Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Volume 14 Article 9

January 2001

Hindu for the Twenty-First Century

S. Cromwell Crawford

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Recommended Citation Crawford, S. Cromwell (2001) "Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 14, Article 9. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1252

The Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies is a publication of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies. The digital version is made available by Digital Commons @ Butler University. For questions about the Journal or the Society, please contact [email protected]. For more information about Digital Commons @ Butler University, please contact [email protected]. -- Crawford: Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century

Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century

s. Cromwell Crawford University of Hawaii

Introduction focus on these three distinctive features of Hindu bioethics, namely: its medical basis; IN his Cross Cultural Perspectives in its philosophical framework; its ethical Medical : Readings, Robert Veatch orientation. observes, "The of Judaism and and the secular thought of the Distinctive Features of Hindu Bioethics political philosophy of liberalism in the Anglo-American West are not the only Medical Basis alternatives to a Hippocratic medical ethic."J A unique feature of is that a fully In fact, the new pluralistic approach to world fledged system of medicine evolved within .cultures is introducing us to several religious its complex ethos. The historical and philosophical alternatives from outside developments are shrouded in mystery due the Anglo-American West. Just· as to their long antiquity. Yet, inasmuch as all alternative medicine is becoming recognized primitive societies have survived by and respected, and is being incorporated into recourse to some rudimentary system of mainstream medicine, there is a growing medicine, it is fair to assume that during the admission that the ethical problems we face protohistoric Harappa Culture, which today have dimensions that are not preceded and followed 2000 B.C., a adequately addressed by the standard rudimentary system of medicine was responses of Judaism, Christianity, and practised in the northwestern region of secular philosophies. From among these new India. Archaeological excavations at the two Eastern perspectives, Hindu bio·ethics stands main capitals of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro out. Its strength lies in the fact that it is give evidence of a technically advanced integrated in an indigenous system of society that built its houses, streets, and medicine, and is more alive today than at public facilities with a knowledge of the any time in its 2000 year history. It principles of good hygiene and sanitation. addresses the preventive and promotive Water was valued for its purifying and aspects of medicine;· mind-body therapeutic qualities. Terra cotta figurines connections; connections between the and images on seals, suggest powerful microcosmos and macrocosmos; and relies sentiments for Mother Earth and her bounty solely on nature. In addition to this scientific of plants and animals. The figure of a orientation, Hindu bioethics is homed deity, ritualistically seated in a yogic . philosophically pluralistic and ethically position, typifies an ancient medicine-man. contextual, gIvmg it that conceptual The Harappa Culture collapsed by around flexibility which is often missing in its 1500 B.C.E. Western religious counterparts, but which is Data covering the end of the second demanded by the complexities of millennium B.C.E. are drawn from the Rg contemporary issues. All this proceeds from Veda, the earliest literature of India, which the focus of Hindu bioethics on the person gives us clearer glimpses of the state of as a composite of somatic, psychic, social medicine in the early Vedic period. More and spiritual dimensions. In this piece, we important than the Rg Ve.da for knowledge

