Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 6

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

Ayurveda
Ayurveda is an ancient system of healing which reveals the importance of the integration and
balance of the body-mind-spirit and of living harmoniously both within ones immediate
environment and the universe at large.
At its core, Ayurveda is focused on spiritual advancement of the individual, emphasizing the
health of the body so that it may become a sound vehicle for the mind and likewise, the health
of the mind, so that it may serve as a clear channel for Consciousness or Spirit.
Susruta, famous for his Ayurvedic treatise Susruta-Samhita, defined a healthy person as: The
one who is established in Self, who has balanced doshas (vata, pitta, kapha), balanced agni
(digestive fire), properly formed dhatus (bodily tissues), proper elimination of malas (bodily
wastes), properly functioning bodily processes and whose mind, soul and senses are full of bliss
is called a healthy person.
Like Jyotish, Ayurveda acknowledges the uniqueness of each individual and, therefore, health
regiments are customized to address the individuals specific constitutional needs. Such health
regimens may include dietary recommendations, herbal and/or aromatherapy remedies, yogic
exercise, pranayama, meditative practices, color therapy and spiritual worship.
The Rg Veda and Arthava Veda: Like Jyotish, the first written reference to cures for ailments
and treatment of disease is found in the Rg Veda. In his book The Arthava-Veda and The
Ayur-Veda, Dr. V.W. Karambelkar states:
Vedic literature in general refers to a number of things which directly or indirectly constitute
ancient medical tradition. Thus the Rg Veda refers to poison germs and their killing (I.191.1-16);

1/6

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

removal of various yaksmas or diseases (X.163.1-6); curing of heart disease by the rays of the
Sun (I.50.11-13); water as medicine (X.137.6), I.23.19); herbs as medicine (X.97.1-23)
Dr. V.W. Karambelkar goes on to quote Charaka as to the importance of the Arthava Veda:
A physician should be particularly attached to the Arthava Veda for that Veda deals with the
treatment of diseases (Chikitsa) by advising propitiatory rites (Svastyayana), offerings (Bali),
auspicious oblations (Mangala homa), penances (Niyama), purificatory rites (Prayaschhitta),
fasting (Upavasa) and incantations.
In fact, in the Arthava Veda the planets are invoked and propitiated in order to receive
blessings, fortune and good health.
The Ashtangas: Overtime, Ayurveda developed into eight distinct branches, or disciplines,
known as Ashtangas (astha means eight; anga means parts). The Ashtangas of Ayurveda
are:
1. Kaya Chikitsa: Internal medicine
2. Shalya Chikitsa: Surgery
3. Kaumarabhrtyam: Paediatrics
4. Salakyam: Treatment of diseases above the clavicle
5. Bhuta Vidya: Psychiatry
6. Agadatantram: Toxicology
7. Rasayana: Prevention of diseases and rejuvenation
8. Vajikaranam: Aphrodisiacs and progeny
Of the above eight disciplines, Kaya Chikitsa (treatment of the whole body) and Shalya
Chikitsa (treatment of foreign bodies through surgery) received more focus and attention and,
therefore, are now the most prominent and authoritative works on Ayurveda.
Ayurvedas Sampradaya: Each Vedic science has as its sampradaya (lineage of wisdom)
whose genesis originates with a particular Lord or Goddess. Although the sampradaya of
Ayurveda varies somewhat by source, all identify Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe, as
its originator. It is said that Lord Brahma passed on the knowledge of Ayurveda in the form of a
hundred thousand verse hymn to Sage Prajapati Daksa, a son born from Lord Brahmas right
thumb.
Sage Prajapati Daksa, in turn, taught Ayurveda to the Aswhini Kumars (horse-headed twins),
born of the union between Surya (the Sun) and his wife Sanjna (Consciousness), whose story
is told below. In time, this divine science made its way to Rishi Agnivesh who was the first to
script the knowledge of Ayurveda in his text, Agnivesh Tantra. Eventually a student of Rishi
Agnivesh, Sage Charak, made revisions and amendments to the text, which hence forth
became known as the Charak Samhita and is today the primary treaty on Kaya Chikitsa, or
internal medicine.
The Aswhini Kumars: The following is the story of the Aswhini Kumars, the celestial
physicians, who became famous not only for their knowledge of Ayurveda but also of Jyotish.

