Philosophy of Healing in Ayurveda

Dr. Kapil Kapoor

The science of Indian medicine is a good example of how knowledge is an

integrated whole in the intellectual traditions. Indian medicine is also the
earliest science that puts human psychology to service in the treatment of
ailments. While major philosophical systems provide the theoretical framework
for analysis of disease, its cause and cure, the world-view enshrined in those
systems provides the governing philosophy of health and healing. It is also
interesting to note that some of those theoretical categories, Ayurveda [1] shares
with other disciplines such as Aesthetics. [2] In fact, Ayurveda and Art share
the common goal of restoring human beings to good health, moral and
physical [3]
Ayurveda is a science that enables a man to achieve a full life span. For a
happy life, good health has to be sustained and if ailments afflict the body, the
body has to be freed of them. Towards this end, this system of medicine, with
two aspects of principles and practice, has been established by sages and
seers. It has two ends (i) freedom from illness and (ii) protection of good
health through prevention. [4] Caraka and Sushruta are two celebrated
thinkers of this science, one treating medicine in his Carakasamhita and the
other dealing with surgery in his Sushrutasamhita.
The texts of science of medicine have attested history from 5 th century B.C. to
modern times and has eight parts surgery (for pain in the body), illnesses of
the throat and above (including ENT), the main body (chest, stomach, heart,
etc.), drives and obsessions (including nerves), pregnancy to child care,
poisons, constituents/elements of the body (liquids, blood, fat, flesh, bones),
energy (including reproductive functions).
Carakasamhita deals comprehensively with all the eight and is evidently a text
that has come at the end of a long tradition of thought [5]. Caraka describes
Ayurveda as the science of happy and useful life, classifies all ailments of the
body into three types (intrinsic to the body, afflictions from external sources
and those of the mind) and says that all ailments are ultimately rooted in what

he calls pragyapradha, some failure of discriminating intellect and argues that

to rid oneself of illnesses of the body and mind and to sustain good health, one
must be or become sadavrtta, a person of affirmative, morally correct
cognitions Who remains healthy? he asks and answers, One who eats in
moderation and carefully, acts with discrimination, is not in bondage of the
objects of senses, treats every one alike (samabuddhi), is truthful, is of
forgiving disposition, and always follows what the elders say. [6]

Carakas theory of medicine is wholly embedded in the six principal

daranas [7] and is founded on the shared conceptions of what constitutes
good life and what are the conditions of human happiness.
Carakas philosophy/theory of medicine is founded mainly in Smkhya-Yoga
framework, though Vaieika and Nyya are also drawn upon in the definitions
of ontological categories (such as manas). [8] The living human body, its
afflictions and their cure is the subject matter of yurveda. But this human
body in its totality is much more than just its physical substance it is also
the internal organs, their disposition and their functions. This totality is
designated by the term purua. What is a human being? What is his totality?
This has to be understood. Only then one can study what the ailments are,
what part(s) of the body they afflict, what is the nature and cause of those
afflictions and what is their cure. Of the eight sthnas, divisions of
Carakasamhit, a whole division, arirasthna, is devoted is devoted to the
human body its constitution, its parts, its conception and its growth in the
mothers womb and its sustenance after birth. The first chapter of this division
is devoted to suffering that afflicts purua, the questions of sukha-dukha and
vedan, the cause and the role of the physician.
As we noted above, this exposition is primarily based in the Smkhya-Yoga
system. Purua is defined in terms of the twenty-four Smkhya ontological
primitives the tattva. [9] This whole purua is the substratum of suffering. The
suffering is three-fold dhidaivika, dhibhautika and dhytmika, [10] or nija:
(engendered in the body), gantuka: (received in the body from outside),
manasa: (of the mind) in the Caraka framework. [11] Suffering is produced by a
marked conjunction of six factors: failure of the intellect (dhi) to discriminate,
of the faculty of restraint (dhti) to restrain, of memory (smti) in pertinent
recall, of unrighteous experience of objects of senses or experience that is

