The Banyan 02

Hello guys!   

I Hope everyone celebrated karthigai Deepam and ate pori urundai😋well, 

Do anyone know, why we were eating pori urundais and celebrating deepam especially in november- december month?

Have You ever heard of people saying I'm getting running nose or a cough or a fever or a wheezing or a abdominal pain or a joint pains or a diarrhea or a frequent micturition or a rash or a boil due to seasonal changes? is this true?

Can a change in season causes such diseases? If yes, then how can we prevent such things from occurring? all these questions ever rings in the minds of people,so let's ask our BANYAN to know the truth.

In Ayurveda, there is something known as a ऋतुसन्धिः‌ (rtu sandhi).

ऋत्वोरन्त्यादिसप्ताहावृतुसन्धिरिति स्मृतः।

तत्र पूर्वोविधिस्त्याज्यः सेवनीयोऽपरः क्रमात्।

असात्म्यजा हि रोगाः स्युः सहसा त्यागशीलिनः।।

(अ.हृ.सू.३/५८)

Rtu (ऋतु-ऋ + “अर्त्तेश्च तुः) means Season & sandhi (सन्धिः- सन्धानमिति । सं + धा + किः) means Joining.

The transition of period from one season to the other which includes days of both the seasons is known as RTU SANDHI 

 This period of rtu sandhi consists of last seven days of the present season and the first seven days of the next season(total 14 days) with a rule to be followed strictly.

 

RULE :There should be a gradual change of the food and work protocol of the present season with the protocol of the next season without any abrupt change.

The consequences of not following this rule will lead to various diseases due to improper adaptation and this is exactly what we are suffering as seasonal change.

There are 6 rtu sandhis in a year i.e in between  शिशिरः(shishira- late winter) & वसन्त(vasanta- spring);वसन्त(vasanta- spring) & ग्रीष्म(greeshma- summer);ग्रीष्म(greeshma- summer) & वर्षा(varsha-rain); वर्षा(varsha-rain)&शरत्(Sharath-Autumn); शरत्(Sharath-Autumn) & हेमन्त ( hemanta- early winter); हेमन्त ( hemanta- early winter)&शिशिरः(shishira- late winter) respectively,we will deal with each rtu sandhis in the  upcoming series.

Now,this karthigai deepam day comes under one of the rtusandhis between the seasons of Sharath(autumn) and Hemanta ( early winter).

 We are very fond of this day by having all pori urundai, Pottu kadalai urundai, Groundnut/ Kadala urundai,Sweet Aappam right!.

Let's have a glance about what happens to the body in this season and what is the Ayurvedic reason behind having these?

बलिनः शीतसंरोधात् हेमन्ते प्रबलोऽनलः।

भवत्यल्पेन्धनो धातून् स पचेद्वायुनेरितः।।

अतो हिमेस्मिन् सेवेत स्वाद्वम्ललवणान् रसान्।।

(अ.हृ.सू.३/७-८)

As The winter begins,the cold winds blows from the north,the quarters are covered by mist,the sun rays are hindered by the smog.  

By all these cold nature, the internal vayu gets increased and makes the metabolic fire In us very strong 

and thereby food rich in sweet, sour and salty is needed for our survival.

This phenomenon is similar to "How a fire needs fuel and oxygen for its existence".

Therefore, the internal fire needs foods rich in the above taste and cold breeze for its burning.

"Cutting of either one will subject to disease".

Unless we follow a proper diet, this strong metabolic fire will start doing catabolism and thereby causing diseases related to vayu and pitta dosha mainly.

We have to balance both for the survival in Hemanta rtu!

 This means that the diet is very important not only for protecting but also for maintaining agni .

Now,we are going to relate,How the sweets made during this day helps us in preventing the ill effects of the Hemanta rtu.

In hemanta the following diet has been adviced ,

रसान् स्निग्धान् पलं पुष्टं गौडमच्छसुरां सुराम्।

गोधूमपिष्टमाषेक्षुक्षीरोत्थविकृतीः शुभाः।।

नवमन्नं वचां तैलं शौचकार्ये सुखोदकम्।।(अ.हृ.सू.३/१२-१३)

A soup prepared with ample amount of ghee,any of the jaggery products,fermented drinks like wine etc..., dishes made of Wheat or rice flour, black gram, sugarcane products, milk and rice can be had.

Coming to the Dishes made Today:

 The Pori Urundai is made of only Jaggery and puffed rice same the way the ground nut ball also is made of jaggery and groundnut, even the Pottukadala urundai also made up of roasted gram and jaggery.The appam too is made up of jaggery,milk and rice flour.

In all these dishes , main ingredient is jaggery. A pakam of jaggery  i.e caramel is mixed with all these puffed rice,Groundnuts and roasted grams, rice flour and milk  made into a delicious karthigaibatchanam. Though all these dishes are not directly mentioned, it canbe used as such when theyallare mixed withjaggery they all become more sweet in the overall property thereby satisfying the initial general rule of consuming tasteand at the same time they are not too hard to digest there fore will pacify the bad vitiated vata or the normal vata in the body (slowing down catabolism);satisfies and maintains the strong digestive fire and at the same time prevents further affliction of vayu.

 This diet will keep on nullifying the vayu, if so they again start building up in the body. 

The idea is to just maintain the physiology of the body at the equilibrium state.

By this form of diet changes between seasons will act somewhat like a negative feedback mechanism to lower down the already vitiated doshas in the body thereby preventing the adverse effects of such aggravated doshas further.

Prasannatatvam