Dance and Musical tradition of Warkaris (Maharashtrian Vaishnava) and Cognition

नाचू कीर्तनाचे रंगी, ज्ञानदीप लावू जगी! Namdeov Maharaj (1270-1350), prominent Maharashtrian Saint Poet quote, "Lets dance and sing (kirtana) and lets enlighten the world!!" The Wari (holy walk towards Pandharpura) is a walk with great enjoyment! Warkari (walkers) sing kirtana and dance! Wari not a serious classroom of Vedanta with critical cross referencings from Upanishadas! Wari is in fact a practical/demonstration laboratory of Vedanta! And the practical season alloted here is "to sing and to dance!" नाचू कीर्तनाचे रंगी, ज्ञानदीप लावू जगी! Isn't that interesting? The way of enlightenment (ज्ञानदीप) goes through singing (kirtana) and dancing! This simply implies importance of particular singings and dancings for the enlightenment! Last night I surfed for same and delighted to know that there is a seperate scientific JDMS (Journal of Dance Medicine and Science) journal dedicated to this! Rythum and Dance are as old as human bipedal walking! Rythum is an important phenomenon as नित्यग and अनुबंध are said synonyms of life in Ayurveda! Life is considered as a continuum in perpetual motion. Thus phenomenon of rythum has got a core place in human physiology according to indian understandings. Music and dance are physiologically linked with reward and pleasure related areas of brain.Music and dance may just be particularly pleasurable activators of these sensory and motor circuits.  "A 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine discovered that dance can decidedly improve brain health. The study investigated the effect leisure activities had on the risk of dementia in the elderly. The researchers looked at the effects of 11 different types of physical activity, including cycling, golf, swimming, and tennis, but found that only one of the activities studied—dance—lowered participants’ risk of dementia. According to the researchers, dancing involves both a mental effort and social interaction and that this type of stimulation helped reduce the risk of dementia" "In a small study undertaken in 2012, researchers at North Dakota’s Minot State University found that the Latin-style dance program known as Zumba improves mood and certain cognitive skills, such as visual recognition and decision-making. Other studies show that dance helps reduce stress, increases levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections, especially in regions involved in executive function, long-term memory, and spatial recognition." "Dance has been found to be therapeutic for patients with Parkinson’s disease. " Its indeed interesting that the keertana and dancing traditions of vaishnavas have got such a physiological basis. 1)https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-dance/ 2)https://neuro.hms.harvard.edu/harvard-mahoney-neuroscience-institute/brain-newsletter/and-brain-series/dancing-and-brain

‘Defining health & Importance of Subjective Well-being’, Some Ayurveda Perspectives.

‘Defining health & Importance of Subjective Wellbeing’, Some Ayurveda Perspectives.

When we all talk about health, restoration of health & diseases, the very basic question arises is what exactly the ‘health’ is. Ayurveda has got two different schools of thoughts as that of Surgeons & Physicians. Let’s explore the definition of Health & lets understand the underlying hidden deep meaning of it.

Sushruta the father of Surgery defines health as a state of equilibrium of Dosha, Dhatu, Mala, Agni & blissful state of mind, senses & soul! But interestingly Charaka the father of Philosophy of Medicine & Health has something different & simple to say! He defines Health as, ‘Sukha sandnyakam aarogyam’ which simply means the one who is ‘sukhi’ is healthy!!! World’s greatest things are simplest one & so is this definition of Charaka!! Simple but far meaningful! Ranging from a philosophical, psychological perspectives upto the actual bodily perspective.

First of all this definition of health by Charaka underlines the importance of ‘Subjective feeling of wellbeing’. Today with the advancement of technology we are opting for ‘Objective Criterions’ for all domains of our life. The overuse of objective criterions in  biomedical fraternity has distracted physicians from evaluation of subjective wellbeing of patients. Even the western Biomedical fraternity is now making emphasis on need of assessment of subjective wellbeing. In a Lancet editorial editor quotes, ‘Being more humble about the experience of individuals, rather than simply drawing up reductive report cards of their health status, opens up the possibility for a more realistic understanding of what it means to be healthy’. [i]

While the World Health Organization’s definition has not been amended since 1948, many scholars/scientists/health practitioners now accept that a transpersonal or spiritual dimension needs to be included. This reinforces that health is “wellness of all dimensions of the individual, and that the health of any one dimension is dependent on the maintenance of health on all other dimensions”[ii]

Now the last & most important thing is to criticize ‘Sukh’!! The meanings of the term ‘Sukh’ from Monier William’s dictionary include happy, pleased, delightful, gladden, rejoiced and comfort!  According to this World standard dictionary, ‘Su’ means good & ‘Kha’ means axle hole. Thus the word is originally in a context of running of a chariot.  Better the structure & working state of axle hole better will be the driving with that chariot. It is so true that even with the chariot of life! Ayurveda quotes life as a union of soul, senses, mind & body. Better the hole of this chariot of life smoother it will run!

It is also interesting to note that Sukh has a root word ‘Kha’. ‘Kha’ stands for Aakash i.e. the hollow space. Aakashiya prakruti (constitution of person with dominance of Akasha) persons are said to have longer life span. It is simply because better the aakasha there will be less chances of diseases with pathologies of constrictions of body lumens & space occupying lesions.

Lastly let’s criticize this Sukh with divine/ mythological perspective. In Vishnu Purana there is mention of progenies of Dharma by the daughters of Daksha. It is a documented that ‘Sukh’ was a child of Siddhi & Dharma.[iii] Now this is interesting! Sukh is not mere pleasure of day to day life. But Sukha is progeny of ‘Siddhi’ (The complete understanding/ enlightenment.) & Dharma (The eternal law of the cosmos/ the one inherent in the very nature of things & not mere few customs). Thus the classical meaning of  Sukh! And this is why while listing different meanings of Sukh, Monier William do not forget to add ‘Virtuous’ as a meaning of Sukh. And ‘Knowledge is Virtue’, quotes Aristotle!!!

Let’s pray for Health of all! Pray for a better world with Healthy, Virtuous & enlightened population.  

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[i] Editorial, What is health, ability to adapt, The Lancet, Volume 373, page 781, March 2009.

[ii] Lawson,J. Self Healing (or Achieving Total Wellness), IYTA NZ Philosophy Module.

[iii] http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp041.htm