2/6

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

Surya (the Sun) was married to Sanjna, the daughter of Vishvakarman, the Cosmic Architect.
Together Surya and Sanjna conceived three children Vaivaswat Manu (the ruler of the current
manvantara period of 306 million years) and the twins Yama (God of Death) and Yami (Yamas
sister).
Despite Sanjnas extreme love and devotion to Surya, she found Suryas intense heat and
brightness unbearable and eventually decided to leave him for a period of time. So that Surya
would not notice her absence, Sanjna created her identical twin Chhaya (Shade) to take her
place and look after her three children. Before departing, Sanjna insisted that Chhaya promise
never to reveal to Surya her true nature.
Sanjna then left for her fathers house to inform him of her decision to leave her husband. Upon
hearing her daughters plans, Vishwakarma begged her to return to Surya and her family.
Refusing to do so, Sanjna took the form of a mare and ran off into the forest to live a life of
recluse.
In the meantime, Surya lived happily with Chhaya, who eventually bore him three children
Shani (the planet Saturn), Savami Manu and Tapati. As time passed, Yama began to notice that
Chhaya increasingly showed favoritism towards Shani, Savami Manu and Tapati over him and
his siblings. One day, in a fit of hurt and anger, Yama threatened to kick Chhaya for her
partiality. Outraged, Chhaya immediately placed a cursed on Yama that he would lose his foot.
Yama went straight to his father to complain about Chhaya. How can this be, thought Surya,
that a mother would show partiality amongst her own children and place a curse on one of
them? Confronted by Surya, Chhaya broke down and confessed, explaining how Sanjna had
left and begged her to remain in her place.
Upon hearing this, Surya became furious and left for Vishwakarmas home. Once there,
Vishwakarma explained to Surya that his heat was too intense for his daughter to bear and that
she had left to live in the forest by herself. Out of love for Surya, Vishwakarma offered to shave
off some of Suryas excessive brightness, which Surya eventually agreed to. [Vishwakarma
used the shaved pieces to craft the many weapons and articles that are found in the hands of
the Lords and Goddesses.]
Surya, in his new, less intense form, immediately left in search of Sanjna. Realizing that Sanjna
had turned herself into a mare, he took the form of a stallion. Upon finding Sanjna, Surya
approached her with love and devotion. Sanjna immediately recognized Surya and, as they
embraced, they exchanged breaths through the nostrils. From this exchange of prana, Sanjna
gave birth to the Aswhini Kumars.
As mentioned in the previous section, in time, Sage Prajapati Daksa taught the Aswhini Kumars
the secrets of Ayurveda. They used this knowledge to heal the Gods and Devas and eventually
become known as the Celestial Physicians.
The Rg Veda speaks of the Aswhini Kumars as lords of one hundred powers and tells of their
many healing abilities:

3/6

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

you (Aswhini Kumars) restore the realized sages and arrange for the healing of their
wounds you restore eyes of an employee, giving light to the blind so that he might see you
cure maimed and invalids you restore to life a virtuous person seriously wounded at several
places 1.117 Rg Veda.
There are many noteworthy metaphors in the above story which find application in Jyotish.
Firstly, as the Healers of the universe, the Aswhini Kumars are born of the union between the
Sun and his wife. As a result, the Sun is the significator for the medical and healing professions.
If prominently placed in kendras (1H-4H-7H-10H), the Sun may indicate a medical physician
(especially if Saturn and Mars the planets of technical skills are also in kendras) or a healer,
particularly if Jupiter, the humanistic planet of compassion and intuition and the planet
representing knowledge associated with a lineage (i.e. Ayurveda, Reiki, etc.), is in a kendra.
Note that the Aswhini Kumars were birthed through Sanjnas nostrils after an exchange of
breaths between Surya and Sanjna and, as such, is suggestive of the twins rulership over the
inhalation and exhalation of the breath. This also alerts us to one of the most fundamental
principles of Ayurveda, the importance of the breath, or prana, and its ability to support a state
of health and well-being when steady, focused and paced. This simple principle is the bases for
the in-depth science of pranayama, a yogic practice which heals on the physical,
mental-emotional and spiritual levels. Interestingly, in ancient Vedic literature the horse was a
metaphor for prana!
Then we have the nakshatra of Aswhini, named after the Aswhini Kumars, and the first of the 27
Nakshatras (lunar constellations). When critical planets (Ascendant, Moon, Sun, 1HL, 10HL,
6HL) are positioned in Aswhini, the person is likely to have a strong interest in the healing fields
and are often students or practioners of Ayurveda.
In the story, we also learn about Vishwakarmas (sometimes referred to as Twashtar) ability to
reengineer, or redesign, Surya by shaving off some of his brightness. Vishwakarma is the divine
architect and cosmic craftsmen of the universe, responsible for the architectural design (i.e.
stellar positioning of the luminaries and planets) of our solar system. Vishwakarma rules over
Chitra, a nakshatra which tends to be prominent in the charts of artists, craftsmen and
engineers.
Another interesting side to the Aswhini Kumar story is that Sanjna, the Suns wife, found it
necessary to leave him due to his heat and brightness. This alerts us to the fact that the Sun,
although noble and compassionate, has the ability to blind and overshadow others through his
brilliancy. In Jyotish, we look to the house placement of the Sun to see those relationships
which may have elements of intensity, power struggles or control issues, especially if the Sun is
strong in the chart (exalted, swa, dig bala). And, just as with Sanjna, who felt it necessary to
leave her husband, the Sun has the ability to separate us from the people represented by his
house placement in the birth chart.
As is hopefully evident, it is the ancient stories of the Vedas, Puranas and Epics that enlighten
us to the nature and more subtle meanings of the Navagrahas (nine planets).

