Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life

359 Pages·2006·12.65 MB·English

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First published 2006 ISBN-10 0-723
ISBN-10 0-723-43410-7
ISBN-13 978-0-7234-3410-8
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Chapter Title xi
Foreword
The two oldest extant and expounded systems of tra- My personal introduction, in 1974, was by Hari Das
ditional medicine are East Indian Traditional Medicine, Baba who may have been one of the first teachers in
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known as Ayurveda and dating back five to ten thou- the West, although Yogi Bhajan was another who
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sand years, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) informally taught Ayurveda to his followers. In 1980
whose history arguably is known to extend as much as the Maharishi, founder of Transcendental Meditation,
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5000 years into antiquity. While Western medicine began to popularise Ayurveda in the West and eventu-
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owes its origins to the Egyptian, Greek, Roman and ally incorporated a line of Ayurvedic products as I had
Arabic cultures, it has been hopelessly fragmented done previously.
several times over the last 2000 years due to the disin- Since its introduction to the West, a number of
- -
tegration of the Roman Empire, then the early sup- Ayurvedics and Westerners trained in Ayurveda have
pression by the church of any physical healing conducted clinical practice, taught, written books and
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methods, and more recently, the development of phar- developed training courses in Ayurveda. One of the
maceutical drugs. first was Robert Svoboda, then David Frawley, a
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It has been argued that Ayurveda is the basis for Westerner who took it upon himself to master Sanskrit
traditional Tibetan medicine, TCM and later Greek, and is now recognised throughout the world, includ-
Roman and Arabic (or Unani) medicines. All these tra- ing India, as one of the foremost Vedic scholars. The
ditional healing methods share a common unified West owes a great debt to the dedicated and pioneering
body-mind-spirit orientation, meaning that disease efforts of Dr. Vasant Ladd, an Indian medical doctor as
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and health are the result of the interaction of all three well as Ayurvedic doctor. Now, the Canadian, Todd
aspects of being. As well, all of them are energetic Caldecott, has created a milestone in the evolution of
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medicines based on their heating and cooling energies, Ayurveda in the West through his years of teaching
for instance, of food, herbs, diseases and constitutions. and now the authorship of this definitive book.
Just as there is a close relationship between Chinese Apart from its association with spiritual and yogic
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martial arts and related physical disciplines and practices, Ayurveda is as relevant today for all people
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there is also a throughout the world as it was when the first classic
healing relationship between the disciplines ofyoga and texts were compiled between the first and sixth cen-
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Ayurveda. Today yoga continues to grow in popularity turies. Its recommendations and prescriptions are not
as it is increasingly accepted into the mainstream of limited to any single class of people, neither to any spe-
the West. During the 1970s some of these same spiri- cific religious belief nor any particular dietary regime
tual Indian teachers bringing yoga to the West were since its origins as elucidated in the classic texts pre-
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also responsible for introducing Ayurveda. date Buddhist influence in India and include various
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Because Ayurveda was first introduced by spiritual animal parts for food and medicine.
teachers along with other intended moral practices Just as Sanskrit is considered a root language whose
such as vegetarianism, it is seen by many as a harmo- influence can be found in most of the languages of
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nious system of medical support for vegetarianism Europe, Ayurveda is known by some as ‘the mother
rather than the distinct holistic healing system that it of healing’. Because we live in a world where the
truly is. wisdom of all people and times are at once available,
xi
xii Foreword
it is possible to supplement the deficiencies of under- The author of this book has absorbed many of the
standing from one system of thought by looking dominant alternative healing systems known in the
through the prism of another. This means that seman- West and has chosen to specialise in the practice and
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tic differences aside, aspects of Ayurveda – its theory, teaching of Ayurveda. For the Western student this
principles, herbs, therapies – are to be found in all means that much of the confusion between Western
major world healing systems. herbal medicine, scientific herbalism and TCM has
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Therefore, an understanding of Ayurvedic medicine been integrated by the author and the result is a text
is bound to enhance and deepen the understanding of a that is persuasive and immediately communicable to
conventional Western medical doctor as well as a TCM the Western mind without losing the flavour and
practitioner. In fact many of the treatments and even integrity of its origin.
-
the medicines used in Ayurveda are found in Western I have known Todd Caldecott as a colleague and
medicine, such as Rauwolfia serpentina for high blood respected professional member of the American
pressure. In addition, a large number of herbs used in Herbalists Guild (AHG) and have seen him grow in
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Ayurveda are also used as part of the medical arma- stature as one of the country’s leading herbalists and
mentarium of both Western and Chinese herbalists. one who is able to bridge the divide between various
As another example, the three body types systems of traditional medicine and Western medical
(somatypes) developed by the psychologist William science. His book offers a clear and comprehensive elu-
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Sheldon (1898–1977) during the 1940s closely corre- cidation of Ayurveda that will guide the serious stu-
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sponds to one of the cornerstones of Ayurveda, called dent in acquiring the skills needed to become an
‘tridosha’. The difference is that Sheldon only described effective practitioner.
