According to allopathic science, there are very few diseases where doctor advice the patient to follow some of the diet restrictions like in the disease diabetes mellitus, hypertension, gastrititis, jaundice , typhoid etc. because they feel the following diet restriction is just a palliative treatment, while taking medicines in the curative treatment. But in Ayurvedic Science no treatment is said to be complete without the advice of diet restriction and in some of the disease “ Pathya” can only be adviced as treatment.

People have misconception about the word  Pathya. They believe that Pathya means that which should not be taken while it is quite contrarary. Pathya doesnot just means the diet restriction as people believe – it also means restricting some of the deeds, which is jointly called as “ Pathya- Aahara – Vihara”.

Pathya as described in Charak Srutasthan, Chapter 25

पथ्यं पथोऽनपेतं यद्यच्चोक्तं मनसः प्रियम्। यच्चाप्रियमपथ्यं च नियतं तन्‍न तक्षयेत्।।४५।।
मात्राकालक्रियाभूमिदेहदोषगुणान्तरम्। प्राप्य तत्तद्धि द्दश्यन्ते ते ते भावनस्तथा तथा।।४६।।
तस्मात् स्वभावो निर्दिष्टस्तथा मात्रादिराश्रयः। तदपेक्ष्योभयं कर्म प्रयोज्यं सिद्धिमिच्छता।।४७।।

Pathya- wholesome is that which is not harmful to paths of the body and is according to linking. One which is harmful to the paths and disliked is certainly not at all deirable. The entitie have their effects according to dose, time, preparation, place, body constitution, pathology and properties. Hence the natural characters of entities and also the factors like dose etc. have been mentioned. The physician desirous of success, should proceed with the therapeutic measures taking both in account.[45-47]

I shall be discussing about the pathya and apathy  aahar(foods) and vihaar(Behaviour or deeds) in different disease in the upcoming posts. I like to focus that “Pathya” is a single term to describe the treatment of any disease , so everyone should use this term properly.

Neem is the plant with bitter in taste but it has a lot of medicinal value as mentioned in the ayurvedic text.

Parts used – All parts

Uses – The all parts of Nimba are used in the form of juice and decoction to treat fever,  intrinsic haemorrhage, bleeding piles, wound, oedema, , arthritis, skin diseases, diabetes,  eye diseases, leucorrhoea, as, poisons, jaundice, for fumigation, diseases of teeth, heart diseases, as specific digestive and diseases of vagina.

Skin diseases (Kustha)

1. The decoction of nimba and patola (Trichosanthes cucumerina)is efficacious in skin diseases (40-60 ml) (CS.Ci.7.97-99)
2. Intake of haritaki (terminalia chebula)and nimba or nimba and amalaka (Phyllanthus emblica) for a month overcomes all types of skin diseases (40-60 ml) (GN.2.36.87)
3. Local application of the juice of dhattura (Datura metal) , nimba and betel leaves separately destroys skin diseases such as eczema, ring worms etc. (10-20 gms) (SG.3.11.52-53)

Wounds

1. Decoction of nimba leaves cleans the wound (120 ml)(CS.CS. 25.84)

2. Nimba leaf mixed with honey acts as cleansing agent. Both of them added with ghee promote healing (10-15 gms) (SS.Ci.1.68)

3. Paste of nimba leaves and sesamum mixed with honey cleanses wound while mixed with ghee it acts as healing agent. (10-15 gms)(VM.44.28)

4. The paste of nimba leaves, by external application, cleanses and heals wound while it intake it alleviated vomiting, skin diseases disorders of pitta and kapha and worms (10-15 gms) (SG.2.5.5)

Part used – Root

Uses – The root of Satavari (Kurilo)is used in the form of juice, paste, decoction and powder to treat intrinsic haemorrhage, diarrhoea, piles, hoarseness of voice, cough, arthritis, poisoning, diseases of female genital tract, erysipelas, fever, as aphrodisiac and as rejuvinative.

Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) is a subtropical plant found in Asia that has, for thousands of years, been revered as one of the most diverse medicinal plants for women. Shatavari is Sanskrit for, “she who posses one hundred husbands” and in ayurvedic medicine of ancient India it is considered the most important rejuvenative plant for women.

It is said that this wild asparagus is especially effective in preserving the beauty and vitality (ojas) of whoever consumes it, and thus has healing qualities for both men and women. However, Shatavari is mainly used due to its rejuvenative effect on the female genitalia. The plant contains saponins, which harmonize and stimulate the body’s hormone balance, which can be a vital support during menopause.

Consumption of Shatavari stimulates milk production and nurtures the ovaries. This wonderful root is prescribed to promote milk secretion during and after pregnancy, while fostering healthy development of the breasts, and having a beneficial and strong effect on the embryo. It also helps to prepare the female genitalia for birth.

Shatavari’s adaptogenic effect also bestows the strength to deal with times of extreme stress in one’s life.

By balancing pitta and vata, shatavari nurtures interpersonal love and awakens commitment, so having a calming effect on both body and mind. This also enables one to overcome fiery emotions such as anger, jealousy and hate, and thus Shatavari is recommended for those in romantic relationships and those suffering from uneasiness.

Shatavari is known as a potent aphrodisiac for both genders, and is said to increase fertility. Additionally, this plant is known to support digestion and is often used to treat internal and external ulcers because of its anti-bacterial properties.

As rejuvinative/ Rasayana

Ghee cooked with paste and decoction of satavari and added

with sugar is used as a rejuvinative (AH.U.39.157)

As galactagogue / increases breast milk

Satavari pounded and taken with milk increases the flow of

breast-milk (10-20 gms) (YR.P.427)

Traditionally, juice pressed from the fresh root, or a tea brewed from dried roots is prescribed. For external use the powder is mixed with ghee and applied to the skin. The oil is also known to posses healing properties free of side effects when applied both internally and externally.

In preparation for birth, women in the ninth month are recommended to insert a cotton cloth soaked in the oil of asparagus racemosus. The oil functions as a lubricant, and strengthens the muscles of the genitalia as well as increasing their flexibility.

In short-

Parts used – Whole plant

Uses – The whole plant of Kiratatikta is used in the form of powder and decoction to treat fever, sprue, oedema, for purifying breastmilk, intrinsic haemorrhage, vomiting.

The therapeutic value of Kalmegh is due to its mechanism of action which is perhaps by enzyme induction. The plant extract exhibits antityphoid and antifungal activities. Kalmegh is also reported to possess antihepatotoxic, antibiotic, antimalarial, antihepatitic, antithrombogenic, antiinflammatory, anti-snake venom, and antipyretic properties to mention a few, besides its general use as an immunostimulant agent.

In fever

Hot infusion of kiratatikta mixed with dhanyaka(Coriandrum sativum) leaves alleviates fever immediately (40-60ml) (SB.4.32)

In Oedema

Paste of kiratatikta and sunthi (zingiber officinale) destroys chronic oedema (10-15 gms) (CS.Ci.12.42)

So Lets identify and preserve herbs as it is the beauty of Ayurveda.

The disease admits of being divided into four several types, such as the Vataja, the Pittaja, the Kaphaja and the Sukraja (Seminal) concretions. An exuberance or preponderance of the deranged Kapha should be understood as the underlying cause of all invasions of this disease.

General aetiology:—The Kapha of a man, who neglects to cleanse (Samshodhana) the internal channels of his organism, or is in the habit of taking unwholesome food, enraged and aggravated by its own exciting causes, is carried into the urinary bladder. Here it becomes saturated with the urine, and gives rise to the formation of concretions or gravels in its cavity.

Premonitory Symptoms: — An aching pain in the bladder, with a non-relish for food, difficulty in urination, an excruciating pain in the scrotum, penis, and the neck of the bladder, febrile symptoms, physical lassitude, and a goat-like smell in the urine arc the symptoms, which indicate the formation of gravel in the bladder.

