Paryushan : A Practical View

So the festival season has begun in India. Starting from Ramzan, then Paryushan and Ganesh Chaturathi etc. there is so much fun in the air. Everyone is enjoying himself, people meeting one another; the atmosphere is really superb and divine as people are praying for the well being of each other.

                                  But sometimes I feel that no doubt all these occasions have their own religious significance, but they must be having some practical purpose too as our forefathers who started these customs were people of extra ordinary intelligence. And I am definitely sure that these festivals send us a message of some sort esp. regarding our health. Hence today through this blog, I wish to highlight the practical importance of Paryushan with regard to our health. Being an Ayurvedic Physician, I would like to co relate its significance with Ayurvedic aim of prevention of diseases.

                                    For those who don’t know what paryushan is, first of all let me throw some light on the religious aspect. Paryushan is a festival of Jains which lasts for 8-10days. Here people pray, attend temples and sthanaks (places where Jain saints stay), many people observe fasts when they drink only boiled water and that too is avoided after sunset. People give up on vegetables for the period of 8-10 days, mostly pulses and other things are generally consumed. It ends on samvatsari day.

                                      Now let’s see what the practical purpose of paryushan must be from an Ayurvedic point of view. Normally paryushan starts before Sharad rutu in   Indian calendar. Sharad rutu is one of the six seasons in India according to Vedic culture. Sharad rutu according to ayurveda, is the season where we get to see maximum infections and epidemics. Mostly these occurrences are due to aggravation of Pitta dosha (one of the three humors in our body). Pitta roughly can be described as the heat component of the body. During rains (varsha rutu), this heat is stored inside our bodies and cannot come out due to cold climate. But in sharad rutu, there is sudden rise in temperature due to sharp rays of the sun. Due to the effect of this, heat (pitta) that had been previously suppressed in the body is released all of a sudden due to conducive environment. And this aggravated pitta is the cause of many diseases during this period. Its largely called October heat in India, and even modern science believes that due to this October heat, there is a sudden rise in diseases.

                                                From Ayurvedic point of view, indigestion (weak metabolism) is the root cause of almost all the diseases. Green leafy vegetables also aggravate pitta up to a certain extent. So if we try to think logically, its advised in Paryushan to give up vegetables, drink boiled water, no food after sunset etc. which indirectly normalizes our metabolism as most of the toxins that are accumulated in rains in our body get metabolized or are flushed out of our bodies. As when digestion is poor, its generally advised to have light foods. This is the tradition and it indirectly helps us not to accumulate further pitta in our bodies and help us to prevent diseases in sharad rutu. And this kind of diet pattern has to be followed till the onset of sharad rutu in the month of Ashvina as per the Indian calendar and even during that period. On the first day after paryushan, milk products are traditionally made in household which again signifies the same thing, as milk is considered to be one of most effective remedy to treat aggravated pitta.

                                                    Such is the scientific importance of Paryushan to protect our health as Indian culture believes that only healthy body can have union with the divine. But what we people do during this period totally rubbish the purpose of Paryushan. Instead of having light food, we have all kinds of pulses and fermented food like dhoklas on a regular basis. All pulses except moong, according to ayurveda either cause aggravation of pitta or are heavy to digest leading to more stress on our digestive system. Moreover, eating of fermented food also aggravates pitta and its also heavy to digest. So instead of improving our metabolism, all we are doing is damaging it more, so the real purpose of paryushan is not fulfilled at all. Actually the type of food that should be mostly consumed during this period is milk, fruits etc. and other substances which our body can easily digest, so that we can stay healthy in the worse of season. There is a verse in Sanskrit which is “Roganam saharadi mata” (sharad rutu is the mother of diseases). Now its up to us to decide what we should do so that the main motive behind this festival is properly fulfilled rather than just concentrating on the religious aspects only. If we also try to fulfill the real motive, then I am sure our ancestors who started this noble tradition will really be proud of us.

Questions and Suggestions are most welcome.