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of ancient Indian medical lore are the hymns Psychiatry; (7) Rejuvenation; (8) of the Atharva, which should be read with Knowledge for increase of virility. the Kausikasutra. One is impressed by the range of topics Vedic medicine' was predominantly the medical manuals of Ayurveda cover, magi co-religious, but mixed in with sorcery reading almost like modern medical texts, and witchcraft are certain empirical facets of notwithstanding their antiquity, and also for healing. These procedures include surgery; their concern for the moral dimensions of methods for stopping hemorrhage; bone­ .medicine. This orientation bodes well for setting; hydrotherapy; and extensive use of our attempt to construct a distinctive system plants and herbs. Underlying a good deal of of Hindu bioethics. the ritualistic actions is a clever use of the This symbiosis between medicine and power of suggestion and visualization.2 morals follows from common assumptions During the millennium preceding the which underlie both disciplines. We here Christian era, developments take place highlight some of the salient features of which precipitate a paradigm shift from the Indian medicine which provide the bases for earlier magico-religious tradition to the new ethical analysis: . empirico-rational medicine of Ayurveda. In his Asceticism and Healing in Ancient India (1) Ayurveda is rational in its approach (1991), Kenneth G. Zysk traces the to medicine. In place of the contribution made by Buddhism to Indian supernatural therapy (daiva­ medicine through its institutionalization in vyapasraya) of the Vedic phase, it monasteries, which led to new models ·for introduced rational therapy (yukti­ vyapasraya) to make the system medical manuals; through the emergence of logical and scientific. monk-healers; and through the establishment (2) Ayurveda is holistic. It views the of monastic hospices and infirmaries. . person as an integrated whole and not During the Gupta period, Zysk states just an aggregate of several body parts "Hinduism assimilated the ascetic medical that are the domain of specialists. repository into its socioreligious and (3) Ayurveda sees the person as intellectual tradition," thus making it an grounded in nature: a microcosm orthodox Hindu science.3 within the macrocosm. Diet, climate, Ayurveda is "the science of (living to a soil, season, time and place are all ripe) age." The term is semantically factors with which to reckon. (4) Health and healing are regarded as significant. Basham notes: "its first acts of nature. In medico-ethical terms: component (ayur) implies that the ancient the natural is the good. Indian doctor was concerned not only with (5) Health is identified as a positive curing disease but also with promoting state, and not just the absence of positive health and longevity, while the disease. second (veda) has religious overtones, being (6) Health is multi-dimensional: the term used for the most sacred texts of physical, mental, social and spiritual. Hinduism.,,4 (7) Ayurveda apprehends the person as The standard texts on Ayurveda are an individua~ having a unique certain extant collections known as The constitutional type, and as the bearer of an unmatched set of life experiences. Great Trio (Brhat-Trayi). They are (i) the (8) Ayurveda gives prominence to the Caraka Samhita (100 A.D.), (ii) the Susruta notion of balance. It promotes an Samhita (3-4 A.D.), and (iii) Vagbhata's ethics of moderation in matters of sex :I!' Astangahrdayam (med-7 A.D.). " and abstinence, food and drink, work

I!I' Ayurveda is divided into eight and play, sleeping and awaking, faith I!' branches: (1) Internal Medicine; (2) and common sense. ., Surgery; (3) Diseases of the Supra­ (9) Medicine is essentially preventive ···.1( " clavicular area; (4) Pediatrics, including and promotive, elevating caring above Obstetrics/Gynaecology; (5) Toxicology; (6) curing. I,

I https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol14/iss1/9 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1252 2 Crawford: Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century 27

(10) Longevity is. measured not in that the medical literature embodies a vision number of days, but quality of time. of life that is supported by interesting ethical (11) Death is an inevitable part of the instructions not present in works of natural process, and is therefore not an philosophy. The manuals also cover many evil or the object of divine punishment. other interesting details which "throw a Death is the opposite of birth, not of life. . flood of lights on the scholastic methods of (12) Health and disease, happiness and Indian thinkers." Moreover, scholars in suffering, life and death are the touch with "the importance of Hatha Yoga consequences of an individual's or Tantra physiology or anatomy in relation karma, hence the emphasis on human to some of the Yoga practices of these responsibility. schools will no doubt be interested to know (13) Health is more ·than what the for purposes of comparison or contrast the doctors do; it is a total life-style that speculations of the medical schools on carries one from cradle to the grave. kindred points of interest." Dasgupta (14) Health is not the ultimate good concludes his case for the inclusion of the but the penultimate good. medical literature in his History oj Indian The moral structure of Indian medicine Philosophy by arguing that even "a student makes it eminently suited to deal with the of P?re philosophy" will find intriguing the medIcal speculations regarding dilemmas which arise in modem medical "embryology, heredity and other points of practice. general enquiry.,,6. Dasgupta's remarks highlight the fact Philosophic Framework that the development of medicine in India Next we explore how the integration of the has gone hand in hand with the development religio-philosophic speculations of of philosophy. The reason for this is that Ayurveda, along with other schools of Indian philosophy is more than intellectual Indian philosophy, give Indian medicine a curiosity, it is the quest for the elimination distinctive shape. Ayurveda is a of moral and physical suffering that compendium of science and philosophy. As characterizes all of human existence. The a science its purpose is to ensure health of goal of philosophy is to liberate the human body and mind; as a philosophy its goals go consciousness to its native level of being; beyond the preservation of health and the and sound health is both the condition and curing of disease. The present resurgence of creation of this philosophical end. This Ayurveda in the West is as much due to its inclusion of knowledge and wisdom with the philosophy as its science, because it appeals path to attain liberation has distinguished to the felt need for a more humanistically Indian philosophy as a way of life and not oriented approach to medicine. merely as a way of thought. The most Eminent philosopher, Surendranath c.harac!eristic path prescribed for reaching Dasgupta, raises the issue as to whether the hberatIOn has been a cultivation of the spirit speculations in the medical schools deserve of renunciation. The progressive practice of to be included in a history of Indian renunciation internally produces peace of philosophy - subject of the magnum opus he mind and externally transforms behaviour. was writing. In his judgment any objection This gradually produces empathy for all loses its force when it is remembered that sentient beings, as embodied in the principle "medicine was the most important of all the of ahimsa, which enjoins that we do no physical sciences which were cultivated in harm. ancient India, was directly and intimately Additionally, the inclusion of diverse connected with the Samkhya and Vaisesika philosophic viewpoints imparts to Indian physics and was probably the origin of the medicine a pluralistic stance, quite necessary logical speculations subsequently codified in for doing bioethics in a multi-cultural the Nyaya-sutras.,,5 He proceeds to point out setting.

