies that produce heat. Thus it is accepted in the Vedic texts that there are other fiery planets, but they cannot compare to the Sun for the above mentioned reasons.
Question Three: What is the Aditya Hridayam?
The Aditya Hridayam is a prayer to the sun god for getting victory in the war. It is usually also chanted for getting rid of sickness and becoming free from loans.
Question Four: What is the Surya Purana?
The Surya Purana is a late compilation taking verses from other more ancient Puranas. Any text that speaks about the sun in the Puranas has been taken and joined to make this Surya Purana. In India this text is usually prominent where ever there is a sun temple. For example there is a Suryanar Koil in Tamil Nadu, and in Orissa there is the Konarak temple. In such places the Surya Purana is prominent. The most authorized texts concerning the sun are the Tejo-bindu Upanishad and the Surya Upanishad.
Why does Krishna say, "Among stars I am the moon"? The moon is certainly not a star.
Krishna states, "nakshatranam aham sashi". A common translation for nakshatra is "star", which is fine in a general sense. But we should not take the technical scientific definition of "star" and think that nakshatra refers to it. In the Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary, "star" is defined as:
"Any of the small points of light, including planets and meteors, that are seen in the sky at night."
This is the meaning that we should keep in mind when Lord Krishna says, "Among stars I am the moon." In the night sky, nothing is brighter and more effulgent than the moon. Thus that aspect of supremacy represents Lord Krishna.
Question Five: In chapter fifteen of the Gita Sri Krishna says "I am the moon which nourishes all the vegetables". This seems to be opposite to scientific evidence.
The light of the moon does have impact on vegetation, but this is not a science that has been researched sufficiently by western scientists. In Ayurveda certain plants must be grown and picked by moon light for them to be effective in curing disease. This can be tested scientifically. The modern Ayurvedic producers do not follow this method, and as a result their medicines are hardly 100th as effective as the medicines produced by the traditional method. The traditional method also requires certain bija-mantras to be chanted into the medicine for several lakhs of counts, and finally there must be worship of Dhanvantari (the incarnation of Vishnu who established Ayurveda). All of these procedures create a subtle effect on the medicine which can be visibly seen by the effect and even by taste. It is unfortunate that hardly any Ayurvedic doctors follow these scriptural rules when producing medicine, and as a result the Ayurvedic science is almost lost.

