Ayurveda, Jainism and Medical Tourism- A Study in Interrelationship Partha Bhandary Research Scholar Deptt.

of History of Art and Tourism Management Banaras Hindu Uni ersity

Tourism in its different forms has !een one of the most ital and essential human acti ities" #hich promotes mutual understanding and social harmony" in the true spirit of $asudhai a %utum!a&am ' i.e. the #orld is a family" tourism starts #ith tra el and tra el !rings mo ement and socio(cultural interactions. Through the promotion of tourism #e can mo e for#ard to achie e the goal of )orld Peace and )ellness of all. *n *ndian conte+t in e ery social and religious acti ity li&e marriage" pilgrimage" and performance of rituals" including Sams&aras" #e can easily find the spirit of tourism and inherent healthcare !oth" mental and physical.

Today tourism is #ell defined human acti ity" #hich im!i!es the spirit of socio(cultural interaction" #ellness and healthcare of the masses through different means of tourism !ased on the choices and destinations. The indirect !enefit to the health predominate e ery act of tourism .)hen a person or group of persons of the same or different interest and component mo es out of their usual place of residence for isiting either historical places " heritage sites" hill stations" sea !each areas" rural places" health is al#ays one of the prime concerns. ,rom ancient times people used to tra el for ac-uiring or sustaining good health. Ayurveda or Pranavaya( the science of life and longe ity) in .ainism has !een a potent #ay of therapy for the diagnosis" pre ention and also medical treatment of arious ailments and if needed" underta&ing surgery as #ell. *t deals not only #ith the physical #ell !eing of a person !ut also #ith spiritual" mental and social health of indi iduals ( a concept no# esta!lished and accepted e en !y modern medicine. )e ha e !oth the tradition and history of Ayur eda in the literary #or&s including those of /hara&a in /hara&a Samhita and Susruta in Susruta Samhita of %ushan 0upta period.

The present paper endea ours to loo& into !oth the direct and indirect !earing of tourism in the conte+t of #ellness and healthcare" !etter &no#n as medical tourism today in 12st centuary. Medical Tourism is a ne# term !ut old phenomenon. ,or this #e shall ta&e !rief note of Ayurveda or Pranavaya #hich has !een the main ancient #ay of treatment and health care.

3i&e the Brahmanical tradition" in .ain tradition also #e come across a num!er of .ain Acharyas #ho" !esides #riting on different aspects of philosophy" spirituality and religion" #rote !asic te+ts on Ayurveda or Pranavaya #hich are !oth general and speciali4ed ones. These te+ts deal #ith different diseases" their symptoms" pre ention and cure through the medicines and rarely through the surgery. *n .ainism !ecause of special stress on non( iolence" they #ere dis(inclined to#ards surgery and also to#ards ta&ing such food e en for health sa&e #hich in ol e meat" honey" and li-uor2.

The e+clusi e #or& !y Dr. Ra5endra Pra&ash Bhatnagar1 under the title .aina Ayur eda &a *tihas' deals e+hausti ely #ith different aspects of Ayur eda as discussed or propounded !y .ain Acharyas and Mon&s. Ho#e er the title of the !oo& is am!iguous since Ayur eda is an *ndian and traditional #ay of treatment #hich could ne er !e termed as Hindu" Buddhist or .ain. .ain Acharyas ha e al#ays sho#n &een interest in the healthcare and #ellness of the people 6not merely for .ainas7 #hich includes !oth the physical and mental healthcare in all its dimensions from the !eginning of the /ommon 8ra . .ain inscriptions of %ushan period of Mathura referring to the installation of .aina images in aria!ly mentioned that it #as done for the #elfare and happiness of all 6Sar a5ana Hitaya97 #hich includes the spirit of #ellness and that too not only for .ainas !ut for all human !eings:. The .ainas had a #ell esta!lished tradition of medicine that #as &no#n as Pranavaya4 . *t deals #ith dietetics" drugs and mental disciplines co ered all the eight angas i.e. 2. *nternal Medicine ; aya-ci!itsa 1. Paediatrics ( aumar"hrtya :. Psychiatry (#hutavidya

<. =torhinolaryngology and =phthalmology ;Sala!ya >. Surgery and Mid#ifery ;Salya ?. To+icology (A$ada or Jan$ala @. 0eriatrics or 3onge ity(%asayana A. 8ugenics and AphrodisiacologyBRe5u enation ;&a'i!arana . The .aina saints loo&ed after their health and their sic&ness themsel es. *n the field of medicine the .ainas #ere ery strict and had for!idden alcohol" honey and meat and as a result the .aina physicians had to ad5ust the formulations accordingly. The .aina physicians used plants and minerals mainly as a source of drugs. Also the dead !ody dissection has !een termed as demerited act. This resulted poor &no#ledge in anatomical and surgical fields #ithout much de elopment>. These physicians #ere ery practical and !elie ed in curing the diseases #ith tried and tested medicines rather than going into !eliefs and fundamental doctrines. Some important te(ts are) The *ttaradhyayana Sutra+ accepted sic&ness as one of the trou!les. An account of eye disease and fe er is mentioned in the te+t" !ut in the form of a story. Different methods of treatment li&e spells" emetics" purgati es" fumigation" anointing of the eye are also mentioned in details. Plants are classified as vrksa" gaccha" gulma" lata" valli and trna . Use of inorganic su!stances such as metals" e+cept mercury" stones" mica" and sulphur are mentioned. The Sutra!rtan$a, is another te+t #hich specified certain su!stances used in cosmetics and some domestic de ices. Different parts of plant li&e !ul!" stem" root" !ranches" t#igs" lea es" flo#ers" fruits and seeds are also mentioned. Sthanan$a sutra- is the first !oo& mentioning a!out the four !asic units of ancient medical system. They are 6i7. Physicians" 6ii7. Patients" 6iii7.Curses and the 6i 7. Medicines. A fifth unit of community and pre enti e medicine #as added to these four suggesting pu!lic health consciousness of .aina Scholars more than t#o thousands year agoD. They are also the !asic units of medical esta!lishment today. The alyana!ara!a./ is the only authoritati e te+t a aila!le on the prana aya tradition of medicine. *t #as composed !y Ugradityacarya #ho #as contemporary of Amogha arsa *" the Rastra&uta &ing and disciple of Srinandi. The te+t includes many chapters. The chapters are !ased on the !asic concepts" deal #ith food and drin&" topics related to personal hygiene"

