Pushya A. Gautama

National Institute of Advanced Studies · School of Humanities

In this study, we examine three different conceptions of self within the Caraka Saṃhitā (CS), a classical Sanskrit Āyurveda text, based on three interrelated notions of suffering, well-being, and the nature of the self’s agentic pursuit of remedy. These are—(i) the phenomenal self, (ii) the expansive self, and (iii) the transcendental self. The phe...

The role of ecology in shaping notions of well-being in indigenous healing traditions is often overlooked in contemporary well-being discourse. This study examines how ecological systems contribute to notions of well-being in two Indic healing traditions– Āyurveda and the Māvilan healing traditions. We focus on the ecological place (or eco-place) a...

Anthony Cerulli’s The Practice of Texts is a much needed book at a time when Ayurvedic education in India is receiving particular academic and policy scrutiny. In particular, it offers novel insight into the nature of modern Ayurvedic ‘gurukulas’ and the unique roles they serve, as fluid spaces within which ‘neo-traditions’ of Ayurveda evolve and a...

Anaplastic Astrocytoma (AA) is a relatively rare cancer, and is associated with a median life expectancy of 3 years after conventional therapy. Complete cure of the highly infiltrative AA is uncommon, and reports of positive outcome in cases of partial resection of AA are rare. Further, integrative approaches to the management of AA remain underexp...

Currently, there is a paucity of clinical trial designs that comprehensively evaluate the efficacy of most complementary and alternative systems of medicine (CAMs) like Ayurveda. Several factors such as complex interventions, individualized therapy, etc., make designing Ayurveda clinical trials challenging. The prevalent randomized control trial (R...

This chapter elaborates an Ayurvedic understanding of, and approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. It describes briefly, references to epidemics, infections, their modes of transmission and tools for management, from nodal Ayurvedic texts. It also highlights the need for sustainable, holistic and where required, integrative management of COVID, while al...

The far-reaching, severely debilitating effects of the COVID19 pandemic, has necessitated a serious look at, and redefinition of ‘wellness’. Whether migrant labourers, working professionals, home-makers, health-care professionals or elderly citizens, everyone has had to ask themselves - ‘Am I healthy?’ ‘How do I stay healthy?’ ‘Do I feel well?’ ‘Ho...

This chapter will attempt to revisit aspects of traditional Indian knowledge, with specific reference to medicine, and examine their foundations in conceptions of life, healing, and well-being, and their inter-relationships, and explore how a sense of identity and community evolved around these.

Several studies have shown that food supplements and healthy diets can achieve what medical advances have not – improve life expectancy, reduce morbidity, and reduce mortality. A branch of Western medicine called ‘social medicine’ evolved based on this, which may be defined as, ‘the study of man as a social being in his total environment and accord...