Psychological Perspectives on Childcare in Indian Indigenous Health Systems

268 Pages·2016·5.026 MB·English

by  Malavika Kapur (auth.)

Malavika Kapur
Psychological
Perspectives on
Childcare in Indian
Indigenous Health
Systems
Psychological Perspectives on Childcare
in Indian Indigenous Health Systems
Malavika Kapur
Psychological Perspectives
on Childcare in Indian
Indigenous Health Systems
With a Foreword by B.V. Subbarayappa
1 3
Malavika Kapur
National Institute of Advanced Studies
Indian Institute of Science Campus
Bangalore
Karnataka
India
ISBN 978-81-322-2427-3 ISBN 978-81-322-2428-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2428-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937013
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Foreword
In the West, the tradition of medicine owed a great deal to the new ideas and
methods enunciated by the Greek savant, Hippocrates of Cos (b. 430 BCE),
which set aside the then prevalent faith cure as well as superstitious healing prac-
tices, and emphasised the importance of meticulous observation and inference of
the causes of diseases. The Hippocratic approach was in the main related to its
concept of the ‘four humours’, and the four ‘elements’ as well as their four pri-
mary qualities, namely hot and cold, dry and moist, as expounded by an earlier
Greek philosopher, Empedocles (c. 500–430 BCE). This tradition had undergone
some modifications around the second century CE by the exposition of Galen of
Pergamum (who lived mostly in Rome), who thought of the basic principle of life
in terms of a spirit, or pneuma: natural spirit in the liver; vital spirit in the left
ventricle, and the arterial animal spirit. The Galen–Hippocratic medical tradition
held fort for nearly 1500 years in the West, but had to yield place in the eight-
eenth century to the vibrant rationale of the scientific method in understanding the
human physiology and the causes of diseases.
However, the Galen–Hippocratic ideas had already found new adherents
among the Arabic men of medicine between the eighth and twelfth centuries,
leading to what came to be known later as the Graeco-Arabic or ‘Unani’ medi-
cine in the Eastern Islamic countries. The greatest authoritative text on the Unani
system of medicine is Al-Qanun (Canon of Medicine) by Ibn Sina (980–1037),
or Avicenna, of Bokhara, a Central Asian Muslim scholar who was a contempo-
rary of the well-known encyclopaedic mind, Al-Biruni (973–1048). A century ear-
lier came a great Arabic physician, Al-Razi (865–925), who lived in Baghdad and
whose work under the name, Kitab al-Hawi, dealt with the Greek, Persian and also
some aspects of Indian medicinal practices. This comprehensive treatise was trans-
lated into Latin with the name Liber Continens by Moses Farachi in the thirteenth
century, and it emerged as the torch-bearer of the medical tradition in medieval
Europe.
In the East, Asian traditional systems of medicine, notably those of India,
China, Tibet and Islamic Central as well as West Asia have not lost their sheen
even amidst the advent and multi-dimensional practice of modern medicine and
v
vi Foreword
surgery over the past century or more. On the other hand, not only have they
carved a niche for themselves in their own regions but also some of their treat-
ments have begun to find acceptance in several Western countries. The innate
strength of the major Asian systems of medicine lies in their holistic approach
towards body–mind harmony as part of their philosophic, triple-stranded man-
spirit-cosmos view—the ‘outer’ man with his physiological system being in har-
mony with his mind, the body–mind harmony being perfectly in tune with the
spirit within, and all of them in equilibrium with the cosmos or the universe.
India has been the home of what may be termed as medical pluralism. Apart
from the expanding and sophisticated curative practices of modern medicine and
surgery, Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, homeopathy, naturopathy, folk medicine as well
as Tibetan and Chinese medical practices here and there, have been playing a sig-
nificant role in the medical treatment of vast masses of the subcontinent. Ayurveda
is an indigenous system with Indian philosophical roots going back to about the
sixth century BCE, while Unani entered India from Islamic Central Asia around
the thirteenth century CE, and received subsequently great encouragement from
the Mughal rulers. The seed ideas of the Siddha system (mostly prevalent in Tamil
Nadu and among Tamils) came from the Chinese Taoist philosophy and its yin
(female) and yang (male) concepts, which developed perhaps around the sixth–
seventh century CE. However, in course of time it also adopted the Ayurvedic con-
cepts of five elements and three humours. The core ideas of Tibetan medicine too
were influenced by Ayurvedic ideas and practices. Both the Siddha and the Tibetan
systems have also the tantric as well as yogic imprint on their healing methods.
In a well-structured presentation in her book on childcare in the Indian health
systems from a psychological perspective, Prof. Malavika Kapur has wisely
brought out the basic principles of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha as well as the Tibetan
system and has critically examined them before she has discussed their ideas and
practices of childcare, since they are of fundamental importance for understand-
ing the latter. She has discernibly dealt with the developmental approach to child-
care, diseases and disorders of childhood as well as their treatments according to
the four systems, and thoughtfully reflected upon childcare across these systems.
It may be noted that Ayurveda deals with eight specialities (ashtangas) of which
kaumarabhritya (obstetrics, gynaecology, neonatology and paediatrics) is an
important one. The Ayurvedic treatises, particularly the Kashyapa Samhita, shed
light on mother and child care as well as the associated aspects. The other three