Metrical Text:—The deranged Doshas involved in a particular case respectively impart their specific colour to the urine, and determine the character of the accompanying pain. The urine becomes thick, turbid, and vitiated with the action of the aggravated Doshas, and micturition becomes extremely painful.

Leading Indications:—A sort of excruciating pain is experienced cither about the umbilicus, or   in   the   bladder,   or at the median rape of the perineum, or about the penis, during micturition when gravel is forming in the bladder. The urine is stopped at intervals in its out-flow, or becomes charged with blood, or flows out twisted and scattered like spray, leaving a sediment of clear, sand)’, red or yellow particles of stone, which resembles a Gomedha gem in colour. Moreover a pain is experienced in the bladder at the time of running or jumping or in swimming, or while riding on horseback, or after a long journey.

The Sleshma-asmari:—Stone or gravel, originated through the action of the deranged Kapha, saturated with an excessive quantity of that Dosha by the constant ingestion of phlegm-generating (Slesh-mala) substances, increases in size at the lower orifice of the bladder and ultimately obstructs the passage of the urine. The pressure and recoil of that incarcerated fluid on the walls of the urinary bladder gives rise to a kind of crushing, bursting, pricking pain in that organ, which becomes cold and heavy. A Kapha-origined stone or gravel is white and glossy, attains to a large size, to that of a hen’s egg, and has the colour of the Madhuka flower.   This type is called Sleshma-asmari.

The Pittaj-asmari: —The Kapha charged (dried) with the deranged Pitta becomes hard (condensed) and large in the aforesaid way, and lying at the mouth of the bladder obstructs the passage of the urine. The bladder, on account of the flowing back of the obstructed urine into its cavity, seems as if it has been exposed to the heat of an adjacent fire, boiling with the energy of an alkaline solution. A kind of sucking, drawing and burning pain is experienced in the organ. This type of Ashmari is further marked by symptoms which characterize Ushna-vata (stricture). The concretion is found to be of a reddish, yellowish black colour like the stone of the Bhallataka fruit, or it is coloured like honey. This type is called Pitta;ja As man

The Vata-ashmari .—The deranged Kapham (mucus) inordinately saturated with the bodily Vata, acquires hardness and gains in dimensions, and these lying at the mouth of the bladder obstructs the passage of the urine. The incarcerated fluid causes extreme pain in the organ. The patient constantly under severe pain gnashes his teeth or presses his umbilical region, or rubs his penis, or fingers his rectum (Payu) and loudly screams. A burning sensation is experienced in the penis, and urination, belching and defecation become difficult and painful.* The concretions in this type of Ashmari are found to be of a dusky colour, rough, uneven in shape, hard, facetted and nodular like a Kadamva flower. This type is called Vata-ashmari.

Infants arc more susceptible to an attack of any of the three preceding types of Ashmari, inasmuch as they are fond of day sleep or of food composed of both whole-some and unwholesome ingredients, and are in the habit of eating before the digestion of a previous meal, or of taking heavy, sweet, emollient and demulcent food. In children the bladder is of diminished size and poor in muscular structure. These facts conti ibutc to the easy possibility of the organ being grappled (with a surgical instrument) and of the stone being extracted with the greatest ease in cases of infantile Ashmari.

The Sukra-ashmari :—Sukra-ashmaris or seminal concretions arc usually formed in adults owing to the germination of semen in their organisms. A sudden or abrupt stoppage of a sexual act or excessive coition tends to dislodge the semen from its natural receptacle * Stool and urine can be voided only with the greatest straining in the body. The fluid thus dislodged, but not emitted, finds a wrong passage. The Vata gathers up the fluid (semen), thus led astray, and deposits it (in a round or oval shape) at a place lying about the junction of the penis and the scrotum and dries up the humidity with which it is charged. The matter, thus formed, condensed, and hardened, is called the seminal stone (SukrAshmari), which then obstructs the passage of the urine, giving rise to pain in the bladder, painful micturition, and swelling of the scrotum. The stone vanishes under pressure in its seat.

