SIDDHA VAIDYA:

The Primordial Medical Science of Humanity

By William Howell with Dr. Rajkumar Reghunathan

and Dr. Reghu Harichandran

FORWARD

From the origins of our human race comes a promising re-awakening of pure medical service, Siddha Vaidya: the first completely documented medical science of humanity. Far from primitive, this health-care system carries all the power, dignity and fullness of Nature coupled what can only be called a true ethic of wholeness.

Here is just a hint of the completeness of the Siddha Vaidya understanding of health care:

Everything can be healed. That for which currently there is only a surgical solution likely has an herbal solution

The inter-relatedness of body and mind and emotions and spirit is the backbone of sound health care. Thousands of years of precise observation of the effects of medical administration inform every Siddha Vaidya decision. Today’s Siddha Vaidya physicians benefit from thousands of years of this lineage of ‘super’ physicians.

You have picked up this book, dear reader, and are reading word symbols that have the potency and possibility of changing your life and who knows how many other lives. Even though studies indicate that change is what human beings fear most, even more than death itself, the very nature of life on Earth is just that—change. What you are about to read introduces the most complete manual of dealing with change in our bodies.

We all want happiness. We all want health. The two—happiness and health—are not only obviously interrelated, but in this tradition are considered to be the same. The book you have picked up is about this most precious nature of life. Health is not an arena of life, but is life itself in its natural state. This is the fabulously simple and profound assumption of Siddha Vaidya, the primordial health wisdom of our planet.

Let us together with calmness and clarity consider our situation. Longing to be happy and healthy, if we look at happiness and health in our individual lives, we will likely want to look away—because that which we most want we honestly do not know how to gain. Fear has set in long ago, anger is with us, and we are full of doubts. Such honesty is in our favor.

Life is expressed in patterns. From day and night to the seasons to the fractal nature of creation, we see patterns everywhere. We can see it in our bodies, written in our palms and the irises of our eyes. Mathematics has its basis in patterns, and, indeed, so does every science. History also is patterned. Civilizations rise and fall, human togetherness becomes more pronounced and then experiences diaspora, there is peace and there is war…on and on throughout the ages. This patterning is of origins more than ancient, based in the nature of time itself, such that there are natural motions in every age to and fro on the cosmic seesaw. At this point in the third millennium C.E. we are in a period of intense purification as one pattern is falling away and another, its compliment, is rising.

Each pattern has a purpose, and there need be no judgment of the nature of this purpose. The assumptions, the mindset, of each pattern may feel more negative or positive than another, but in terms of usefulness, all patterns are equal—and, therefore, necessary.

The pattern we are experiencing in the opening of the 21st century is still under the sway of deep assumptions about mortality, which is a fear-based mentality. The inner terrain of such a collective psyche is treacherous, and self-protection seems a foregone necessity. Which gives rise to attitudes of ‘me first!’ Which, if threatened, means violence—not only individually, but communally, corporately, nationally. We form governments for our security, but those governments are also, no matter how noble their language, under the sway of self-protection first and foremost. The result is control, secrecy and force. We see these tendencies played out in every nation on the face of the Earth, whether in more overt or more covert expressions.

Health care in our societies cannot help but be caught up in the prevailing psychology. Surely, there are individuals who puncture whatever balloon the current ideology is floating. And certainly we can point to marvelous innovations whose benefit is undeniable—from laser surgery to heart transplants, from root canals to prosthetics, from envitro fertilization to pace-makers. Such a list is, thankfully, long. And yet there are deep ethical questions. And there is an equally large concern about drugs, which, to someone having a specific problem, may seem like a Godsend, but which produce side- effects which not only can be manifold but also disastrous. The reason why, if we take even a short step back to gain a more comprehensive view, is that drugs, which are a manifestation of a health-care system rooted in individuality and fear and limitation, focus on a specific ailment and, in treating that ailment, produce other negative results in other psycho-physical arenas.

In short, the West tends to work with surfaces. Which is why modern allopathy can heal only fevers, whereas so many diseases—from arthritis to kidney stones and asthma to epilepsy—thought incurable in the West pose no problem to the Siddha Vaidya physician. And yet there is no blame, since such unfortunate circumstances are a product of a worldview whose graph has been sloping downward for centuries.

Life is full, is whole, is holographic in nature, and science is gradually moving toward that conclusion. In that fullness, life always is manifesting authentic solutions, authentic because they are natural. When wholeness of life is divided up, then, in treating the parts, there is only the hope of improving the symptoms of sickness but little if any energy in addressing the source of our maladies.

One of the hallmarks of our time is the unearthing, so to speak, of applied wisdom that has sustained humanity since time immemorial. Such wisdom can seem to us like breakthrough stuff. Given our modern ego-centric position, we may find the lore of the ancients threatening to our notions of progress, and such fears may well keep us from reaping enormous profits. But the fact remains that our time in history is born of a mentality that takes its inspiration not so much from Nature but from machine. And the yield is destruction, for the collective human psyche is reeling in terror from the possibility of its own annihilation, and yet we blithely and blindly step forward toward more of the same, knowing not what else to do. This book introduces a health care system that rests 180-degrees from what has been offered by post-war modern medical efforts. Consider the following and then evaluate for yourself.

Again, there are contemporary medical developments which are useful in diagnosis, surgery and pathology, to be sure. Thus, given the extent of an individual’s malady, he or she may well be advised by a Siddha Vaidya physician to utilize certain allopathic developments. However, for example, Siddha Vaidya treatments make surgery generally unnecessary, whereas the Western model often offers no other viable option.

To offer a concrete example, my wife had a car accident in the mid-1970s which gave her a hairline neck fracture undetected for 20 years. The fragility of her neck, coupled with bone degeneration of the spine and general advanced osteoporosis found only slight and limited relief from Western-based medical practitioners. Coupled with kidney stones (4 operations) and a fear of cancer, given her family history, what was she to do? Fortunately, from a friend she heard of Siddha Vaidya and, through the Siddha

Vaidya website (www.isvin.com) she found Dr. Rajkumar and, speaking directly with him, came to his clinic in Trivandrum in southern India. He and Dr. Reghu understood her condition as a single disease, not as separate incidents, and prescribed a treatment regime over three years. Even her concerns about skin blotches and dryness turned out to be part of an overall disease. No one else—and she investigated numerous treatment options, both Western allopathic, homeopathic, chiropractic, and many alternative therapies—spoke with clarity and confidence about her condition and how it would be healed (not just improved!) The cost at first seemed expensive at $150/day for six weeks twice a year. However, when we experienced that this included private room and bath, three delicious meals daily (plus snacks), unlimited consultations, individualized external Siddha Vaidya treatments every day, individualized daily internal body-enhancing formulae, plus all the herbs she would need for the next six months until her next clinic period, the $5000 for six weeks was more than reasonable. Indeed, given the lack of any authentic alternatives, she felt she had no other choice. After just six months, her kidney stones turned to granules and were easily passed, her neck and spine are stronger, her skin disease 70% improved, and her concerns about cancer have largely vanished. As her husband, I rejoice over the discovery of Siddha Vaidya.

Behold the simple yet brilliant main ethic of Siddha Vaidhya: Using what is natural To remove what is not natural Thereby bringing the nervous system to balance In a holistic way So that the body learns to heal Not from outer influence, but on its own.

With true promise available, the only requirement is education, which is the purpose of this book. When considering the essential attitude of this ancient tradition and its deftly abundant number of specific cures, there is little doubt that the time has come for a global renewal of this healthcare knowledge.

And yet, Siddha Vaidya will never become large, will not be a great health system of Western establishment. Rather, its scale will remain small enough to always be personal. The model of great hospitals and HMOs and machines costing hundreds of thousands of dollars is for mass health care. Siddha Vaidya rests close to nature and employs only kitchen technology. You will be amazed at that technology, however. One of its main oils, for example, is made of over 300 herbs, each picked at a precise time of day and year, each prepared in an exact manner according to ancient formulas written on palm leaves in poetry! You may be sensing that Siddha Vaidya draws health care initiates who are dedicated from deep inside to beneficial medicines in a truly holistic application in which the doctors cannot make profits, only moderate salaries, and the treatment program is enjoyable and health-affirming rather than health-risking.

If you find yourself drawn to this primal system of complete health care, then bravo! Of course, the choice is yours. Siddha Vaidya has been serving humanity for perhaps 17,000 years and will wait until you are ready for the fullness of health.

Table of Contents

Forward

CHAPTER 1: Looking for the Next Medical Step in the Most Ancient of Places

The Siddha Vaidhya PhysicianThe First Siddha Vaidya PhysiciansThe Medicine Poems of Aghastya and the Great Tamil SiddhasReaching Back into Our Atomic PastCosmology and Philosophy

CHAPTER 2: The Main Components of the Siddha Vaidhya Healing System

Doshas or The Governing ForcesThe Relative Proportion of the Five ElementsSapta Dathu or the Seven Tissue TypesNadi or The Energy MeridiansMarmas or The Energy PointsPathologyPathology and Pathogenesis

CHAPTER 3: Treatment in Siddha Science

Individualized CareThe Siddha Vaidya Concept of TreatmentTherapeutics in Siddha VaidyaCalibration and Standardization of Siddha Vaidya Formulae Herb Collection, Storage and Processing Detoxification of DrugsPharmacologySiddha Vaidya Individualized Treatments

Siddha MassageHeated Rice-milk Pouch MassageKaya Regeneration TherapyOil Baths and Drips

HygieneYoga and Meditation

CHAPTER 4: Siddha Vaidya Applications

Western and Eastern Medical ModelsSiddha Vaidya and Allopathic MedicineSiddha Vaidya RediscoveredSiddha Vaidya and Modern MedicineSiddha Vaidhya and Ayurveda

Siddha Vaidhya and HomeopathySiddha Vaidhya and AcupunctureSiddha Vaidya and ShamanismSiddha Vaidya and DreamsSiddha Vaidya and the Martial ArtsSiddha Vaidya and Spirituality/ReligionSiddha Vaidhya Applications

Massage Energy medicine Quantum Physics Human potentialSpirituality and Religion

CHAPTER 5: Siddha Vaidya and the West Current Boundaries and Outlooks Payment and finances

How to Read These Six VolumesSiddha Vaidya and Women’s Health. Menopause: Ancient Secrets, Vatta Disorders Pitta Disorders

Kapha Disorders Longevity Neurology

CHAPTER 1:Looking for the Next Medical Step

in the Most Ancient of Places

On the current stage of humanity, given our global awareness, the drama of human health is a drama of world-wide proportions. World medicine is not sounding like science fiction, when there is a bird flu found in isolated cases in China, Britain, Russia, Canada—then we see in our mobile age that the planet is one family, in this case open to a potential epidemic that, in 1918, claimed the lives of 18 million people. With our global eyes, we see even Siddha Vaidya, which, small in scope compared to the medical community of any nation, is nonetheless visible. It is visible because our eyes make judgments, and we can see that, when compared to what we are used to in healthcare in the West, Siddha Vaidya seems like the quaintest of bungalows in a vast city of boxy apartments. The question is about really being able to live in this charming but very different dwelling. The only clear response can come from inside this colorful little house. Dear reader, you stand invited. That is the nature of this introductory book on Siddha Vaidya.

Siddha Viadya offers a clear and practiced balance to the unavoidable consequences of modern materialism and its resulting over-dependence on technology. Re-orienting the move away from nature, this ancient medical system of total healthcare relies on the timeless intelligence of nature, which is why Siddha Vaidhya is now being ‘re-discovered.’ Across the globe, we witness scientific breakthroughs coming from insights into natural processes, with solar energy as a prime example. To recognize the shudder in the human soul about the western model of society becoming more and more based not just on machinery but actually on the model of the machine: which wears out, rather than is self-healing; is based on limited human intelligence rather than unlimited cosmic intelligence; requires artificial, non-sustainable fuels whose supplies are rapidly dwindling rather than abundant and replaceable fuels; which is governed by a manual rather than by natural law and intuition; and when it breaks down is thrown away rather than is restored to health. In this state, a natural return to what is natural is immediately required in every field of human expression.

The model of the machine, with its spare parts made interchangeable for efficiency and convenience has produced a medical systems whose psychology is focused on healing symptoms. Machines have no heart, no emotions, so their surface is all that exists. The need for wholeness is a deep cry in the collective psyche.

We can in our global situation behold the consequences of trying to heal without a holistic vision and methodology. With wars, like a cancer in the world’s body politic, in so many parts of our planet, we can readily see the drug mentality in which one problem is solved only to create one or more other problems, which then are ‘solved’ in similar fashion. Modernity is the result of a split from nature. In Costa Rica a favorite t-shirt

reads, “After all the trees have been cut down and all the fishes dead from poisons, then we will realize that we cannot eat money.”

What a society believes will determine how it acts, and how it acts will show in every aspect of life in that society, including and especially its healthcare. The nugget of revelation is that modern medicine is starting to wonder What can really be healed? Siddha Vaidya, on the other hand, is more wondering What cannot be healed?

A problem cannot be solved on the level of the problem, which is why current medical (or educational, or military, or political) problems cannot be solved by those inside the problem, inside, in this case, the current medical establishment. Siddha Vaidya, the first completely documented medical science of humanity and arising from the origins of our human race, can genuinely offer a re-awakening of pure medical service in which providing health is not a guessing game.

Let’s start at the beginning. Whether life originated within organisms on our Earth or somewhere else and whether or not the basic building block of life, the DNA molecules, exists beyond our planet we do not yet know. But we do have 3 ½ billion years of DNA to tell us there is a fixed language of 4 letters which, having over 3 billion permutations whose sequences form genes, describes every Earthly organism. DNA, the building block of our chromosomes, is the core memory bank of life, changing an organism with no apparent change in its own chemical structure. Indeed, DNA language remains virtually unchanged since the birth of life on this planet. DNA structure determines and controls the protein synthesis in a cell, a process controlled by our genetic code. Yet this code does not, as has been thought, either predetermine or fix us as individuals. The ancient intelligence that has given rise to the Siddha Vaidya system of health works far more subtly than even the genes.

Our science tells us that DNA was discovered in the 20th century and that the first strand of DNA was mapped in our 21st century. But, just as we say that Columbus discovered America in 1492, forgetting that a people already lived on these shores now called the United States of America, so too the DNA molecule has been known for thousands of years. Moreover, it is not the fundamental building block of all life. Important, without doubt, but fundamental it is not. To find out what is fundamental, we turn to Siddha Vaidya and its knowledge gained by quantum physicists many thousands of years ago.