inimical for the self (astmyrtha gama). [12] Suffering, it is recognized, has as
its substratum both the self (tm) and the body (arra). [13] Mind, mana, is, of
course, the cognizer of joy and sorrow [14] regardless of where it is experienced.
Further, suffering is not located in the present alone it has a past and a
future and therefore the physician treats suffering in its three temporal
dimensions. [15]
Now cikits, Caraka says, is of two kinds symptomatic (upadh cikits) and
fundamental (naishathiki cikits). [16] The first is directed at the attributes of
the ailment and is complete when the external symptoms disappear. The
second is directed at the ultimate cause(s) of the ailment, which it seeks to
eliminate. The ultimate cure for all bodily suffering and suffering of the spirit
is stabilizing ones mind in the sattvika gua [17], freeing oneself from the
objects of senses [18], overcoming desire (t) [19]. In other words, all vedan,
suffering, ceases in the state of moka which is but the Yogic state of citta-vtti
nirodha [20] in which mind, manas, with all its vttis, tendencies of the mind, is
under complete control of the Self. Caraka defines Moka [21] as dissolution
(viyoga) of attachment (sambandha) with all that binds and, hence, torments
the Self. In the next four verses [22], he lays down the rules of conduct that help
attain this state: seek and serve the good and avoid the bad human beings; be
happy in the happiness of others; live a life of restraint and discipline niyama);
do you duty without attachment; keep evenness of mind and intellect; control
the waves, cognitions, of the mind. These values are ingrained in the ordinary,
average Indian mind, which unquestioningly accepts them and follows them in
the lived life. He sums up these rules - there is no liberation, moka, without
knowledge. This is right knowledge as it leads to liberation.
This philosophy of health and happiness has over a period of time sedimented
into the Indian mind, programmed the Indian mind as the only means of
rogya, disease-free-state. yurveda is the science that deals with life. With
what kind of life, one may ask? A life of rogya, freedom from disease, and of
good health [23], so that one is able to perform the enjoined duties and attain
the four ends of life dharma (righteousness), artha (material ends), kma
(desires) and moka (freedom of the self from all this pursuit). yurveda,
Indian medicine, is thus not concerned merely with yu, long life. It asks - why
must one live long and what kind of long life, we should aspire for? yurveda is
not concerned with ensuring long life, dirgha yu it seeks to promote, sukha
yu and hityu [24], a happy life and a useful life. Caraka defines happy life as
one:

free of bodily or mental ailments, able to do all work, endowed with

strength and with energy to do [his] duty, possessed of knowledge, able to use
and enjoy all his senses, ornamented with virtues, able to fulfil/achieve his
tasks, blessed with different sukha [25]
And hityu, useful life, is defined as the life of one:
who in all his life-time thinks of the well-being of others, considers others
wealth as tuccha, of no consequence, is possessed of acknowledged virtues,
sadgua, such as truth-telling, acts thoughtfully, respects those who are
worthy of respect, is indifferent (udasna) to others, serves, devotedly the
learned and the aged, controls his passions, is constantly involved in sharing
his knowledge, his wealth, sees all beings in his own self, accepts good
advice. [26]
Roga, disease, takes away from life both happiness (sukha) and usefulness
(hita). Hence yurveda is the science of medicine that enables cikits [27],
restoration to the pre-affliction state of the body. [28] Afflictions are of three
kinds, as we noted above, but it is the third group of ailments, mnasa vydhi,
afflictions of mind and spirit which, besides medicine, Caraka says need for
their treatment darana, philosophy.

The nature, properties and functions of manas, mind, have been established
by Caraka with exactness and thoroughness with the help of ideas drawn from
the six philosophical systems. [29] Mind is an ontological primitive and has the
function of selecting objects for cognitive focus (sakalpa/vikalpa). Mind in
this sense is the presiding sensory organ. The minds functions are identified
as:
i. grasping/cognizing the sense-object contact,
ii. self-regulation for that knowledge(under i. above),
iii. analysis of and reflection on cognitions.
After this, the intellect, buddhi, takes over. It is the intellect presided over by
the self (tm) that programs the Mind to select, control and cognize the sense
object conjunction. Mental ailments have roots in a deviant program that sets

up goals for the mind that are extreme, undesirable or inappropriate and
generate, in terms of conduct, acts that are described by Caraka as
prajpardha [30] - inordinate desire and jealousy [31], for example. What you
desire you do not get and what you dislike continues to be present and the
result is illness. Those who are sttvika of disposition, predominantly good
(sattvagua pradhana), are not prone to acts, mental or physical, that are
violative of wise intelligence. Desire and hate are so classified because they
harm the one who nurses them more than those who are their objects. As
Caraka says elsewhere [32] jealousy, grief, fear, anger, pride) and rivalry are
products of failure of true intelligence, failure to see what is bad or good for
ones self. Prajpardha are those volitive acts that are not approved by
intellect (buddhi), tolerance faculty (dhairya) and memory (smti). Caraka lists
such acts [33] that may lead to ailments as serious as paralysis - exerting
beyond ones capacity, sexual indulgence, abandoning civil behavior, insulting
those worthy of respect, indulging knowingly in wrong doings, befriending
wrong people, be susceptible to jealousy, fear, anger, greed, indulging in
despicable, disgusting deeds with ones body these are all crimes of intellect
and show complete absence of discriminating faculty (viveka buddhi).
These acts are analogous of vttis, tendencies of Mind. When a person is
afflicted by some ailments, he has to exercise control over his mind. Caraka
says:
In all ailments, the responsibility is of a physician, but in the mental ailment,
it is the patients own responsibility. A wise man keeping in mind his own
welfare, acts with great care in respect of dharma, artha and kama. It is these
three that are the cause of internal sukha or dukhaSuch a patient should
discipline himself, respect the physician and recognize the truth about himself,
the maryda or limits of his family honour and conduct, the nature of time
and place and social and economic strength (/weakness) [34]
It is advised that mental ailments can be cured or removed by cultivating
sada-vttis, the positive or righteous cognitions and attitudes. He should not
seek his own sukha alone [35]. Sadavtti is the conduct of good people
(sajjana), those who are at peace, pure, truthful and guided by righteousness
in all their acts. By following their examples, a person regains good health and
also conquers his senses. This is considered so crucial for a happy, healthy life
that Caraka declares that he is laying down in detail the sadavttis. [36] A study
of these shows that great value is put on cleanliness of the body and of mind,