Here only the introduction of Ashmari is given with their types.  The treatment portion shall be discussed on another post.

In Ayurveda headache can be approached from three basic principle of Ayurveda; Tridosha – Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Symptoms:

Vata: Anxiety, depression, dry skin, constipation, and extreme pain.

Pitta: Red complexion and eyes, light sensitivity, burning sensation, anger, irritability, and nose bleeds. Liver and blood toxicity are often associated with these symptoms.

Kapha: Dull headache, heaviness, fatigue, nausea, white or clear phlegm, vomiting, and excess salivation. Respiratory disorders are often associated with these symptoms.

 Therapies:

Vata: Triphala as a purgative, jatamashi , brahmí, and rest. Shiro dhaara (hot oil head massage) is very beneficial.

Pitta: Purgatives (e.g., aloe vera gel, rhubarb, and fennel), liver cleansers (e.g., bhuamalaki and brahmi), sandalwood oil on the third eye, temples, heart, and under the nose, walks in the full moon and by water; and flower gardening reduce Pitta causes of migraines. Overexertion, heat and sun should be avoided. Shiro dhara (hot oil head massage) is also highly beneficial.

Kapha: Trikatu, brahmí, tulsi tea, inhaling eucalyptus oil, vomiting, exercise, nasal snuff of ginger or pepper. Shiro dhara (hot oil head massage) is also very helpful.

Cough, Cold, Flu, Allergy-Caused: Decongestant/ expectorant herbs—Vata and Kapha excesses (ginger, black pepper, licorice, vidanga,  etc.) are ingested or used as nasal snuff. Tulsí tea and inhaling eucalyptus oil are also very helpful. Ginger paste can be applied under the nose, and on the temples and forehead. Vomiting (if the person is strong) will help rid the head of congestion and pain arising from it.

Migraines (Ardhavabhedaka): Medicated oils or ghee, using guæúchí, balá, and ashwagandhá; fomentation, and saturating snuff are also advised. Long-term healing includes Chyavan prash, brahmí, and ashwagandha. Shiro dhara (hot oil head massage) is also beneficial. This is usually a Vata and Pitta excess, caused by lack of sleep, overwork, stress, worry, poor digestion, muscular tension, heartburn, or high blood pressure.

Symptoms:
General: Symptoms include acute pain in the liver and gallbladder, swelling, and tenderness.

Vata: Stones are black or brown, dry or rough; they cause severe pain but mild inflammation and fever.

Pitta: Stones are yellow, red, or green with sharp angles, painful and inflamed.

Kapha: Soft, round, whitish stones, rarely painful.

Therapies:

Purgation with aloe or rhubarb (mixed with fennel) is required in acute conditions. Bhuamalaki, turmeric, and manjishoha are next used to cleanse the liver and blood.

Certain herbs break up stones. These include gokshura, kaoukaa, and pashana bedha. Taken with coriander or turmeric, the herb’s actions are directed to the gall bladder.

The deranged Vata, Pitta, Kapha and Sannipatah (a simultaneous derangement of the three bodily Doshas) and extraneous causes (such as a blow etc.) give rise to the types of Bhagandar known as Sataponaka, Ushtragriva, Parisravi, Samvukavarta and Unmargi. The disease is so named from the fact that it bursts the rectum, the perineum, the bladder and the place adjoning to them (thus setting up a mutual communica­tion between them). The pustules, which appear in these regions, are called as Pidakas in their unsupported stage, while they are called Bhagandar when they are in a stage of suppuration. A pain about the sacral bone and an itching about the anus, accompanied by a swelling and burning sensation, are the premonitory symptoms of this disease.