Ayurveda-vedanta: Chakras and Energy Healing

- Srimad Bhagavatam 3.21.19
"O Lord, you are one without a second, desiring to create, you create, maintain and dissolve the creation by winding up your energies. The diffusion of these energies are under the control of your secondary energy, viz., yogamaya (linking energy), just as a spider creates a cobweb by its own energy and again winds it up."
The great Yoga teacher Manu is the speaker here, explaining creation to another great Yoga practitioner, Kardama Muni. The Yoga path of ancient India clearly observed the creation to be nothing but a variety of transformation of energies, primary and secondary.
This word dvitiya refers to matter in the cosmos, and to the body in the individual. Matter is the secondary manifestation of spirit, for matter is produced from spirit. It is for this reason that the body is known as secondary energy. Even though the body is visible with seven coverings, viz., from skin to marrow, it is a conglomeration of different energies of matter both subtle and gross. These energies are the higher controlling factors of the functions of all bodily mechanism both physical and psychic. This control is activated from certain energy centers, which are known as Chakras.
The prime mover, which is the consciousness (the primary factor of energy) functions as follows:
(1) It utilizes the interaction of the three modes of nature of matter (viz., sattva - goodness, rajas - passion, and tamas - ignorance -
the secondary factor of energy)
- Patanjali Yoga-sutras 4.13
(2) via the medium of the five kinds of life airs (prana, apana, samana, vyana and udana)
(3) and finally, it makes the mechanism of the subtle body (identity, intelligence and mind) and the gross body (made up of the perceiving and working senses) work.
Thus it is consciousness which is the irreducible de facto reality out of which and by whose potency mind and matter proceed. The perceivable reality as mind and matter is merely an external transformation in the dvitiya, or secondary level of voltage of energy.
Yoga shastra confirms this:
- Patanjali Yoga-sutras 4.5
Consciousness and unconsciousness are spun in harmony in the phenomenal world. In the human species of life, this harmony is in full blossom. That makes the human body as the most evolved mechanism of matter.
The cerebrospinal system with 72,000 fine nerves is the power supply system for this complex factory of the human body, and the main switch boards are converged in Chakras, the six psychic centers.
To visualize this from the technical point of view:
1) The human body is bestowed with the sensory radar system (the mind) that receives and transmits radiant energy frequencies through the towers of sense organs (ears, eyes, nose, tongue, and skin) ["matra sparshas tu kaunteya...", Gita 2.14]
2) The spinal chord is the "in - out" canal to the central bio-computer of the human factory administration.
3) The Chakras are six interactive psychic spheres, controlled by an electro conductive "genetic" programme.
4) In alignment with the glandular system (nadis) by the network of five kinds of life airs, there exists a body of "light" ("jyotisham", Taittiriya Upanisad) within in the spinal column.
5) This psychic body of illumination has a vibrating infra structure that consists of a meta-physical field of electro-magnetic power-lines of force, anchored through the "six Chakras".
6) The ultra frequency points of this system have their monitor-screens set up in the palms, soles, solar plexus and crown.
7) Thus the controlling mechanism of DNA is only seemingly physical, the "boss" is behind the curtain, expressing presence through the "control centers", viz., the Chakras.
8) The human body is an electro magnetic battery system powered by consciousness, with a well aligned infra-structure consisting of a metabolic cellular system (the physical, gross body) accompanied by a psycho-sensory electro-magnetic circuit board (psychic, subtle body).
"The Tantra and Yoga scriptures of the ancient Indian Hindu tradition have very detailed and scientific knowledge about the Chakras." (Sir John Woodroffe - "Shakti and Shakta", page 25)
Following the Vedic tradition of India, the Tantra conceives of creation in terms of several planes of existence, from the Plane of Bliss at the summit to the Plane of Physical Matter below; each plane to fit a manifestation of its own psychological Principle. Since both the body of universe and the body of individual (especially in the case of the fully evolved human form) have the same ingredients, one can see the physical body of humans as a mini reproduction of the universe. The only difference is that the matter is of varied multi-dimensional potencies when it manifests as the universal body. The various grades of fully evolved human species have in the designs of their bodies limitations to deal with various dimensions of matter, fitting to where they are situated. In the meantime, the consciousness of the individual has the same potential within all of these bodies. By the process of detachment through meditation, even in a lower dimensional body one can achieve the perfection of dealing with higher dimensions. This is how a martial art master becomes a higher human being with apparently superhuman powers.
The ancient Tantra scriptures define these higher states of consciousness:
"There are in the being of man certain 'nodii' (not to be mistaken with the ayurvedic 'nadi') which are so to say centers connecting him with the universal planes of existence; and when properly tapped they open up in one's being their respective planes and the powers that are characteristic of the principles governing those planes. These are called Centres or Chakras in the Indian Yogic system" (page 433, in "Shakti and Shakta" by Sir John Woodroffe)
The cerebral control room, Sahasrara is sometimes seen as the seventh Chakra.
Apart from these main energy centers there are many branch transformers within the body, totally numbering 108, known as marma sthaanas (secret centers of energy). The traditional martial arts schools like Kalari of Kerala and Silambu of Tamil Nadu teach about these energy centers in their anatomy training.
Certain commentaries on Tantra and Yoga see the number of Chakras in sets of 12 and 18, 36 and 72, or 54 and 108 depending upon which area of psychic control they are trying to explain.
Table of Chakras

Chakra Muladhara Svadhisthana Manipuraka Anahata Visudhhi Ajna

Place in Body Spine Base Genitals Navel Chest Throatpit Eyebrow Centre

Tattva Earth Water Fire Air Ether Mahat (Three Gunas)

Colour Gold, Yellow Gold, Blue Gold Gold, Green Gold, Purple Blue, Camphor

Sense Smell Taste Sight Touch Sound Multi Vision

Aspects Nutrition, Reproduction Reproduction Ego, Sight Balance Knowledge Realization