To a Siddha Vaidya physician, all knowledge precedes from the body. Everything that exists is within us. Thus, all that we can know or need to know is right here, and the Siddha Vaidya tradition is the oldest and most basic health system because it so honors the body. Siddha Vaidya did not come from the Gods, but from the depths of human experience. for, indeed, the Gods arose out of the very nature of our bodies, for they are within us, not outside in some separate sphere. Thus, there are no overlays or meta-concepts in Siddha Vaidya to contaminate the purity of seeing the nature of the body and its primary place in all that we call life. In this totally comprehensive healing modality, we operate not in the mind but from direct experience. Siddha Vaidya epitomizes what we mean when using the phrase, ‘Back to basics.’

There is no history of Siddha Vaidya. None was ever written because one was needed, since Siddha Vaidya is living, is a constantly living relation with health, which is

natural to life by virtue of not being separate from life. Siddha Vaidya does not interfere with the nature of our bodies and the astonishing intelligence within each one of us. Siddha Vaidya does not manipulate us or our bodies, but works with them naturally, for the nature of nature and the nature of our bodies are not different. Indeed, there is only one nature.

The Siddha Vaidhya PhysicianThat said, let’s begin practically with the question: What is the standard for a

great physician? Saint Thiruvalluvar, one of the foremost philosophers and ethisists of the Sanghom age, explicated four requisites for successful treatment. These are the patient, attendant, physician and medicine. When the physician is well-qualified and the other agents possess the necessary qualities, even severe diseases can be cured easily. A Siddha Vaidya doctor feels he or she has failed if complete cure is not the result of the prescribed therapies. (In Siddha Vaidya, only 3% of all diseases are incurable, though their effects can be greatly improved.) Treatment should be commenced as early as possible after assessing the course and cause of the disease. The physician’s duty is to take complete care of the patient without consideration for payment in money or kind. The physician should always choose the best possible medicines for the patient, balancing pharmacological effects and any possible side effects, and should be prepared to remedy any adverse effects that may be the result of the treatment. It is the duty of the patient to reimburse the time, resources, and energy spent by the physician and the assistant to the best of his or her ability.

In the Siddha system of medicine, a physician should be a complete person with all-around development. He should be anchored in the physical, mental and spiritual worlds and should have in-depth knowledge about normal/abnormal functioning of the three humors, the five elements, the seven tissues, the ten energy trunks, and human anatomy and physiology, as well. He should be capable of diagnosing and curing ailments. Other qualities of a Siddha physician are intelligence, truthfulness, confidence, and pharmacological mastery. According to Theraiyar (a Siddha), in his treatise, Thylavarga Churrukam, the physician should have pure thoughts and actions, love for all human beings and a detailed knowledge about geographical and seasonal variations. He should cultivate a correct physical, mental and spiritual balance, while maintaining healthy dietary habits. As desirable qualities in a physician, Agasthiyar Sillaraikkovai further adds the qualities of generosity, patience, untiring hard work, capability of overcoming both greed and anger, and knowledge about astrology and numerology. He says that a physician should protect his patient the way an eyelid protects the eyes and the way a mother cares for her sick child.

The life of a Siddha Vaidya physician begins at a very early age, when one is apprenticed to a practicing physician. It is the teacher’s duty to teach the student all that can be taught; and it is the student’s responsibility to learn and understand the information presented, to take care of the teacher and his/her family, and to help with the work at the house and pharmacy. Once a student learns and completely masters the teacher’s special field, he moves on to another teacher, and masters that field. The search for needed information and teachers, and the assimilation of the science and art thus obtained, is pursued until the student is satisfied and the teacher gives permission for the student to become a physician. There is a commencement ceremony for the student when

he finally becomes a physician. He practices with the understanding that the summation of all the body parts

makes the unique wholeness of life that we call an individual. His diagnosis searches deep into the cause of the problem and the age of the cause. The diagnosis should list all the secondary effects due to the primary imbalance or disorder. It should also touch at all the disabilities from the primary cause and the secondary effects and delineate the steps required to correct the primary cause, the secondary effects, and any disabilities.

This is the age of specialization in medicine. In the zest of the specialist, one forgets that the human body is one whole entity. The heart specialist forgets about the heart’s connection to the mind and the rest of the body. The bone specialist forgets that each and every single process that happens in the body has contributed to the welfare of the bone. In Siddha Vaidya, specialization by practitioners is only the penultimate step to being a full-fledged practitioner. The ultimate Siddha physican is a generalist with a deep understanding in all the specialties. He practices with the understanding that the summation of all the body parts makes the unique wholeness of life that we call an individual. A Siddha Vaidya physician attains a level of general understanding of health and medicine as a first step. He then studies one special area such as pediatrics or some other subject. Once that specialty is mastered, one moves on to another specialty and becomes an authority in that subject. This is not a strict road, as the student may be attached to just one specialty. Completing all the possible specialties, the doctor assumes the position of a generalist.

If a Siddha Vaidya doctor sounds rather like a ‘super physician,’ such a perception is exactly on target, for the origin of Siddha Vaidya arises out of a lineage of what we can call ‘super physicians.’

The First Siddha Vaidya PhysiciansStories with a similar theme to Pandora’s box are common subjects in

mythologies to explain the genesis of diseases and ill health. Thousands of years ago, in Dravidian India, mythologies speak about the genesis of ill health as a result of a misunderstanding between two primal forces. In this story, the protagonists are the force of creation (Brahma) and the force of sustenance (Vishnu). The aberration of the creative force resulted in the creation of diseases. It finally fell upon the force of destruction (Shiva) to find a solution, since he was the only party not involved in this quarrel. Shiva enclosed his sperm inside a ceramic pot and created the first test-tube baby, who matured as a great sage, Agasthya. Agasthya was born with tremendous knowledge and wisdom. He further developed this knowledge base with his father’s help and assisted by his new wife, Parvathi. Agasthya matured into a great sage and scientist, but never grew physically, attaining the height of only three hand spans. He developed Siddha Vaidya into the great medical science we see today.

Just to note at this point: This story suggests that the idea of invitro-fertilization is actually very old; conversely, it exhibits the understanding of today’s Siddha Vaidya physicians that there are no new diseases.

His disciples also made significant contributions in medical science. Agasthya and his disciples are known as the 18 Tamil Siddhas. A siddha is someone whose awareness has been made clear by the purifying process that results in enlightenment. Let us here briefly define this vast term as someone who consciousness is unified with

that which underlies and permeates everything that exists. Such a soul is a siddha. A siddha is someone whose perceptual abilities are freed from manipulation and illusion, who sees clearly and truly. Siddha means ‘a perfected one.’ A siddhi is a power, a power that can be focused on, acquired through deep practice and austerity, or can be given by grace to someone who has been so purified as to be enlightened. Agasthya and his disciples were of the latter category: enlightened beings whose power came not from their individual efforts but from life itself. Yet they made unbelievable efforts to use their siddhis, their powers, for the good of all humanity. From their collective minds and concerted efforts came Siddha Vaidya.

How did this happen? They had siddhis, powers, one of which was to make their bodies smaller than an atom. In this way they could go inside the body of a sick person and investigate with unparalleled closeness and in full detail exactly what was going on it this person’s cells, in this person’s muscles and organs and systems. In short, they saw everything about this person’s malady. With complete dedication, they mapped out the whole arena of disease, naming 4448 ailments—each with at least 64 approaches. The number of cures in Siddha Vaidya medicine exceeds 350,000!

While such assertions may seem unbelievable and even outlandish, consider the understandings of quantum physics, which since Albert Einstein’s day have questioned the nature of time and space. Such knowledge reveals to us that the vast amount of what we consider to be matter is merely space. The sage Agasthya and his cohorts simply altered the nature of the space in their bodies. Or, consider that enlightenment means knowing oneself beyond a shadow of a doubt to be the infinite field of pure being out of which arise all known phenomena, from the smallest to the largest, from quarks to supernova. With their attention established at the place where silence is giving expression to sound and, remembering the opening of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word…”, then we may catch something of the profundity of the power (siddhi) that is possible where creation itself is being constantly born out of seeming emptiness. In that subtlest of experiences, since what is subtle is more powerful than what is gross (breaking an atom versus breaking a marble), enormous power comes from such ability to focus one’s attention. Such ability (siddhi) would allow the act of making one’s body enormously small quite simple, especially since enlightened souls know full well that they are not their body (or their thoughts or emotions), but rather that they, who are the primal stuff of body, thought and emotion can command the body, such that the body, given an order from the basis of every arena and aspect that make up the body, simply obeys.

Explaining their abilities, while somewhat tedious, is crucial to understand not only the origins of Siddha Vaidya, but also its authenticity and authority. Moreover, since the sage Agasthya is an immortal, the goal of Siddha Vaidya is immortality. If these words seem far-fetched or even ridiculous, ask yourself: Would I rather be treated by a doctor whose baseline mentality and focus of care was on the fact that I am going to die or one who was operating from a premise that it is my birthright to live, no matter what?

The Medicine Poems of Aghastya and the Great Tamil SiddhasThe 18 Tamil Siddhas—who were not all from southern India, but from all over

the world, being located wherever they wished in order to serve—recorded their stunning

findings in a rather stunning way. They wrote their medical manuals down on palm leaves. Not only that, but the insights and herbal formulas they recorded are in couplets, in poetry. The utter clarity of their medically-directed consciousness allowed these super physicians to inquire and instantly understand which herbs and elements would correct and rebalance the ailments they investigated via their own direct experience. The results of their work—the most exhaustive, in-depth and accurate set of experiments ever undertaken in this or any field--have been passed down from them to their disciples and so on and on from teacher to student for perhaps 17,000 years, the oldest and most complete medical lineage known to mankind. Now their translation into Malayalam and into English is significantly underway.

Information in the very origin of Siddha Vaidya might have been transmitted and stored in memories as an oral tradition. With time, it gradually became a written tradition. Experimenting from one media to another, the ancient physicians might have arrived at the optimal media for information storage. Unfortunately, that might not have been the best choice for information storage for the thousands of years from then to now. What we have today are the latest books that are copies of earlier books. Information that was written before in easily destroyed media—like tree bark, leaves or on paper—might have been destroyed. The only ancient writing that survived the ensuing millennia are clay tablets and metal plate inscriptions.

In terms of information retrieval, a language undergoes constant change. A word that means one thing in the past may have an entirely different meaning today. A thousand years can change the content of a vital thread of information to meaningless string of words. The books that are available today, being copies of previous versions, have preserved information to a good extent without much contextual change.

With over 350,000 known cures and the complexity of picking herbs and assembling them in just the proper time and manner, Shri Raman Harichandran, the epitome of a modern day Siddha Vaidya physician, before his death in 1989, said that, even though all diseases are known, along with their cures, still he felt “like a child playing with sand at the ocean of Siddha Vaidya.”

Reaching Back into Our Atomic PastAs an ancient medical science, Siddha Vaidya is equally rooted in history and

mythology regarding its origin. The historical explanation is based on observations from archeology, oral history and philological findings. Oral and written histories—as evident in the Vedas, the earliest of Indian writings that are decipherable—allude to earlier civilizations.

Archeological digs were undertaken in Western India in the past century which unearthed more than 1400 different towns in the Indus River valley that, amazingly, are as advanced as towns are today. These ancient village cities had indoor plumbing and bathrooms. Broadways crossed each other at right angles and the streets were paved with cobblestones. This civilization, known as the Dravidian civilization, was advanced in many fronts of knowledge. This civilization was cosmopolitan, and the Dravidians were a composite, inclusive and well-traveled people of red, black, white and yellow races who had come from all parts of the world. The knowledge we have of this peaceful people suggests that they lived in democratic equality and economic harmony. Their governance was not hierarchically based, nor was there an aspect of status in their community

organization. These insights come from archeological information, such as the houses of every town being of the same size and basic structure, larger not in the size of rooms but in their number only when one family was larger than another. No one was special, evidently; or, rather, everyone was special; or, more likely, the concept of being special simply was not in their vocabulary. Ergo, each person had all that he or she needed, which must have included an abundance of love and a lack of fear. Perhaps one of the reasons the Dravidian culture was so advanced and harmonious is that, as far as we know from the statuary, yoga and meditation originated in this civilization. No where else are there any earlier findings of statues of individuals in yogic and meditative postures.

Into this civilization was born the great sage and immortal siddha Agasthya. The remarkable findings of Agasthya and his disciples became the template and center for Dravidian medical science, which later became known as Siddha Vaidya.At some point, still prior to the Indo-European influx of Aryan peoples and culture into northern India, the Dravidian people moved south, into what is now Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In the Tamil language, ‘Siddha’ is ‘Chitta’, which means ‘atom’. Thus it is that Siddha Vaidya works on the atomic level of our bodies.

It is the brilliant and fundamental understanding of Siddha Vaidya that the origin of disease is atomic, occurring at conception. Siddha Vaidya acts at this very atomic level, moving molecules, and, therefore, providing the most basic, complete and long-lasting healing system known to humanity. We are speaking, in a sense, of bio-nano technology, but nano technology happening not through the agency of microscopic machines, but through the natural inputs of herbal and elemental remedies cognized by siddhas who became microscopic in order to actually see how each and every disease affected the body so that imbalances could be precisely and holistically corrected.

The earlier writings of Siddha medicine still lay untranslated, as there are no keys to the Dravidian script that can link it to more modern languages like Sanskrit. From the place of origin in the Western part of India, Siddha Vaidya traveled with the Dravidian people as they moved south and established a home base in southern India.

When we reach back in time to reveal the gift of the Dravidian culture’s stunning medical system of healing, we are also reaching back into our own conception and healing the fundamental actuality and idea of disease in our body/mind/heart/spirit at the atomic level of its origin.

The Origin of LifeIn ancient India, people of knowledge, science and wisdom were known generally

as sages, and they were respected and played a pivotal role in modifying the society. They were the generators and custodians of philosophy and the knowledge base. In Siddha philosophy, the macrocosm and microcosms are reflections of each other. As is the macrocosm, so is the microcosm. Siddha Vaidya sages believed in this principle and for them studying the body without an understanding of the universe made no sense. Siddha philosophy had its own whole worldview and cosmo-vision. An understanding about the universe gave them a sense of where they belong in the universe and that also gave them an understanding of their role and place in the whole scheme of events.

