by Sheela Rani Chunkath
In the Sutrasthana of the Ashtanga Sangraha, 160 prescriptions and proscriptions have been listed; some to do with food, drugs lifestyle etc. It is comforting to see such a list handed down to you from hundreds of years ago. These are unequivocal statements without any ifs and buts. I thought I would share a few of them with my readers. I have earlier written about some of them but they nevertheless bear repeating.
Among the oils, gingelly oil is the best for alleviating vata and kapha. I was really happy about this as I have a small wooden cold press in my farm for extracting gingelly oil. It is a treat to be around when the gingelly oil is pressed along with a little jaggery, lime and tender coconut water to moisten the seeds. The entire place smells heavenly with the nutty fragrance of sesame seeds. You can eat a little of the ground seeds, as it does taste a bit like sesame burfi! After the oil is extracted what remains is the oilseed cake which is fed to the cows and is extremely nourishing for them.
The next prescription says that ghee is the best for alleviating vata and pitta. When I was in Chennai I made quite a search for certified organic ghee produced from butter of grass-fed cows. I could not find certified organic ghee or pure cow’s butter. But in the United States I was able to buy such an organic ghee made by an American who makes the ghee only during the waxing phase of the moon considered the shukla or auspicious phase of the moon. To top it all, he plays the Maha Mritunjaya mantra during the production of the ghee. The ghee lived up to its billing being both flavourful and aromatic.
I did have a moment of disquiet considering how yoga and now ghee had gone to the West. I wonder why we as a nation refuse to acknowledge our healing traditions. This overwhelming need to see 'scientific papers' with double-blind trials seems quite unwarranted. There is insufficient monetary incentive to test broad spectrum effects of non-proprietary ayurvedic preparations. Why would a pharma company spend millions of dollars on research where the results cannot be patented?
And now for the next prescription. Honey is the best for alleviating kapha and pitta. According to ayurveda, the best honey is that which is unprocessed and raw. It was so easy to find unprocessed honey collected from wild flowers here in the USA. I have to make special efforts to source raw unprocessed honey in Chennai. I have to buy it straight from an apiary in Madurai as most of the labels are misleading. Since we do not have adequate policing of claims made by companies on the product labels, one is often unsure of what one is getting. The honey available in the market is heavily processed and is not what ayurvedic vaidyars would prescribe. Organic, raw and unprocessed are all claims made by some unscrupulous retailers. This is an area which requires more attention. The recent 'Maggi' noodles scandal proved that food safety is still not accorded the attention warranted and food labeling even less so.
So with these three prescriptions given above one can incorporate one or more of these common ingredients daily depending on one's constitution. So if your body constitution is vata-kapha, i.e. you have aches and pains and are also susceptible to cold and coughs, use gingelly oil. Ghee is the best for those who have a vata-pitta constitution. This is characterised by some aches and pains and also burning sensation in the stomach, hot flushes etc. Honey is to be taken by those who often get a cold or cough, have severe phlegm problem which is accompanied by burning sensation in the stomach, feet etc. Honey is most suited for those with a kapha-pitta constitution.
My sojourn to Boston is almost over. I see more of an interest in Ayurveda here than I did earlier. Maybe we will not have to wait too long for an International Ayurveda Day
--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/