and used the body types for their psychological tem-
-
perament while Ayurveda uses them as a cornerstone Michael Tierra
guiding lifestyle, dietary and treatment modality. California, 2006
Chapter Title xiii
Preface
The genesis of the present work began in 1992 after wonderful knowledge I had learned into the frame-
I returned from my first trip to India and West Asia, work of a text that would serve as the kind of reference
where I spent a year travelling overland from Sri Lanka text I had sought a few years earlier. After the happy
to Western Turkey on only a few dollars a day. After birth of my second son in India, my family and
several months of staying in the cheapest guest houses I returned to Canada where I opened a clinical prac-
and eating at roadside stalls I unfortunately contracted tice, using my skills as a Western herbal and A¯yurvedic
a very serious case of dysentery that I only partially practitioner. I continued to work on the text, and made
recovered from when I spent a month among the a significant investment to acquire English translations
Hunza people in Northern Pakistan. Upon my return of all the classical A¯yurvedic texts available, as well as
to Canada I sought treatment for what was now a texts on Indian botany, which I digested with a vora-
chronic digestive disorder, and after undergoing a vari- cious appetite. In 1999 I relocated to Calgary, Alberta,
ety of treatments, including naturopathic and homeo- and in addition to seeing patients began to offer an
pathic medicine, finally received relief under the care introductory course in A¯yurvedic medicine at the Wild
of A¯yurvedic physician Dr T. Sukumaran. The wise Rose College of Natural Healing. In 2001 I became the
counsel given to me by the Kerala-born Dr Sukumaran Director of Clinical Herbal studies at Wild Rose College,
impressed me greatly, and incited a passion to learn all where I developed a 3-year clinical programme in
I could about A¯yurveda. Although there were some Western herbal medicine. During this time I continued
good texts available at the time, there were none to work on my text, rewriting large sections ofthe book
I found that could deepen my interest in A¯yurveda. and adding the appendices found in the current ver-
During this time I enrolled in a 3-year clinical pro- sion, and converted all the Sanskrit terms into
gramme in Western herbal medicine, and continued to Unicode-compatible diacritical format. Although the
study A¯yurveda with Dr Sukumaran as well as other present text is far from perfect, I believe that the almost
teachers. When I completed my studies in Western 10 years I have spent working on it has come close to
herbal medicine my thirst for A¯yurveda remained my original vision. It is my sincerest hope that this text
unquenched, and in 1996 I left for India with my preg- is worthy of the serious student of the divine science
nant wife and 1-year-old son where I studied at the that is A¯yurveda.
Arya Vaidya Chikitsalayam in Coimbatore, India. Here
I not only had the opportunity to study under the ven- Todd Caldecott
erable Dr V. Vasudevan, but other A¯yurvedic physicians Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2005
as well, sitting with them in clinic and in the hospital,
observing the skills they used in assessment and treat-
ment. While I was India I began to synthesise all of this
xiii
Acknowledgements
There are so many people to acknowledge: have illuminated the world with their wisdom, as well
First, I give thanks to my adoring family and loving as the holy rishis who think to benefit all humanity
friends, to whom Iam indebted for their patience, inspi- when they reveal these sacred teachings.
ration and profound love. Lastly, I give thanks to Mother Earth and the healing
Secondly, I thank the many colleagues, teachers and medicines that arise from Her body, and Great Spirit
friends that assisted me with their support, encourage- that infuses them with divine essence.
ment and wisdom, including Dr T. Sukumaran, Jaisri
Lambert, K.P. Singh Khalsa, Dr Terry Willard, Chanchal om bhais.ajye bhais.ajye maha¯bhais.ajye samudgate
Cabrera, Christopher Hansard, Dr V. Vasudevan, sva¯ha¯in divine recognition of you, the great medi-
Dr S. Kumar, Dr D. Anandakusumam, Paul Bergner, cine!
Michael Tierra, David Winston, Alan Tillotson, Madhu .
(As.t.a¯nga H.rdaya, Su¯trastha¯na, 18:17)
Bajracharya and Vinod Haritwal.
Thirdly, I give my deepest veneration to the
A¯yurvedic physicians and scholars of A¯yurveda that
xiv
Notes on transliteration
Sanskrit is a complex language that originated in note that Sanskrit contains many more sounds than
India several thousand years ago, considered by mod- does English, 49 letters in all as opposed to the 26 let-
ern scholars to be a remote cousin of the ancient ters in English, and thus this system of diacritics is
European languages, including Ancient Greek and used to represent these different sounds, some of
Latin. It evolved from an earlier language found in the which are difficult for the Western ear to detect.