The worldview and the Cosmo-vision in Siddha philosophy went with its own creation story. In contrast with many other creation stories, the creator did not have a prime place, according to the Siddha philosophy. Siddha sages assumed that the

primordial universe always is and has always been under the influence of the primordial vibration. This vibration is personified with the sound of OM. The primordial universe created by OM in turn was constructed of the fundamental particles that created the material and conscious universe. The particle Chitta is the building block of matter as well as consciousness. Knowledge of Chitta unites the knower and the known as part of the wholeness in substance and awareness. According to Siddha physicians and philosophers, everything in the universe —from matter, energy, and consciousness—is part of a continuous spectrum.

Cosmology and PhilosophyAn introduction to Siddha Vaidya would be incomplete without an understanding

of its cosmology and philosophy. The cosmology of every culture, whether today’s or ancient India’s, is linked with its philosophy, which naturally determines its world view and creation stories. How a society perceives life is primarily determined by its underlying cosmology and philosophy. Similarly, the medical sciences that sprung up throughout the world over thousands of years were offshoots of the prevailing philosophy of that particular culture and its era. The prevailing philosophy guiding a given society influences the evolution of the sciences of that society, which certainly includes medicine. The ancient Dravidians (a name coined by Cadwell Bishop, a 19th century English linguistic anthropologist, ‘dravid’ being a Sanskrit word meaning ‘south’—ergo, ‘People of the South’) had a specific idea of who we are as humans, where we are and what is around us: We are made of the same material as the rest of the universe, which exists within us and is projected from us. The universe, according to Siddha Vaidya, is an extension of who we are, which is the microcosm of everything.

We explain our cosmos and its model using information that gathered from astronomy and mathematics. Similarly, data was collected via observations and experimentations undertaken by ancient scientists and sages. Ancient seers sought a tangible understanding of their cosmos and the fundamental building block of the universe. Their search led them on a quest to find the final indivisible particle, the fundamental unit of the material world.

As has been mentioned, according to Siddha philosophy this fundamental building block of the universe is Chitta. Chitta is what occupied the primordial universe and is, therefore, the basic building block of consciousness itself. In India, Chitta immediately brings to one’s mind the unity of mind and spirit—sometimes meaning ‘heart.’ The Siddha philosophy assumes that, in the most basic aspect, the universe is made of one type of building block—regardless of whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual (consciousness). In the beginning, there was only Chitta, only singularity. We could say that this fundamental particle is what God is, thus establishing a link of everything physical with everything spiritual.

After an indeterminate period of time, the primordial ocean of Chitta gave birth to matter and energy. The matter is called Shiva and energy is called Shakti. Matter is deemed masculine, energy is deemed feminine. Thus, the primordial universe consisting solely of Chitta split into two opposite but mutually complimentary entities, Shiva and Shakti, the essence of all that is male and all that is female. These complimentary opposites did not have an independent existence and had to be in a dynamic union. Their union gave birth to the current structure of the universe with five elements or states of

matter. The five states of matter in Siddha philosophy is the same as the four states of matter known to modern physics plus pure empty space. These five states of matter are called elements and are fundamental in the knowable universe. Siddha philosophy considers that life is a union of all the five elements or states of matter in the right proportion. The exact proportion of these elements constituting life is very important because when the proportion is imbalanced, health declines and a wide disparity is incompatible with life. The elements are called “Panchamaha bootham” (Five great elements). Life can only be generated from the living and life sustains on life this is symbolized in many cultures as the snake swallowing its own tail.

The duality of male and female principles is, because of their necessary union, a non-dual duality of complementary forces. Such a cosmology is present in many Asian cultures, known, for example, in ancient Chinese culture as Yin and Yang, and in later Vedic culture as Prakriti and Purusha. This duality can be equated with the split of universe into matter and energy. The inter-convertibility of matter into energy, a fact in modern science, establishes continuity from the primordial universe and its current existence in different states of known matter.

Shakti and Shiva can exist only in a dynamic union. From this dynamic union arose the five elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Empty Space. These elements could be considered as the four states of matter and the space that contains them. In the human body, specific areas represent each of these elements. The same is true for plants, with elements representing the different parts of the plant. The correct ratio, or proportion, of these elements within the body is the basis of physiological order, disorder meaning their proportions have become imbalanced. These elements in harmony manifest health, whereas elements in disharmony lead to illness. When elements are out of balance, then plant combinations, animal products, or purified minerals in trace amounts can re-balance the specific imbalance. These may be given externally or internally. The selection of herbs, their combinations, the harvesting and preparation of these herbs, their application and dosage—along with nutrition and diet, exercise and meditation—constitute the vast yet simple gift of Siddha Vaidya to the world.

CHAPTER 2: The Main Components

of the Siddha Vaidhya Healing System

Doshas or the Governing ForcesLife is a complex phenomenon. The structure and organization

of even a single-celled organism is complex beyond our current

scientific understanding. We know the anatomy and physiology and biochemistry, but the reason why the different building blocks of the life act in their specific way is still beyond our reasoning. The organization of even lowly bacteria is so complex that it is nothing short of a miracle. Many forces act on the maintenance of the organization of a life. These forces influence each other to maintain the dynamic balance of life generally known as homeostasis. A good example is the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve networks.

Siddha Vaidya physicians believed in three major life governing forces or doshas. These life-governing forces werw deduced to be the extensions of the component elements that made life. These are not abstract concepts as many authors believe. These doshas—namely vatta, pitta and kapha—stand for some fundamental aspects of life: form, energy and movement.

Siddha Vaidya considers that the body is constituted mostly of the earth element and it is located in the space element. The elements of water, fire and air helps it to function. Theses three elements that confer functions to the body are called Tri Dosham (three functional elements). In general, the health and illness of the body is evaluated as an imbalance of just these three elements of water, fire, and air.

Dosha Corresponding element

Vatta Air

Pitta Fire

Kapha Water

The knowledge about the balances and imbalances of these functional elements are used in disease classification and in preventive health applications. The doshas are further classified into sub-doshas. Vatta is divided into ten, Pitta is divided into five, and Kapha is divided into five sub-doshas. When diseases are classified, the dosha that predominantly is involved may be mentioned. Therefore, a particular disorder can be a Vatra type, a Pitta type, a Kapha type, or a blend of all three.

The Relative Proportion of the Five ElementsThe body is composed mostly of the earth element. The location of the body is in

space. Think of your hand, the thumb standing for the earth element, the little finger standing for space, then the elements of water and fire and air, which are necessary for bodily functions, are represented by the pointer finger—Vatta (air), the middle finger—Pitta (fire) and the ring finger—Kapha (water) , respectively. The basis of Siddha Vaidya understanding is body-bases and we can see this knowledge in our hands. Excess

or deficiency of one or more of these elements causes diseases and disorders, since it reflects functional disabilities.

There is a ratio between these elements, and this ratio must be a constant in diseases and major disturbances can be fatal. This ratio is the same in all life forms. Having a healthy ratio among the five elements is a pre-request to life and this law is applicable to all life forms—from a bacteria to a tree.

Let’s look a bit more deeply at these five elements:Earth, the most abundant element in the human body, exists in a ratio of 1.5 to 5.

It represents the solid state of matter, the arena of form. Its general influence is over the extremities: bones, blood vessels, flesh and skin. In plants, the earth element is focused in the roots. This element is the predominant influence in the first two months of a fetus, where exponential growth takes place. In the extra-uterine life, earth is the dominant influence in the first twenty-four years.

Water represents the liquid part of the human body, existing in a ratio of 1.25 to 5. Headquartered in the abdomen, it is present in the urine, blood, uterus, brain, marrow and white parts of the body. In plants, it is present in the trunk and branches. Fire in the human body manifests through our digestion and intracellular energy conversion of sugars into energy (inside the mitochondria), which is then used by the body as fuel. It exists in the body in a ratio of 1 to 5. In the universe, fire is the physical state of plasma, the state of matter in the stars, and the burning process of a fire. The bodily headquarters of fire is the abdomen. In plants, fire lives mainly in the leaves. Sleep, ego, fright and physical wasting are some manifestations of imbalances in the fire element. Air represents breathing, the motion of prana, the vital energy that sustains life. It exists in a ration of .75:5 in the human body. In the physical world, air denotes all the gases. In the body, prana is expressed through running, sitting, standing, sleeping and walking. In plants, air is manifested through their flowers.

Space, present everywhere in the body, is headquartered in the head and exists in a ration of .5 to 5. Lust, anger, greed, want, and sex are activities of the space element. The final two months of intra-uterine life and the final 24 years of a complete human life span is dominated by the space element. At the end of the space period the fetus, as well as the human adult, will undergo a transformation. In the case of the fetus, it transforms from a water-breathing organism into an air-breathing person-to-be. In the case of a human adult, the organism disbands its organization and during this death process split s into its constituting elements. In plants, the element of space manifests mainly in the seeds, from which the whole plant (the four other elements) originate.

Summarizing in a chart may make the element/body/plant associates clearer, each element being stationed in a particular part of the body and corresponding to a particular part of any plant. This basic understanding in Siddha Vaidya assumes that, on an elemental level, humans and plants and animals are all the same, for they each possess the same five elements in the same ratios.

Element Quality/In Nature In the body In plantsEarth Form / Solid Limbs RootsWater(Kapha) Motion / Liquid Abdomen StemFire (Pitta) Heat / Plasma Chest LeavesAir (Vatta) Breath / Gas Neck Flowers

Space Location / Head Seeds Emptiness

Therefore, Siddha Vaidya, based in the natural world, employs corresponding aspects of plants; for example, in human beings who have too much of the fire element, balance can come from eating the leaves of a specific plant. We, it is obvious, owe so much to plants (and to animals). In this way, there is no higher or lower, for all the three classes of plant, animal and human are equally important and, elementally, essentially identical.

Siddha Vaidya presupposes that the body is primarily stuctured out of the earth element. This body is located in space. Once its structure and location are established by earth and space elements, then its functions are determined by the elements of air (Vatta), fire (Pitta) and water (Kapha). It is these three functions that are susceptible to imbalance, which we experience as illness. Siddha Vaidya uses these elements, or doshas, in the classification of diseases and disorders.

Most disorders are assumed to start with an imbalance of Vatta element (Vatta dosha). Once this element is imbalanced, the mobility of the person or organ or system is impaired, leading to an imbalance in functions. The progression of the imbalance happens first in metabolism (Pitta) and finally in transport functions (Kapha). The progression of a disorder is felt usually as a slow progression. During this progression, the disease or disorder can be staged as primarily that of a dosha or as a mix of different doshas. The disorder can be of Vatta type, Pitta type or Kapha type. It may also be Vatta-pitta type, Vatta-kapha type, Pitta-kapha type or tri-dosha imbalances involving all three doshas. Sometimes a particular symptom may be a predominating presentation where the disorder may be preceded by the symptom. A good example is a Rakta Vatha Gunmam (see page --).

The ancients knew a great deal. They may have spoken about what they knew in a different manner than we do today, but, for example, they prefigured Quantum Physics in understanding the space element as emptiness. This emptiness is the same vacuum or virtual state (the space or field surrounding an atom in its ground state or resting state when all its electrons are in orbits as close to its nucleus as possible) out of which all the expressed states of the universe have sprung and are constantly springing.

Sapta Dathu or the Seven Tissue Types: Siddha Vaidya recognizes seven types of essential tissue in the body which

supports all other tissues in its life and functions. These tissue types are called the seven dathus, which are the following:

Rasa (lymph): The importance of lymph was recognized by Siddha physicians from very early periods. Lymph is considered to be the carrier of nutrients from the digestive process, and disorders of the lymph is dealt with in a serious manner.

Kurudhi (blood): Blood and human life are interwoven with one another. Disorders of blood or its reduced ability to function is a prime cause of disease according to Siddha Vaidya.

Tasai (muscle): Muscles are important to give strength to body activities. Loss of muscle strength causes immobility and imbalance in the body. Conversely, an imbalance

of Vatta can cause muscle tissue to suffer from immobility imposed on it due to symptoms such as pain.

Kozhuppu (adipose tissue): Fatty tissue plays a very important role in the human body. The human body in balance should have a certain amount of fatty tissue. Fat is part of lipoproteins and many hormones. It is the other half of proteins in the make up of the cell membrane, the most intelligent entity in the cell next to DNA.

Elumbu (bone): Bone provides the primary physical foundation for a human being. Bone also acts as a safe area for the marrow tissue and is a depot of calcium, without which muscular activities are impossible.

Majjai (marrow): A healthy marrow is important not only to manufacture healthy blood but also for a strong immune system, since bone marrow is the area of blood-cell formation—red, white and platelets.

Sukkilam and Artavam: These are highly conserved tissues in the body according to ancient Siddha Vaidya teachings. Siddha Vaidya maintains that the emission of sperm should not happen more than once a day. This gives rest for the testis and adequately conserves valuable resources. Emissions more than once a day can cause many diseases and disorders generally called disorders of Madam. The same is the case of Arthavam or the menstrual fluids. A heavy menstrual flow or passing clots is considered a sign of imbalance and should be corrected without fail.

Strength is considered as an important factor in human health. This stems from the Siddha belief of the limitedness of available recourses in a normal human being. Hence, the maintenance of strength and proper usage of strength is of importance in Siddha Vaidya. Severe physical exertion is always cautioned. Energy is conserved by limiting unnecessary activities. Though the ways by which the body can be injured are many, the healing mechanism used to repair those injuries, including infections, follows the same pathway. This mechanism of common healing should be kept ship-shape for the individual to be youthful, to be free of diseases and to stay generally vital in structure and functions.

Nadi or the Energy MeridiansThe human body consists of billions of cells existing for the preservation of

individual life. These cells need clear communications about the body’s needs—such as nutritional requirements, its location in space and time, the availability of food, and its defense needs. Many of these signal transfers happen behind the scenes—that is, too subtly for our awareness. The body, in the course of evolution, developed many signal collection systems. These systems are physical, chemical, electrical, and ionic. Even within each major signal collection method there are variations. Sometimes physical and chemical methodologies combine to convey a signal mode such as taste. One major energy channel in the body is called Nadi, which conveys information in the form of electricity. The Nadis are assumed to be 72,000 in number. Among them are the ten major Nadi trunks which supply electrical stimulus to all our major organs. All the main Nadi trunks pass through or near the spinal cord or originate from it. A similar school of thought is the basis of Acupuncture in China. .

