Swine-Flu Prevention - The Ayurveda Way

They say that prevention is better than cure. It becomes even more important in present Swine Flu situation where new viruses like H1N1 are challenging human body. Generally I do not write anything other than astrology on this blog, but seeing the seriousness of present situation, I want to share my experience on this topic.

Ayurveda is not merely about medicine but about the way of living. Ayurveda daily routine and life-style is probably the only method to prevent such diseases. I have noted some of the very important advises that are relevant in case of swine flu and are noted keeping present life style in mind. Here are those, I hope these will be useful -

• Take Chyawanprash daily. Role of Chyawanprash in improving resistance power is generally well known in India. I myself experimented with it extensively and telling you based on my own experience. I feel that Chyawanprash is nothing less than miracle.
• Practice Anulom-Vilom Pranayam for minimum 5 minutes a day. This is a yogic method to improve resistance power. Though not directly related to Ayurveda, but pretty useful in present situation.
• Sleep latest by 11:00 PM and avoid staying up late. A time after 11:00 PM is known as kapha period and body immune system is not that powerful to fight infectious disease after this time.
• Avoid over exertion.
• Try to move around the place of work instead of sitting in one place or do some kind of physical work. This will help you to refresh yourself, especially when you feel dull & lethargic. The idea is to avoid exertion, as one can be infected only at a time when body lacks the power.
• Do not delay or skip your meals, meals should be taken at regular timings and in fixed quantities.
• Always have fresh food and avoid stale food. Ghee is preferred over oil for food preparation. Ghee has divine healing power and oil can not be a replacement of Ghee. If possible, use Cow Ghee.
• Daily use of Honey, Ginger (Adarakh) and Basil (Tulasi) helps controlling excessive kapha. This is good for controlling Kapha, but I don't think that it has any significant impact on improving resistance power. I would give priority to Haldi Milk and Chaywawanprash.
• Take one cup milk with one tea-spoon full of Haldi. This is also good way to increase digestive fire which is required to fight against such diseases. Again I myself have seen miraculous power of this medicine in similar situation and highly recommend it.
• Avoid refrigerated, microwaved, re-warmed, stale food, etc. Food should be taken immediately after cooking.

These are some simple but very effective suggestions. I strongly advocate them.

Swine Flu, Drought and Solar Eclipse

Mundane astrology is a difficult subject and precise prediction requires a lot of efforts. I generally do not write very often on national and international affairs. Though recently on July 11th, I had written an article on Solar eclipse and its possible impacts. In the article I had made some observations on impact of solar eclipse. Today's Times of India newspaper top stories - 1. "(Swine) Flue kills 3 more, toll 10" and 2. "161 districts are draught-prone but don't panic" reminded me about my recent article on solar eclipse. The introductory paragraph of the article goes as follows -

"Cancer is a watery sign. If the eclipse falls in Cancer sign, sedition, diseases, epidemics, extreme changes in weather leading to drying up of rivers and canals etc. are indicated."

It is unfortunate that we are seeing almost everything that is written in this paragraph. We have already seen drought in many parts of India and now swine flu has already given indication of severity of current problem. I am not sure whether Swine Flu can be called epidemics or not at this point of time, but I hope that it will be controlled at this point itself and will not spread further.

I also made certain observations on the possiblity of regions going to be affected and was also very close. The original article can be found at http://www.astrocamp.com/vedicastrology/2009/07/solar-eclipse-on-22-july-2009-india-and.html

The reason for writing current article is two-fold. One, I want to communicate the importance of Mundane astrology. Just imagine how useful it can be, if it is used by government as a serious governance tool? Government spends million of rupees on meteorological department, so why they can not spend money on astrology and use it in a systematic way?

Anyways, second, I also wanted to remind astrology community that solar eclipses are important predictive tools and should not be ignored (especailly, eclipses of higer magnitude). In fact, it requires serious systematic research on solar eclispe and I am sure we will be able to obtain higher precision in predictions (location, nature, timing etc.).

Third (I know I earlier mentioned two-fold), no harm in little bit self-promotion ;-)

Janmashtami on August 2009 - Shri Krishna Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami is one of the main festivals of Hindus. In 2009, Janmashtami is being celebrated on August 14th in Northern parts of India, while date of Janmashtami is 13th of August in other parts.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna took birth as the son of Devaki and Vasudev on the eighth day of the dark half (Krishna Paksha) of Bhadrapad month, when the Rohini Nakshatra was ascendending. This is the reason Rohini Naskshatra has given special importance for this festival.

This festival is known with different names in different parts of India e.g. "Krishnashtami", "Saatam Aatham", "Gokulashtami", "Ashtami Rohini", "Srikrishna Jayanti", "Sree Jayanthi" or sometimes simply as "Janmashtami".

The festival of Janmashtami is observed with lot of gay and happiness all over India. Special poojas are performed both in homes as well as temples. The entire day is devoted to remembering and singing the praise of Lord Krishna. Devotees welcome and celebrate the birth of their favourite god with lot of fervor.

If you are interested in puja process and rituals for Janmashtami, please see - Krishna Janmashtami Pooja Process and Aarti

Chandra Grahan (Lunar Eclipse) on August 6, 2009

A penumbral lunar eclipse (upchhai chandra graham) will occur on August 6, 2009. The eclipse will last for about three hours. The August 6 grahan will not be visible to the naked eye as its magnitude is only 0.402, according to NASA. As the magnitude of this chandra grahan is so low, there will not be any significant astrological impact. This chandra grahan should be ignored for all religious or astrological purposes.

Next major lunar eclipse will be on New Year’s eve 31st December 2009 full moon day or bright half of Hindu Paush month (Hindu Paush month, shukla paksha, Poornima). This eclipse will be on Ardra Nakshatra and Mithun Rashi (Gemini sign). This chandra grahan will be visible in through-out India. According to Indian standard time, entry time of the eclipse will be 24:22 (night 00:22 AM), max will be 24:53 (night 00:53 AM), and end will be 25:24 (night 01:24 AM). The total time of the eclipse will be approx. 1 hour 3 minutes.

As a partial lunar eclipse, this will also be visible in parts of Russia, China, Mangolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Britain, and quite a few other European and Gulf countries.

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