R.g vedaand was refined into its present form by the In the pronunciation of Sanskrit letters there are
grammarian Pa¯n.ini in the 4th century BCE (BCE = five possible regions from which a sound can be pro-
before common era). Since then the rigid grammatical duced: (1) guttural, (2) palatal, (3) cerebral, (4) dental
structure laid out by Pa¯n.ini has represented the ‘per- and (5) labial. Guttural sounds are produced by con-
fected’ (sam.skr.ta) form of the language, as opposed stricting the throat at the back of the tongue; palatal
to the many ‘unperfected’ (pra¯kr.tas) regional soundsare produced by pressing the tongue flat against
dialects that evolved before, during and after the time the palate; cerebral soundsare produced by turning up
of Pa¯n.ini. Today Sanskrit is primarily a language of the tip of the tongue against the hard palate; dental
religion and scholarship, and like Latin is used in mod- sounds by touching the upper teeth with the tongue;
ern science, serves to standardise traditional Indian and labial soundsby pursing the lips.
knowledge into a unified whole. The present text
attempts to preserve this precedent, and uses many of
Vowels
the original Sanskrit terms found in the extant
A¯yurvedic literature. If language can be viewed as a living organism,
To best achieve a fluency in Sanskrit terms without Sanskrit considers vowels to be the life-force that awak-
requiring the reader to learn the devana¯garı¯script in ens a language and gives it meaning. In total, there are
which it is written, Western scholars use a system of 14 vowels, consisting of simple vowels (one vowel
diacritics to transliterate these terms. It is important to sound) and diphthongs (combined vowel sounds):
Vowels simple
Short (one beat) Pronounced like: Long (two beats) Pronounced like:
Guttural a ‘a’ in ‘america’ a¯ ‘a’ in ‘calm’
Palatal i ‘i’ in ‘bit’ ı¯ ‘i’ in ‘machine’
Labial u ‘u’ in ‘book’ u¯ ‘u’ in ‘rule’
Cerebral .r ‘ri’ in ‘rip’ .r¯ Along .rsound
Dental .ı ‘tle’ in ‘bottle’ .ı¯ Not used in practice
xv
xvi Notes on transliteration
Vowels : dipthongs Consonants
If vowels are viewed as the life principle of the Sanskrit
Palatal e Pronounced like ‘e’ in ‘prey’
language, consonants are its body: the ‘stuff’ that
Palatal ai Pronounced like ‘ai’ in ‘aisle’ makes up language and gives it form. Consonants can
be divided into two types: generic consonants, and an
Labial o Pronounced like ‘o’ in ‘road’ assortment of semivowels, sibilants and an aspirate.
Like the vowels, each type of consonant is classified
labial au Pronounced like ‘ow’ in ‘cow’
according to where the sound is produced (i.e. gutteral,
palatal, etc.). Where an ‘h’ follows a consonant this
In addition to the vowels described above, there are two
represents an aspirated sound, in which the consonant
special supporting vowels used in Sanskrit, called
is pronounced with a noticeable emission of breath.
visarga and anusva¯ra:
Infact, the ‘th’ and ‘ph’ sounds as they are commonly
pronounced in English are not found in Sanskrit,
visarga h. Occurs at the end of a word or although the ‘ph’ sound can be found in modern Indian
syllable, expressed as a kind of
languages influenced by non-indigenous languages
breath sound, faintly continuing the
previous vowel such as Farsi. Thus the famous A¯yurvedic medicament
triphala is pronounced ‘tri-pah-la’ in Sanskrit and
anusva¯ra m. Occurs as a nasal sound before a ‘tri-fah-la’ in the Farsi-influenced Hindi.
hard consonant, sounding like the
‘m’ in the word ‘sum’
Generic consonants
.
Guttural k ‘k’ as in ‘kite’ kh (aspirated) g ‘g’ as in ‘gum’ gh (aspirated) n ‘ng’ as in ‘finger’
Palatal c ‘c’ as in ‘chair’ ch (aspirated) j ‘j’ as in ‘jar’ jh (aspirated) ñ ‘ni’ as in ‘onion’
Cerebral t. ‘t’ as in ‘tea’ t.h (aspirated) d. ‘d’ as in ‘day’ d.h (aspirated) n. ‘n’ as in ‘fund’
Dental t As in first sound th (aspirated) d As in the first dh (aspirated) n ‘n’ as in name
of ‘thirty’ sound in ‘thus’
Labial p ‘p’ as in ‘punch’ ph (aspirated) b ‘b’ as in ‘butter’ bh (aspirated) m ‘m’ as in ‘mother’
Semivowels
Palatal y ‘y’ as in ‘young’
Cerebral r ‘r’ as in ‘real’
Dental l ‘l’ as in ‘laugh’
Labial v ‘v’ as in ‘vast’, but without pressing the upper teeth hard against the lower lip
Sibilants
Palatal ´s ‘sh’ as in ‘shut’
Cerebral s. ‘sh’ as above, but with the tip of the tongue touching the hard palate
Labial s ‘s’ as in ‘sip’
Aspirates
h ‘h’ as in ‘harmony’
Figure 2: (cid:406)malak(cid:431) fruit (Phyllanthus emblica)
Figure 1: Agnimañtha bark (Premna integrifolia)
Figure 3: Arjuna bark (Terminalia arjuna)
Figure 5: Bal(cid:407) stem and leaf (Sida cordifolia)
Figure 4: A(cid:286)vagandh(cid:407) root (Withania somnifera)