generosity of spirit, kindness to others, respectful to elders, parents, teachers

and guests, restraint in speech and movement, control over senses, absence of
jealousy, worry, fear, possessed of humility, faith in God, devotion to those who
excel in learning and arts, thoughtfulness and carefulness. We have listed only
some of the properties upheld by Caraka. The whole list is a comprehensive
enumeration of what will be agreed by all is list of virtues of a pious,
goodmans life. Evidently, these sadavttis are the same as the daivisampada
elucidated in The Bhagavad Gt [37]. Four of these maitr, karu, mudita and
upek get mentioned in the Yogastra as the means of purifying the citta. [38]
The science of medicine thus recognizes the there is a deep connection
between the body and the mind and that for good health, mind must be at
peace with itself and this peace of mind is born of, to use one word, moral
cognitions and conduct. The thinking itself emanates from a world-view which
considers controls of the self as the highest conquest, and a deliverance from
the limitations of a narrow self as moka, the final state in which there is a
cessation of suffering. In making a rigorous analysis of properties and
affliction of body and mind, Caraka, the celebrated exponent of Ayurveda, not
only draws upon the major philosophical systems, the ontology of Skhya
and the epistemology of Yoga but also transforms their constructs into
practical rules of conduct that will ensure a long, happy, useful life to the
people.
References
[1] Based on this paper, a talk was given at Belfast on 11 April, 2005 to an
audience that included physicians.
[2] The categories of rasa (aesthetic experience and chemical or substance)
and anand (joy of art experience and of life), for example.
[3] In fact plays had actually been composed such as Prabodhacandrodaya
and Jivanandanam., one of them as late as 18th century, to dramatise the
whole event of falling ill and recovery and ending in joy or bliss (anand) born
of good health resulting from the cultivation of moral values.
[4] Sushrutasamhita, 1.12,

[5] It is said that Caraka, an Afghan resident of Gandhara the Kingdom ruled
by Nagnajit, was a contemporary of the great Persian King Daryus (Darius),
6th century B.C. and a teacher at the University of Taxila.
[6] CS, 4.2.46
[7] In the first chapter of the fourth division of Carakasamhit, Caraka seeks
to define sorrow and suffering, analyze their cause and their cure. Here, we
only note that the vocabulary of his discussion is the vocabulary of the six
systems
[8] Carakasamhita (henceforth, CS), 4.1.16-18
[9] CS,4.1.16-38, 63
[10] Samkhysastra
[11] CS, 1.11.45
[12] CS, 4.1.98
[13] CS, 4.1.84-85,136
[14] see, Vaisesikasastra
[15] CS, 4.1.86
[16] CS,4.1.94-97
[17] CS,4.1.94
[18] CS, 4.1.95
[19] CS, 4.1.134
[20] Yogasutra, 1.1.2
[21] CS, 4.1.142
[22] CS, 4.1.143- 146, 154

[23] It protects and promotes the health of the healthy and cures the ills of the
ailing.
[24] CS, 1.1.41
[25] CS, 1.30.23
[26] CS, 1.30.26
[27] Cikitsa is a key concept of Indian thought in grammar, philosophy,
medicine and art. The word made up of the prefix ci- and the verb root kit
followed by the -sa affix means to systematically act almost as an act of
devotion to restore or cure or elevate/purify.
[28] CS, 1.16.34
[29] CS, 1.8.4,5,12; 4.1.18-23
[30] CS, 4.1.21
[31] CS, 4.1.102
[32] CS,1.7.52
[33] CS, 4.1.103
[34] CS, 1.1.46
[35] CS 1.8.26
[36] CS 1.8.18-25
[37] Bhagavadgita, 16.1-3
[38] Yogasutra, 1.33
- See more at: http://www.pragyata.com/mag/philosophy-of-healing-inayurveda-210#sthash.djczMkwq.dpuf