THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE LEECH IN LORD DHANVANTARI'S HAND?
Lord Dhanvantari is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. We get his first reference in Srimad Bhagwatam, where he emerges out of the churning of ocean milk by the devas and the asuras, holding a pot of ambrosia or nectar in his hands. He is one of the 14 jewels that emerged from the churning of the ocean. He is depicted as a handsome figure with four hands holding a pot of nectar, shankha, chakra and a leech.
The story goes that both Devtas/Demigods and Asuras/Demons wanted to become immortal, but for that they needed to churn the ocean of milk. So they decided to come together and with the help of Lord Vishnu who incarnated as a tortoise, Mandara mountain which acted as the pole and Snake Vasuki as the rope, they start the churning process (sagara manthan). The churning of the ocean of milk can be compared to the spiritual endeavour of a person to attain self realisation.
The churning of the ocean of milk first produced a deadly poison. (halahala) Nobody knew what to do with it and ultimately called Lord Shiva for help, who drank the poison. His consort Parvati pressed his throat while he was swallowing so that the poison doesn't reach his stomach. The poison changed the colour of his neck to blue and that is how Lord Shiva got another name - Neelkanth or the blue-necked one.
Other rare jewels that came out of the churning were Kamadhenu (wish fulfilling cow), Ucchaisrava (the white horse), Airavata (the white elephant), Kaustubhamani (a rare diamond), Kalpavriksha (wish fulfilling tree) and Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth). As the churning continued, Lord Dhanvantari appeared holding the long sought pot of nectar. Grabbing the chance, the greedy Auras/ Demons snatched the pot from his hands and ran away. The devas were distraught and asked Lord Vishnu to help them.
Lord Vishnu then incarnated as a beautiful enchantress called Mohini, who tricked the Asuras and recovered the nectar from them and distributed it to the Devas. After drinking the nectar, the devas became powerful and were able to defeat the Asuras and reclaim heaven. At the time of churning of the ocean of milk, Lord Vishnu told that Dhanvantari would reincarnate again in the world. In future when humanity will suffer from illnesses and diseases, he would come back again to the world to give the knowledge of Ayurveda.
Lord Dhanvantari was later born in a royal household in Kashi/ Varanasi to king Dhirgatamas, where he taught the science of Ayurveda orally to rishis and sages like Susruta, Pauskalavata, Aurabha, Vaitarana and others. His disciple Susruta came to be known as the father of Indian Surgery. One of the important part of a healer's kit in those days were leeches - which were used to suck out impure blood from the body to cure the patient, that is why Lord Dhanvantari is sometimes depicted as holding leech in one hands.
Lord Dhanvantari is the known as the father of Ayurveda and is believed to have powers to prevent deadly and incurable diseases. In one of the scriptures, it is mentioned that he could negate the ill effects of poison and snake bites. The knowledge and principles of Ayurveda taught by him are timeless and in sync with the universal laws of nature. They are eternally true and need to be preserved and transmitted along with the spiritual traditions for the benefit of humankind.
It's written in the scriptures that "one who remembers the name Dhanvantari can be released from all sufferings." Indians celebrate his birthday every year on Dhanteras or Dhanvantari Triodashi which falls two days before Diwali. One of the oldest shrine dedicated to Dhanvantari is in Sri Ranganathaswamy temple which dates back to 12th century. Their are lot of temples dedicated to him in Kerela and Tamil Nadu where Ayurveda is still practiced and preached.
OM DHANVANTARAYE NAMAH.
(pic courtesy : Wikimedia Commons)
Copyright @ Kannu Priya
The story goes that both Devtas/Demigods and Asuras/Demons wanted to become immortal, but for that they needed to churn the ocean of milk. So they decided to come together and with the help of Lord Vishnu who incarnated as a tortoise, Mandara mountain which acted as the pole and Snake Vasuki as the rope, they start the churning process (sagara manthan). The churning of the ocean of milk can be compared to the spiritual endeavour of a person to attain self realisation.
The churning of the ocean of milk first produced a deadly poison. (halahala) Nobody knew what to do with it and ultimately called Lord Shiva for help, who drank the poison. His consort Parvati pressed his throat while he was swallowing so that the poison doesn't reach his stomach. The poison changed the colour of his neck to blue and that is how Lord Shiva got another name - Neelkanth or the blue-necked one.
Other rare jewels that came out of the churning were Kamadhenu (wish fulfilling cow), Ucchaisrava (the white horse), Airavata (the white elephant), Kaustubhamani (a rare diamond), Kalpavriksha (wish fulfilling tree) and Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth). As the churning continued, Lord Dhanvantari appeared holding the long sought pot of nectar. Grabbing the chance, the greedy Auras/ Demons snatched the pot from his hands and ran away. The devas were distraught and asked Lord Vishnu to help them.
Lord Vishnu then incarnated as a beautiful enchantress called Mohini, who tricked the Asuras and recovered the nectar from them and distributed it to the Devas. After drinking the nectar, the devas became powerful and were able to defeat the Asuras and reclaim heaven. At the time of churning of the ocean of milk, Lord Vishnu told that Dhanvantari would reincarnate again in the world. In future when humanity will suffer from illnesses and diseases, he would come back again to the world to give the knowledge of Ayurveda.
Lord Dhanvantari was later born in a royal household in Kashi/ Varanasi to king Dhirgatamas, where he taught the science of Ayurveda orally to rishis and sages like Susruta, Pauskalavata, Aurabha, Vaitarana and others. His disciple Susruta came to be known as the father of Indian Surgery. One of the important part of a healer's kit in those days were leeches - which were used to suck out impure blood from the body to cure the patient, that is why Lord Dhanvantari is sometimes depicted as holding leech in one hands.
It's written in the scriptures that "one who remembers the name Dhanvantari can be released from all sufferings." Indians celebrate his birthday every year on Dhanteras or Dhanvantari Triodashi which falls two days before Diwali. One of the oldest shrine dedicated to Dhanvantari is in Sri Ranganathaswamy temple which dates back to 12th century. Their are lot of temples dedicated to him in Kerela and Tamil Nadu where Ayurveda is still practiced and preached.
OM DHANVANTARAYE NAMAH.
(pic courtesy : Wikimedia Commons)
Copyright @ Kannu Priya
Indeed nice to know about out ancient grandhistory
ReplyDeletethankyou so much for this information :)
ReplyDeleteVery informative post.Have seen Malaysian Malays using leeches to suck out the so called dirty blood.The leech will travel from your foot up and sense where it should suck out.
ReplyDelete