Ayurveda Needs Government Support

by Sheela Rani Chunkath

I am a vegetarian and do not like the taste of non-vegetarian food. However if something non-vegetarian is prescribed by an Ayurvedic vaidyar I try to see if I can overcome my dislike and take it for the length prescribed albeit reluctantly. Contrary to popular belief all Ayurvedic preparations are not purely herbal. There are preparations made of herbs, minerals, animals and animal products.

India is a signatory to the CITES convention (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora). The convention was signed by India in 1976. The idea behind CITES is to protect endangered plants and animals and to ensure that international trade in these species do not take place. The signing of the CITES convention is voluntary and subject to that country's laws and regulations. US President Donald Trump announced that the US would cease all participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, stating that since it puts the US at a disadvantage and that his stance was in accordance with his America First policy. While not going into the rights or wrongs of the Trump policy, I wonder why India must slavishly follow every Western initiative and convention.

Many animal exudates and plants were used in Ayurvedic medicine and are very powerful in combating difficult to cure disease conditions. What happens to the deer horns that are shed in the wild or those that become available after the animal is dead? I get curious answers from the authorities, 'It is burnt, say some'. 'It is kept in godowns say others'. And the demand for deer horns keeps increasing. The spotted deer or chital multiplies quite fast and I definitely wouldn’t call it an endangered species. So why is not the horn of the animal auctioned to internal consumers at least. Shringa bhasma prepared from deer horn is used in the Ayurvedic treatment of heartburn, gastric pain, abdominal colic, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in cases of resistant TB, bronchitis, severe cold, cough, etc., It is vata and pitta hara. Mriga Shringa bhasma is now a rare item.

I wonder why we never look into the needs of our traditional systems of medicine. Selling deer horn by appropriate authorities would not first of all according to me violate the CITES convention; next we can always deal with it as per our laws. So too is the case with almost every other animal product. Ivory, don’t even mention it. You are considered an animal hater if you say 'But can’t we use the tusks of dead elephants'. 'What do you do with it anyway?' I don’t know whether they really burn the ivory or hoard it. My interest in ivory or even ivory shavings that are got when cleaning the tusk, stems from the fact that ivory bhasma is great for stimulating hair growth. There is a reference in the text which says that gajadhanta (ivory) bhasma is so powerful that it can stimulate hair growth even in the palms of the hands. Many young friends of mine think longingly back to the days when ivory was freely available and an effective remedy for falling hair and bald patches was available in the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia.

It is learnt that vaidyars have been petitioning the Government but the hold of Western thought and philosophy still has us in a stranglehold. Don’t get me wrong, I am a champion of many western philosophies especially those relating to class, caste and gender equality but I wish we would heed the requests of our Vaidyars and not slavishly follow the West.

Similarly, the secretions from the glands of the civet cat has been used in Ayurvedic medicine and in temple rituals of the famous Tirupati temple. I think the temple gets special permission to breed the civet cat and use its secretions. However no permission has been given to Vaidyars to do the same. The extract is a great sedative but not addictive, it is used for pain relief and can be given for cancer patients but either CITES or some other law is standing in the way. It is issues like this that a government wedded to Indian tradition should address. Maybe the PMO would be able to unravel these problems and bring cheer to traditional Vaidyars.

--- 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/