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How Dhanvantari Travelled Across The Continents
The following story is a beautiful example of how the strength of the spirit and complexity of our ‘karmic’ bonds reach across oceans and continents and intertwine cultures in a way that we cannot possibly imagine, even in our strongest fantasies. This mystical force is like a universal poet sewing his inspiration into the immortal song of life.
My friend Mark is one of the few Americans with whom I share sincere and deep friendship. We have known each other for many years, and during that time our friendship has grown ripe as does good wine. Mark has always been my loyal brother, always ready to help whether day or night. He has played an important role in intuitively pointing out the right way of things during my professional life and in the world of Ayurveda.
Just before moving to Europe in 1997, Mark asked his girlfriend, a sculpturer named Mirtala, to create a statue of Dhanvantari, the God of Ayurveda. He made his request under the influence of another piece of art made by Mirtala, the statue of the Buddha, that he had seen in her studio.
Dhanvantari is a sun deity, in its personified form representing the Physician of Gods. He is usually depicted rising out of the milky ocean holding a vessel of the sacred Amrut nectar in one hand and an alchemist mortar with pestle in the other. In his third hand he holds the script of classic Ayurvedic medicine and with his fourth he blesses humankind.
Dhanvantari is a sun deity, in its personified form representing the Physician of Gods. He is usually depicted rising out of the milky ocean holding a vessel of the sacred Amrut nectar in one hand and an alchemist mortar with pestle in the other. In his third hand he holds the script of classic Ayurvedic medicine and with his fourth he blesses humankind. According to Puranic texts, Dhanvantari, after arising from the ocean, asked Vishnu to make him a place among the gods. Vishnu fulfilled Dhanvantari's wishes and granted him a boon to which Dhanvantari was born as king of Benares, where he then passed on the gift of medical science to mankind. The texts also inform us, that Dhanvantari imparted the secrets of Ayurvedic medicine to hundreds of pupils, one of whom was Sushruta, the father of surgery.
Mirtala is a talented artist living in Sedona, a well known spiritual art centre in the south of New Mexico. Mirtala emerged and grew through manifold episodes of difficulty. She was born in Ukraine and the fate of her family was deeply affected by the repression of the Stalinist regime. After her arrival to the United States, Mirtala studied art at the Boston Museum School and later at Tuft University. She could show her art for the first time in her homeland only after the fall of the iron curtain. Her exhibition on tour full of bronze sculptures of spiritual and mystic motives was a tribute, with which she greeted the arrival of freedom to her country.
The creation of Dhanvantari´s statue was a process consisting of several months of inner meditation, preceded by agile conversation between the two of us concerning the important aspects of the final visage. The first drawing pictured the god in standing position. I felt that for the purpose that the statue should fulfil, a sitting version would be more suitable and Mirtala then made another sketch. After this, a copper form was prepared. A fresh looking new image of the statue came into existence beautifully linking the traditional with the modern. Dhanvantari´s face radiates peace and serenity, exceeding cultural, regional and religious limits and the timelessness of his mission is reflected in its expression.
Before Dhanvantari arrived in Prague, he undertook a long journey around the world. Mark took Dhanvantari from Mirtala’s studio to the homeland of Ayurvedic tradition that he himself represents. This unusual statue in the hands of my friend created great curiosity at the airport in Delhi. The purification and blessings were done in the South Indian State of Kerala by one of the most respected priests, Purushotama Bhat. The traditional puja was performed on an astrologically suitable day, where under the reciting of mantras the deity was bathed, cared with sandal paste and fruit and flowers were offered. Finally, after the ceremony, the pujari gave the statue back wrapped in white cloth. Along with that, my friend received, as goes the tradition, sweet prasadam and the scented kunkum wrapped up in banana leaves. Thus equipped, Dhanvantari was ready for the final part of his journey – the journey to Europe.
On the 29th of November 1998, during the evening hours Dhanvantari arrived to Prague thus becoming the first personification of this patron of medicine in the Eastern Europe. For me, this evening was very special for yet another reason; the plane carrying my friend with the sacred statue landed almost precisely the minute my daughter Aishwarya was born.
A little while later Mark asked Mirtala to cast yet one more copy of the statue. Exactly one year later before Christmas of 1999, Dhanvantari travelled with us to South India, Tripunitra, where Mark gave him into the hands of the spiritual father and guardian of the Saint Agastya temple, Sudhir Vaidya. Dhanvantari was accepted with great gratitude and during a short period of time a separate temple was built where his statue could be worshipped. The temple of St. Agastya is the only sacred place in India, where all important manifestations of divine healing can be worshipped in one place. The temple is designed in the Hindu tradition but is open to all without religious restrictions. The arrival of Dhanvantari into the temple did not in the least surprise Sudhir Vaidya, because he had foreseen it. It has also been foretold, that the temple shall become a spiritual and healing centre, the importance of which will overcome the boundaries of Kerala and India.
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