India is home to alternative medicine: V-P Dhankhar

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said India is the home of alternative medicine and it is being practiced now very extensively.

Dhankhar called for focusing on alternative medicine and for evidence-based validation of India’s ancient texts to make them accessible and applicable to contemporary challenges.

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Speaking at an event in Raj Bhavan, Goa, Dhankhar said, “We are a nation with a difference….We are rediscovering our roots, and we will get rooted in our roots. I strongly focus on alternative medicine because India is the home of alternative medicine. It is being practiced now very extensively.”

“Let us not confine our ancient texts to libraries. They are not meant for the shelf of a library. They are meant to be widely disseminated. Let us bring timeless ideas to life through research, innovation, and reinterpretation using modern scientific tools. Let us pursue evidence-based validation, digitisation, translations, and cross-disciplinary studies to make these treasures accessible and applicable to contemporary challenges,” he said.

The Vice-President lauded the global centre for traditional medicine in Jamnagar.

“I am extremely happy that the World Health Organisation has recognised it by establishing a global centre for traditional medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat. What a powerful recognition of the universal relevance of our systems like Ayurveda,” he said.

“Time for us to look back in our Vedas, in our Upanishads, in our Puranas, in our history, and time to tell our children from birth about our civilizational depth of knowledge”, Dhankhar added.

Addressing the gathering after commissioning the statutes, Dhankhar said, “We are celebrating today, those who epitomise knowledge — Charak. Charak was a royal physician in Kushan Kingdom. Charak is known as father of medicine and author of Charak Samhita, it is a foundational text for Ayurveda. The other one, Sushrut, father of Surgery, then. I had the occasion to see what you had put in your paintings. Surgical instruments during those days, so forward looking and we must always remember. Sushrut was a disciple of Dhanvantari, another celebrated name. Let the lives and works of Charaka and Sushruta be a source of inspiration and motivation for all, particularly our impressionable minds.”

Reflecting on the need to take pride in our ancient knowledge, the Vice-President underscored, “ I wish to also focus on, also highlight a particular cultural trait. It is our cultural trait. Within sections of our society, there is a belief.”

He said anything Indic or ancient is regressive, adding that “This trait has no place in modern India. This trait has no place in our times. The world has realised our importance. Time for us also to realise it. We cannot afford a situation to believe West is modern and progressive. Look at the current scenario, and you will find it is far from it. India is the centre. International Monetary Fund was not wrong and must have said with great difficulty, We are a centre of excellence,” Dhankhar said.

“We are a hot spot of golden opportunities, opportunity for investment. That being the situation, let us believe in Indic situations. West is far behind us. In their own mind, they are learning from us,” he said.