Marmas or the Energy Points The other basic ingredient of importance in an over view of Siddha philosophy

are the Marmas. Marmas are energy points in the body mainly located on the skin and adjacent tissue. Injury to these points is one of the causes of illness in the body according to Siddha sages. Dr. Robert Becker provided the best explanation of energy points in his book, The Body Electric. The electricity flowing through the individual Nadi is of very low voltage. Given the normal resistance of the skin, it would be impossible for the current to travel very far without the loss of signal strength. Here the Marmas come into play by acting as signal boosting stations! The functions of Marmas go much further than just step up transmitters. Marmas act as routing stations as well.

The branch of Siddha medicine practiced extensively in pockets of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and called Varma is intimately linked with the martial system of Kalari Payat, which was, and still is, taught in specialized schools called Kalari. This branch of science deals more with traumatology and accidental injuries. Meridians of energy flow exist throughout the body. There are ten major energy trunks (Dasa nadi) and 72,000 minor energy channels (Nadi) that link every single one of the body’s many trillions of cells. The energy that flows through these channels is focused in certain areas of the body. There are 108 of these Marmas where energy is focused. Disruption of energy flow in these Nadi and Marmas can lead to illness. In order to revive the energy flow to its original state, the Siddha physician will apply massages, manipulations and stretches, in addition to external and internal herbal and herbo-mineral formulae. Marma science was instrumental in Siddha Vaidya, developing into the areas of trauma-associated blunt injuries and open injuries. Many local applications are used to address both open and blunt injuries, along with internal mediations. Fixed and removable casts were in use in Siddha Vaidya until the development of orthopedic facilities in India.

PharmacologySiddha philosophers considered that all life is equal, sacred and has parallels in

one another regardless of whether a life form is microbial, plant or animal. According to ancient sages, everything alive is composed of all five elements in the appropriate proportions. There are parallels given to animal appendages and body arts of plants, enabling physicians to treat medical conditions suffered on one part of the animal with a corresponding plant appendage. Since the microcosm and the macrocosm mirror each other, every part of the universe is considered medicinal and toxic at the same time. Metals and minerals occupy a very important part in Siddha pharmacology along with plants and animal parts and products. These chemicals are used in homeopathic doses after a thorough detoxification process requiring many days and combining with tens or hundreds of different medicinal plants.

Siddha Vaidya, as a curative and preventive medical science, has many internal and external approaches to rectify illness and to promote wellness. Using thousands of plants and plant products and hundreds of animal and mineral products, Siddha Vaidya has a pharmacopoeia containing hundreds of thousands of herbal and herbo-mineral formulae. A good outcome after a visit to a physician means the patient receives a good diagnosis and an apt remedy for the specific problem.

Here, disease classification assumes importance. Siddha Vaidya physicians have classified diseases and disorders into 4,448 distinct entities, out of which five are intra-uterine and the remaining 4,443 are extra-uterine. The basis of Siddha Vaidya pathology is the understanding of anatomy and physiology. There are written texts describing each

of the 4,448 pathological conditions; their salient history, signs, and symptoms in detail; plus a minimum of 64 different herbal and herbo-mineral formulations to heal each of these pathologies. Of these 64 different formulations, 32 are given externally and 32 are administered internally. After considering the causative and developmental factors of each disorder, the Siddha Vaidhya physician selects the correct formulations. The ease of administration, the taste of the formula, its effectiveness, and other factors are considered in selecting the specific formula.

Every formula was probably born from a simple observation that one plant was useful in successfully managing a condition. In repeating this same treatment on many patients with the same problem, a common observation pattern can emerge as to whether the plant is useful or not in a wide range of the populace. When a plant is accepted as effective by a group of Siddha Vaidhya physicians, some may combine this specific plant with another one of similar quality to modify the qualities of that primary plant. The whole observation process is repeated over years. This experiential investigation finally leads to the formulation of a complex formula, with a ‘polishing’ process that extends over centuries.

Some treatment modalities are instituted as a result of extensive experiments. The theoretical basis of some of these therapies is a result of thought experiments and inquiries into possibilities. Siddha Vaidya offers many external and internal techniques that are therapeutic as well as preventive. The foundation of these therapies is so strong that it can stand its ground even in this age of information and molecular biology. The fact that ‘low-tech’ Siddha Vaidhya ‘kitchen technology’ can yield sufficient quality and quantities of ‘molecules’ that elude the current limits of hi-tech mass production by modern pharmaceutical industry is awe-inspiring.

A common question asked of Siddha Vaidya physicians by modern medical practitioners is about scientific trials. Remedies in Siddha Vaidya have for thousands of years undergone trials and retrials, mostly using human subjects. All possible outcomes of therapies and herbal combinations have been observed and recorded. Siddha Vaidya remedies are formulated so as to reduce the incidence of adverse reactions to an absolute minimum, while promoting the therapeutic effects to the maximum.

Siddha Vaidya is essentially against the modern trend of investigating new formulations with just theoretical knowledge about plants. On that note, combining two plants having similar properties into one remedy may not yield a more potent combination. On the contrary, such an assumption can reduce the effectiveness of the combination by the active principles having an interaction within the combination, resulting in the formation of products that may not have any effect on the particular illness, or may well have an adverse effect. Siddha Vaidya physicians have had thousands of years of practice to obtain the combinations with the most therapeutic benefit and the least side-effects. For that reason, new formulae are extremely rare in Siddha Vaidya. In a lifetime, even a master physician may invent only three or four new formulae.

Siddha physicians generally prefer formulae of herbal origin. The second choice is animal products. The prevalent belief among practitioners is that, when a mineral is given internally or applied externally, an imbalance is created due to its chemical composition. Minerals are considered pure elements, which, by nature, induce an imbalance. Plants contain all five elements, so they are employed to restore balance. If a

Siddha Vaidya physician uses a mineral-based medicine, a plant-based medicine will also be prepared to restore the balance. In situations when a mineral or herbo-mineral combination needs to be used in spite of known adverse effects, an antidote for the adverse reaction will be used to ensure the health and happiness of the recipient.

The power to heal illness and extend life is attributed not only to plants, but also to animal products—like milk, ghee and musk. In general, Siddha Vaidya uses more than 6,000 plants in its pharmacopoeia. In Siddha literature, all available animal products, including meat, are considered for their beneficial and adverse effects. Some plant products, some animal products and all minerals must be detoxified before the medicinal effects can be brought forth. Many commonly used medicinal plants, including ginger, may need detoxification to amplify their medicinal effect and to mask any adverse effect from the use of that particular herb or plant product.

Plants and plant products used in Siddha Vaidya may not be available locally. Some must be shipped over long distances. When collecting plants and plant products, the Siddha physician must observe certain rules that govern the collection, preserving, and transport processes. The collection of certain plants can be done on only certain occasions. At another time, the plant may not be as medicinal, or certain toxins may be present in excessive amounts. Some plants are collected at night, and some are collected during the day. Some are collected while the moon is in the ascending phase, while others are collected during the descending phase. Some plants growing in the mountains are used, whereas the same species growing in the plain may not have the same effect. Thus, we can see the precision and care that Siddha Vaidhya physicians have inherited from the centuries and centuries of keen observation and practice by this longest medical lineage in the world.

PathologySiddha physicians were keen on understanding the root of disorders. According

to mythology and has already been mentioned, sages had the siddhi (‘power’ or ‘perfection’) to become the size of an atom among atoms and a subatomic particle among subatomic particles in order to delve into the fundamental causes and changes associated with a disease. In reality, the ancient researchers left no stone unturned to find causes and the respective solutions for medical problems. According to their observations, the causes of disease and their disorders are many, ranging from genetic predispositions that hound generations to environmental causes.

In Siddha Vaidya, the factors that induce disorder in a healthy body are enumerated in detail. Harmony of the humors and elements are essential in maintaining a healthy body. Other factors are health of the tissues and the maintenance of a smooth vital energy flow (prana) through the ten major nadi (meridians) and to the rest of the 72,000 minor meridians. This energy flow is deeply linked to the biochemistry of the body. In the human body, all organs, tissues, cells and organelles function within carefully determined parameters, which vary from individual to individual. Each and every cell has a specified acid/base balance range, a sodium/potassium balance range, a calcium range, energy carrier molecule ranges, and so on. These indices are carefully maintained by inputs from sensors located all over the body, and the body’s reaction to information received.

A healthy body is manifested through a range of healthy functions, including

heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, acid/base balance, to name a few. Pathogenesis in Siddha Vaidya is explained on the basis of the interaction between the human body and external agents. These include pathogenic microbes, parasites, malnutrition, over-nutrition, or polluted air, water or food. The influence of one’s mind on one’s own health and the effect of adversities (stresses) are also recognized as pathogenic factors. In addition, the influence of spells or other spiritual forces are taken into consideration. From the point of conception to the delivery of a healthy viable baby, the fetus can be exposed to five major health conditions. In addition to the parents’ physical characters and genetic make-up, other causative factors may include the mother inhaling polluted air or other toxins, trauma, inadequate dietary practices, excessive sun exposure, bouts of intense sadness, loss of sleep, or intercourse with partners with transmittable diseases. Physical excess and mental stress can also lead to fetal distress and fetal malformations. All the problems that can affect the fetus may manifest as maternal symptoms or fetal distress experienced by the mother. External and internal remedies can be given to the mother to correct the problems. Details of the intrauterine problems are outlined in Genesis of Life, by Agasthya in 800 poems written thousands of years ago.

After birth, a person is susceptible to 4,443 diseases. Of these 443 are common to humans and other animals. An approximate list is given below. With modern medicines and hygiene, we have eradicated or controlled some of these diseases. In spite of that fact, the remedies offered by Siddha Vaidya may still give us an advantage, should the ‘passe’ diseases ever re-appear. A partial list of all the disorders known to Siddha Vaidya is given below.

Head 307

Ear 7

Mouth 186

Neck 42

Nose 27

Cheeks 40

Forehead 40

Abdominal distension 30

Upper extremity 130

Back of Neck 10

Connective tissue 84Convulsive disorders 30

Abdominal gas 8

Skin eruptions 66

Beetle bites 18 Spider bites 81Skin disorders (other) 28Prickly heat 20Snake bites 27Abdomen 556Perinium 61

Other bugs 51Skin parasites 60Breathing disorders 300Eczema 4Burning of palm/ feet 100Sinus related 96Low metabolism/ weight gain 83Feet and legs 190Thigh 201Upper back 306Breast 42Male reproductive 185Jaundice 8

Female reproductive 108Chest 63Palm 40

Poxes 63

Pathology and PathogenesisSiddha Vaidya medicine considers that almost everything in the universe comes

in pairs, and that the body forces follow order. This dynamic and complimentary balance is reflected in the range of healthy bodily functions, such as the heart rate and respiratory rate, or temperature and acid-base balance, to name a few examples. Establishing this balance of opposites assumes importance, and the determining factors can be revealed in the patient's history or physical examination. For example, a detailed sexual history and history of eliminative processes of the patient can give a doctor a view into the autonomic functions. Sexual functions are controlled by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems with an overlay by the voluntary nervous system. All these systems play a concerted role in the optimal functioning of the sexual apparatus and arousal at the appropriate time. It also prevents the arousal at an inappropriate time. Smooth arousal is followed by a climax that ends the domination of sympathetic functioning taken over by the parasympathetic system. This clearly illustrates the interplay of the different systems in every bodily function.

Pathogenesis in Siddha Vaidya considers the effects of external agents like pathogenic microbes, parasites, deficiency, or overabundance of resources, polluted air, water, and food. These environmental factors must be considered, as these variables may affect the patient's mental and physical functions. In Siddha Vaidya, dreams are also considered as an indicator of the pathogenesis and pathology of the problem. Constant nightmares have been cited as an indicator of heart problems, both present and incipient. From the time of conception to birth, the fetus can be affected by five major disorders. These are caused by the mother breathing in polluted air, the intake of toxic substances, sustaining physical and mental trauma, inadequate dietary practices, overabundant sunlight, experiencing bouts of intense sadness, the loss of sleep or intercourse with partners with transmissible diseases. Physical excess and mental stress can also lead to fetal distress. For the above problem, the mother must take internal and external remedies. After birth, a person can contract 4443 diseases. Of these, 443 diseases can also affect the animal kingdom.

CHAPTER 3: Treatment in Siddha Science

Individualized Care in Siddha VaidyaThe Siddha Vaidya physician is carefully trained in diagnosis and ways of

designing individualized protocols for each patient, using many herbs and technical modalities. Before arriving at a diagnosis, a through history is taken, all symptoms and signs are accounted for and a detailed physical examination is performed. The physical examination will include an inspection of the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue and the whole external body, as well as the pulse. Urine examination and sometimes a feces sample are done to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis. An accurate diagnosis helps in instituting apt care to attain good results in areas like chronic connective tissue disorders, historical major trauma, post-traumatic stress, nerve injuries and auto-immune disorders. Thus, Siddha Vaidya offers a pathway of care that can be emulated by modern medicine with sufficient modifications.

The ability to personalize medical care sets Siddha Vaidya apart from many other medical systems. As has been mentioned, for every medical condition, there are more than 64 different therapies available. Of the 64 therapies, 32 are given internally and 32 are applied externally. The physician can choose the remedies according to the needs of the patient. Mulitplying 32 (internal remedies) by 32 (external remedies), we find the permutations of herbal remedies available for each condition exceed a thousand. Once the diagnosis is made, the physician sends for the specific plant products or herbs to make up formulae, and personally formulates or oversees the process to ensure satisfactory results. There no Siddha Vaidya factories providing pharmacological formulae in bulk, since medical care is completely personalized.

The Siddha Vaidya Concept of TreatmentThe treatment in Siddha medicine is aimed at keeping the three doshas, the five

elements, and seven dathus (tissue types) and the sub-doshas in equilibrium. There are also other aspects of human body-mind to be balanced and strengthened, which include the Nadi (energy channels), Marma (energy points), organs, general strength, and the regenerative potential of the body. Proper diet, medicine and a disciplined regimen of life are advised for healthy living and to restore the equilibrium of humors in diseased conditions.

The maintenance of strength and proper usage of strength is of importance in Siddha Vaidya. Energy is conserved by not expending energy unnecessarily. Though the ways by which the body can be injured are many, the healing mechanism used to repair those injuries, including infections, follows the same pathway. This mechanism of common healing should be kept ship-shape for the individual to be youthful, to be free of diseases and to stay generally vital in structure and functions.

Saint Thiruvalluvar, one of the foremost philosophers and ethisists of the Sanghom age, explicated four requisites for successful treatment. These are the patient, attendant, physician and medicine. When the physician is well-qualified and the other agents possess the necessary qualities, even severe diseases can be cured easily. The treatment should be commenced as early as possible after assessing the course and cause of the disease. The physician’s duty is to take complete care of the patient without

consideration for payment in money or kind. The physician should always choose the best possible medicines for the patient, balancing pharmacological effects and any possible side effects, and should be prepared to remedy any adverse effects that may be the result of the treatment. It is the duty of the patient to reimburse the time, resources, and energy spent by the physician and the assistant to the best of his or her ability.

Treatment is classified into three categories: Devamaruthuvum (divine method), Manuda maruthuvum (rational method), and Asura maruthuvum (surgical method).

In the divine method, medicines—like parpam, chendooram, guru, kuligai which are prepared from substances such as mercury, sulphur and pashanams—are very powerful and should be used in minute amounts under the physician’s close supervision. The divine method is reserved for situations of life and death.

In the rational method, medicines made of formulations—such as churanam, kudineer, vadagam, derived from plants or animals—are used. Here there is a little more leeway for the physician, since plants and animals are organic and hence contain all five elements.

In the surgical method, incision, excision, heat application, blood letting and leech application are used. Here the physician uses forces of nature and humanity to achieve a cure. The level of the attention required of the physician depends upon the type of energy and the intensity of its force.

Therapeutics in Siddha VaidyaSiddha Vaidya is the oldest documented medical science in the world. This

tradition hosts the oldest documented and continuously active pharmacological information and knowledge base on record. The materia medica of the Siddha system of Medicine contains plants, marine products, animal products, minerals and metals—and represents a collection of information that has undergone trials and retrials through thousands of years. It is a treasure trove for all humanity and should be made available to all humanity. Most of the therapeutic aspect of Siddha Vaidya is simple to grasp and follow, even if the method by which many formulae work still eludes our understanding. Valuing Siddha Vaidya as a science and art and preserving it through continued research will empower and ensure the healthy future of humanity by cutting down health-care costs and offering better quality of life for the masses.

The value of Siddha Vaidya far exceeds the current western evaluation of many alternative medical sciences due to the many modalities employed for prevention and therapeutics. The solid base of knowledge built by Siddha Vaidya is based on careful observation of nature. Many external and internal therapies cleverly utilize the Siddha knowledge of healing mechanisms and harnessing the power of the body’s immune responses. Siddha Vaidya usually employs the macromolecules and inorganic molecules offered by plants to substitute or balance the need for similar molecules in the human body. In some instances, Siddha medicines act as a switch, triggering biochemical functions. Another action of these formulae is in regulating the rate of biochemical reactions and modulating the end-products. Other avenues of healing are opened by triggering changes in the cascade and cyclical systems in the human biochemical workings through which changes are made at multiple levels. The cumulative reactions at these individual levels account for therapeutic activities of complex Siddha formulae

consisting of hundreds of plants and plant products.External therapies play as equal a part in therapeutics as the internal remedies.

Siddha Vaidya has long recognized that human skin is a valuable site for drug delivery, the skin being the largest organ of our bodies. This made it possible for the evolution of 32 different types of remedies for external application. Some of these are combined with massages and steam application. Therapies such as kizhis (application of very high heat for very short time) enable delivery of therapeutic molecules that would otherwise be unable to penetrate the skin.

The medium used in the manufacture of specific formulae determines which aspects of the combinations are absorbed and which are not. To illustrate this point, let us consider medicated oils. The oil-soluble aspects of the ingredient plants and plant products are absorbed into the base oil, while the insoluble parts are not absorbed. When this specific oil is applied over the skin, only ingredients that the base oil takes up can be delivered. When the same plant combination is used with alcohol, water, or milk, the results vary and the application of the extract will evoke an entirely different result.

Skin is a neuro-endocrine tissue and reflects our health status. Skin consists of many tissue types, including neuro-endocrine tissue. In addition to the neuro-endocrine tissue, other tissues such as connective tissue and soft tissue are capable of generating active bio-molecules, such as neuro-transmitters and neuro-peptides. Skin is a window which makes nervous, immune, cutaneous and endocrinal functions visible to each other. The common neuro-transmitter, Acetylcholine, is found to be synthesized in dermal extra-neuronal sites like melanocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells and immune cells. Newer studies are linking skin with an expanding range of capabilities, such as the production of structural proteins, glycans, lipids and other signaling molecules. Our current understanding in how topical therapies affect health and wellness is still in its infancy. Yet we know that stimulating areas of the skin can trigger the production and release of neuro-transmitters, neuro-peptides and various hormones. Similarly the neural connections of the skin, the connection between the brain and the skin, play an important role in inflammation, repair, cellular proliferation and healing. For example, the thyroid gland is situated directly below the skin, so that it is easily accessible to external stimulations.

Skin is used in Siddha Vaidya medicine as an organ of absorption and a site of induction. When herbal and herbo-mineral remedies are applied over the skin, it acts as an absorptive area. Similarly, when physical entities such as pressure or heat are externally applied, the skin acts as an area of therapeutic induction. Along with a given recommended external application, Siddha Vaidya treatments utilize both pressure and heat for added benefits. Many other Siddha Vaidya methodologies use areas of the human bod—such as the mucus membranes of the nose, sinus, lungs, vagina, urethra and urinary bladder—as additional sites of therapeutic interactions. Use of powders for nasal insufflations and smoke generated by herbal ingredients for delivering anti-asthmatics to the lungs are nothing short of genius. The herbal smoke application is also used over the hair and scalp to relax the mind and body. This technique is especially noteworthy, since modern medicine began utilizing these arenas only very recently for therapeutic drug delivery.

Siddha Vaidya physicians almost always advise the use of formulae containing plant products and animal products as first-line management. These substances are

derived from an animate source made up of all five elements. They are therefore capable of housing the vital force. This means that there is more or less a balance in all the five elements contained by that specific plant or animal product in relation to the ratio of these elements in the human body. When the physician gives a medical formula, the expectation is that the formula will tilt the proportion of the five elements into a balanced state, thus restoring health. Inanimate substances, by virtue of having only one element, must be given in such a low dose that they do not tilt the fine balance of the five elements into a new direction of imbalance. This is the reason Siddha Vaidya therapeutics prefer plant- and animal-derived formulae over the metal- and mineral-based formulae in spite of the powerful actions of the later.

Siddha Vaidya uses thousands of plants and plant products in addition to hundreds of animal products. There is a theoretical probability of about 300,000 possible herbal formulae. In the uses of metals, minerals, and other chemicals, this system is far more advanced than Ayurveda. The use of pure herbal and animal products is preferred to the use of metals and minerals. All animate forms are made up of five elements. Pure elements, in themselves, lack balance. Therefore, use of inanimate forms (metals and minerals) brings on a state of imbalance.

The use of metals and minerals in medicine was justified by the fact that they do not decompose. The shelf life of medicines prepared from minerals ranges from years to centuries to infinity. Minerals used as medicines thus preserve the body from decomposition. When used, the inanimate formulations are given after due consideration to both beneficial and adverse effects. Almost always, the mineral and metal formulations are accompanied by herbal formulations that re-balance any possible adverse effects. The other reason that metals and minerals were used is perhaps that some South Indian rivers were not perennial and herbs were not available year-round. Practitioners were forced to use minerals because herbal components were sometimes unavailable. Contrary to plant-based formulae, mineral-based medicines are very fast-acting, making them the choice in emergencies and life-threatening situations.

Calibration and Standardization of Siddha Vaidya Formulae

Geographically, plants of one species can be further classified depending on the habitat in which they grow: mountains, low plains, and coastal (near water). Siddha Vaidya considers plants grown on the plain as the standard. Plants from the mountain and near water sources are compared with plants from the plains for their efficacy. Plants from arid mountains are twice as effective as those from the plains. Plants that get abundant water are considered half as effective as those grown on plains. The Siddha Vaidya practitioner has to consider geographical origin and make appropriate changes in the amounts of required ingredients in order to have an effective formulation.

Ingredients which are aged by prolonged storage or changed in color, taste, and scent, and those that are insect-infested or attacked by fungi should be rejected. However, drugs like embelica fruits, senna, long pepper, jaggery and cow's ghee are best when the stock has been aged, provided they are stored in a safe place and are not spoiled or rancid. In general, the aromatic drugs are slightly fried in order to enhance their aroma and milling properties. Any extraneous materials, organic or inorganic, should be removed from the drugs by close inspection.

Once collected, plants are processed to derive the right type of formulae. Depending on the medium the formula is based on, different pharmacological actions occur. The base medium determines which constituents can be carried by the formula. Water-based, oil-based, or raw-powder mediums are the most commonly used. Some combinations are heated, while others are not. While being heated, some natural ingredients will interact with others to derive products that are available in just that formulae and nowhere else, thereby making the preparation of medicinal herbal combinations a very important step along with diagnosis and therapy.

Some formulae are simple to prepare while others are very difficult, and may require multiple steps to complete. Some steps are so refined and precise in time and temperature that a little less or a little more time or temperature may make the formula useless. The Siddha Vaidya practitioner learns these steps mostly from personal experience. In preparing herbal oils, either an herbal decoction or an herbal juice combination is added to the base oil, which is then heated. Specific descriptions of the oil’s appearance and sediments are provided to assist the pharmacist in managing the heating process. Sometimes specific wood types are mentioned for the use of burning over an open flame. These woods generally burn with specific heat, which may be one reason for such precise requirements.

Medicinal ingredients in Siddha Vaidya are classified into three main groups:

Thavaram (medicines derived from plants), Jangamam (those derived from animals), and Thatu (those derived from earth and organic toxins).

Thavaram includes the thousands of whole plants and plant products. Jangamam includes the hundreds of animals that can be used for medicines and their products. Most of the inorganic materials are either toxic or unfit for ingestion andabsorption. For this reason, all inorganic minerals and metals are broken down into fine particles and combined with organic plant products. This process detoxifies the thathu and makes it easy for the digestive system to assimilate.

Siddha Vaidya uses many apparently toxic metals and minerals for their pharmaceutical properties. These substances undergo many purificatory steps in order to be known as the ‘killed metals and minerals.’ They are also further combined with organic materials such as plants and animal products to arrive at the final pharmacologically active substance. The final product should be totally nontoxic. Mercury is used in five forms—such as rasam (metallic mercury), lingam (red sulphide of mercury), veram (mercury perchloride), pooram (mercury subchloride) and rasa-chinduram (red oxide of mercury). Together they are known as panchasutha.

A concise description of the various groups of inorganic metals and minerals is given below:

Groups Description Thavaram Plants and plant products

(some 6,000 known varieties) Jangamam Animal products (hundreds)

Thathu Seven subgroups:Uppu Water-soluble, inorganic,

and emitting vapor when heatedPashanam Insoluble in water, organic,

and emitting vapor when heatedUparasam Insoluble in water, inorganic,

and emitting vapor when heatedRasam Soft in consistencyLoham Insoluble in water

and melting when heated (metals)Ratnam & Uparatna Precious and semi-precious stones,

including coral, lapis-lazli, pearls, diamonds, jade, emerald, sapphire, opal, ruby, vaikrantham, rajavantham, spatikam, harin mani.

Plant products used in Siddha Vaidya are collected not only from local areas, but also from thousands of miles away. Some are collected in the Himalayas. Others are grown in China or Persia. As the Dravidians migrated from the Indus region of northern India to the great plains and eventually toward the tropical south, the plants and animals that they encountered were assimilated into their medical lore. Siddha Vaidya literature grew in leaps and bounds as knowledge from the various regions was recorded and added to the existing data base of medical knowledge, producing an expanding knowledge base that included thousands of plants and hundreds of animals from various geographical regions.

The drugs used in Siddha medicine were developed after trials and retrials that stretched through many hundreds of years and were conducted by many generations of Siddha Vaidya physicians. Formulae with unwanted side effects or those that were not sufficiently effective were eliminated. All successful formulations were preserved in palm-leaf books for future generations. The identification of medicines and medicinal plants was assisted by classifying them on the basis of five properties: suvai (taste), guna (character), veerya (potency), pirivu (class) and mahimai (action).

According to their modes of usage, the Siddha medical formulae could be categorized into two classes: internal medicines—which are taken orally and classified into 32 categories based on their form, methods of preparation, shelf life, etc., and external medicines—which include 32 types of applications: eye, ear, and nose drops, as well as certain procedures such as leech application. Internal medical formulae have the advantage of exposure to the a highly absorptive mucosal surface of the intestines, while external remedies may need heat or steam to help increase the absorption rate.

(1) Internal medicines: Churasam, Charu, Kudineer, Karkam, Ukali, Ada, Choornam, Puttu, Padakom, Oil, Manapavu, Ghee, Rasayanam, Elakam, Butter, Tablets, Kaduku, Pakvam, Thenuval, Theneer, Mereku (wax), Kettu, Bhasman, Chentooram, Patankom, Uruku, Kalanku, Chunnam, Karpam, Sathu, Gurugulika, Vadakam

(2) External Medicines: Ketu, Pattu, Otanum, Puchu, Vethu, Potanam, Thotakam,

Puka, Mashi, Podithirummal, Kalingam, Nasyam, Vural, Nasikabharanam, Kalisu, Chita, Near, Vathi, Chuttika, Shalakai, Pasha, Kali, Podi, Murichal, Keeral, Karam, Attaividal, Aruvai, Kombukatil, Vringal, Paktham Kalachil, Peechu.

Herb Collection, Storage and Processing Collection of herbs or supervising the collection process is an important function

of the practitioner. The right plant must be identified and collected in the required amounts as ingredients of the specific formulae. It is imperative that the practitioner collects the plants according to the need and at the right time. Wherever green leaves are needed, they are collected fresh. Often, a Siddha physician may just supervise the collection process. At other times, the physician may buy a plant product from a store. In both these situations, the physician should identify the plants as the preciseingredient and should know how to tell it apart from similar-looking plants. If tests are required to differentiate the plants, the Siddha physician carries them out.

Some plants and plant products should be collected at certain times to optimize their medicinal qualities and/or to reduce their toxicity. The phases of the sun and moon are important considerations in plant collection, because the sap rises or falls according to the phases of the heavenly bodies. Certain plants should be grown in rocky or mountainous areas in order to have optimum medicinal qualities. Certain plants, even in a tropical climate, may not have green leaves all the time. Those plants should be collected while the leaves are still tender and juicy. When juicy leaves are not available, one may add a little water to the leaves before grinding in order to maximize the available extract.

Most plants are best used when fresh, but some plant products, like jaggery and tamarind fruits, gain potency when aged. These products are kept in ceramic jars, protected from humidity and light. In herbal formulae, use of aged or new products may be specified. If drying is imperative, plants are better dried in the shade, since the sunlight may overheat them, liberating the aromatic molecules and oxidizing them with the light energy.

