Kya Khoya Kya Paaya: It’s time to file my Vedic returns

Dr K K Aggarwal

Once again, it’s time to file my annual Vedic returns. I was born on 5th September, day of Janmashthmi. On this day, every year, I file my Vedic returns of all that I have done or achieved in the last one year.

A birthday is a reminder of our true purpose in life, towards which our actions should be directed. These are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. 

Dharma is righteousness – doing our duty; artha is righteous earning of the means to do our duty; these righteous acts should be directed towards fulfilling the desires of acquiring inner happiness…Kama and Moksha.

We must also draw up a balance sheet of the three debts that we have to pay in our lifetime and repay them, if not paid by this time. These are: Dev rin, Pitra rin and Rishi/Guru rin.

Our body has been given to us by our parents, they take care of us when we are young and so should we as they grow old; this is pitra rin. Rishi/Guru rin is our debt to our teachers who give us knowledge and Dev rin is our debt to God, who has given us consciousness.

The first step is to calculate my last year’s Vedic earnings. Money alone does not constitute all my wealth; my soul and ego-based earnings are also a part of my total wealth.

·      Soul earnings (soul profile): Good will, respect, happiness, peace of mind, health, blessings, friendships and knowledge

·      Ego earnings: Position and status earned, fixed assets (car, house, money), name, fame and awards

Both soul and ego earnings, positive and minus, should be computed in the form of returns and submitted to the consciousness. If the result is balance, you need to pay 30% tax to God by passing on 30% of net happiness to others. Keep everything in circulation. This is the Law of Giving & Receiving.

Every year on our birthday, we should contemplate on the year that has gone by and take stock of what all has been achieved or what is left unfulfilled and define new goals for ourselves.

Doctors are like batsmen. Like the batsmen, doctors too cannot afford to make mistakes. I was told by a senior mentor that to be successful at this stage in life, you cannot afford to make mistakes. I did make a mistake last year and by the time, I realized it, it was too late.

I am satisified that my returns were more on the positive side and less on the negative side.  

I thank each one of you for the blessings and wishes today.

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

Vice President CMAAO

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA

Failure to self regulate is an invitation to Govt. regulations with punitive provisions

Failure to self regulate is an invitation to Govt. regulations with punitive provisions

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

Dharma, Artha, Karma and Moksha are the four purposes of life; they are called the Four Purusharthas. Of these, dharma is the most important. The word dharma is derived from dhri, which means “to hold”. Therefore, it literally means “that which holds” i.e. anything which holds people together. Dharma changes according to circumstances, country, religion, community.

Values are our fundamental beliefs, which tell us what is right, good and just. Honesty, integrity, compassion, courage, honor, responsibility, patriotism, respect and fairness are examples of values.

Morals are values which we attribute to a system of beliefs, typically a religious system, but it could be a political system or some other set of beliefs.

Ethics are the principles that govern how we act and take decisions. Acting in ways, which are consistent with our beliefs, whether secular or derived from a moral authority is characterized as acting ethically.

Dharma is the path of righteousness and living one’s life according to the codes of conduct as described by the Vedas and Upanishads. Dharma of a doctor is to treat and save the life of a person at any cost.

The first code of conduct for doctors has been described in the Charaka Samhita “paro bhutadaya dharmamiti matva chikitsaya” i.e. “the physician has to consider compassion as the highest virtue, and proceed to treat patients”.

Then came the “pan-world” Hippocratic Oath, one of the oldest codes of conduct for doctors, which emphasizes self regulation.

The World Medical Association (WMA) also provides standards of ethical behavior for doctors around the world through its International Code of Medical Ethics, the Declaration of Geneva (the Physicians Pledge) and the Helsinki Declaration, which defines ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects.

All these codes propound self regulation. However, not all followed these self regulating standards. So, this brought on regulatory code of conduct with punitive provisions, MCI ethics, the Indian Penal Codes (IPC) and specific laws such as the PCPNDT Act with harsh penal provisions.

The root of these regulations with penal provisions is failure to self regulate.

If we don’t self regulate, then the government will bring laws. These laws will come with penal provisions and imprisonment.

Code of self regulation is made by the people themselves, who make up the individual Associations. The American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics is a classic example.

It’s high time that all stakeholders, including doctors’ association, pharmaceutical industry, health insurers, work out a common code of conduct.

FICCI Health Services Committee has taken an initiative to develop a comprehensive code of conduct, based on MCI Code of Ethics Regulations, Pharma Code of Conduct, IMA-NATHEALTH code.