Chakras - Bija Mantras
Muladhara - vam, sham, Sham, sam
Svadhisthana - bam, bham, mam, yam, ram, lam
Manipuraka - Dam, Dham, Nam, tam, tham, dam, dham, nam, pam, pham
Anahata - kam, kham, gam, gham, Nam, cam, cham, jam, jham, Nyam, Tam, Tham
Visudhhi - am, aam, im, iim, um, uum, rim, reem, lri, lreem, em, aim, om, aum, am, aham
Ajna - ham, ksham
The chakras are visualized as flowers with different numbers of petals:
1) Muladhara - 4 petals
2) Svadhistana - 6 petals
3) Manipuraka - 10 petals
4) Anahata - 12 petals
5) Vishuddhi - 16 petals
6) Ajna - 2 petals
The life airs of the body flow through certain channels known as "nadis". The term nadi comes from the root word "nad" which means movement. These are different from nerves, veins or any other pathways which are known to medical sciences. It is the number of configuration of these nadis that makes the petals of the Chakra-flowers.
Each of the petals is manifested from a syllable of sound, called "varna" representing the superior control (adhi-daiva) or the deity at that Chakra. These varnas are fifty in total, and they are the seed-letters (bija-aksharas) of all that is there in Mantra or Speech. (Refer table above.)
"The sound that a particular bija akshara represents is the sound-body of that controlling deity of the Chakra." (M.P. Pundit, "Lights on Tantra", page 15)
The different paraphernalia that is associated with the worship of these adhi-daiva deities are also manifested by the nature (especially the ingredients of worship that come from the plant kingdom) from the same seed-letters. Because of this, the syllables that form the name of the ingredient are invariably the same as the seed-syllables which are the sound form of the particular deity of the Chakra.
Varna also means color, it is the author's personal experience in the research of Pancaratric Upasana that the colors of the Chakras and the colors of the ingredients of worship also tally.
The root word of the term Yoga is "yuj" meaning, "to link". Realization of one's constitutional nature through Yoga and Tantra brings release from the captivity of one's lower nature. The lower nature spans from aquatic to animalistic, ("Jatyantaraparinama prakrityapurat" - Patanjali Yoga-sutras 4.2) and it causes conditioning of consciousness, limiting one's perceiving power through the secondary energy, viz., material. In these computer chip days of mechanistic life, it is a boon to utilize this ancient technology to establish peace and harmony within us, which can subsequently make us accomplish peace and harmony in the world around us.
The Yoga scriptures advise us to transcend the lower platform of existence by unifying it with the primary platform. This will actually save us from external distractions and conflicts, and help us to explore all our latent potentials. With this harmonization of primary and secondary energies, much can transpire in Yoga practice. The following is a small list of some of the beneficial results:
a) Purification and cleansing of the various physical layers.
b) Cleansing of old, subconscious stress, impressions, and mental states.
c) Balancing of excessive, deficient or improper use of energies.
d) Proper utilization of inherent habits and practices, etc.
e) Help in expressing ourselves better in every function, from digestion, to dreams, up to physical and mental health. Better power for digestion, calm and peaceful sleep, and a disease-free body with an agitation-free mind.
"Sadhana (practice of yoga) opens up the six centers of the subtle nervous system and by the opening one escapes from the limitations of the surface consciousness bound to the gross body and great ranges of experiences proper to the subliminal self, mental, vital subtle physical are shown to the sadhaka (yoga practitioner)." (Sri Aurobindo - "Letters", First Series, Page 226)
These results can be accomplished in different degrees of intensity, and there are much more than one method prescribed in the ancient practice of Yoga. One such prescribed method is healing with herbs.
- Patanjali Yoga-sutras 4.1
"Either by birth, by the use of herbs, by sound vibration or by absorption one can attain perfection (in yoga)."
Healing again does not mean curing a virus, bacteria or unwanted growth. Healing actually means to harmonize our potential energies.
- Patanjali Yoga-sutras 2.49-50
"One must practice control of the breath by stopping the motions of inhalation and exhalation. The breath may be stopped externally, or internally, or in mid motion, and regulated according to place, time and a fixed number of moments, so that the stoppage is either protracted or brief."
By proper and simple regulation of breath, (known as prana yama - breath regulation) if one could engage the olfactory sense by treatment with the smell from different parts of plants, like roots, barks, branches, flowers, fruits, peels and seeds, one could attain the same result of healing that is accomplished through the complex systems of yoga practice. (Refer to our explanation on the petals and seed letters of the Chakras.) Among these, flowers are considered as the most essential energy harmonizers.