There are variations in the medical properties found in the same type of plants growing in different areas. The location influences the medicinal properties of the plant at many levels. The medicinal properties of plants are impacted by altitude, availability of light, water, nutrients, humidity and the surrounding plant and animal life. Competition among plants of related and unrelated species for resources or an imminent attack by a pathogenic organism forces them adapt to that hostile circumstance. These adaptations are mostly done by producing specific bio-chemical molecules, which may be useful as active constituents of formulations. Once the same plants are grown in a plentiful environment, such as a garden or a commercial plantation, they may not be as effective as their wild siblings. Thus, Siddha Vaidya always prefers wild-crafted plants as ingredients in any of its formulae.

Detoxification of DrugsStrictly speaking, there is nothing in this universe that is a complete medicine, and

there is nothing in this universe that is entirely free of toxicity. Depending on its use, context of use or amount used, a material or organic substance can appear toxic or nontoxic. Some plant, animal and mineral drugs may be naturally toxic in their

properties and actions. These drugs must be detoxified or purified for any kind of medical use. The process of detoxification or purification of the drug is called Suddhiseithal. Different processes of detoxification and purification are employed for different drugs. Some of the processes used for a few important drugs are described below.

Asafoetida: The resin is fried in ghee and made into a fine powder. Beleric myrobalan: The seeds are discarded and the rinds are used. Cannabis: The seeds are removed and the leaves are soaked in water. The

leaves are rubbed within two hands and the juice is pressed off of the leaves. The rubbing and pressing is done ten times. The resultant leaves are dried in sun and finally fried in ghee under mild heat.

Ginger: The skin is removed and the rhizomes are dipped in mild alkaline lime liquid for a day. The ginger is removed and dried thoroughly.

Garlic: The cloves are separated, removed and dried. Once dried, the skin is removed.

The raw materials are usually available in their purified state from Indian herb stores. They are also available from many online stores.

PhamacologySiddha Vaidya science considers that death is not at all a necessary part of or

event in human life. Ill health can be brought on, along with nonmaterial causes, by one’s traditions, ignorance, fear, limitations, beliefs and erroneous autosuggestion. To overcome this, Siddha physicians taught the methods of preventive medicine, botanical medicine, animal medicine, yoga and alchemy. The associated science of Karpas (Kalpas) evolved as a result of intense experimentations in the search for longevity and health enhancement. The human body is constantly renewing itself, regardless of the age of the individual. The rate at which this renewal happens is different in different individuals, and within the same individual under different circumstances. This renewal of the tissues and cells is controlled by the genetic information normally coded in our DNA and usually cannot be altered.

The discovery of hormones and their industrial synthesis and extraction from natural sources gave modern medicine a potent tool to alter some of the genetically determined actions of the body. Today, the use of growth hormone has given options for retaining some human forms and functions for longer periods. In the ancient days, the sages and physicians were not helped by knowledge of hormones, but they understood the forces of degeneration and regeneration that were operating in the body. With intense studies, a general understanding evolved that helped them to devise and test some treatment modalities that ranged from cleansing therapies to rebuilding therapies—both applied externally and internally. Using today’s investigative tools, we know that those ancient therapies are helping the body liberate some of the hormones, growth factors, anabolic molecules and protective bio-chemicals which then act upon the tissues to rebuild the body, conferring longevity and youthful looks in the process.

The study of pharmacology is considered under two main headings: Gunapadam (Pharmacology) and Nanjunool (Toxicology):

Gunapadam is the study of the therapeutic value of plants, animals, plant

products, animal products, minerals and metals and how these are formulated. There are more than 6,500 medicinal plants, animal products, and inanimate substances that are known to Siddha Vaidya Gunapadam.

Nanjunool is the study of toxic properties of all possible toxins, how they affect actions in the human body, how to delete the toxic properties from these toxic substances in order to bring forth therapeutic benefits, and how to detoxify the human body if there is toxicity from any of these sources.

Siddha Vaidya Individualized TreatmentsThe actual treatments are many in this ancient health regime, the main ones being

described below. All use herbs or herbal oils that are in profound combinations. When a client asks if his or her treatments will, indeed, lead to healing, the Siddha physician or therapist responds with something to the effect of “We will do our best and God will do the rest,’ or “Your chances of healing are 50/50, 50% from our side and 50% from God’s side.

Siddha Massage This precisely patterned massage, which is still flexible enough to attend to an individual’s specific needs, is at least 3,000 years old. Its purpose is to loosen up muscle tissues, penetrate the skin with an important red oil, and bring not only greater ease and movement to the body, but also to the psyche. It is the most physically demanding on the part of the therapist of all the Siddha Vaidya treatments.

Beginning just on certain points on the body with a green oil—one of the most profound and prized of all Siddha Vaidya oils, containing over 300 herbs, the therapist uses strong circular motions of the palm on the spine and back, then the arms, then the legs, moving from right to left and from above to below. The process begins on the back, then the client turns over and receives the same treatment on the front and head, taking up to 90 minutes.

This treatment is traditionally followed by a 20-minute steam bath, followed by a drink of sandalwood powder and honey to bring fluids into the body as it cools down. Then a hot shower or bath.

Rice-milk MassageThis treatment, lasting an hour or more, uses a pouch of individually prepared

herbed dipped in hot rice milk. The therapist moves in swift circular strokes all over the upper torso and then the lower torso on the back, and then repeating the process on the front.

The purpose is for cleansing and bringing enhanced beauty to the skin. It also brings more bulk to those clients who are underweight.

In weight gain, the client’s bones and muscles and entire physiology are slowly softened, so as to be healed and rebuilt. The rebuilding is mainly in the muscles and takes place in an utterly natural way, so that the muscle is stronger than those produced by weight-training or exercise. It is the natural muscles that need no artificial upkeep. These muscles are in keeping with the body’s natural requirements for strength. Therefore, they, being natural, carry the strength of nature, as in a stem, flexible yet fully

capable of holding up the leaves, fruits, flowers and seeds.

Kaya Regeneration Therapy (Ela Kizhi)This special technique of body treatment is traditionally used for physical,

emotional and sexual health—all important factors in longevity. It enhances vitality, physical beauty, functionality and productivity. As part of the broad spectrum of medical practices which constitute the Siddha Vaidya medical system, it acts as an immune-modulator, cyto-protector and physical regenerator. This translates into such things as remedies for stroke management following the critical period, and improvement in cases of scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosis. It also helps past traumas that continue to cause pain but register no physical evidence.

Kaya Regeneration is a dramatic treatment that demonstrates the link between ancient technology and modern scientific knowledge. Here "kitchen technology" meets cutting-edge scientific evidence. Specifically, Kaya Regeneration provokes the body to produce vital bio-molecules which augment the body's own physiological function and provide for better health and extension of life span. Based on our current understanding of burn physiology, many beneficial bio-molecules are produced to help patients with burns rebuild injured body parts. In many respects, Kaya Regeneration Therapy simulates burns—but without the pain and symptoms of, for example, charred skin. The treatment procedure involves the application of very hot medicated oil over the body through the use of herbal bags. The speed of the oil rubbing is fast, and thus the high heat causes no pain.

Although the treatment is directed to the skin, the curative effects encompass the entire body. The skin is intricately linked to the nervous system in that they are both derived from the endoderm in the embryo. The skin also has a very high density of sensory receptors, directly sending its sensory inputs to the autonomic nervous system. The application of heated oil with medicated herbs stimulates the nervous system, as well as other glandular and hormonal systems.

The human body is always regenerating and degenerating. The balance between both is vital to ensure a steady state of growth and sustenance. This delicate balance is tilted towards the unfavorable side as a person ages. One of the essential differences between a growing child and an aging adult is the ratio of cell renewal and cell decay. The only situation in the life course of an aging adult where cell regeneration is tilted toward renewal (anabolism) is when there is an injury necessitating the body to take remedial measures. This observation was noted by the ancient healers in India and made use of in the Kaya Regeneration treatments. However, most injuries are localized and the regeneration is limited to the injured area. Application of hot oil, as entailed in Kaya Regeneration Therapy, involves almost the entire body, thus ensuring a systemic regenerating effect.

The main over-all response to this treatment comes from four different components in the skin. These are the vascular (blood vessels), neuronal (nerves), soft tissue (skin cells) and connective tissue components.

Vascularly, high heat causes a quick vaso-constriction, followed by a prolonged vaso-dilation, which ensures a rush of blood into the normally closed blood vessel bed, which in turn helps the removal of stagnant blood. The increased flow will cause the sweat glands to filter more blood, which in turn enhances the purification function.

Another result of the increased peripheral flow is better absorption of the ingredients contained in the medicated oils.

In terms of the nerves, Kaya Regeneration treatments facilitate the production of more than the normal amount of neurotransmitters in the brain, thus augmenting its normal functioning. The other molecules produced are the neuro-peptides, the fast-acting brain-body integrators. Closely associated with the nervous tissue but separate in action are the hormones produced by the endocrine glands, the most important of which are human growth hormone, thyroxin and ACTH. Production of all of these is increased. The levels of endorphins, which are 400 times more powerful than morphine in relieving pain and muscle spasm, are also elevated.

As for the soft tissue effects, skin cells produce heat shock proteins and interleukins in response to the very high heat. One function of the heat shock proteins is to protect the cells from further heat injury, with other effects of increased heat shock proteins still being studied in various labs around the world. Interleukins help remove damaged cells and replace them with healthy cells. They also augment non-specific immunity by increasing the production of white blood cells, the defense mechanism of the body.

Finally, the connective tissue component is an important anti-aging result of the Kaya Regeneration. When a person gets older, the collage and elastin fibers have a tendency to shrink, resulting in wrinkled skin. High heat stimulates the fibroblasts (a type of skin cell) to produce fresh collagen and elastin fibers. Wrinkles are reduced when fresh collagen strengthens the skin and helps in the maintenance of both plastic and elastic suppleness.

The ideal protocol for an adult is a set of seven consecutive days of treatment, each one hour long. This process should be repeated every six months for the first three years. After that, a set of seven days per year is suggested. The immediate effect is a feeling of well-being and deep relaxation. The body is realigned and balanced, paving the way for a period of "catch-up" rest and/or a surge of energy. The muscles are relaxed and spasms relieved. T he long-term effect is improvement of health and longevity. Loss of excess fat due to the secretion of thyroxin will be sustained following a set of Kaya Regeneration treatments. The human growth hormone produced in response to Kaya Regeneration will also help build muscle mass and sculpt the body.

HygieneThe tradition and understanding of hygiene in medicine did not originate in the

West or with Lord Lister. Theraiyar in his Thylavarka churukkam insists that a physician should clean his hands many times and bathe after examining a patient. This unequivocally proves that Siddha Vaidya physicians were far ahead in areas of health and hygiene. A strict tradition exists where there are exact requirements expected from a physician in his conduct and decorum. A physician should not wear colorful cloth, nor use silk, leather rope, or cosmetics. The physician should always wear white, using only sandal paste as cosmetics. (Sandal paste is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral.)Yoga and Meditation

Yoga and meditation originated in the Dravidian civilization of the Indus Valley. Many figurines and pictures depicting individuals in yogic postures were unearthed in the

course of archeological excavations in this region. The use of yoga and meditation in prevention, therapeutics, and palliation was well-known in ancient ages and is still utilized today. These modalities work at the level of the various organ systems, ultimately impacting the whole human being. In addition to its use in stress relief, yoga acts on the musculo-skeletal, nervous, endocrine, gastrointestinal, respiratory and circulatory systems. Meditation acts primarily on the endocrinal and nervous systems, down regulating the sympathetic nervous system and upregulating the parasympathetic. Pranayama, encompassing a number of breathing exercises, and Yoga Nidra, the yogic sleep technique, both taught as part of yoga, can also be used individually or in combination with the above modalities to improve well-being, to cure illness and to promote longevity.

CHAPTER 4: Siddha Vaidya Applications

Western and Eastern Medical ModelsMedicine in concept and practice is different for different societies though the

goal is the same—health and healing. Space and time has left their marks on medicine as well. The scientific medicine of today is different from that of the first part of the twentieth century. In the last two centuries, observation and independently verifiable experiments played a dominant part in the development of scientific modern medicine. The way medicine is used and practiced has, as a result, been diverted onto an entirely different path. The invention of powerful microscopes and other investigative techniques channeled research towards a path of biochemistry and cell biology. Modern man is going deeper and deeper into the core of diseases, organs, tissues, and cells but in that process is compartmentalizing the body. The resulting compartmentalization is proceeding at such a pace that we have hardly any general practitioners, let alone specialists, who are capable of viewing the body as a holistic unit with its surroundings and society. By dividing and subdividing the body, the specialists have already lost the vision of the whole human being. There is definitely a role for studying the body from the fundamental building blocks onward—as long as we do not lose sight of the whole body! The greatest mistake made by modern medical and scientific approaches is the loss of this holistic vision, the individual’s dignity and identity. The greatest boon that modern technology had offered us is investigative techniques and advances in physiology, anatomy, biochemistry and the basic sciences as a whole. We are in need of a greater balance in medical approaches and application of appropriate medical technology without losing sight of the whole individual.

Ancient medical systems developed in a slightly different path from than that of conventional medicine. Siddha Vaidya grew out of empirical observations that were handed from generations to generations. These observations were on the description, progress and natural course of events regarding diseases—as well as the effects of plants, animal products, minerals, and incantations on known diseases. Most of this information was recorded in clay tablets, palm leaf manuscripts and other media for posterity.

Advanced cultures both more and less ancient had practiced medicine and surgery and taught it in their educational institutions. Huge volumes of information were generated that amounted to human studies of diseases and treatments conducted by generations of sages and teachers that extended over the millennia. Most of these written materials did not survive the onslaught of time, but some books and manuscripts do remain. Reviewing these materials will allow for the identifications of plants and plant products that may enable current physicians to solve many diseases and disorders that humans are suffering from. Ancient medical sciences did not give much importance to the methodology of studying the body by dividing and sub-dividing. They viewed the body as a whole and health as a product of the body’s interaction with itself, its physical and social environments. In the practice of ancient medicine, the overall humanity and dignity of the person is preserved. Another advantage is the accumulation of medical information on thousands of plants and other medical sources. This is especially true for herbal and herbo-mineral combinations, some a mixture of hundreds of plants, the study of which is beyond the scope of our current laboratories. The disadvantage of the ancient systems is that the details of disorders and diseases were never delineated in detail by most medical systems, mainly due to the lack of modern technology. An exception to this is Siddha Vaidya.