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see human reason as flawed, and therefore Ethical Orientation rely on revelation for the full truth. Reason Most importantly, Hindu bioethics is unique, may be resorted to, but only as hand-maiden because of the contextual structure of Hindu to revelation. This makes them tend to see ethics. moral issues in terms of black and white, Any survey of clinical cases reveals and therefore to have little tolerance for that dilemmas lie at the heart of bioethics. exceptional cases, or the demands of For its part, Hindu ethics is a moral system particular situations. which acknowledges genuine moral At the opposite end of the spectrum is dilemmas. We encounter a dilemma when the position of Relativism. Relativists argue values to which we are equally committed that value judgments and ethical norms are are brought into conflict, so that the reducible. to matters of subjective honouring of one value necessitates the preference, . and therefore questions of life violation ofthe other. The Hindu position in and death are considered private issues to be this regard is to be distinguished both from answered by each individual. They, too, that of the religious fundamentalist, who minimize the capacity of reason. With views dilemmas in the light of revelation, hedonic overtones, Relativists make the and of the secular rationalist, who views individual's own experience of happiness them as problems to be solved by the use of the standard of value, worthy of protection reason. For the religious fundamentalist, the by the American constitution. problem is the need for a better faith; for the Hindu ethics is distinguished from both secular rationalist, it is the need for superior extremes by the importance it gives to knowledge. In either case, there are no rational authority. This claim may be genuine dilemmas. queried, because of the part played by In Hinduism dilemmas are not denied. revelation within its own system. However, Its scriptures strain with the tension of Hinduism's recognition of revelation as a irreconcilable alternatives. The best conduit of knowledge does not depreciate examples are found in the epic literature. the role of reason. The Hindu sastras make a The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are not liberal use of reason in support of the just works of antiquity but embody the positions they take in ethical and other social sinew which connects past with matters. Only the final validity of reason is present and makes the epics dateless questioned in mystical matters which lie treasures of true dilemmas. This point is beyond its purview. Thus the admission of adequately illustrated by the late Bimal K. revelation does not prejudice reason, for MatHaI in his Moral Dilemmas in the there is continuity between the two. Mahabharata. Whereas in Western thought revelation is an The internal flexibility of Hindu ethics external mode of testimony, in Hindu when dealing with "duties in distress," gives perspective revelation is an internal activity, it a certain advantage over two extreme similar to intuition, as Hiriyanna has argued. positions on the current social spectrum, Through reason and intuition, dealing with life-and-death issues. Hinduism finds the source of ethics in the First there is the position of nature of the person, holistically perceived. Authoritarianism. It surfaces in different It agrees with the Relativists that the claims degrees in the moral stance of religious of Authoritarianism to finding absolute groups such as the Roman , values is illusory and pretentious, because Protestant fundamentalists, Mormons, social morality is inevitably the construct of Jehovah's Witnesses, and in quasi-religious SUbjective, historical forces that reflect the organizations as Operation Rescue. These accidents of time and place; but the groups base their truth claims on holy books admission of subjectivity is not tantamount and sacrosanct traditions in which they find to saying that all our choices between life I.' objectively valid norms of conduct. They and death are merely the products of

