Written by London swaminathan

Article No 1695; Dated 6^th march 2015

London Time 11-09 am

This is the second and final part of my talk to the medical students at Kings College, London. Please read the first part before reading this part.

Alcohol prohibited

When I said alcohol is also prohibited, a girl student interrupted me asking where in Hindu scriptures it is said that you should not drink? I answered her: It is written in all the Hindu scriptures from the Vedas to the latest literature (Tirukkural in Tamil). I told her that I wrote an article on the same topic in my blog showing the difference between Sura Pana (alcoholic drinks) and Soma Pana. Even soma pana is not a narcotic drug. It was a medicinal herb. (One student took my website ID)

ABORTION: Brunu Hathi

Abortion is a big issue in the U S.; during the American elections it becomes a heated issue. In India the female foeticide has created a big problem now. The ratio between male and female has gone down to a dangerous level. In some places there are only 800 girls for 1000 boys. It may create moral issues. Even now marriages are becoming difficult. But Hindu religion never allowed foeticide. Killing a foetus is considered a murder- Brunu Hathi. 1500 years ago the families of boys went to bride’s house and gave money to get the girl. We have enough proof for it in ancient Tamil and Sanskrit literature. After 1000 year foreign rule in India, it changed topsy-turvy. Boys were demanding dowry money. Then having a girl in the house was considered a burden. This was the reason for female foeticide. It is not allowed in Hindu religion. Because of this imbalance, now boys are ready to give dowry!

I had a chat with a London doctor about it. She believes in all the old Hindu values. She told me that she also supported abortion, when it was known that the child will have some serious genetic diseases. Nowadays people do it if they know for sure that would be child will have some serious deformities. In those days we did not have tests such as amniocentesis.

Two thousand years ago the condition of women were very different in India. They were highly educated and attended conferences where philosophical debates took place. Even before the Greeks started writing their epics Hindu women were attending such sessions and questioning great scholars of those days. We know Gargi Vachaknavi and other such women who lived 3000 years ago.

Organ donations

Very often I am asked about organ donations and religious sanction for it. We did not have much about it in our literature. Though medical scholars like Susruta talk about Rhinoplasty (Nose Transplant) 2500 years ago, we don’t know about organ “donations”. We have to do certain organ transplants within few hours of their availability. We did not have those facilities 2000 years ago.

There are interesting stories such as a devotee of Lord giving eye (Kannappa Nayanar) and another devotee giving his bone (Dadichi). But they all fall under mythology. We know for sure a Pandya king getting golden hand after he cuts his hand for some blunder he did the previous night. I narrated the story of Golden Handed Pandya king (Por Kai Pandiya: It is already in my blog). This showed clearly that they had the techniques of transplanting eyes, hands, noses etc.

Going back to the question of signing some documents regarding donating the organs after one’s death, it is all individuals’ choice. Hinduism is an ever changing religion. It adapts quickly. Only the basic values are kept intact. So even if my son comes to me tomorrow asking my opinion on donating his organs, I will leave it to his discretion. We read a lot of moving stories in the newspapers about donating organs for the benefit of others. Even when a youth dies, his organs are living in four or five persons’ bodies!

Euthanasia & Attitude towards Life

Again euthanasia is a new concept. I can’t see anything against or for in the scriptures. 2000 years ago, the third stage of a Hindu’s life was Vanaprastha. Parents themselves withdrew from everything worldly and went to the forest for yoga and meditation. They were ready to die. When they saw their grandchildren well off in life, they thought they must leave home. Since Hindu scriptures explain that death is like changing garments (Bhagavad Gita), they did not bother about dying at ripe old age. But finishing someone’s life at an early age because of suffering is not documented.

Dead bodies and Post-mortem

Hindus feel discriminated against in the Western hospitals. When they allow Muslim dead bodies to be buried within 24 hours even without a post-mortem or namesake pot mortem, they insist post mortem in the case of Hindu patients even when they knew the reason for death. Recently my friend died in hospital aged 87, after 15 years on dialysis. They insisted post mortem in spite of his wife’s protests. As a result of which the funeral was delayed by a week. But according to scriptures the body must be cremated within 24 hours. Back home they did not even cook food in the house where a death occurred and the community used to cook for the families for the first few days. (Then I narrated the court case that was filed in a Northern England city for open cremation like in India etc.)

Charaka, Susruta and “AYUSH” – a new Department

I told the students that India was far advanced in medical sciences 2500 years ago. We have the medical books written by Charaka and Susruta. Charaka in his 120 chapters dealt with pathology, anatomy, toxicology, nursing, nutrition and pharmaceutics. Susruta in 184 chapters dealt with 1120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, surgical procedures, rhinoplasty, cataract, hernia surgeries etc. He mentioned the names of innumerable surgical instruments!

Immediately one student interrupted me saying that he understood allopathic system is practised in India. I answered him that it is very correct to say that in Indian cities, English medicine is more used, but in village areas still the native medicines are used. After Indian life style changed to “Sofa and TV culture”, they wanted quick solution for their illnesses and allopathic medicines came very handy. But the Indian Government has set up a department called “AYUSH” ( A for Ayurveda, Y for yoga, U for unani, S for siddha and H for homeopathy) to encourage scientific research in the traditional medicines.

Then I mentioned the controversy about Yoga, after a remark by an American pastor that Christians should not practise Yoga and the BBC Radio programme on it a few days back. I told them that even my Muslim colleagues attended Baba Ramdev’s Yoga programme here in London. Though mantra is used in initiation, people can still practise the exercise part of it without involving religion.

Vegetarianism: Are all Hindus vegetarians?

Not all Hindus are vegetarians. But beef is prohibited. When Hindu patients get admitted to hospitals hospital staff ass their preferences. But vegetarian dishes are always very few and not cooked tastily. It is always boiled potatoes plus something else!

When I said beef is prohibited, one person asked a question: So you don’t drink milk or take Yogurt (curd) then?

My answer: I was born in a vegetarian family. But I have been drinking milk from my childhood days. The Vegan concept is not known in India. Our ancient Hindu seers were living just on milk and honey. They raised cows and bulls in their Ashrams (holy shelters).

The reason for adopting vegetarianism is that they dont want to kill animals. They know very well that plants are also living beings, but they thought it is less evil to kill the plants. Even non vegetarians have their own views; some don’t kill pigs, some don’t eat horses or elephants. Theoretically speaking a man can eat another man. There is no higher or lower among the living things. But we don’t do it on moral grounds. There was a strange case of man eating men in South American jungle after a plane crash. It was reported in a Readers Digest Article. Men do anything for survival. Recently we read in the British newspapers that after a ferry disaster everybody wanted to escape. Nobody listened to the captain who said that children and women should be given priority. We only setup rules for certain reasons. Hindu seers don’t eat non vegetarian. Even Sikh Gurudwaras never cook or serve non vegetarian food. Recently we saw Prime Minister David Cameron’s photo making chapatis in a Sikh Gurudwara in Northern England.

(I told them about high Upansihdic principles of Tat tvam asi, Aham Brahmasmi etc and explained that even Charvakam/atheism is considered part of Hindu way of life. Like Buddha one can follow a set of moral code without thinking about God/agnostic)

It was a two hour talk. I did not put everything I said there. Only the gist is given to show the medical students’ areas of interest.

Swami_48@yahoo.com