Plan your pregnancy through the Vedic way

Varanasi, May 4 -- A decade ago an NRI couple from Canada lost their only child, an eight-year-old daughter due to an incurable genetic disorder. After subsequent medical screening of the couple, doctors strictly advised the mother (who had genetic problems too), not to conceive again to avoid a fatality of her child again.

Ten years later, however, the same couple now has a healthy eight-year-old daughter. "This is a result of an Astro-Ayurvedva-Vedic Karmakanda effort at our hospital to help couples have healthy/ideal progeny via process of Ayojit Garbhadaan (Planned Pregnancy)," says Prof SN Gupta, Medical Superintendent at PN Patel Ayurvedic Hospital at Nadiad, Gujarat.
"And emboldened by the success of the practice which is inherent in Vedic form of living, eight to ten couples (from cross sections of society) are now registering selves annually with the hospital to deliver an out and out healthy progeny through the oriental way," Gupta added. Entire process of planned pregnancy starts with Panchkarma Therapy (to purify the couple of any physical or mental health problems/defects), followed by a strictly followed month long schedule of Bramhacharya (celibacy) during which Rasayan Aushadhies of Ayurveda are administered to them.
It's during the month of strictly followed celibacy that qualified astrologers at Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vibhag of the parent institute, JS Ayurveda College (Nadiad), on the basis of meticulous planetary calculations fix the dates for a fruitful sexual intercourse between the couple, so as to lead to the best planned pregnancy, said Gupta, a professor at Dept of Kaya Chikitsa in the college. Just after the process of conception is detected by Prasuti Tantra experts (Ayurvedic gyaenecologists), the priests from the Sanskrit section of the college go for necessary rituals and yajnas to ensure a healthy conception.
Even as the rituals and yajnas go on, the experts of Ayurveda ensure a perfectly healthy dietary schedule for the pregnant woman along with necessary herbal medicines during various stages of pregnancy. During the period of pregnancy, while the Vedic Karmakanda specialists perform Punsavan Sanskar (for spiritual awakening of the would be mother) special herbal medicines too are administered to her for a side effect free immune enhancement, which will lead to the birth of a healthy child without any congenital problems, Gupta said.
And the newborn too is welcomed in the world with process of Jata Karma, where Rasayan Aushadhies are delivered to the baby amid chanting of Vedic mantras, followed by Nishkrama Sanskar when the baby is exposed to sunlight for the first time. The entire process of having an ideal/healthy progeny doesn't end with Nishkraman Sanskar, but is capped by Annaprashan, a ceremony where the baby consumes first morsels of staple food amid Vedic rituals to ensure healthy future for the baby, he added.

Lack of trained manpower worries Ayurveda industry

Wed, Apr 28 11:03 AM Usha Ram Manohar Kochi, Apr 28 (PTI) Mushrooming Ayurvedic spas and wellness clinics are attracting many people to Kerala but lack of adequate trained manpower is a cause of worry to the industry, say industry sources. Beauty and wellness treatments, weight reduction, stress management and specialised treatments are among those offered at the spas and wellness clinics. However, the Ayurveda industry is facing a shortage of qualified and trained personnel. India alone needs 20,000 trained therapists while the mushrooming Ayurvedic spas in the US, Germany, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia and West Asian countries would need trained hands numbering several lakhs, CII sources here said. "For the next few years, the industry''s annual requirement of trained therapists would exceed 20,000. The problems is of lack of quality hands. There is a huge gap between the demand and supply," says S Sajikumar, Managing Director, Dhathri Ayurveda Private Ltd. Dhathri plans to recruit about 2000 personnel to meet its immediate expansion plans, he said. The company, which would soon extend its clinics to various parts of India and Middle East was hunting for 160 Ayurvedic physicians. The spas and wellness clinics are mainly to attract the floating population, including tourists. Kerala Ayurveda has wellness clinics at Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Coimbatore and Hyderabad, which is mainly frequented by the IT crowd. Globally the wellness industry is estimated at over US$250 billion. There are about 75,000 standard spas world over that provide direct employment to about 1.5 million people, according to CII sources. The spa industry has witnessed substantial growth in the last decade and the spa concept has become a significant part of the dynamic hospitality and leisure industry, the sources said.