ground#or& related to medicines" arrangements in the hospital and patientEs e+amination. %ayachi&itsa !egins from the eighth chapter. The middle chapters co er topics associated #ith ataroga" pittaroga and &apharoga . =ther later chapters deal #ith diseases" Sala&ya" Panca&arma" Mercury and its processing are descri!ed in detail. The last chapter is !ased on %alpas. According to the author" there is no penance greater than /i&itsa. He says" /i&itsa is for destroying sins and promoting irtues'. Here again comes the social o!5ecti e of medical care and #ellness #hich must ha e attracted the common people to#ards .ainism. Since the .ain Acharyas and Mon&s themsel es #ere ha ing good &no#ledge and e+perience of plants" their medical properties" diseases and their symptoms and also the cure. *t can easily !e surmised that the common people !esides their religion and spiritual aspirations must !e isiting to the .ain Acharya and Mon&s for health and #ellness. Thus #e can isuali4e the ery e+istence of Medico(Spiritual tourism in .ain conte+t. =ne of earliest .ain te+ts the alpasutra .. of the early century of /ommon 8ra and also later te+ts ma&e reference to an interesting point #hich testify to the ad ance &no#ledge of Medical Science to the .ainas. The te+ts say that the foetus of the 1<th Tirthan&ara Maha ira first came in the #om! of Brahmani De ananda " !ut su!se-uently at the command of *ndra" Cegameshin " the commander of the army of the 0ods and presiding god of the child!irth" transferred the foetus of Maha ira from the #om! of De ananda to the #om! of %shatriyani Trishala . Some other .aina important #or&s are Bhagavati Sutra, Jnatadharmakatha etc. The main .ain Acharyas and Munis #ho directly or indirectly contri!uted to#ards healthcare and #ellness of the people are as follo#sF Samanta!hadra " Pu5yapada " Ugradityacarya" Patra&esari , Sidhasena, Meghnada, Dasharath Muni etc. The .ain Acharyas and Munis 6Mon&s7 #ho #ere al#ays li ing in the am!ience of nature #ere fully a#are of the medical properties a aila!le in different egetation and plants" and also &ne# the #ay ho# to e+tract them for the #ellness or the humanity. The .ain Acharyas and Mon&s #ere ne er stationary" rather they #ere mo ing from one place to another. At a later stage from a!out 0upta period, the Bhattaraka and Yatis used to stay at a place which is known as Upashraya. This change !roughtforth the &no#ledge of .ainas for the #ellness to the masses" #ho used to isit the Upashrayas for listening the preaching" meditation and also for their treatment of physical and mental pro!lems. The Upashrayas #ere usually

a#ay from the residential areas and therefore the people had to #al& for the fulfillment of their spiritual and health re-uirements. *n a present fi+ed definition of tourism it may not come as the act of tourism and the people isiting Upashraya may not !e termed as tourist" yet their mo ement definitely #as indicati e of purposeful mo ement in ol ing healthcare. This is a li ing practice e en today Thus apparently the .aina tradition contri!uted a lot in the field of health and medicine. There is a huge amount of .aina literature from #hich #e can get -uite a ast material related to medicine. *t #as the common !elief of the .ainas that diseases resulted from sinful acts and treating diseases is ery no!le #or&. This is the social medical philosophy of today.

0ootnotes and %e1erences2.A&alan&a Bhatta" Ra5a artti&a(2" P. @@ 1. Ra5endra Pra&esh Bhatnagar" .ain Ayur eda &a *tihas"Surya Pra&ashan" Udaipur" 2DA<. :. This information #as gi en !y my super isor Prof. Maruti Candan Prasad Ti#ari" Banaras Hindu Uni ersity. <. Sthananga" 8dited Gu acarya Mahapra5na" P.@DD >. %alyan&ar&a6intro7" Udgraditya" Sa&harama 0ranthamala" Sholapur"2D<H" P.:A ?. Uttaradhyayana Sutra @. Sutra&rtanga A. Sthananga" 8dited Gu acarya Mahapra5na" P.A>H" Pp. D1H(D12. D. .i a5i a!higama(2" .aina Shastroddhara Samiti" Ra5&ot" 2D@:" P.??D 2H. %alyana&ara&a"Ugraditya" Sa&harama 0ranthamala" Sholapur" 2D<H 22. %alpasutra" Sutra 1H(1: 21. Ra5endra Pra&ash Bhatnagar" .ain Ayur eda &a *tihas"Surya Pra&ashan" Udaipur" 2DA<. 2:. P.$.Sharma" 2DD1. Medicine in Buddhist and .aina traditions. Ce# Delhi" Pp. 22@(2:>.