                                                                                                  

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee
Vice President CMAAO
Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA

Definition of Health

Health is not mere absence of disease; it is a state of physical, mental, social, spiritual, environmental and financial well being. All aspects of health are not defined in allopathy.

During MBBS, medical students are taught more about the physical health. Social and mental health are covered only in few lectures. Community health is a separate subject but never given its due importance. Spiritual health is not defined at all and financial health is hardly covered.

Yet, in day today practice it is the social, financial, spiritual and community health which is the most important during patient-doctor communication. It is incorporated in the four basic purposes: dharma, artha, kama and moksha.

 Dharma and artha together forms the basis of karma which righteous earning. You are what your deep rooted desires are. Most of the diseases today can be traced to a particular emotion, positive or negative. Anger and jealously are related with heart attack, fear with blood pressure, greed & possessiveness with heart failure. Unless the mind is healthy, one cannot be free of diseases. 

The best description of health comes from Ayurveda. In Sanskrit health means swasthya, which means establishment in the self. One is established in the self when there is a union of mind, body and soul. Most symbols of health are established around a shaft with two snakes and two wings. The shaft represents the body, two snakes represent the duality of mind and the two wings represent the freedom of soul. 

Sushrut Samhita in Chapter 15 shloka 10 defines the ayurvedic person as under:

Samadosha, samagnischa,

Samadhatumalkriyah,

Prasannatmendriyamanah,

Swastha iti abhidhiyate.

From ayurvedic point of view for a person to be healthy must have balanced doshas, balanced agni, balanced dhatus, normal functioning of malkriyas and mind, body, spirit and indriyas full of bliss and happiness.

Human body is made up of structures (Kapha) which have two basic functions to perform; firstly, metabolism (pitta) and movement (vata). Vata, pitta and kapha are called doshas in ayurveda. Samana dosha means balance of structures, metabolism and movement functions in the body. Agni in Ayurveda is said to be in balance when a person has normal tejas and a good appetite.

Ayurveda describes seven dhatus: rasa, rakta, mamsa, medha, asthi,majja, shukra and they are required to be in balance. They are equivalent to various tissues in the human body. 

Ayurveda necessitates proper functioning of natural urges like urination, stool, sweating and breathing and that is what balances in malakriya means.

Ayurveda says for a person to be healthy he has to be mentally and spiritually healthy which will only happen when his or her indriyas are cheerful, full of bliss and devoid of any negativities. For indriyas to be in balance one has to learn to control over the lust cum desires, greed and ego. This can be done by learning regular pranayama, learning the do’s and don’ts in life, living in a disciplined atmosphere and learn to live in the present.

Regular pranayama shifts one from sympathetic to para sympathetic mode, balances the mind and thoughts and helps in removing negative thoughts from the mind. For living a disabled life one can follow the yama and niyama of yoga sutras of patanjali or do’s and don’ts taught by various religious gurus, leaders and principles of naturopathy. Living in the present means conscious or meditative living. This involves either learning meditation 20 minutes twice a day or learning subtle mental exercises like mind-body relaxation, yogic shavasana, self-hypnotic exercises, etc.

According to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali a person who eats thrice a day is a rogi, twice a day is a bhogi and once a day is yogi. The take home message is: to live more one has to eat less. 

Swar yoga defines the importance of respiration and longevity. According to this yoga shastra, everybody has a fixed number of breaths to be taken during the life span. Lesser the number a person takes in a minute more is the life. It also forms the basis of pranayama which is nothing but longer and deeper breathing with reduced respiratory rate. To be healthy one can remember to follow the principle of moderation and variety in diet & exercise, regular pranayama & meditation and positive thinking.

Spiritual Blog:Definition of Health

Health is not mere absence of disease; it is a state of physical, mental, social, spiritual, environmental and financial well being. All aspects of health are not defined in allopathy.

During MBBS, medical students are taught more about the physical health. Social and mental healthcare covered only in few lectures. Community health is a separate subject but never given its due importance. Spiritual health is not defined at all and financial health is hardly covered.

Yet, in day today practice it is the social, financial, spiritual and community health which is the most important during patient-doctor communication. It is incorporated in the four basic purposes: dharma, artha, kama and moksha.

 Dharma and artha together forms the basis of karma which righteous earning. You are what your deep rooted desires are. Most of the diseases today can be traced to a particular emotion, positive or negative. Anger and jealously are related with heart attack, fear with blood pressure, greed & possessiveness with heart failure. Unless the mind is healthy, one cannot be free of diseases. 

The best description of health comes from Ayurveda. In Sanskrit health means swasthya, which means establishment in the self. One is established in the self when there is a union of mind, body and soul. Most symbols of health are established around a shaft with two snakes and two wings. The shaft represents the body, two snakes represent the duality of mind and the two wings represent the freedom of soul. 

Sushrut Samhita in Chapter 15 shloka 10 defines the ayurvedic person as under:

Samadosha, samagnischa,

Samadhatumalkriyah,

Prasannatmendriyamanah,

Swastha iti abhidhiyate.

From ayurvedic point of view for a person to be healthy must have balanced doshas, balanced agni, balanced dhatus, normal functioning of malkriyas and mind, body, spirit and indriyas full of bliss and happiness.

Human body is made up of structures (Kapha) which have two basic functions to perform; firstly, metabolism (pitta) and movement (vata). Vata, pitta and kapha are called doshas in ayurveda. Samana dosha means balance of structures, metabolism and movement functions in the body. Agni in Ayurveda is said to be in balance when a person has normal tejas and a good appetite.

Ayurveda describes seven dhatus: rasa, rakta, mamsa, medha, asthi,majja, shukra and they are required to be in balance. They are equivalent to various tissues in the human body. 

Ayurveda necessitates proper functioning of natural urges like urination, stool, sweating and breathing and that is what balances in malakriya means.

Ayurveda says for a person to be healthy he has to be mentally and spiritually healthy which will only happen when his or her indriyas are cheerful, full of bliss and devoid of any negativities. For indriyas to be in balance one has to learn to control over the lust cum desires, greed and ego. This can be done by learning regular pranayama, learning the do’s and don’ts in life, living in a disciplined atmosphere and learn to live in the present.

Regular pranayama shifts one from sympathetic to para sympathetic mode, balances the mind and thoughts and helps in removing negative thoughts from the mind. For living a disabled life one can follow the yama and niyama of yoga sutras of patanjali or do’s and don’ts taught by various religious gurus, leaders and principles of naturopathy. Living in the present means conscious or meditative living. This involves either learning meditation 20 minutes twice a day or learning subtle mental exercises like mind-body relaxation, yogic shavasana, self-hypnotic exercises, etc.

According to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali a person who eats thrice a day is a rogi, twice a day is a bhogi and once a day is yogi. The take home message is: to live more one has to eat less. 

Swar yoga defines the importance of respiration and longevity. According to this yoga shastra, everybody has a fixed number of breaths to be taken during the life span. Lesser the number a person takes in a minute more is the life. It also forms the basis of pranayama which is nothing but longer and deeper breathing with reduced respiratory rate. To be healthy one can remember to follow the principle of moderation and variety in diet & exercise, regular pranayama & meditation and positive thinking.

Spiritual:Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Karma and Moksha

Purusha means human being and artha means object or objective. Purusharthas means objectives of man. 

According to Vedanta a person should strive to achieve four main objectives (Purusharthas) in his life. They are: 

1.    Dharma (righteousness), 

2.    Artha (material wealth), 

3.    Kama (desire) and 

4.    Moksha (salvation). 

Every person is expected to achieve these four objectives and seek fulfillment in life before death.

The four principles can be summarized as “acquiring material wealth through righteousness to fulfill the desires to acquire inner happiness”

The word dharma means, “To hold together”. It represents “any act” of omission or commission, which holds people together in the society. The purpose of earning money should to be to hold one’s dharma and the money should be earned using the principles of dharma. 

Mokhsha is the very purpose of life and in broader séance means acquiring inner happiness. The same can only be acquired using the principles of duty, discipline and devotion. Only if the desire or intention to acquire one’s happiness is focused one can get it.

Intention and attention are thus the main two tools of acquiring any thing in life. With right intention and focused attention, one can get over all the adversities in life. 

The main principles also tell us the message of the trimurti: Brahma Vishnu and Mahesh, the three God of our existence. While Brahma teaches us about Dharma, Vishnu about righteous earning and Mahesha about fulfilling the desires.

All the four Purusharthas are also related to the ashrams of life. Bramcharya with dharma, Grasthya with Artha, Vanprasthan with kama and sanyasa with the moksha.

On each of the objective Vedic texts are available; dharamshastra, artyhashastra, kamashastra and the Upanishads.  

Summary: “Using dharma to earn money which in turn can be spent on fulfilling the desire to get inner happiness”or “Fulfilling one’s desire of inner happiness using the means earned through righteous earning”

http://www.itimes.com/users/iti475269/blog/Purusharthas-Dharma-Artha-Karma-and-Moksha