Hard to believe? Well, let's analyze the power of flowers from a different angle of Vedic view namely "Upasana Yoga", or the linking process by worship. (From the discussion between Agastya and his disciples, found in Skanda Purana Upakhyana, Pushpa-khanda):
When the moon planet enters in the eighth house in one's birth constellation, it is known as Chandra ashtama according to Vedic astrology. This occurs for two and a quarter of days every month for a person. It is a real trial period where one becomes intolerant, too sensuous, jealous, and suffers low resistance in the physic and psychic.
There are three kinds of Chandra ashtamas namely Sadhaka, Maitra, and Parama Maitra.
1) Sadhaka Chandra ashtama: considered as a dangerously bad period of time, in which one may even die. The Rishis of yore have prescribed that if one worships with a garland of small grass tied with Chemparuthi and Jasmine flowers he can counteract the negative influence. With the protection from these flowers one could even transform the influence into an extreme auspicious one for sex and fame, financial prudence and clearance of debts.
2) Maitra Chandra ashtama: causes one to make wrong decisions, contracts and agreements, and physical failure of organs may occur. It brings infamy and unaccomplishment. The Rishis prescribed worship with a garland of Champangi, Shenpaga and Tulasi as the solution.
3) Parama Maitra Chandra ashtama: causes a misconceptions about one's own capacity of output, and over-confidence that results in big failures. Worship with Maruvu Malli and Tavanam flowers is prescribed to counteract the negative influence and attain success.
In the Puranas there is specifications of suitable flowers for different days of the week:
1) Monday: Lilly and Jasmine (for family union)
2) Tuesday: Arali, Champangi (for safety, protection from accidents)
3) Wednesday: Pavizha malli (for memory power)
4) Thursday: Chamandhi (for success in finance)
5) Friday: Ramabhana (Picchi) white and red (for conception)
They also provide specifications according to the constellations:
Aswini - Sunflower (for success in business)
Mrgasira - Drumstick flower (for purchase of vehicles)
Hastha - Thazhamboo flower (for purchase of gold and courting date)
Anusha - Mangoe flower (for dealing with iron or steel, printing, machines, ships)
Thiruvonam - Pavizhamali flower - (for travel, going abroad)
Avittam - Agaththi flower - (for a safe journey, and to escape from accidents)
Poosam - Chamandhi flower - (for medical treatment/surgery)
Punarpoosam - same as for Poosam
In general, uses of the flowers are classified as follows:
Neem flower for freedom from loans; Magizham flower for freedom from black magic; Shenbagam for good food; Arali for buying property; white lotus for shortage of garments; Asoka for matrimony in this way the list goes on.
The scientific basis for these traditions is the touch and smell of the flowers (apart from the adhidaivika - supernatural influence coming from the worship) that harmonize the Chakras, which have been imbalanced due to the influence of the moon planet.
As the Chakras have their connections with the five great elements of matter, the association of flowers through the sense power of smell (the earth element) combined with touch (the air element) and sight (the fire element) bring into effect a wonderful tally of the trial balance of one's energy account.
In the Ayurveda it is said:
- Caraka-samhita 4.2.4
The semen that passes into the ovary is constituted of equal parts of air, fire, water and earth. The ether becomes mixed with it in the ovary. The semen is the product of six kinds of fluids (rasas).
Thus the fetus of the body is a veritable combination of the five elements. And the world that it perceives is a display of the sense objects, which are the subtle form of these five elements.
The analytical study of the elements and the sense objects is known as Sankhya in the ancient books. There we find in the Puranas (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.26.48-49):
"The sense, whose object of perception is odor, the distinctive characteristic of earth is smell."
"Since the cause exists in its effect as well, the characteristics of the former are observed in the latter. Thus the peculiarities of all the elements exist in the earth alone."
Sound is the cause of ether, ether is the cause of air, air is the cause of fire, fire is the cause of water, and water is the cause of earth. In the ether there is only sound, in the air there are sound and touch, in the fire there are sound, touch and form; in the water there are sound, touch, form and taste; finally in the earth there are all of these qualities and the quality of smell as well.
