When harvesting medicinal plants from our home herbal gardens, dharam bageechis, or
from the wild, we always pay our respects to the Divine spirit that is present in the plants
through specific rituals that include reciting mantras and chanting bhajans (prayers that are
sung). We usually pray to the medicinal plant that we seek to harvest the day before doing
so, informing it that we will come for it the next day and asking its permission to be
harvested and to provide us with its healing energy.
An example of one such prayer as translated from Sanskrit:
That God who is in fire, who is in water, who has created the universe;
that God who is in medicine, that God who is in nature, we bow to three.
Once a year we all come together in our respective regions to commemorate Dhanvantri,
the god of medicine and the founder of Ayurveda.
Selflessness: The Saint Tulsi Das, who we hold in high regard, wrote the following Hindi
verse that sums up a significant aspect of Guni dharma:
Daya dharma ka mool hai
Paap mool abhiman
Tulsi daya na chhodiye
Jab tak tan mein praan
It is translated as:
Compassion is the root of the path of virtue
And the root of evil is the ego/pride
Tulsi Das says don’t stray from compassion
Till your very last breath
Compassion is the root of Guni dharma and represents the cornerstone of our biospirituality. Our relationship with nature and our community has to be based on
compassion, love and humility. We serve people however difficult it is for us, not thinking of
profits, without prejudice, displaying trust, and building trust.
It is compassion that is at the heart of being a Guni and one’s guna (knowledge/virtue) is
beyond caste, gender and religion. Gunaaha poojasthanam gunishu, na cha lingam, na cha
vaya. This is a Sanskrit verse from one of our scriptures that captures this sentiment. It is
translated as, “In a healer only the virtue/knowledge is worthy of worship, irrespective of
the healer’s gender or age.”
While we are united by our Guni dharma, we are culturally diverse because of our particular
religious beliefs and community level organizations. We also have specific types of
traditional knowledge and treat distinct ailments in a variety of ways.
Our Guni dharma assists us to treat patients in a holistic manner. Our role is not only to give
medicines, but to heal the person. We acknowledge that illness has diverse causes and
multiple manifestations that are also linked to social problems. Thus we see our
communities’ wellbeing as our own, their sorrows as our sorrows, and their spirits as
unified with ours. Approaching patients from the perspective of Guni dharma helps us to
maintain the wellness of our community, and where they fall ill, to provide medical, social
and spiritual guidance to deal with the root of their sickness.