Writings
The Road to Dhanvantartari Dham
February 2008, Vrindaban, India
Dhanvantari, the physician of gods, appeared dressed in yellow, with four arms holding discus, conch, a leech and a pot containing the nectar of immortality. He is said to be handsome, full of lustre, and pleasant looking. He is one of the incarnations of Vishnu, the preserver and the universal saviour.
For those of us who live and study the science of life and longevity, Ayurveda, Dhanvantari is close to heart and also often times, the head. Ayurveda encompasses the knowledge and therapies that cure diseases, which in modern day, there are many. But most importantly, if not often overlooked with reasons pertaining to the present age and the state of human civilisation and consciousness, it is the art of maintaining and enhancing well-being and health.
A physician endowed with both knowledge and experience of healing is called Vaidya. The word Vaidya is far beyond ‘physician’ or ‘doctor’. He who is Vaidya knows Vedas, which were composed by the ancient sages to bestow the knowledge of the Higher Self.
What is health then? A topic worthy of a dissertation itself and without fail, always draws silence and expression that of perplexity and pondering when I teach. Never in human history as now are there countless products and ‘lifestyle’ stuff called healthcare, a multi billion dollar industry worldwide. But ironically, those are made to care for the sick and diseased, not for the healthy. According to the model of economics, the more sick there are, the more healthcare industry prospers.
Now, let’s get back to Ayurveda. I came to Vrindaban, India to experience Ayurveda, in the gurukulam tradition. Ayurveda, just as Yoga, Jyotisha and other Hindu philosophies and spiritual practices, is passed on from teacher to students, with oral transmission of knowledge of the Shastra written in Sanskrit as well how the medicine and treatments are prepared, processed and administered to the patients.
Dr Liladhar Gupta, my teacher, is a fourth generation Ayurvedic physician. His family, including senior Dr Gupta who is 75 years old, are all actively practicing Ayurveda in medicine and teaching. Vrindaban is also the heartland of Lord Krishna where many legends of him live on. The air is full of music and chant and fragrance of incense and on the street roamed great number of cows beloved to Krishna. One also sees Radha’s name abound, as she embodies the pure love and yearning for the divine as a devotee.
I spent the productive time of days soaking in the traditional Ayurveda in my head and heart. But the precious moments were also spent walking in the herb garden imbibing the Pranas of the healing plants or listening to the sweet chant of devotional songs at dawn, dusk or any time of day and night, really. A walk along the Yamuna river, I saw life carries on, in a timeless manner, except a babaji talking on the mobile, before he was about to perform evening aarti. There is a seamless natural-ness and grace overflowing from the life in Vrindaban.
Ayurveda is life itself because without life, which in its pristine state is harmony, balance and joy, all that we endeavour to pursue in this duration between birth and death is worthless, like piling on layers of golden garment over a decaying corpse.
It is with a new found energy and faith and a mixed sadness that I leave Vrindaban and say goodbye to the hardworking staff and the 3 resident cows, plants, and numerous birds and squirrels at Dhanvanari Dham that kept me company during those silent moments. Above all, my profound gratitude is to Vaidya Dr Gupta, who nourished me selflessly in medical knowledge, life practice and spiritual wisdom of Ayurveda. I have always loved Lord Krishna’s words “Man is constituted of his faith. What his faith is, that he is.” I couldn’t experience that better than being a student to him and in the presence of him.
And lastly, to Lord Krishna, who generously grants the sweetness and juice of life to those who came, indiscriminative. I felt that in each drop of Tulsi water offered to my in the temples as well as the reality that I am living and learning in the cradle of Ayurveda, vast and transcending, in all places, at all times.
