Looking back on the events mentioned in the past two posts, I am still wondering why Bhogar who is a Siddha sent a devotee for treatment in Ayurveda instead of sending her to the numerous Siddha physicians we know. I can only come to an understanding that he acknowledged that Ayurveda treatment was best for her problem. Calling up my friend and Siddha physician Arivananthan, he told me he did not see any difference between the two - Ayurveda and Siddha traditions. The only difference was in the language - one in Sanskrit and the other in Tamil.
Searching the net I came across a beautiful explanation by Sadhguru at https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/article/health-a-holistic-perspective
He explains in plain and simple terms that we commoners can assimilate and digest and that is both logical and practical. He says in cases of emergency to head for the emergency ward in hospitals and seek allopathic medicine and treatment.
Go for Ayurveda if only you have time to recover says Sadhguru. Ayurveda therapy diagnoses, identifies, and heals medical problems that have set in. As it takes time to treat and heal it is best that we come in for treatment on the onset of the disease or illness, or when it is mild or just evolving. We see this truth in the growth of fungus around my daughter's toes that was a result of something else happening within her when Isha explains that "But the manifestation of the disease in the form of a symptom is very minor. What is happening is at a much deeper level, which cannot be treated with external medicine."
As for Siddha therapy the Siddhas chose to keep medical problems at bay with the intake of medicinal herbs, exercises, yoga, etc. As and when problems arise they deal with them through numerous means.
Sadhguru says it beautifully, "Ayurveda is more disease-oriented, whereas Siddha is more health-oriented."
The study of the Panchabhootas or five elements and the three Dosas is common to both sciences of Ayurveda and Siddha. The holistic approach taken in Ayurveda as explained by Sadhguru applies in Siddha too says Arivananthan. Sadhguru though says that Siddha treatment has an additional component that of Sadhana or practice and Bhuta Suddhi. He says it is simply about "rejuvenation, strengthening the inner sources of the body and activating the body in a certain way." He adds that they deal with the fundamental material of the body - the elements. Here we see a distinct difference in that if allopathy and Ayurveda inject and infuse medicine respectively to heal the problem, the Siddhas ingest herbal preparations or Kaya Kalpam, that supplement the body, strengthening it from within, and bringing on Kaya Siddhi or immortality. Sadhguru hints that to become a Siddha needs internal mastery.
Just as Agathiyar told my daughter in the Nadi not to go for alternative treatment but to pursue the treatment at the general hospital for her fractured leg; just like he switched her from continuing to apply a cream for the fungus between her toes given at a clinic and instead seek Siddha treatment with Dr.Krishnan, a Siddha physician and later revealing further Siddha medicines and treatment in her Nadi; just as he had my other daughter admit in the wards of the general hospital after she succumbed to the dengue fever, where he reveals in the Nadi later that he came with Tirumular to increase her blood count and bring on a quick recovery; just as my wife has all these while been directed by him to the general hospital for all her ailments; and when I succumbed to extreme and excruciating pain in the lower back relief came by in a combination of therapies and treatments - through the administration of Siddha herbs revealed in Agathiyar's Nadi; the divine touch of Dhanvantri who applied the sacred ashes that his devotees had brought our from his temple "coincidently" at the precise time; exercises given by the physiotherapists at the hospital; an injection given by a friend and devotee who was a medical doctor; further exercises from a friend and devotee who was a gym instructor and finally through the medium of the Jeeva Nadi of Lord Muruga where he spoke and walked us through the treatment while a devotee healed my back with a bunch of peacock feathers - so it seems that each science either works on its own or complements the other.
Sadhguru sums it all up beautifully, "I am not committed to any system. My commitment is to human health. You may be committed to Siddha, you may be committed to Allopathy, you may be committed to Ayurveda, but when a man is sick, he wants health, he doesn’t care how. Do you care how you should become healthy? When you are not healthy you want health, you don’t care how it happens. This combination of things has been working wonderfully."
Let us have an open mind and keep it that way. Everything has a place in this beautiful world of ours and this wonderful journey of ours. Let us not tear each other down.