The Sataponakah Type:—The Vayu, excited, condensed, and rendered motionless by a course of unwholesome food, gives rise to a pustule within one or two fingers’ length from the rectum (anal region, —Guda), by vitiating the flesh (areolar tissue) and b’.ood (of the locality). It assumes a vermilion colour and is characterised by a variety of pricking, piercing pain. If neglected at the outset, the pustule runs into suppuration. Owing to its vicinity to the bladder, the abscess or the suppurated pustule exudes a kind of slimy secretion and becomes covered with hundreds of small sieve-like holes, through which a constant frothy discharge is secreted in large quantities. The ulcer, thus formed, seems as if it is being thrashed with a rod, pierced with a sharp instrument, cut with a knife, and pricked by needles. The region of the anus cracks and bursts, and jets of urine, fecal matter, flatus (Vata) and semen arc emitted through these sieve-like holes. This type of fistula is called Sataponakah (Sieve-like fistula in ano).

The Ushtra-grivah Type:—The enraged Pitta,carried down by the Vayu (into the rectum) finds lodgmcit therein, and there gives rise to a small, raised, red pustule, which resembles the neck of a camel in shape, and is characterised by a varied kind of pain, such as sucking etc. The pustule,not medicinally treated at the beginning, runs into suppuration. The incidental ulcer seems as if it is being burnt with fire or alkali, and emits a hot, fetid discharge. Jets of urine, flatus (Vata), fecal matter and semen flow out of the ulcer in the event of it not being healed up with proper medicinal remedies.This type is called Ushtragrivah.

The Parisravi Type:—The enraged Kapha, carried down by the Vayu (into the rectum) and lodged therein, gives rise to a white, hard, itching pustule in that locality, characterized by a variety of itching pains, etc. If neglected at the outset, it soon runs into suppura­tion. The incidental ulcer becomes hard and swollen, marked by excessive itching and a constant secretion of slimy fluid. Jets of urine, fecal matter, flatus and semen are emitted through the ulcer in the event of it not being well cared for at the outset. This type is called Parisravi.

The Samvukavartah Type :— The en­raged Vayu, in conjunction with the aggravated Pitta and Kapha, is carried down, and finds lodgment (in the region of the rectum), giving rise to a pustule of the size of the first toe, and characterized by a piercing pain, and burning, itching sensations etc. Such a pustule, neglected at the outset, speedily suppurates, and the incidental ulcer exudes secretions of diverse colours, characterized by a kind of whirling pain, which revolves about, in the direction of the involuted indentures (within the grooves of the rectum) such as are found within the body of a river or fresh water mollusc. This is called Samvukavartah.

The Unmargi Type :—Particles of bones, eaten with (cooked) meat by an imprudent, greedy, glut­tonous person, may be carried down with the hard and constipated stool by the Apana Vayu (into the rectum), thus scratching or abrading the margin of the anus, or burrowing into the rectum in the event of their being evacuated in improper directions through (transverse or horizontal postures). The scratch or abrasion is soon transformed into a fetid and putrid ulcer, infested with worms and parasites, as a plot of miiy ground will soon swarm with a spontaneous germination of similar parasites. These worms and parasites eat away the sides of, or largely burrow into, the region of the anus, and jets of urine, fecal matter, and flatus (Vayu) are found to gush out of these holes. This type of Bhagandar is called Unmargi.

Authoritative verses on the sub­ject:—A pustule, appearing about the region of the anus and characterised by a slight pain and swelling, and spontaneously subsiding, should be regarded as a simple pustule, which is of a quite different nature from a fistula in ano, which has contrary features {i.e., invariably found to be attended with a violent pain and swelling etc., and takes a long time to heal). A Fistula-pustule crops up within a space of two fingers’ width of the Payu proper (distal end of the rectum), is sunk at its root, and attended with pain and febrile symptoms. Pain, itching and burning sensations are experienced about the anus after a ride in a carriage, or after defecation. The anus becomes swollen, and the waist painful in the premonitory stages of Bhagandar.

Prognosis:- Almost all the types of this disease (Fistula in ano) yield to medicine after a prolonged course of treatment, and arc hard to cure, except the Sannipatah and traumatic ones, which are incurable. The best treatment method would be Kshar-sutra treatment (esp. for piles).

