Sutras by Maharishi Vagbhata:
The Role and Importance of Water
Water plays a very important role in maintaining good health
Continued from Healthy Living: Sutras by Maharishi Vagbhata
SUTRA 6: The Role and Importance of Water
Start your day with it: Drink water first thing in the morning. It is to be had warm at body temp and should be sipped like hot tea so that max possible saliva goes into the stomach. Only if you are drinking water kept in a copper pot it need not be warmed up as it already has same quality as warm water. Mud pot water is also to be warmed up. (In case you are regularly drinking water from a copper pot then you should stop for a couple of weeks after every 3 months of continuous usage).
Those below 18 and above 60 should drink only 1.5 to 2 glasses while others should drink upto 1.25ltrs. i.e. min 3 glasses. This is the only water one should drink without feeling thirsty. Take the smallest sips. Try this for 6 mths and see the changes in health. You will feel fresher, lighter, sleep, digestion and heart will improve, pains will subside.
Sip, don't gulp: Always drink water sip by sip like one drinks hot tea.
Drink water warm: Never drink cold water. Water should always be drunk warm or at body temperature. Drinking cold water leads to decrease in blood supply to various organs. Over a period of time this leads to the weakening and hence failure of various organs and causes probs like heart attack, kidney failure, brain hemorrhage etc. Drinking chilled water also leads to severe constipation, as the large intestine shrinks, causing various other complications. This is applicable to other cold foods as well.
Avoid drinking water just before/ after food. Bhojanante Visham Vaari - Drinking water at the end of a meal is akin to drinking poison. It kills the Jathaaragni (that aspect of prana or energy which enables the body to digest food) thereby making the food rot inside the system instead of getting digested. This in turn leads to excess acid and gas being produced in the system and a very vicious cycle starts. Maharishi Waghbhat has identified 103 ailments that occur as a result of drinking water after having eaten food.
The minimum gap between food and water should be between 1.5 to 2.5 hrs. This also varies based on geographic and other conditions and the duration is higher in the mountains and lower in plains and hot areas. This is because the body’s ability to digest food varies with the ambient conditions.
Water drunk before food should be drunk at least 40 minutes before eating food. To clean the mouth and throat after food only one or two sips of warm/ body temperature water can be had. If really thirsty, one can have fresh juice of seasonal fruits after morning meal and buttermilk/chhaas after lunch. Milk can be had after dinner. Though these also contain mostly water, the properties are completely different and they actually help digestion and the body instead of hurting it.
Quantity: Take your weight divide by 10 and then subtract 2 from the result. These many liters of water can be had per day.
Tumbler is an import, Lota is much better. Water takes the properties of its holding object and solutes. Lota is a sphere hence its surface tension is less. This is better for body. Well water is much better. Sadhus don’t drink water if its not from a well. Main property of water is cleansing. This is possible if the water you drink is of low surface tension. Example of milk used for cleaning skin. Same happens with intestines.
Chinese view on drinking water: Water drinking advice can not be same in Rajasthan and Kerala, you should also listen to your body, Chinese warn about drinking excess water or even dangers of too much swimming...FULL ARTICLE
Continue to "Food & Cooking".
We thank Dr. Rajiv Dixit for making this information accessible. Click here to view his videos.
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