The Basic Causes for Health and Disease: Ayurveda

The basic causes for health and diseasern Whenever a discussion is held about a disease, the mostly enquired matter is its aetiology. Ayurvedic science has beautifully explained cause of a disease. It covers all the aspects of our life including mental, physical and spiritual aspects. That gives us an idea how our lifestyle influences a disease. Roga(ill health) and arogya(health) are interlinked as per the holistic science, ayurveda. The root cause of roga and arogya is one and the same. Aacaarya defines ill-health as anything that which causes pain, where as health as the state of well being. This sloka says that ,the basic cause of all disease isrn1. Incompatible relation of senses and their objectsrn2. Willful transgression of modes of conduct rn3. Time/seasonrnEach of these three causes has three states namely excessive union, insufficient union and perverted union. These 3 states result in roga. Happiness and health are achieved when these three entities are united in a correct proportion.rn1. Incompatible relation of senses and their objectsrn1.Excessive union sound touch Vision taste smellrn Very loud sound Too much of heat and cold massage Seeing very bright object Eating of larger quantities of substances of all tastes Smelling very powerful substances like chilli,pepper muskrn2.Negligible /absence of contact rn3.perverted union Harsh,unpleasant,abusive sound Contact of hard weapon,dirtything, harmful insect Viewing objects which are small,bright,fearful Tasting undesirable,foul,dirty substance Unpleasent,obnoxious,decomposing,putrefying type oe smell. 2. Willful transgression of modes of conductrna. Excessive union:-indulging in activities more than usual through body, mind or speech..eg. Excessive exercise ,riding too much, talking in high pitch for long period, too much of mental work like thinking.rnb. Insufficient union:-not doing any activity or doing very little of it physically, mentally or vocally.rnc. perverted union:-Preventing natural urges or their forcible execution, performing activities in abnormal body postures, falling, stumbling, talking while taking food, lust, contempt, fear, committing forbidden deeds such ads violence, robbery….rn3. SeasonrnExcessive union-experiencing cold and hot climate in excess constituternInsufficient union-heat of summer, cold of winter, decreasing than usual in a region.rnPerverted union-appearance of cold in summer and heat in winter. As per Ayurveda aarogya (health) is the state of balanced bodily elements, digestive power, body components and proper excretion of waste materials which leads to physical, mental and spiritual well being. In short we can say that our day to day activities as well as our mental status has got an important role in maintaining a state of health and ill health. To be in a healthy state one has to avoid the causative factors and should stick on to deistic as well as seasonal regimens which are wholesome to the body and mind. Plenty vs scarce ,this is for what our life has always been,20th century had everything in excess and this is the sole reason for many of the new diseases. These are also good examples of ‘our overdone luxuries’ and excessiveness of life. The first step towards fighting the diseases is ‘knowing the source and preventing it. This is in tune with the proverb “prevention is better than cure”.