Besides our ‘outer birth chart’ relating to the physical body is an ‘inner birth chart’ of the astral body that reveals the life pattern of our soul. The main factors that make up the astral body are the seven chakras from the root to the crown. The chakras have detailed astro­logical equivalents in Vedic astrology, which has its own special way of examining the astral body through the birth chart.

Our inner Sun of Prana moves up and down the spine and the chakra system along with each breath, traversing our inner zodiac along the way. Each breath constitutes a day for our inner Pranic Sun, with our inhalation as the day time and our exhalation as the night time. This is the astrological basis of Yoga Pranayama techniques that aim at moving the awakened or spiritually energized Prana up and down the spine during the practice. If we can do this, then each one of our breaths will have a great power for activating the chakras and arous-ing the Kundalini, the serpent power that opens the chakras, and which itself is the awakened energy of our inner Pranic Sun.

Not only the Sun but all the planets move through our subtle body or inner zodiac. They can be located in the chakras of the subtle body and their corresponding signs of the zodiac. The six chakras or energy centers of the astral body reflect the seven planets and the twelve signs that they rule. This sequence follows the orbits of planets around the Sun from the Sun as the third eye or head center, with the Sun and Moon considered as two aspects of one planet in terms of sign and chakra rulership.

The Sun and Moon are well known in yogic thought as the right and left eyes of the Cosmic Person (Purusha) and relate to the two petals of the third eye center (Ajna chakra). They show our consciousness in its masculine and feminine, or will and feeling sides as activated through the right and left, the solar and lunar, pingala and ida nadis that traverse the entire chakra system from the base of the spine to the nostrils.

Mercury is the well-known ruler of speech and intellect, which relate to the throat chakra. Venus relates to love and affection and to the heart chakra. Mars rules the navel or fire center, our energy, drives and passions. Jupiter rules the reproductive system and the creative energy, our potential to expand. Saturn rules elimination and support and is the coarsest of the planetary influences, our potential to con­tract and the root chakra. Rahu and Ketu, in their role of shadowing the Sun and Moon, relate to the ida and pingala, the left and right nadis.

The ancient Vedic yoga and the solar religions of the entire an­cient world speak of the resurrection of the Sun out of darkness, or the building up of the circle of the Sun. This is the process of taking our life-force and intelligence, our soul or inner Sun, out of the cycle of ignorance, death, time and breath and into the superconscious_v breathless states. It can be approached in several ways. Yogic practices direct the prana or life-force through the different chakras with man­tra, pranayama and other energetic practices. Meditation or knowl­edge teachings Qnana Yoga) build up the different aspects of direct perception. Devotional teachings (Bhakti Yoga) approach the chakras through the worship of or devotion to different deities.

Here we will examine how these three systems — Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology — interrelate to provide us with an effective and comprehensive methodology to deal with our karma in life, which is manifold on many levels, without and within. All Vedic disciplines aim at helping us understand, adjust to and, to the extent that it is possible, transform our karma.

Medical astrology has always been one of the most popular aspects of astrology. Among the first questions people ask astrologers are “How long will I live?” or “How healthy will I be?” Even wealth and fame are no guarantee of long life or freedom from disease. We are all con­cerned about our health and vitality, which is the foundation of ev­erything else that we attempt in life. Medical astrology also has a great scope for practical application and everyday usage as our health and energy fluctuate with the rhythms of time, from days, months, years and stages of life to special astrologi­cal periods like the dosha systems of Vedic astrology. Medical astrology provides a good angle from which to learn astrology and to verify its complex workings.

If we add the psychological component to medical astrology, it be­comes a yet more interesting and valuable study. We are all curious about how our psyche has developed both in this life and in previous lives, and how it is likely to evolve and change in the future. An im­portant question people routinely come to astrologers with is “Will I be happy?,” as our psychological state is often more important for us than our physical condition.

Adding a spiritual or yogic side to medical and psychological as­trology, we can create a complete system of well-being for body, mind and spirit. This can help us answer the ultimate questions like “What is the meaning of life?” or “Who am I?” or “What in us, if anything, survives death?” Answering such questions, after all, is the real pur­pose of why we are born.