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/jhcs/vol14/iss1/9 DOI: 10.7825/2164-6279.1252 4 Crawford: Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century Hindu Bioethics for the Twenty-First Century 29

subjective tastes and preferences. To the which the issues of health and disease must contrary, we can arrive at objectively valid reckon with divine or demonic agency, norms based on our knowledge of deep­ Hindu bioethics holds the individual seated human capacities for life, for love, for responsible and gives preventive medicine a freedom, and for integrity, which are moral status. Given the goal of life as articulated as samanya or generic duties. moksa, the individual is under obligation to Our cultural formulations of these psychic maintain physical and mental fitness in order striving will always be relative, constantly to to facilitate that end. This is not to say that be refined over the long haul of human Christians are not held responsible for their experience - which is to acknowledge that state of health, but that the degree to which objectivity is not absolute or unconditional. the will of God or the wiles of the devil are The notion of absolutism is alien to Hindu insinuated, freedom is rendered ambiguous ethics, because it is a concept of and responsibility is compromised, albeit for transcendental revelation that is removed a divine purpose (punishment, test, trial, from an appreciative understanding of education, edification expiation). human nature and human history. Notwithstanding its claim to rationality, This approach imparts to Hindu Hindu bioethics acknowledges that persons bioethics an orientation of moral reasoning of reason might not always agree on what is in its dealing with moral problems. It good, but they can agree more generally on eschews the path of authoritarianism, what is evil. Rational people wish to avoid creedal ism, emotionalism, and takes the for themselves and for their loved ones evils road of rationality. However, it is not the such as pain, disease, premature death, and rationality of the disembodied mind, but the· the loss of abilities to pursue the rationality of the whole person. The purusarthas. Therefore, while promoting the autonomous individual gives due weight to good, the basic agenda of Hindu bioethics is scriptural injunctions and the precedents of to prevent evil by advocating principles and persons of probity, but in the final analysis, proscriptions against behaviour that inflicts he/she turns to the dictates of conscience, harm to persons and to all sentient creatures. making that person responsible for his or her Its bottom line, based on the cardinal value own karma. of ahimsa, is: Do no harm - himsam ma These considerations mean that a kuru. premium is placed on individual conduct, Hindu ethical principles are applied to developed in the scheme of sadvrtta. Caraka two areas: Issues at the Beginning of Life, says: "In· order to prevent derangements in and Issues at the End ofLife. sense organs along with mind one should Issues at the Beginning of Life are: make effort to maintain the normalCy of Technology and the Womb; Dilemmas at these methods - such as, with conjunction of Birth; When Parents Let Children Suffer for wholesome sense objects one should Reasons of Faith; Ethics of Contraception; perform acts well properly and invariably Ethics of Abortion; Ethics of Pre-Natal examining with intellect, and also by regular Diagnosis for Sex Selection; Ethics of the use of those which are opposite to the Human Genome Project; Ethics of ; qualities of place, time and self. Hence, one Ethics of Population Growth. who desires to promote his own well-being Issues at the End ofLife are: Ethics of should follow the entire code of good Suicide; Ethics of Euthanasia; Ethics of conduct fully, invariably and cautiously.,,7 Aging; Ethics of Death and Dying. Along the same lines, Caraka cautions against prajnaparadha (intellectual error) in respect to the harmful actions of speech, ~otes mind and body. Thus, whereas Christian bioethics 1. Robert M. Veatch, Introduction, Cross works within a supernatural framework in Cultural Perspectives in Medical

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Ethics: Readings, Robert M. Veatch, Comparative Study, Charles Leslie, ed. ed. (Boston: Jones and Bartlett (Berkeley: University of California Publishers, 1989), p. 96. Press, 1976), p. 18. 2. Henry R. Zimmer, Hindu Medicine 5. Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, Indian Philosophy (2 Vols; 1948), p. 9f. Cambridge: Cambridge University 3. Kenneth G. Zysk, Asceticism and Press, 1968), Vol 2, p. 273. Healing in Ancient India (New York: 6. Caraka Samhita, Priyavrat Sharma, Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 118. ed.-trans. (3 Vols; Varanasi: 4. A.L. Basham, "The Practice of Chaukhamba Orientalia, 1981), Vol. 1, i) Medicine in Ancient and Medieval Sutrasthana Vll1.17, p. 56. India.," in Asian Medical Systems: A 7. Ibid. lX.4l.

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