Cover Story

Cover Theme

Dhanvantari: God of the Vaidyas- Bhanu Shankar Mehta

In the mythological stories of ancient civilizations there are many gods, and some of them care for the health of mortals. For example, the Egyptians worshipped Ra, Sachmet, Horus; the Mesopotamians Ishtar, Gula, Nergal, Enlil, Anu, Manduk, and others; and the Greeks worshipped Apollo, Artemis, Asclepius, Athena, Chiron, Hygeia, Isis. Similarly, the Indian pantheon had a number of gods for health and well-being such as Brahma, Agni, Vat, Brihaspati, Chyavan, the Asvins, Dhanvantari, and folk goddesses like Shitala and Maansa.

Prior to the discovery of amrita or the elixir of life (the most interesting story of the "churning of the ocean", Samudra-Manthan), even the gods suffered from illnesses and it was the Asvins who treated them. Indian sages had their own style of presenting ideas in the form of parables, anecdotes, and allegories. One should not be misguided by the fable alone for that would appear implausible. When you churn curd it will yield butter but if you churn water what is the outcome? Nothing! One therefore needs to interpret the story. It appears to me that deities and demons were perpetually at war and wreaked much destruction. Wisdom eventually prevailed and they decided to map the treasures of knowledge that must be preserved. They held this manthan, one might term it a brainstorming session, with strict rules, where they discussed the merits and demerits of various alternatives and eventually 14 areas were decided upon. These included economics, gemology, fine arts and entertainment, drinks (distillation), the treasures of the ocean (conch), amrita, elephants-horses-cows, animal sciences, plant protection (kalpa vriksha), astronomy (the moon), military sciences (bow), toxicology (vish), and the science of life (Dhanvantari).

Click here to view the full content of the article.

<< Back