Siddha Vaidya and Allopathic MedicineThe brilliance of Western allopathic medicine lies in its diagnostic abilities, its

emergency care (surgery) and pathology. Those situations resulting from accidents, heart attack, stroke, ruptured appendix, emergency issues arising in pregnancy, organ transplants and chemical analysis of poisons and the like—these are obvious examples where the technology-centered therapies of the West are vital.

The unparalleled benefits that Siddha Vaidya offers are mainly in its preventative measures, which begin even before birth, and its ability to holistically and naturally address ailments that arise throughout life in terms of complete cure.

Siddha Vaidya treats the whole person. Indeed, and with all respect to western medical efforts and advancements, Siddha Vaidya is modern allopathy turned inside out.

Consider the following comparisons:

Current Western System Siddha VaidyaMortality is a given Immortality is a givenBased in experimentation Based in the cosmos100s of years old 1000s of years old Deals with symptoms Deals with curesIndentifies 100s of diseases Identifies 4448 diseasesTreats the disease Treats the patient Cures fever alone Cures 97% of diseases Assumes many new diseases Says no disease is newUses drug therapy Uses herbal therapiesWide ranges of side-effects Without side-effectsIs economically driven Is altruistically drivenMale & female bodies Male & female bodies basically the same majorly different

Confined to medicine alone Uses astronomy, martial Arts, architecture, etc.

Diet is secondary Diet is part & parcel Rest is left to the patient Rest is part & parcel

To the Siddha Vaidya physician, only 3% of all diseases are incurable, but much improvement can happen even in those. About four-fifths of the curable disease can be healed in a short period (41 days, or one mandalam), whereas 20% of curable maladies are longer cures that require one to three years of treatment. Most diseases thought to be serious in the West fall in the first category of short-term cure. And most diseases thought untreatable in the West fall into the latter category. Those requiring a cure of 1-3 years usually have one of the 21 meghams, a megham being a miasma or syndrome that occurred at birth and constitutes a matrix of disorders that really stems from a single disorder. Diabetes is a prime example of a megham.

Just for example, let’s take the disease known in the West as ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). This condition, very painful and fast to develop, is denoted by a deterioration of the muscles of the entire body. It is considered incurable and barely treatable. In Siddha Vaidya ALS is not considered to be a disease but rather a set of difficult symptoms. The real disease is described by specific imbalances in the Vatta dosha. And the origin of this disease happened not at age 67, for example, but in the womb on an atomic level. In Siddha Vaidya, the disease with ALS symptoms may be curable or not, depending on how advanced the condition when brought to the attention of a Siddha Vaidya physician. But regardless, the condition can be at least improved, though, again, the Siddha Vaidya doctor feels a sense of failure if unable to gain a complete cure.

The Siddha Vaidya physician sees the entirety of a problem, the whole event. And he or she knows the origin to be atomic. By going inside the problem, to its basis, the whole person can be treated and really cured. Seeing the disease and pinpointing the root, Siddha Vaidya deals with that, and the limbs and branches of the main disease—mainly presented as concrete symptoms—getting taken care of naturally. There are, of course, natural formulae given to deal with these symptoms, but they work secondarily and in conjunction with the primary cause.

To understand the fundamental difference between allopathy and Siddha Vaidya, we have to go to the fundamental assumption of both approaches. The former believes firmly that the basis of human life is mortality, while the latter assumes the reality of human beings to be based in immortality. What that exactly means would likely require a book in itself. However, without engaging in deep philosophical inquiry, we can say that a system based in mortality would by nature have assumptions based on an attitude of limitation and resignation in which total health is an impossible dream. Whatever we might believe about immortality, its fundamental assumption is not about what can’t happen.

Thus, great health hope is always present in the physician-client relationship. Indeed, Siddha Vaidya sees all diseases as curable! This ancient healing tradition identifies 4448 diseases. Twenty-one of this number are called ‘meghams,’ which are syndromes that exist from birth. The first and best known example is diabetes. In Siddha Vaidya, this disease is completely curable. Siddha Vaidya in our modern day recognizes that a creative partnership between

Western medical contributions and the knowledge gained from the Siddha physicians for thousands of years is the wisest and most harmonious relationship for optimum patient care.

Siddha Vaidya RediscoveredSiddha Vaidya to a lesser extent, and its younger cousin Ayurveda to a greater

extent, has undergone resurgence in the past decade. One important reason is that many medical doctors have realized the limitations of modern medicine. The scientific modern medicine is hamstrung from the very sciences that gave birth to it. Solid logic and scientific reasoning in some way lose sight of the art and science of medicine. In so many ways, we are where we were in the beginning of the 1950s, after antibiotics became popular. The other reason of the rediscovery of ancient medical traditions, such as Siddha Vaidya and Ayurveda, is the need to find a way to curb the cost of escalating modern medicine. The most interesting fact is that this resurgence sprouted in the western hemisphere and then seeped into the East where the greatest body of relevant information still exists. Indians were always rooted in their culture, in spite of their immersion into western knowledge, custom and culture. Some Indian families may count modern medical doctors, Siddha Vaidya physicians, Ayurveda physicians, and Homeopaths as its members. These family connections alone can bring about a respect for other healing modalities. Most of the modern medical practitioners had been treated by traditional medical doctors or homeopaths at some point in life. This insight is a potent point that can bring harmony to a healer. The resolve to attack and conquer another medical science is not strong in medical practitioners in India, where most of the modern medical physicians still follow some traditional medical advice regarding their own or their family’s health issues.

The government of India has come forward to defend its traditional medical sciences of Siddha Vaidya and Ayurveda as an alternative to western medicine. This was brought about by two realizations. First is the fact that more Indians are served by a traditional healer than a modern medical doctor. And second is the fact that the cost of modern health delivery is skyrocketing with the advent of modern diagnostic and therapeutic technology. The rise of internet connectivity has increased the information awareness of the urban Indian consumer. They are demanding complementary health care more and more after realizing the hazards of modern health system.

In spite of the advances made in therapeutics and investigative techniques, modern medicine has made very few advances in the areas of chronic diseases. There is almost no progress made in managing rheumatoid arthritis and other connective tissue disorders. This situation is just the tip of the iceberg in the disease landscape. Newer disorders, such as chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, remain as debilitating as ever. Those who suffer from such chronic problems, realizing that there are no tangible answers in western medicine have turned increasingly to traditional medical sciences like Siddha Vaidya and Ayurveda.

Siddha Vaidya and Modern MedicineSiddha Vaidya played a role in the development of modern medicine. During the

middle part of the first millennium CE, Europe began regressing into the Middle Ages where knowledge was monopolized and kept away from the commoners. During these

dark ages, the Arab civilizations kept the torch of information aflame. They accumulated information that was generated or borrowed by the Greeks from their many journeys and conquests of land throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In time, Arabs also attacked and conquered parts of India as well. This conquest led to information exchange between the Arab and Indian civilizations. In this sharing, many Indian teachers were invited to teach in Arab universities and other centers of learning. Thus it was that Indian knowledge and teachers strongly influenced Arabic medicine. Their knowledge of medical metallurgy and mineralogy was thereby passed to the body of Arabic medicine. Arabic medicine even became required reading for medical practitioners in medieval Europe, and its medical textbooks were translated to Latin and then into other European languages. Arabic knowledge of Alchemy became the foundation of modern chemistry, which in turn became the foundation of biochemistry and pharmacology, thus laying the groundwork for modern medicine.

Indian medical sciences also made direct contributions to the body of modern medical knowledge. The most known among them is reserpin, the first commercial anti-hypertensive medicine which was isolated from the plant Rauwolfia serpentine, a plant used for hypertension in Indian medicine. Indian forests contain thousands of pharmacologically active plants. Indian medical sciences of Siddha Vaidya and Ayurveda had studied and used thousands of these plants over thousands of years. Many times, these plants are combined for added or augmented effects. Such vital information can be made use of with modern investigative techniques to enhance and add to our existing pharmacological data.

Modern medicine is more and more aware of issues related to the management of connective tissue disorders, auto-immune diseases and other chronic medical conditions. More than anti-inflammatory, steroids and chemo-therapeutics, the current treatment options are limited, though a large volume of research is directed to these areas. Siddha Vaidya brings to the table data on diagnosis, clinical correlation and management of these medical conditions that is unknown to western medicine. Siddha Vaidya considers the human body to be a veritable pharmacy. In the light of our current understanding of basic sciences, we know that each cell can generate hundreds of biochemical molecules with therapeutic benefits and pharmacological actions. The knowledge about body’s own pharmacy and methodologies to manipulate these avenues to benefit the body constitutes the vanguard of Siddha Vaidya’s contribution to medicine.

Knowledge about anti-aging medicine is a very advanced area of Siddha Vaidya, whereas this is one of modern medicine’s least developed arenas. Anti-aging medicine is currently confined to endocrinal manipulations where hormone replacement therapies are the rule. Siddha Vaidya offer this area of medicine an entirely new direction. Regeneration therapies can be used as the ultimate preventive therapy in combination with all other available therapies. Siddha Vaidya long ago recognized the ability of the body to renew itself and that the age-dependent depletion of these regenerative steps as contingent on the body’s intelligence depots A MOUTHFUL AND LESS THAN CLEAR. By feeding the body adequate stimuli, this dependency can be altered and the physical body forced to regenerate rather than degenerate. In addition, the same regeneration therapies can be used against many disorders and conditions brought about by cellular degeneration, including menopause, giving us a powerful weapon to combat degenerative disorders.

Siddha Vaidya and AyurvedaAyurveda is another medical science born from Indian soil. It is known as the

Veda (knowledge) of Ayur or life. As such, Ayurveda is a science aimed at preserving life and health. The focus of Ayurveda is primarily preventive. Born from the same land and source, but at different times, Siddha Vaidya and Ayurveda share many concepts, beliefs and plants in common. The elements of earth, water, fire, air and space are common to both these sciences. Similarly, the nomenclatures of the doshas or humors are the same, and though their definitions are slightly different, it makes little difference in their applications of diagnosis and other practical purposes.

Ayurveda is the dominant traditional medicine in the northern parts of India, whereas Siddha Vaidya is exclusively found in southern India. Ayurveda and Siddha Vaidya are experiencing resurgence in India and the whole world in recent years, due in part to an organized effort from the World Health Organization, as well as many private and non-profit organizations, to revive the ancient healing arts. The popularity of Ayurveda in the world is helping Siddha Vaidya come out of its millennia of neglect.

Siddha Vaidya Ayurveda

Equal focus on Prevention & Cure Primarily PreventivePracticed in Southern India Practiced in Northern & Southern IndiaBased on Siddha Philosophy Based on Vedic Philosophy

Siddha Vaidya is Chitta Vaidyam, the Vaidya (medical science based on the fundamental building block of the universe) of the 18 Siddhas. Ayurveda is the full knowledge of health. Siddha Vaidya is the mother root of Ayurveda. Indeed, Ayurveda is the first chapter of the fourth Veda, called Atharvaveda, which has to do will all the disciplines (from mathematics to business) to live nobly, peacefully and abundantly in the world. Atharva means ‘foreign’, indicating that, when the Indo-Europeans migrated into India, there was already a thriving and very accomplished culture.

Siddha Vaidya and Ayurveda have much in common, as is natural in a mother and her child. Siddha Vaidya, the more feminine, was born out of pure experience of the body, which contains and is a microcosm of everything. Agasthya and the Tamil Siddhas could become sub-atomic in size and thereby view the exact area and workings of any disease in any of its stages. Ayurveda, the more masculine, was born out of the cognitions of Rishis (seers) whose dharma (sacred duty in the world) was health. With their awareness focused clearly and carefully at the point where the infinite unmanifest field of Purusha (Absolute transcendent reality) is mystically taking on qualities and manifest expression. They wrote down what they saw in the sacred poetry that has come to be part of Artharva Veda. The caviat is that they gained their expertise through seership, which yields knowledge, which is a step removed from the direct experience that the Siddhas gained by making their bodies small enough to see the full story of a disease. This body/body experience is the basis of Siddha Vaidya and the results are in concretely detailed formulae. The knowledge of the great Rishis is more subject to interpretation, practical details and overlays (as, for example, the God/s are more apt to be outside the body than within the body, as is the view in Siddha Vaidya).

With Siddha Vaidya, there are no divisions into symptoms or chakras, but simply the art of going to the root of the disease. Ayurveda tends to break everything into components in order to understand and treat disease. However, there are many similarities, and indeed the principle treatments of each system closely resemble one another.

Siddha Vaidhya and HomeopathyHomeopathy is a system of using of plant, animal and element essences, the more

distilled the more the power, which is administered to counteract (balance) our main constitutional problem (root imbalance). Using this constitutional remedy is also to address the branching symptoms of our main problem.Homeopathy, a medical science born in Germany during the late 18th century, was founded by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (CE 1755-1843), who, while allopathically trained, coined the term "homeopathy" for a set of medical principles that he discovered. The base of his discovery stems from his observations that pharmacological agents causing a set of symptoms can be employed in very diluted doses to combat diseases that show a similar set of symptoms.

Siddha Vaidya does not have principles or observations similar to this finding. Homeopathy uses some of the metals and minerals that have been used by Siddha Vaidya for thousands of years for similar uses and in similar doses. This similarity in use may be coincidental or it may also mean that Dr. Hanemann might have had some contact with Indian books, which were translated from Indian languages into German starting in the 1600s. Indian alchemists and Siddha physicians used almost all metals, including mercury, for therapeutic uses, but in microscopic doses and after detoxifications that combines the metals and minerals with hundreds of herbs. The results of these procedures were preparations where the original metal was almost nonexistent.

Siddha Vaidya, seeing our original problem as one whose cause is be atomtic, would naturally wonder whether a distillation of a carefully chosen plant or animal or element or combination can address the fundamental level of imbalance at the level of atoms, and whether one constitutional remedy can adequately bring balance to all branching symptoms of a primal disease. Siddha Vaidhya and Acupuncture

The body has many signal collection systems: physica, chemical, electrical and ionic, each having many variations. One major energy channel in the body is called Nadi, 72,000 routes of electrical information, the most important of are the ten major Nadi trunks which pass through or near the spinal cord to supply electrical stimulus to all our major organs.

