By Dr Partap Chauhan
 The human body functions like an orchestra with the various
body organs playing a unique musical instrument. The heart, for example, works
like a bass drum beating with every breath; the lungs are like an accordion with
bellows of blood vessels running across and the pulse runs like a tom-tom
playing with each throb. Even the intestinal muscles show peristalsis which is a
rhythmic contraction to send contents through the digestive tract.
Bad and Good Music
An orchestra sounds enjoyable and soothing when each of its components is
functioning in harmony and in perfect rhythm. An anomaly creeping in the
performance of any of the players will send the entire orchestra out of rhythm.
The same can be extended to the functioning of the human body—when any body
organ is not functioning optimally there will be a gap in the coordination
process and the entire body is going to affect giving birth to a disorder. For,
disharmony produces no good music but noise.
For example an abnormality in the lungs results in asthma, in the intestines
culminates in constipation and in the menstrual cycle eventualises in
menorrhagia or amenorrhoea. There is even a disorder by the name of arrhythmia
that occurs when the heart beat goes out of rhythm!
The Music of Life
But according to Ayurveda the human body is not a collection of organs alone.
The physical body is just one of the six broad aspects of a human being. And a
lack of coordination among any two aspects may result in not just a physical
disorder but also a mental, intellectual, social, ethical or moral complication.
Let us explore.
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. Different aspects of life co-exist inside the human
being and work together harmoniously to run the various life processes. The
human being is the conglomeration of Sharira (body), Gyanendriya
(the five senses—eyes, nose, tongue, ears and skin), Karmendriya (the
five working senses—the vocal cords, hands, feet, genitals and anus), Buddhi
(intelligence), Atma (soul) and Ahamkara (ego). The five
sensory faculties of Gyanendriya help humans to see, smell, taste, hear
and feel. The five motor faculties of Karmendriya help us to speak,
grasp, move, procreate and eliminate.
When each of these individual elements cooperates between each other in harmony,
the human is considered healthy at all five levels—bodily, mental, sensual,
emotional and spiritual. An anomaly creeping in any single element sends the
entire system in disharmony. Here, I would like to cite an example.
We often find ourselves devouring our favourite dish even when we had just
finished our main course meal and we are not feeling hungry. This is a classic
example of feeding our senses at the cost of taxing our body. Let me now explain
it at a fundamental level.
 Suppose you like cakes and owing to your obesity disorder doctors have advised
you against eating anything that adds extra calories. Your husband buys a few
cakes for some guests coming the next day. Imagine that you suddenly discover
the cake kept inside the refrigerator and gobble it even after a tight dinner.
In this case, two of your Gyanendriyas (eyes and tongue willing to eat)
were not acting in harmony with the organ in your body (stomach not ready to
accept any more food). While your stomach was full and content and did not want
any more food, your eyes saw the cake and the tongue yearned for it. As a result
the mind ordered the hands to hold the cake and put it into the mouth.
This instance of utter disharmony among the various constituents of your body
will overburden the stomach in the digestion process, producing Ama (toxins)
instead of the healthy Ojas (vital fluid). A body with toxins inside is
bound to beget all sorts of Dosha imbalance. Dosha refers to the
three biological energies of Vata, Pitta and Kapha. An
imbalance of these elemental combinations is the direct cause of physical
diseases and disorders.
 Another illustration can be when we are engrossed in watching our favourite TV
show and keep on suppressing the urge to urinate in spite of the fact that our
bladder is full. It demonstrates the imbalance between a Gyanendriya
(eyes wanting to watch TV) and our Sharira (body wanting to ease itself
off). By containing natural urges, according to Ayurveda, we are actually
inviting the accumulation of toxins inside the body that gives rise to Dosha
imbalance and, eventually, ailments. (Chauhan, Dr. Partap.
An Ayurvedic Guide to Happy Family Life. The Jiva Website. 10 Feb. 2009)
Music at Intra-Human Levels
The same principle can be easily extended to various intra-human components such
as Atma (soul) and Ahamkara (ego). If you are feeding the soul
well by engaging in various altruistic activities such as helping the
underprivileged, an internal happiness will be your constant companion—your
Atma will be healthy. But the same activities might cause you to feel proud
of yourself and of your ‘good feelings’, thereby raising your ego. An excessive
Ahamkara is unhealthy and will affect you as a whole—you won’t be able to
derive the same amount of mental peace and satisfaction that you used to before.
At a further broad level, a lack of disharmony among the various members of a
family or among the colleagues at office leads to stressful situations giving
rise to a number of social and bodily diseases.
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