by Sheela Rani Chunkath
Life expectancies are slowly going up. And with it comes the issues of handling old age and it's attendant problems. From bedsores to breathing difficulties, from dementia to Alzheimer's. How is one to deal with it?
Jara Chikitsa, one of the eight branches of Ayurveda deals with geriatrics and rejuvenation. Charaka (and I love him for it) says that what is inevitable in old age is wrinkles! Disease and suffering can be averted and need not be taken as something that old age necessarily brings. Keeping this in mind our Acharyas had a separate branch of geriatrics dealing with Rasayana. Anti-aging therapy is divided into Kutipravesika and Vatatapika. The first one is rather long and tedious and has to be done only in a clinical setting. The second type of therapy can be administered anywhere. Both therapies are dealt with in Charaka's Chikitsasthana. According to Charaka, a person undergoing rejuvenation therapy gains deergha ayush meaning long life; smriti - good memory; medha - intelligence; arogya - good health; taruna - youth; vayaha - long life; prabha - an aura or lustre in his being; varna - good skin complexion; swara - good voice; dehabala - physical strength; indriya bala - strong sense organs; vak shakti - good oration skills; pranati and kanti - respect and brilliance.
Rasa is the end product of digestion. Rasayana therapy ensures that one gets the maximum utilisation from the end product of digestion or Rasa. Chyavana Prasha is one of the main Rasayana formulations given n the Rasayana chapter and can be taken by all who are not diabetic.
A reading of the chapter will make it clear that the the triphala fruits, pippali, iron, honey, ghee, vidanga (Embelia ribes), silajithu, yashtimadhu (Glycirrhizha glabra), mandukaparani (Centella asiatica), guduchi (Tinaspora cordifolia), shankupushpi (Clitoria ternatea) are among the top Rasayana drugs.
My favourite Rasayana therapies from among the many given in the chapter are the following. Along with honey and ghee one should eat one Terminalia chebula (early in the morning), provided the previous night's meal is well digested, two Terminalia bellerica before food and four Emblica officinalis after food. By this practice Charaka says a person lives for a 100 years free from old age and disease. From among the many recipes and ideas propounded in the chapter this to me seems eminently doable.
Another recipe involving triphala reads as follows. Make a paste of triphala and apply it to a new iron vessel. Leave for 24 hours. Scrape it off and mix with a little honey and water and eat it. Once the triphala is digested take as much fat or ghee as you can digest. By using this recipe continuously for one year one can live for a 100 years free from aging and disease.
During the last few years I watched many of my loved ones depart of not only great pain but with their memory impaired and after being reduced to shells of their former selves. Maybe if these formulations had been made more widely known it would have helped them in their sunset years. Do we have to set up double blind trials before these are popularised? The government could help many old people by making the above drugs available in their hospitals and PHCs. They are not expensive, they are indigenously grown and freely available. Unfortunately there is no pharma lobby for these drugs!
The more I read from our ancient texts the more I am astounded by the indifference of government to take this knowledge to the people. While a Sanskrit week is welcome, a Triphala week would benefit our citizens more!
--- 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/