Acupuncture, originating in China, is based in a similar school of thought. The use of needles, sometimes heated, reflects on the use of heat, for example the heated oil pouch in the Kaya Regeneration treatment, in Siddha Vaidya. The Nadi are of primary importance in Siddha Vaidya and are addressed by a number of treatments, such as the pirichi treatment in which heated oil is dripped on the major Nadi meridians, in a number of ways.

Siddha Vaidya and Shamanism

Early Indian philosophy was based on the importance of vibration in the creation of the universe. From that point onwards, the importance of vibration, as characterized by sound vibrations, played an important role in every aspect of Indian life, including medicine. From this base, mantras (words of power used in sacred incantation) evolved to maneuver every aspect of ancient Indian life, including health and medicine. Siddha Vaidya texts in the section on pathology, report the various causative factors for diseases and disorders. Mantras were used to treat many psychiatric and psychological issues to an extent, all the while maintaining the biochemical component treated by herbal combinations.

Yantras are sacred diagrams used to represent the sacred vibrations. The yantras used in Siddha/Dravidian cultures were not geometrical, but were constructed using curves rather than geometric designs. Special letters give form to mantras within the yantra diagram. There are diagrams specially constructed for different purposes. Priests make inscriptions of yantra pictures and symbols onto thin metal foils, which are used as remedies for certain health issues and are carried on the person as a talisman. The wearer thereby gains a sense of psychological security which may help in boosting the immune response.

Tantras are techniques that are physically performed to achieve a spiritual, psychological, mental or emotional transformation in a person or a group. These set of prescribed actions performed by a shaman or a priest induces an atmosphere where a person can dramatically change a perception or an emotional/mental state of existence. Tantra techniques usually involve the chanting of mantras and drawing of the yantras, giving it more than one dimension in realizing its goal. Among the many causes of diseases and disorders mentioned in Siddha Vaidya are the influences of spiritual forces and misdirected energy vibrations. These forces can cause disorders, mainly through belief. Traditionally to combat these diseases, an array of treatment protocols that include mantra, yantra and tantra has been used.

The traditions of shamanism, from the native American to the South American and Aboriginal, are gaining significant notoriety in the West. The main reason is that they call into question the over-rationality engendered in modern technological materialism, and they move attention back to the Earth, to its abundance and the miracles of intelligence held in the heart of Mother Nature. As such, plants are often used, not just for their curative powers, but often for their magical powers, which often means the hallucinogenic properties of some plants. In the former sense of cure, shamanism and Siddha Vaidhya are greatly aligned. In the latter sense of the magical properties of plants, the Siddha Vaidya physician sees miracle enough in the plant capacities for medical cure, rather than the inducement of altered states of consciousness.

Siddha Vaidya and DreamsVirtually no field that can affect a person’s health is left out of the Siddha

physician’s training, including dreams. As has been mentioned, dreams are also considered to be an indicator of the nature of the pathology of a client’s medical problem. For example, constant nightmares have been cited as an indicator of heart problems, both present and incipient.

Siddha Vaidya and the Martial Arts

One component of the study of every Siddha physician is that of martial arts. This study is important in gaining control over the vital energy of prana or chi. Physiological power is the result, and steadiness of the mind in motion.

Application of the martial arts in Siddha Vaidya comes mainly through the Marmas.

Siddha Vaidya and Spirituality & ReligionSiddha Vaidya is not in any way a religion. Yet, it is not separate from the basic

impulse of religion: to bind ourselves back to the Source. In this sense, good health requires some discipline and we through this discipline are bound to our commitment to good health. And surely, good health only assists the clarity and efforts that assist any religious person in his or her pursuits and service. Moreover, though Siddha Vaidya has originated in India, which is primarily Hindu in religion, it is not specifically or formally linked with Hinduism, such that any person whatsoever her or his religion or non-alignment with religion, can benefit equally and greatly from this ancient tradition of natural and complete healing.

Spirituality is part of Siddha Vaidya, though not overtly, meaning that sound health is part and parcel of a sound spirit—in every person. Thus, Siddha Vaidya speaks to the soundness of our spirit and the exercise of the impulses of our inner heart through the medium of health.

Siddha Vaidhya ApplicationsThe great ocean of healing potential attests that is Siddha Vaidya will never be

tapped out. Whatever the current developments in health, whatever the latest cutting edge, Siddha Vaidya will be found to be completely relevant. Indeed, modern science is verifying many of Siddha Vaidya’s ancient findings. Yet what surprise is there in such confirmation, remembering that the origin of this tradition is based in selfless souls looking at the atomic level of all known diseases and recording their exact findings.

If we consider the wisdom of the Yin/Yang understanding of life—in which the predominant idea or practice is, as soon as it asserts its dominance, starting to wane and its opposite idea or practice is already beginning its rise—then we can see that much of today’s alternatives to are opposite to the allopathic medical approaches that they are hoping to replace. The qualities in established Western medical approaches tend toward assisting the masses, which is where greater profits can be foreseen. Hands-on treatments, taking more time and requiring more personnel, were long ago pushed out. Thus it is that massage represents an antidote to the more impersonal and technologized approach to medicine found in the West. Siddha massage, at least 3000 years old, employs precise protocols of massage, as well as powerful oils that are kneading into the body system.

Energy medicines, rising out of the complexity of ailments and treatments in our complexified world, are obvious balancers to the status quo. They offer much hope in vibrationally neutralizing ailments on an energy level. Whether this balancing of energies is powerful enough or able to alter very material conditions often enough is a question that faces clients and which, with the technologies of this very new field rapidly progressing, will need to be seen as time unfolds. Siddha Vaidya has over so many thousands of years proven to be medicinally profound, since it works at the atomic level

of our bodies. Through not using the technologies that are currently yielding discoveries in what is called energy medicine, the client’s vibratory nature—physically, emotionally and psychically—is being harmonized by the individual program of treatment chosen by the Siddha physician to address a given client’s unique therapeutic needs.

Quantum physics stands as a background to all healing modalities which wish to offer complete treatment. By understanding the layers of creation and their source in a field of infinite virtual power and scope, we can better understand how deep diseases go and how integrated their cures must be if the word ‘cure’ is to be taken seriously. The original Siddha Vaidya physicians were quantum physicists in ways that are still unimaginable to most of today’s scienctists.

Which brings up the entire realm of what is called ‘human potential’. In our technologically driven information age, a deeply psychological era, much interest naturally is resurfacing about what is really the purpose and promise of a human being. We are asking deep question, such as Who am I? What is my purpose? What is my potential? And we are increasingly aware of the accuracy, though it may even be too generous an estimate, that most of us use a paltry 10% of our mental capacity. Albert Einstein thought he himself used maybe 20%. We witness daily in any news hour we care to tune into the reality of limited inner resources. Therefore, in talking authentically about human potential, we are recognizing that the greatest untapped natural resource available is within us. Meditation and yoga are increasingly visible forays into the human potential arena, which is the process of unlocking or revealing our own nature. Siddha Vaidya has its origins in precisely that awareness! Who of us or anyone we know is capable of becoming atomic? Yet this siddhi, this power, for example, is but one of the powers enumerated by the great sage and yogi Pantanjali in his Yoga Sutras. The power of life in a human being are simply unlimited, since, as Siddha Vaidya readily understands, the whole universe is within each of us. Which is why Siddha Vaidya is pointed beyond the utterly limited and, in defeatist arena of mortality. Immortality expresses fully realized human potential. And health and human potential are as indivisible as Shiva and Shakti. The power of increasing health lies in the power of our own consciousness.

One of the latest developments in Western science shows that each cell membrane is a brain, a part of our brain, and that our genetics are not fixed but based on our environment, which can be changed. Because our skin, the largest of our organs and acting like a third kidney, is what most perceives our environment, then to alter the experience of our skin cells is to alter our environment. Siddha Vaidya changes our environment through its various massage treatments, using oils to positively and powerfully re-educate our cells and, thereby, bring freedom to what until recently has been considered genetically determined.

In our Western can-do culture, full of media hype about being ever-youthful, anti-aging products and systems are experiencing a meteoric rise. Suffice it to say that the pre-occupation with youthfulness represents in materialistic societies a deflection of healing energies, since real hope for health means going to the root of disease. However, the very youthfulness that is arising out of the denials of material life nonetheless represents an extraordinary intuition of human potential. Siddha Vaidya offers specific therapies for longevity.

CHAPTER 5: Siddha Vaidya and the West

Curing what other systems cannot cure will insure Siddha Vaidya a long and rich future based on its unbelievably long and rich past. Siddha Vaidya physicians see the ability to cure as a promise. Those coming to this healing will, of course, see it more as a hope—until they, too, experience results that match their fondest hopes.

Seeing the root of a disease and treating it, and hereby treating the limbs and branches of its influence is a process of dedication on both parts, the physician and the patient. Such a path of healing goes slowly…yet steadily and certainly. It must be this way, for to go to the heart of a malady and engendering healing means that the entire body system must in an integrated way come into balance and harmony.

This integrated pace requires faith on the part of the Siddha physician, which is easy. It also requires faith—or plain willingness—on the part of the client. Results are the key, for even an initial result on what has seemed to be an impossible condition brings that heartfulness that engenders faith in a natural way. But given the non-flashy yet ever-steady nature of the cure through Siddha Vaidya, such a graph is not the energy of the West’s media-driven culture of immediacy. Indeed, on an energetic level, Siddha Vaidya does not much participate in modern culture. Its ethic and center of gravity are deeply grounded in the reality and clarity that is Shiva and the power and love that is Shakti.

How Siddha Vaidya will spread will likely be through one person who has found healing telling another, and another and, like roots spreading out beneath the surface of the soil to hold a plant firm against all winds and weathers or like branches reaching for sunlight, those who are drawn to healing, even against all odds, will come forward to gain what cannot be gained elsewhere.

Clinics offering Siddha Vaidya will grow in number, but likely be comparatively few in a landscape full of hospitals and insurance companies. And there will be enclaves of those close to Siddha Vaidya who are growing and harvesting and preparing herbs for the complex formulae contained in the medicine poems of the Siddhas who dedicated their lives thousands of years ago so that we in this day might benefit and be alive.

Currently, some universities in India impart training in Siddha Vaidya and physicians are trained only as generalists, following the trend in modern medicine, which

is contrary to the ancient practices. It always happens that, when something of value gains popularity, it comes under the umbrella of existing beliefs, energies and practices which bend it towards current understandings. Siddha Vaidya will in sectors, thereby, be watered down. Which is why we can feel fortunate that we have found through this introductory presentation a deep sense of the dedication of those physicians whose knowledge and hearts are centered in the original power of healing given by the sage Agasthya and his enlightened devotees. Whether Agasthya was mythological or historical cannot deny the potency and accuracy of this tradition of holistic health that springs out of the very nature of our bodies.

Current Boundaries and Outlooks

Payment and financesHow much health costs is an important question to both client and physician, and

one which need not be asked with embarrassment or answered with either apology or secrecy. In the Siddha Vaidya tradition of the medicine poems of the Siddhas, the lifestyle of the physician is not separate from the herbal formulae he or she administers. So it is that a Siddha physician understands, if he or she charges too much and hopes to get rich via this ancient healing art, that the medicines simply will not work. Though this injunction may seem harsh, it is in keeping with the utter holism of this system and a vital factor in preserving its purity and insuring its endurance.

We can only imagine what is required to gather so many herbs in the prescribed them, then to administer them in the many therapies of Siddha Vaidya. While such a process is understandably costly, especially since these therapies often require a team of therapists and a clinic situation is preferable for extended treatments, the cost is not prohibitive, and you have only to compare what the cost of surgery or any alternative program that will not promise a cure.

Payment is a joyful event in the Siddha Vaidya tradition. It is the client’s opportunity to give back to the physician, not only for treatment directly received but also to honor a lifestyle of total dedication that has already served many and will serve many more souls who want the same opportunity to heal and to live. And it is the physician’s joy to have been an instrument for the healing that has been extended, and to recognize the great tradition of healthcare that reaches back into time and is testimony to human potential.

The Six Volumes on Siddha Vaidya By Dr. Rajkumar Reghunathan

Dr. Rajkumar Reghunathan, who is both a Siddha Vaidya and western allopathic physician, has envisioned a series of volumes on Siddha Vaidya in order to educate our modern world about this ancient tradition of total healthcare and to reveal many of the healing formulae and their applications which, until this effort, have been confined to the pages of palm leaves in Tamil couplets.

The series will begin with a book titled Siddha Vaidya and Women’s Health. Dr. Raj starts here because our human life begins in the womb of our mother. It is the beginning of life and therefore of utmost importance that modern people understand healthcare from the point of our origin. Every disease begins at birth, and so it is that taking care of the mother eases all difficulties in the children. Moreover, the superficial sense in modern medicine that women and men are the same bodies with different hardware, so to speak, must be remedied as soon as possible.

There is be a special book entitled Menopause: Ancient Secrets, to focus attention on this vital and all-important shift in every woman’s life. Such a transition in the West is largely held to be a difficult passage, while Siddha Vaidya considers it a natural progression of the life force in every woman and a time of grace and ease, easily addressed through herbal formulae so that its motion feels natural.

There is a series of three books on the disorders of each of the three doshas. The book on Vatta Disorders is the first, since most issues about bones are created out of a Vatta imbalance. The books on Pitta Disorders and Kapha Disorders are equally revealing.

The book on longevity is particularly relevant in our modern society that holds youth on such a pedestal. Even though the urge for youth largely arises out of a denial of old age and death, nevertheless this motion is one that in its essence arises out of the soul’s knowledge of immortality. Immortality is the center of gravity, the fundamental basis out of which Siddha Vaidya has arisen. Thus it is that Siddha Vaidya has numerous treatments for revitalizing the body, the skin and bringing more energy into all that happens in our internal systems and their specific actions. There is a specific longevity treatment to totally restructure the body and bring heretofore unheard of results in returning youth. However, Siddha Vaidya understands that such a rebirth requires not only four years of rigorous preparation, but is a most challenging 90-day program that is for only those souls advanced enough to require an extension in their life so as to carry out some vital service for the benefit of humanity.

The book on Neurology is a deeply important work for our psychological age, with so much use of drugs and birth traumas, as well as understanding the brain in all its complexities.

And, finally, a book on Abdominal Problems will include important revelations in health, since this area is where the newborn is connected to the mother, is the seat of

digestion and elimination, and is the arena of our genitals and sexuality. Recalling the graph on pages 29-31, which breaks out the 4448 diseases into their number in various categories, the arena of the abdomen has the highest number—556—which suggests how important is this mid-area, the dividing line between head and toes.