No life without water: Its importance in Ayurveda

The word for water in Hindi or Sanskrit is Jala. The same verb-root or principle of Ja, these languages have the words Jiva (living entity), Janma (birth), Jeevan (life) etc. This principle sound Ja for Jala is the origin for all these.

The entire world of life has originated from water. The root Wa or Va in English gives us aqua and water. Even in Sanskrit the Va root is associated with water. There is no life and no world without water. In the very beginning of the world, and even life on this planet, there was only water. 

Over a very long time, the coming together of water with other elements in the atmosphere gave rise to life. The first visible appearance of this was marine life or fish (matsya) , followed by amphibians, like turtles (kurma) and then slowly all the forms of life up to human beings. But if there is no water element even the mountains would not be formed, neither would rivers and trees come into existence It is important to understand the principle that water means flow and fluidity. Flow is needed for everything. This world, the entire existence is a massive and unbroken flow in space-time. But flow requires shape, to become something. For example, flow in a river requires two banks. In Vedic wisdom, the entire world is considered a Mahasagar (great ebb and flow of water, great ocean) and every living entity must traverse this ocean.

While water is in or on the earth element it has a shape. Mixing earth and water one could shape a mound or hill. Without the water element that mound of earth would fall apart. Its shape will not last. Without being bound by water, the dust of earth would disintegrate in air. So the entire shape of external existence is because of water. It begins in water and eventually flows back into water. It is not difficult to see the connection we have, since the body and the surface of the earth are both roughly two-thirds water. The fine balance that makes it all work is heavily dependent on not only the presence of water but also the quality of water. The better or purer the water, the more balance in any life form or life system. Therefore, to explain the importance of water as the principle behind life and its utmost importance it has been called Tirtha in Vedic culture.

If water contains the ability to devise, shape or conceptualise the world then it follows that it also contains the capacity for the memory and account of the world. Thus, when we want to communicate our thoughts and concepts into the world, we use water in our culture and all its rituals. To connect our words and actions with our thoughts and purpose for the world, we use the entire movements and conscious flow of our bodies to hold water in the hand, pray and then leave it out into the environment. 

To purify water, or to remove its dosha, we invite consciousness into water i.e. we invite the spark of the Fire element into it. Take the analogy of a piece of charcoal. It burns in its depth even though it gives the appearance of ash on its surface. When the ash is blown away, the fire within is seen again. Similarly when water is heated or boiled, its dosha, or imbalance, is removed, and it acquires a diamond-like shine. It begins to reflect fire and living dynamism, and thus its embedded concept or thoughts can also be seen, or perceived, once again.

Sukshma, or the intangible subtle, is given prime importance in our culture. This is because that which is subtle, even beyond the subtlety of atoms by many levels is a principle, that we identify as Paramatma. All the elements and universe are enfolded in this principle of infinite subtlety. This is maintained even in applied sciences, like Ayurveda, where the principle of subtlety used to achieve effects is given high importance. The satisfaction of eating a fruit is surpassed by the satisfaction of having its juice, since the fragrance and subtle particles or levels of the fruit are brought up and when they enter the body, the satisfaction is beyond description.

Even flowers, we can say, are simply bodies for the fragrances they contain. Their material or earth element can be destroyed. Flowers wilt, dry up, rot and disintegrate. But if the fragrance is released into the atmosphere, at a subtle level, it remains in the environment infinitely. This is also used in Homeopathy where the procedure takes a material particle to its subtlest possible levels. To a point where the existence of that material can hardly even be seen or measured, even though it is certainly enfolded within, and is proved or measured by its effect as medicine. 

Bharatiya science has gone even beyond to not even use material in water, but just ‘culture’ the water (sanskaar) for a purpose. The practice of putting gold in contact with water for drinking is a way to use gold as a medium to culture the water with the vibration of radiation of gold. Such cultured water is very beneficial when we drink it. When we can understand this, we will also easily understand the concept of Tirtha in the culture. So, when a beautiful sphatik (a kind of stone) is immersed in water and cultured with mantras, its consciousness, in the form of its vibrations in the water the water result in Tirtha. Not only Vedic culture, but indigenous tribes and people everywhere, and religions and cultures in the most materially advanced nations, all accept the concept of Tirtha or holy water. Our important contribution was to have taken this science and practice to its highest forms thus far. 

The author is founder of Atmasantulana Village, a world-renowned holistic healing centre. ayurveda@dnaindia.net