Ayudhapurusha
An ayudhapurusha is the personified
form of a divine weapon or emblem,
which is conceived as either mascu-
line, feminine, or neuter according to
the gender of the Sanskritword. For
example, the words shakti(“spear”)
and gada (“club”) are portrayed as
feminine, chakra(“discus”) as neuter,
and khadga (“sword”) and trishul
(“trident”) as male.
Ayurveda
(“knowledge of life”) Ayurveda is
the best known of the indigenous
Indian medical systems and is
primarily based on the two Sanskrit
medical texts: the Charaka Samhita
(1st c. C.E.) and the Sushruta Samhita
(4th c. C.E.).
The underlying assumption in both
of these texts and in ayurveda is the
theory of the three bodily humors—
vata(wind), pitta (bile), and kapha
(phlegm). Each of these is composed
of different elements, and although
everyone has all three humors, their
relative proportions are used to
explain varying body types, metabolic
dispositions, and personalities.
People in whom vata predominates
are said to have quick minds, slender
bodies, and to be full of energy, but
they are also said to get run down
more easily than others. Pitta-domi-
nant people are said to be strong-
willed and good leaders but also
hot-tempered and bothered by heat.
Kapha-dominant people are strong,
healthy, and stable but also have ten-
dencies toward lassitude and inertia.
Each of these humors can thus
have both wholesome and unwhole-
some manifestations, but when the
humors are in relative balance, the five
bodily winds (prana) that are consid-
ered responsible for basic bodily func-
tions will work effectively, and the
person will be healthy.
According to ayurveda, disease is
caused by an imbalance of these
humors that usually has perceivable
environmental roots. One possible
cause is environmental circum-
stances, such as the stresses that the
differing seasons(hot, cold, damp,
etc.) put on varying constitutions.
The other possible cause for an
imbalance is the person’s own
behavior—improper diet, poor sleep
habits, deficient or inappropriate
bodily exertion, and other habitual
stresses on the body.
In ayurveda, people are conceived
as beings in interaction with their
environment, and ayurveda’s propo-
nents recognize that many ailments
may have multiple causes. The ulti-
mate aim of any treatment, whether
diet, exercise, or medicine, is to restore
this lost equilibrium. The equilibrium
being sought will be different for
everyone, since it will necessarily
reflect each person’s individual make-
up. For further information see Gopi
Warrier, The Complete Illustrated
Guide to Ayurveda, 1997; and Judith
Morrison, The Book of Ayurveda, 1995.Ayurveda