UpaniÓsad[6:15.1] describes how the relatives of a dying person gather
and ask “Do you know me?” For in the final phases of dying, it com-
monly occurs that dying persons lose awareness sufficient even to recog-
nize their loved ones.
Among the criteria for evaluating whether a cure has been effected,
the Caraka-samhitÓ ̄alists “unimpairment of mind, intellect, and senses”
[CS 3:8.89]. The Hindu traditions, in various terms, uphold the position
that intelligence or consciousness is the person’s true nature, and that dis-
criminative wisdom is the remedy for the ignorance, suffering, and bond-
age that is human life. Thus it is not surprising that Åyurveda considers
the pain of illness to result from ignorance, and holds that clarity of mind
is a determinant of health. Clarity of mind in the context of health is an
ordinary kind of knowledge, not a form of higher knowledge leading to
religious liberation; mental clarity contributes to liberation from the suf-
fering of illness:
... the ignorant indulge in unwholesome gratification of the five senses
... and adoption of such regimens as are pleasing only temporarily; but
the wise do not indulge in them because of their clarity of vision.
CS 1:28.39–40
Awareness is a determinant of health, and a capacity that contrib-
utes to the maintenance of health: Åyurvedic medical theory implies that
knowledge of one’s own nature, and the dietary, climatic, temporal, and
other patterns suited to oneself helps a person follow the proper regimen
to preserve health. The Caraka-samhitÓ ̄a gives this analogy to illustrate the
principles of self-awareness and responsibility for one’s state of health:
“As an incompetent king neglects his enemy, so also an ignorant person
does not realize the need to take care of the disease in its primary stage
due to his negligence” [CS 1:11.57]. Awareness of one’s normal function-
ing and deviations from it can help one sustain a higher level of health,
and to recognize circumstances that signal a need for adjustment in one’s
actions or a need for medical assistance.
In the domain of psychological health, awareness and clarity of
mind are contrary to neurosis and psychosis. Psychological disorders in-
volve internal conflicts far from transparent to their sufferer, and psy-
chosis is marked by interference in a person’s contact with reality. An
important dimension of mental health is a person’s awareness of his or
her own thoughts and feelings, and a certain degree of awareness (free of
projection and other neurotic interpretations) of others’ emotions and
communications. Psychological health entails mental clarity sufficient
meanings of health in ̄ayurveda 67