systems, too, deal with them in their own manner. Prof. Malavika Kapur has dil-
igently brought to the fore and discussed the approaches of the four systems to
childcare and allied treatments as presented in their medical texts.
An admirable aspect of Prof. Kapur’s work relates to the perspectives from
the standpoint of the psychology of child development as gleaned from the four
systems. The last chapter rightly focuses on important issues which will be of
great interest and concern to development psychologists, paediatricians and oth-
ers involved in the care of disabled children. I have no doubt that this book, with
Foreword vii
its clear and precise expositions of childcare in all of its dimensions as conceived
and practised in the four Asian traditional health systems, is a valuable addition
to the extant literature on this fascinating subject. The comparative method of
understanding systems of different thoughts and practices, as traversed by Prof.
Malavika Kapur, is indeed an exemplary one.
B.V. Subbarayappa
Former President
International Union of History
and Philosophy of Science (ICSU-UNESCO)
Retired Executive Secretary
Indian National Science Academy
Preface
The term ‘indigenous health systems’ in the title needs some clarifications. There
are many indigenous healing traditions in India of great antiquity that include the
folk healing traditions. In the present book four indigenous health systems are
included. These are Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Tibetan medicine. These sys-
tems come under the mandate of the Department of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India. AYUSH
actively promotes research, practice and training in these systems. The author has
not included homeopathy, which is included in the AYUSH umbrella and is widely
practised in India. However, it is of recent German origin and obviously not indig-
enous to India. On the other hand, Tibetan medicine is practised in some centres in
India and owes its origin to Ayurveda.
As I got down to compiling the material for the four segments of the indig-
enous healing systems of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Tibetan medicine, I made
an alarming discovery that I had no access to material due to my lack of knowl-
edge of Urdu, Tamil and Tibetan languages. Fortunately, Ayurveda, as exemplified
by the Kashyapa Samhita, has a vast number of texts translated into English. In
the Unani and Siddha very little on paediatrics is available in English translation,
while in Tibetan medicine none is available. As I started gathering the material I
discovered that the narratives in the four systems varied a great deal. I stayed on
with the original formats examining phenomenology, aetiology and treatment and
found that prevention is the most important aspect in all the systems. The clas-
sifications, unlike in modern medicine, were based on aetiological speculations.
Though the systems emerged out of humoral theories as brought out by Ayurveda,
language, religion, philosophy, geography, social and cultural influences modified
the systems enough to mark them apart as separate systems. This was most appar-
ent in the childcare systems.
First, the basic framework for each system, basic principles of care of adults
is dealt with, albeit briefly. Second, the developmental approach to childcare
focusing on normal development and, third, on the minor and major disorders,
their phenomenology, aetiological speculations and treatment are discussed. The
ix
x Preface
treatments are covered in a sketchy manner as this is not meant to be a self-help
book for a lay reader.
As a developmental child psychologist it has been an interesting discovery
for me to know that in the history of indigenous medicines, some of the greatest
physicians were indeed child prodigies! Vriddha Jivaka, the scribe of Kashyapa
Samhita, Ibn Sina in the Unani system, and several physicians in the Tibetan medi-
cine were child prodigies.
I have presented the narratives as they emerged in each of the systems based
on my reading and interactions with practitioners. If I were to make the style uni-
form, it would have failed to highlight the richness of narratives in each of the
systems. My most rewarding and touching experience in this exploration has been
with Dr. Tenzin Lhundup, the young Tibetan lady physician who orally translated
the Tibetan paediatric texts for me.
Malavika Kapur
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Dr. R.N. Dorjee and Dr. T. Lhundup of the Men Tsee Khang
Branch Clinic, Bangalore for their compassion and generous sharing, Men Tsee
Khang, Dharamsala (HP) for support through publications, museum, the con-
ference in June 2013 and for the audience with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
I am thankful to Dr. Siddiqui M.K. and his team at the National Institute of Unani
Medicine, Bangalore for translating the paediatric section from Arabic/Urdu texts.
Thanks also go to Drs. Svapna and Samir Sabnis, the paediatricians in my family;
Dr. Shridhar B.N. Former Director, National Ayurveda Dietetics Research Institute
Bangalore, for putting me in touch with key people who could help me, and for the
generous use of the library; and Prof. Gilles Bibeau for his valuable input into the
Unani section.
I greatly appreciate the efforts made by Rajalakshmi and Poornima Bhola in
going through the manuscript through a fine toothcomb, slogging through lan-
guage barriers, fuzzy sentences and elusive concepts—in short, sharing my own
struggle in writing this book.
Professor B.V. Subbarayappa, a renowned scholar and editorial fellow of the
Project on History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilisation
(PHISPC), Centre for Studies in Civilisations, graciously wrote the foreword to
this book and I owe him my deep gratitude.
Finally, I thank the anonymous Springer reviewer for the candid and critical com-
ments that has led to greater clarity in the relevant sections.
Malavika Kapur
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