The Sankhya system of philosophy explains how each element telescopes out from the previous element. The first physical or gross element is the ether. Within the ether all the other four gross elements are present (earth, water, fire and air) in a subtle form. The subtle quality of ether is sound, and from the sound expands the air. The subtle quality of air is touch (movement), and from the touch expands the fire. The subtle quality of fire is sight, and from the sight expands the water. The subtle quality of water is taste, and from the taste expands the earth. And finally, the subtle quality of earth, the last of the physical elements, is smell.
Thus you have a telescoping effect of the elements and their subtle qualities beginning from ether down to earth. Since each element is manifesting from the previous, each new element contains all of the qualities of the previous elements. The ether element, being the first, only possesses the quality of sound. One cannot touch, see, taste or smell ether. The air element, having expanded from the ether, possesses both the qualities of sound and touch. One can feel and hear the movements of air, but one cannot see, taste or smell the air. The fire element's added quality is sight. Thus one can see, touch and hear the fire, but one cannot taste or smell fire. The water, having expanded from the fire, can be heard, felt, seen and tasted, but not smelt. Earth, being the final element, contains all the five qualities of sound, touch, sight, taste and finally smell. This is the natural sequence of manifestation of gross matter, and it is within the earth that all of these qualities manifest in full.
The plant kingdom deposits in their flowers a wonderful amount of these essential nectar aspects, extracting them from the earth, which is the repository of all the sense objects.
The Srimad Bhagavatam (3.26.44-45) explains:
"Due to the interaction of water with the taste perception, the subtle element odor evolves under superior arrangement. Thence the earth and the olfactory sense, by which one can variously experience the aroma of the earth, become manifest."
"Odor, although one, becomes many - as mixed, punchy, fragrant, mild, strong and so on - according to the proportions of associated elements."
Bad odors are perceived from filth, waste and pollution of air; healing scents are perceived from camphor, menthol and similar products; pungent smells are perceived from garlic, onions, etc.; and acidic smells are perceived from turmeric and similar substances.
The nature, from one single original aroma that emanates from the earth element, arranges for a variety of exhibition of various useful and healing smells through the auspices of the plant kingdom.
In the Bhagavad-gita (15.3) it is stated:
"I enter each planet, and by my energy they stay in their orbits, I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all herbs"
The moon nourishes the plant kingdom. The moon influences the tides of the ocean (which is the cosmic mental substance) and thereby provides a supply of water that is transformable to pure, non-salty taste by evaporation to make rain clouds. This is why the association of flowers can counteract the influence of the moon in the eighth house.
In summary, one could postulate that all stress and disease is a result of a lack of equilibrium between the levels of energies of the body and the life force, the consciousness.
The consciousness is the Managing Director of the whole network of psychic and physical departments of our existence. Distortion of this administration due to conditioning by external elements is the real problem facing us.
Re-alignment of this administration allows the vital forces to interact freely, and the nature has kept within the plant kingdom the nectarine powers for this re-alignment.
By this powerful method of treatment (utilizing the sight, touch and smell of flowers) the Chakras are "balanced". This is the minimum effect; but one may even attain to mystic visions, or even a log-on to cosmic consciousness once the Chakras are balanced.
The nadis, or the expressways of energy transmission in the body can be fully cleansed and the traffic jams of work stress there are cleared, allowing the consciousness to drive in bliss!
No wonder, why the Holy book of India, Bhagavad-gita (7.9) describes the Divine as "smell":
"I am the original fragrance of the earth."
It is for this reason that flowers (and incense) play such an essential part in the worship (puja) of the Lord. No worship is complete without offering flowers to the Lord; and the devotee, after offering the flowers, smells their fragrance, thereby automatically balancing various levels of energy within his body. Just see how the Ayurveda, Vedanta, and Agamas are all naturally harmonized within our daily activities. With this in mind, let us worship the Lord and smell our way to health, happiness and peace!








 
_{(My humble salutations to  Atmatattva dasa  and grateful to Hinduism com  for the collection)}