4/6

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

The Churning of the Ocean


Another important lord connected with Ayurveda is Lord Dhanvantri, an incarnation of Lord
Vishnu. It is said that Lord Vishnu incarnates as Lord Dhanvantari to reestablish the wisdom of
Ayurveda when the world is filled with sickness and disease. Lord Dhanvantari first appeared
during the churning of the great white ocean, as retold below. As you will see, it was also during
the churning of the ocean that Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the Moon, came to be.
The Churning of the Ocean: There came a time in the world in which the power of the demons
had become so great that the devas decided to approach Lord Vishnu for his advice. Lord
Vishnu told the devas that they must uncover the vessel of amrita (the nectar of immortality)
which lies at the bottom of the celestial ocean of milk, by churning the great white ocean. The
consumption of amrita, said Lord Vishnu, would make them immortal, while the demons would
continue to die and eventually become extinct.
So the devas devised a grand plan to retrieve the vessel of amrita. In order to assist the devas
in their scheme, Lord Vishnu assumed the incarnation of Kurma, a giant tortoise. In this form, he
firmly placed himself at the bottom of the ocean. The devas then placed a high mountain,
Mandarachala, on his back which prevented the mountain from sinking into the ocean. Lastly,
they wrapped the snake Vasuki around the mountain to use as a rope for churning the ocean.
Tricking the demons into assisting them by agreeing to share the amrita, all the devas lined up
on one side holding Vasukis tail, while all the demons lined up on the opposite side and held
Vasukis head and neck. They then began in earnest to churn the ocean.

To everyones surprise and alarm, the first thing that appeared out of the ocean was a deadly
blue posion (hala hala) capable of destroying all the worlds. Lord Shiva graciously came
forward and swallowed the posion. However, it left his neck permanently blue and, to this day,
many refer to Lord Shiva as Neelakantha, the Blue-Throated Lord. After Lord Shiva drank the
posion, many wonderful treasures began to emerge from the oceans depth. Among such gifts
were Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow, who was given to the seven Rishis (Saptarishis);
Varuni, the goddess of wine, whom the demons claimed; Rambha, the heavenly dancer, who
went to live with the celestial singers in heaven and Chandra, the Moon, who was presented to
Lord Shiva to adorn the top of his head in appreciation for his consumption of the poison.

5/6

Chapter 1: Historical Context; Part II - Ayurveda

Finally, Lord Dhanvantri appeared, dressed in golden garments and carrying a bundle of herbs,
the treatise of Ayurveda, a leech (used in Ayurveda to detox the blood) and the vessel of amrita.
Lord Dhanvantri handed the amrita to the devas for consumption.

In order to distract the demons while the devas partook of the amrita, Lord Vishnu assumed the
form of a beautiful enchanting woman named Mohini. As the devas began to drink the nectar, a
demon by the name of Rahu disguised himself as a deva and sat amongst the other devas
awaiting his share. The Sun and Moon spotted Rahu and immediately notified Lord Vishnu, who
took his chakra (disc) and threw it at Rahu, cutting him in half. Unfortunately, Rahu had already
sipped from the vessel of amrita, thereby making him immortal. Having been cut in two, the
head of the demon became known as Rahu and the tail as Ketu. From that day forward, the
Sun and Moon became the mortal enemies of Rahu, as it was they who told Lord Vishnu about
his disguise. Rahu and Ketu were eventually awarded the status of shadow grahas and their
critical role in Jyotish is discussed in a later chapter.

6/6

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi