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HEALTH SECTION
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Blood: The River Of Life |
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Prana in its sthoola (physically manifested state) is transferred to the smallest and minutest aspect of the physical body through rakta or the blood which is also considered a primary dhatu. Disease spreads in the body through the blood and it is also only through the blood that the aushadhies (tonics used for increasing the immunity levels in the body) affect the body, allowing it to heal itself.
Various kinds of skin problems also arise from the blood and the same blood is also responsible for a flawless skin. If blood does not reach certain areas it results in wrinkles and an aged look.
You would be surprised to know that it is blood which brings that glow in your persona and it is this blood alone which is responsible for that parched look.
To summarise, it is impure blood which is the root cause of the majority of maladies for ages and is affecting today’s Generation X as well as senior citizens.
If we look around in nature for solving these blood related problems we find two options—first, the vardhka or the augmenting and second the cleansing. We will not discuss the second option as it is beyond the scope of this article and falls under the subject of the colour green. This I shall take up in detail in another article.
We will discuss the first concept, the one on vardhka. The colour to look for in nature is obviously red. There are various shades of red that nature gives us, be it in the foods we eat or the metals found around us, each of these having their own special quality which affects the blood.
Copper, in metals, helps in the formation of blood and the food eaten in copper vessels and water kept in copper utensils both contribute towards improving the quality of your blood.
If we take up the various kinds of foods, then foods like beetroot, apples, blood of a male goat, red grapes, red onions, almonds, apricots, pomegranate, raisins, figs, and dates help in increasing the production and quality of the blood. If we observe, these are primarily red foods or foods with a coppery tinge.
Let me give you a simple recipe for preparing a tonic which is quite effective in curing blood disorders: “Purana sarpisha prastho drakshardh prastha sadhitah ,kamla gulma pandu varti jvara mehodarapah.”
Charaka Samhita, Volume 4, Chapter 16, Verse 52.
One prastha (640 gm) of old cow ghee should be added to half prastha of draksha (munacca or dried red grapes) and cooked together. This medicated ghee cures anaemia and diseases of the stomach.
In ayurveda blood disorders are related with pitta. So expert opinion for treatment of diseases is a must.
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—The writer is an ayurved expert from Dhyan Foundation.
For queries contact gautam_aarti@yahoo.co.in |
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April 2008
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