Invention of Lankanam - The Fasting unto recovery

One of the main reasons for my blogging on Natural Way of Living is that I often forget things I have learned by listening or reading to someone. To follow a good practice you always need a guide or inspirer. When I look back to my journey of natural living I used to watch each and every episode of Dr. Raju’s program on TV. I used to feel sad on missing his episodes because each and every episode used to have bundles of information to learn. My success in this journey of natural living is the result of inspiration I derived from watching him daily on TV. I later got busy in my schedule and totally lost the opportunity to watch his programs on TV. I used to make notes on paper during his program for reference and these very notes today took the form of a blog “Natural Way of Living”.

I refer my own articles again and again for reference and every time I find something new to learn. I again picked up the handbooks of Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju for reference as a substitute for his program on TV. It has some vital information on Lankanam – the fasting till recovery. If you are a regular viewer of my blog you might have already read my previous post “fasting – a super medicine”, where it is said that fasting is blended in our culture by our ancestors way back in India. Let us now try to find who really invented Lankanam – the fasting unto recovery. Is it a Man or anybody else? Let us find in the words of Dr. Raju:

We know to drink water when thirsty. Whenever the body feels the need of water it signals us in the form us thirst and we drink water accordingly. In this case all the animals behave the same way as we does. No one else has to tell us to drink water on being thirsty. Neither we need to seek anyone’s permission to drink water nor need we to consult a doctor for advice. Similarly when we feel hungry, the body signals us in the form of hunger. We are serving the need of the body by eating food. Animals too follow the same pattern. When the body feels tired it lets us know and we obey its request by taking rest. Animals too follow the same pattern again. In all the above three causes we and the animals are behaving in the same manner. With this we can learn that whatever the type of body, the dharma or the principle of the body is one for all. Let us try to assess the fourth thing. Whenever the body doesn’t feel good, doesn’t feel hungry, the stomach becomes sensitive, feel like having a fever, the body pleads to take rest giving a break to your food. In the process it kills your hunger and makes your tongue bitter so that the food doesn’t taste you anymore. It stops the production of digestive gases and other enzymes. It declares emergency situation to fight the infection or disease out. It is because of this emergency within our body everything looks dull and boring for us during fever. We initially try to obey the orders of the body and remain on bed without eating food. After sometime what we do? We inform our condition to our Mother, Father, Husband, Wife or any other member of our family. What they do? They ask you to eat food for the time being and take you to the doctor later on. Ignoring the dharma of body you tend to eat food either because it’s already late or you fear of dizziness or because the cooked food might go waste or others are eating before you. Here we behave against the dharma of body and finally surrender our body to the doctor.

Let us see what 8.4 millions of other living beings do in such a situation. The moment the animals learn that their body is not feeling well, they immediately stop eating and takes rest. What is the need for them to wander if there is no need for food? Therefore, they rest as long as their body demands without food. Unlike us they don’t take any suggestions from their Mother, Father, Brothers and Friends to take rest and stop food when they are ill. They simply obey the dharma of their body and take rest without food till they recover. As there is an old proverb in India “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah” (Protect the dharma and dharma protects you); their dharma protects them. Until the body gets normal and do not demand food they remain in this position. They are sincerely obeying the dharma of body by not providing food and taking rest whenever they feel ill till they recover back. In this way, the animals are protecting their health since their evolution without any fail. They haven’t taught this dharma of body to their kids. The dharma of body comes genetically to every living being on Earth. Similar to the animals this wisdom has come to human beings too since its evolution. The Humans too have respected and followed this dharma for ages uninterruptedly. “Lankanam – The fasting until recovery” is not the invention of humans. The man has no credits in invention except naming it. Lankanam was invented way before the evolution of humans. It is in existence from the moment the living beings were transformed in the form of body. Water for thirst, Food for hunger, Rest for Tiredness and Lankanam for the Disease are the four major dharmas of our body. This Lankanam does not belong to a single Person, a single Religion, a single Caste, a single Creed, a single Nation, a single Nature Cure or any other form of medicines but it belongs to every single living being with a body. It is not a superstition. It is neither invented by our illiterate ancestors nor the literate modern scientists and doctors. It is the result of natural awareness that comes to our body by birth. It is the invention of the One who created millions of living beings on Earth as a boon to their health. It is a boon to all the living beings including humans or else it’s a doom.