Ripe and unripe: Concepts of health and sickness in ayurvedic medicine

Abstract

This paper deals with the concepts of ‘ripe’ and ‘unripe’ in Ayurvedic medicine. These concepts express the notions of health and sickness; and I examine the ways in which they were interpreted and applied by Ayurvedic practitioners in S. Gujarat. The concepts of ‘ripe’ and ‘unripe’ describe the state of the food-juice, though they also apply to the relative maturity of the stools and the condition of the tongue. I show how these concepts are derived from the classical sources, particularly the Caraka Samhita. though I suggest that the emphasis they receive today may in part be due to later Ayurvedic texts. The present practice of Ayurveda has also been influenced by the impact of cosmopolitan medicine, and I consider how the interpretation of the Ayurvedic theories has been affected by Western anatomy and physiology, particularly in the account of digestion, and the role of ‘unripe’ food-juice in causing disease.

On the basis of first-hand experience in an Ayurvedic hospital I describe some of the different approaches that were used to rid the body of ‘unripe’ food-juice, depending on the severity of the symptoms. I illustrate this part of the paper with a schematic account of the treatment of ‘heart disease’. I thereby hope to demonstrate how the conceptual physiology of $\text{A}$yurveda has been combined with Western anatomy. I also show how the properties of some plant drugs (as described in the Ayurvedic sources) were interpreted, and I examine some of the contexts in which these drugs were used. Among the Vaidyas I knew the concepts of ‘ripe’ and ‘unripe’ were interpreted in terms of the vernacular classification of ‘perfect’ and ‘imperfect’ foods. I discuss this analogy in some detail, and consider the different levels at which it was applied.