By Dr Partap Chauhan
The recent spurt in terrorist activities such as suicide-bombings,
civilian-attacks, etc. around the globe is something unheard of a few decades
ago. The November 26 Jehadi strikes, in Mumbai that rocked the whole of
India, are a case in point. People were glued to their TV screens, stupefied at
the villainous behaviour of smart-looking, brain-washed teenagers who would have
been better seen wielding a cricket bat rather than a Kalashnikov rifle. The
U.S. has not stopped from calling it India’s 9/11.
Terrorism is today despised by every sensible human being regardless of one’s
age, sex, caste, creed, race and nationality. While, fortunately though, there
are only a handful of terrorists in the world, an increasingly large number of
people are becoming more aggressive, rebellious, in simpler words, more
terrorist-like in their behaviour and outlook. A look into the crime statistics
for major cities of the world will show an incremental trend over the years. As
if murder, burglary, rape, eve-teasing and assaults were any less, road-rage has
recently been added to the list of crimes. This is an alarming trend, given the
fact that violence begets violence and more violent people mean more violence,
rancour and terrorism.
What solution do we have?
 The wisdom powerhouse, in the form of the 5000-year old, ancient Indian science
of Ayurveda, can be successfully used to provide remedy for the ailments that
plague our modern world. In this article, I have tried to delve into the root
cause of terrorism in the light of Ayurveda, attempting to garner a practical
solution.
Ayurveda is derived from two words, Ayus and Veda. Ayus
means life, and veda means knowledge, so literally, it means the
science of life. Although, the English translation of Ayus is life, in
the Vedic context, the definition of life is broader than simply chronological
lifespan. It does not mean the age of a person; the number of years lived on
Earth measured from birth until the present day. Ayus is much more than
that. It is a combination of body, senses, mind and soul. According to Ayurveda, a person’s behaviour and overall outlook is a
manifestation of his or her being at all five levels—bodily, mental, sensual,
emotional and spiritual. Below, we will try to understand violent behaviour
individually at all these levels.
Terror at Bodily Level
While talking about Prakriti or body types, people with an aggravated
Pitta in their bodies are more prone to display an inherent Agni
(fire) elemental character such as hyperactivity or violent behaviour. One of
the most important causes of Pitta aggravation is the production of
Ama or toxins in our body. Undigested or semi-digested food instead of
yielding the life-giving Ojus (vital fluid) produces Ama,
which in turn gives rise to a host of anomalies and disorders. According to
Ayurveda, Ama is produced with the intake of foods that are frozen,
canned, refined (so as to denude the food of its nutritive value), genetically
altered, grown with chemical pesticides or fertilizers or that are processed
with artificial colours, flavours, additives or preservatives. Such foods are
lacking in Chetana (living intelligence) and Prana (vital
life-energy) and will do more harm than good in the physiology and psychology.
 From the Ayurvedic perspective, the healthiest diet consists of whole foods,
eaten in as natural a state as possible. Removing a peel or cooking is the only
exception as this helps increase digestibility and assimilation. Here is a list
of food items that are known for their Pitta-pacifying qualities:
asparagus, bell pepper, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery,
corn, cucumber, lettuce, mushroom, peas, parsnip, potato, squash, zucchini,
salads, apples, banana, dates, coconut, grapes, lychee, mango, melons,
pomegranate, barley, oats, rice and wheat. For the complete list, you may go to
the Pitta Diet
section of our website.
Thus said, we can sum up the fact that by taking some measures to pacify
Pitta we can considerably calm down our body to negate hyperactivity or
violent behaviour and save ourselves from a million angry or stressful
situations.
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