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EDITORIAL February 12, 1999 VNN3027 See Related VNN Stories My Friend, The Ayurvedic Doctor BY SWAMI BV PARIVRAJAK  EDITORIAL, Feb 12 (VNN) — (In answer to an E-mail of Murari Caitanya Das)Dear Murari Caitanya Prabhu. Hare Krishna. Dandavat pranama. I am answering here to your E-mail after reading it carefully. It is a fact that my statement about Ayurveda in the VNN article can be easily misunderstood. I heartily apologize for that. That Ayurveda has a divine origin is widely well known as you point out in your letter with accurate quotations. I am not against Ayurveda. On the contrary, one of my best friends, who is assisting me in the preaching mission, happens to be my Ayurvedic doctor! I welcome with joy the teachings of Lord Dhanvantari! What I meant by listing Ayurveda in the list of the numerous deviations present nowadays within the Western community of devotees is something which I should have explained more properly. I come to the point. Please, keep in mind that I am absolutely favorable to the Ayurvedic medicine. There is an ever-increasing number of devotees who, putting aside their main sadhana (japa, sankirtan, study of the Scriptures, sadhu-sanga, puja etc.) which is meant to develop their Krishna consciousness, spend excessive time in the attempt to gather a certain kind of knowledge, which they feel, is missing in the traditional spiritual program based on hearing and chanting. They argue that Srila Prabhupada did not give any specific information about so many subject-matters, like Ayurveda, astrology, mineralogy, hatha-yoga, pranayama, and so forth. They fail to understand that Srila Prabhupada did that purposely. He did not look unfavourably to all the abovementioned disciplines, but emphasised only srinvatam sva-katha krishnah punya-shravana-kirtanah pure devotional service starting with sravana and kirtana. Is Ayurveda "new age"? Certainly not. So, I do not want to diminish in your eyes the importance of Ayurveda, which I agree, is not "really" anything new. Ayurveda is most ancient. The Lord Himself advented in order to spread His own way to cure the diseases of the conditioned souls. Afterwards the "Science of Life" was handed down in disciplic succession, as you nicely document. Then, what is wrong with it? There is nothing wrong with Ayurveda. Nothing wrong with astrology or studiying Sanskrit. Nothing wrong with pranayama, as it is also mentioned in the Scriptures. All of these have a divine origin, no doubt. And yet it is also true that on a number of occasions Srila Prabhupada himself ordered some of his disciples to stop their Sanskrit studies. Or he did not like them to practice hatha-yoga. Once Srila Prabhupada instructed even one of his earlier American disciples, named Satyanarayan, to not continue his study of Ayurveda!!! Why? Wasn't he aware of the importance of those studies? Of course he was, but he wanted his disciples to concentrate on the supreme conclusion of those studies. He was the guide of their souls, more than of their bodies and brains. Cultural achievements were not his target, except for reasons related to his world-wide preaching campaign. His main goal as a spiritual preceptor was to create and educate pure devotees of the Lord, not learned students of this material world. He wanted his disciples to absorb themselves in the supreme object of meditation, the lotus feet of the Lord, through the chanting of the holy names. He guided his pupils on the unalloyed path of devotional service to the Lord. You quote Srila Prabhupada saying that Ayurveda is a perfect science. It is true and we easily agree with him. In fact, one of the virtues of the Ayurvedic treatment is that it aims at correcting the origin of the disease and not merely giving a symptomatic relief. Again and again, there is nothing wrong with Ayurveda or Astrology if devotees can keep them in their proper place. Unfortunately, however, this is not happening nowadays. This is the reason why it has been mentioned in that way in the VNN article. It was even somewhat unpleasant for me to write like this. I knew it would provoke some reactions from a sensitive devotee like yourself. Only as a footnote to this letter, we shall mention here the standard of Srila Bhaktsiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada in his own Gaudiya Math temples when the great acharya was alive. Srila Sarasvati Thakura was very, very strict with the residents of his ashramas. He did not allow them to use any medicine whatsoever because, he said, "If someone is properly taking the holy name of the Lord, he will not need any other medicine. The holy name is the only medicine to cure all kinds of diseases." Nobody among the true followers of Sri Caitanyadeva will ever dare to think that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura could demand the impossible from his disciples. Some may poorly reason that he was uninformed or that he had some bias against doctors and medicines. Wasn't he aware of the physical and mental limitations of his own disciples? Wasn't he also aware of the endless glories of Dhanvantari's gift to the world? Surely he was, but he preferred to direct the full attention of his followers to the most essential practice for the realization of the Absolute Truth. He demanded their full energy in the sublime process of nava- lakshan bhakti. He simply demanded sharanagati and nothing else. Yes, he was uncompromising. One may argue that Srila Sarasvati Thakur was an extraordinary personality. Indeed he was. Then, should we follow him or not? Are his instructions meant for the benefit of his own disciples or are of more general application? Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami and my Gurumaharaj (Srila Sridhar Maharaj) took medicines and accepted medical treatments occasionally. So, it should be seen from an individual point of view. Personally I rarely use medicines. But in case I fall sick, my preference goes to the Ayurvedic treatments. As I already mentioned one of my closest friend is my own Ayurvedic doctor. As far as you are concerned, it is a completely different case. You have been instructed by your spiritual master to help your fellow Godbrothers with your Ayurvedic knowledge and treatments. It is all right and it is your duty (and perhaps also your pleasure). You have to follow the order of your gurudeva. This is your devotional service. I did not want to lack respect towards Lord Krishna's sacred medicine and improperly describe it as a questionable practice. My concern, as you must understand by now, was (is) of a different nature. Since I have already touched this point in my previous article for VNN, I do not need to elaborate further. I hope that this answer of mine to your letter may help to clear my position towards Ayurveda. I again and again apologise if I have disturbed your feelings in any way in this delicate matter. I remain your servant, Swami BV Parivrajak Vanshivat, Sri Vrindavan Dham, January 18th, 1999 See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9902/ET12-3027.html
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