The Sikh Foundations of Ayurveda

Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 263–279 brill.nl/asme The Sikh Foundations of Ayurveda Neil Krishan Aggarwal Abstract This paper explores how Sikh scriptures establish a unique claim to Ayurvedic knowledge. After considering Ayurvedic creation myths in the classical Sanskrit canon, passages from Sikh liturgi- cal texts are presented to show how Ayurveda is refashioned to meet the exigencies of Sikh theol- ogy. The Sikh texts are then analysed through their relationship with general Puranic literatures and the historical context of Hindu-Sikh relations. Finally, the Indian government’s current propagation of Ayurveda is scrutinised to demonstrate its affiliation with one particular religion to the possible exclusion of others. The Sikh example provides a glimpse into local cultures of Ayurveda before the professionalisation and standardisation of Ayurvedic practice in India’s post-independence period and may serve as a model for understanding other traditions. Keywords Ayurveda, Hindu and Sikh identity, Sanskritisation, Dasam Granth, Udasis, Sikhism Scholars of South Asia who study Ayurveda have overwhelmingly concen- trated on the classical Sanskrit canon of Suśruta, Caraka, and Vāgbhata.̣ This paper departs from that line of inquiry by examining the sources for a Sikh Ayurveda. Sikh religious texts such as the Guru Granth Sahib and the Dasam Granth contest the very underpinnings of Ayurveda found in Sanskrit texts. Historical research suggests that the Udāsī Sikh sect incorporated these two scriptures within their religious curriculum and also spread Ayurveda throughout north India before the post-independence period. The rise of a government-regulated form of Ayurveda has led to the proliferation of pro- fessional degree colleges, but the fact that Udāsī monasteries still exist raises the possibility of a continuous medical heritage with its own set of divergent practices. Ayurveda in classical Sanskrit texts Scholars have increasingly interrogated the traditional view regarding the Vedic origins of Ayurvedic texts. Passages in the collections of Suśruta and © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008 DOI: DOI: 10.1163/157342009X12526658783457 Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 05:55:14PM via free access 264 N. K. Aggarwal / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 263–279 Caraka contradict each other around important social issues, suggesting textual modifications for acceptance by the Brahminical orthodoxy. Despite such variations, Suśruta, Caraka and Vāgbhatạ have been canonised as a uni- fied corpus. A study of their differences, rather than similarities, might intro- duce new angles into the relationship between theological belief and medical practice. Each issue impacts our understanding of Sikh beliefs towards Ayurveda and is elaborated below. First, key doctrines differ between Ayurvedic and Vedic texts. Ayurvedic texts present pathology as a humoral imbalance, in contrast to Vedic hymns found in the Atharvaveda and Rgvedạ that emphasise external beings entering the body to produce sickness.1 The collections of Suśruta and Caraka also contain contradictory information about significant issues such as celibacy, the consumption of animal meat, and the use of alcohol such that they may have been codified to reconcile medical practice with orthodox Brahminical beliefs.2 Physicians were probably deemed ritually impure given their associa- tion with the Atharvaveda, not yet considered śruti scripture, and their contact with non-Aryan peoples in procuring herbal treatments at the frontiers of civilization.3 In addition, physicians associated with Buddhist monks circu- lating throughout north India around the fifth century BCE, who enhanced their reputations as physical and spiritual healers, institutionalised medicine in Buddhist monasteries, and produced ideas which would appear in later Sanskrit medical texts.4 Moreover, the circumstances around the canonisation of Suśruta, Car- aka and Vāgbhatạ remain unclear. Meulenbeld dates the Caraka Saṃ hitā to 50–150 A.D.5 and the Suśruta Saṃ hitā to 300–500 AD.6 He dates Vāgbhata’ṣ Aştāṇ gȧ Sangrahȧ to 650–750 AD,7 and the Aştāṇ gȧ Hrdayạ to before the middle of the ninth century AD.8 Major differences among the three authors were minimised by later commentators in order to present Ayurveda as a con- sistent, integrated whole.9 Competition against Western medicine eventually led to a single, coherent form of Ayurvedic thought in the nineteenth century divested of contrary beliefs and reinterpreted through rational, scientific 1 Zysk 1985, pp. 1–11. 2 Chattopadhyaya 1978, pp. 1–45. 3 Zysk 1991, p. 24. 4 Zysk 1991, pp. 21–49. 5 Meulenbeld 1999, pp. 113–14. 6 Meulenbeld 1999, p. 349. 7 Meulenbeld 1999, p. 621. 8 Meulenbeld 1999, pp. 631–3. 9 Scharfe 1999, p. 629. Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 05:55:14PM via free access N. K. Aggarwal / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 263–279 265 theories.10 Modern scholars such as Dash and Junius,11 Langford,12 Meulen- beld,13 Murthy14 and Wujastyk15 have accepted the central grouping of Suśruta, Caraka and Vāgbhatạ within the classical period of Ayurveda. In fact, the Suśruta Saṃ hitā,16 Caraka Saṃ hitā17 and Aştāṇ gȧ Hrdayạ 18 indi- cate how Ayurvedic medicine may have been brought within the fold of Brah- minical orthodoxy. The three collections share common literary themes, such as the transmission of knowledge from Hindu deities to humans, an incor- poration of Brahminical beliefs and practices, and inter-textual connections with Vedic and Pauranic literatures.19 In spite of these similarities, the pivotal interlocutor between deities and humans differs in each account. An alter- nate reading could contend that these texts compete rather than collaborate with each other as certain deities are glorified at the expense of others. Subtle reworkings of the deity-human transmission chain could reveal new perspec- tives on the relationship between religion and medicine. Sikh religious texts exemplify how such medical authority was conferred in a dynamically chang- ing religious environment. Ayurveda within Sikhism Sikh tradition has contributed to the development of Ayurveda in two ways. First, Sikh sects such as the Nirmalas and the Udāsīs wrote commentaries on Ayurvedic texts and practised Ayurveda in their monasteries. Second, a Sikh religious text known as the Dasam Granth which enjoyed wide historical cir- culation disputes the creation myth of Ayurveda in Sanskrit texts. This paper will restrict its focus to the Udāsīs given the availability of their primary texts, some of which appear below. Certain Sikh monastic sects such as the Udāsīs have been historically significant in the practice of Ayurveda, though their beliefs contrast with those espoused by the Tat Khalsa Sikhs who currently control most Sikh religious, educational and social institutions in India. The Udāsīs emerged in the 10 Meulenbeld 1999, p. 2. 11 Dash and Junius 1983, p. 8. 12 Langford 2002, p. 4. 13 Meulenbeld 1999, p. 5. 14 Vagbhata 1996, p. ix. 15 Wujastyk 2003, p. xxvi. 16 Suśruta 2001, pp. 1–19. 17 Caraka 1989, pp. 1–8. 18 Vagbhata 2005, pp. 1–3. 19 Zysk 1999. Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 05:55:14PM via free access 266 N. K. Aggarwal / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 263–279 seventeenth century to supervise Sikh shrines throughout north India and to found monasteries at places of pilgrimage, dressing as the ascetics of their day and favouring salvation through the renunciation of society.20 The Udāsīs claim descent from the four sons of Brahmā and depict all ten Sikh gurus as Udāsīs, citing Hindu scriptures and the Ādi Granth for support.21 They hold that Guru Nanak bequeathed two lines of succession, one to the householder Angad and the other to Nanak’s renunciate son Sri Chand.22 All of the gurus apparently enjoyed good relations with Sri Chand. As evidence, the Udāsīs point out that he related the hymns of his father to the third guru Amardas, was praised by the fourth guru Ramdas, and regularly received the fifth guru Arjan.23 In another legend, Sri Chand asked Guru Hargobind to bestow his son Baba Gurditta as an Udāsī disciple, following which Baba Gurditta ordained four other followers to spread the Udāsī message to regions as dis- tant as Bengal, Bihar, Magadh, Odissa and Rameshwaram.24 In their religious commentaries and expositions, they interpreted Sikh scriptures through the hermeneutics of Vedanta, practised hatha yoga, and built hearths in the fash- ion of the Nāth Yogis.25 By the end of Sikh rule in Punjab in 1849, the Udāsīs oversaw over 250 land grants from Maharaja Ranjit Singh and continued to receive support from the British, attesting to their importance.26 The Udāsīs were instrumental in the transmission of Ayurvedic knowledge throughout Punjab by educating disciples in monasteries and writing commentaries on Sanskrit Ayurvedic texts in local languages.27 Despite their prominence, little is known about how the Udāsīs practised Ayurveda. Headed by a mahant, they received instruction in yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and amassed a thorough knowledge of scriptures like the Vedas, the Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana and the Śastras.28 Although their orders learned from Sanskrit texts now associated with Hinduism, they also read from Sikh scriptures such as the Guru Granth Sahib and the Dasam Granth. This broad religious curriculum raises questions as to how they rec- onciled theological differences around such issues as the importance of the Vedas, the centrality of Brahma in establishing an Ayurvedic lineage, and the nature of Ayurvedic knowledge. 20 Oberoi 1994, pp. 77–80. 21 Singh 1999, p. 5. 22 Singh 1999, p. 13. 23 Padam 2000, p. 20. 24 Singh Ji 1992, pp. 9–13. 25 Singh 1999, p. 15. 26 Singh 1999, pp. 44–5, 59. 27 Sivaramakrishnan 2006, pp. 14–26. 28 Oberoi 1994, pp. 124–9. Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 05:55:14PM via free access N. K. Aggarwal / Asian Medicine 4 (2008) 263–279 267 One clue to their intellectual worldview may lie in analysing sections from the Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth.

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