Svasthya (स्वास्थ्यम्)

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Svasthya (Samskrit: स्वास्थ्यम्) refers to the concept of well-being and an overall sense of goodness in a human life. Since ages people aspired and strove for a long, satisfying and meaningful life. Well-being (svasthya) and happiness (Ananda) are interwoven concepts in Indian traditions. Today the popular and globally used Bharatiya invocation which embodies the essence of the characteristics of the state of human well-being, is as follows

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः। सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग् भवेत्।। sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ sarve santu nirāmayāḥ| sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu mā kaścidduḥkhabhāg bhavet||

Meaning: May all be happy; May all be free from infirmities; May all see good; May none partake suffering. Interestingly this invocation is from Puranic sources such as Garuda Purana (most commonly, wrongly mentioned as available in Brhdaranyaka Upanishad) and other sources as noted by Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, and he describes the essence as follows

"This is perhaps the most beautiful verse illustrating the whole idea of ‘well-being of all’ and is enormously quoted in the context of spirituality, dharma, universality, well-being etc".

Needless to say, the nature of well-being and happiness is a matter of debate through the ancient times since their conceptualization and has varied across cultures on a spectrum ranging from hedonic (connected with feeling of pleasure) to transcendent (beyond limits of ordinary experience) viewpoints. In common terms, happiness refers to the positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy and well-being refers to how people evaluate their lives. Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. In the western context, well-being is limited to bio-psycho-social aspects of human nature whereas in the Indian traditions the spiritual dimension (consciousness and self) brings about a whole new perspective to this topic.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

Popularly, in describing the concept of well-being, the factors of health and material condition of the individual and the community inevitably come to the fore. A person is "gauged" as happy if he is free from ailments and is in good health and when his family possesses enough means to meet his physical needs and other demands. But equating well-being with health and economic condition alone is taking a very partial and narrow view of man that ignores mental, psychological and social aspects of his existence.

Though physical health, nutritional status, material and economic aspects are important, one cannot meaningfully talk of well-being without taking into account the individual's entire existential condition. Hence, psychological and social development, environmental adjustments, and it's effect on unfolding an individual's personality as a whole are equally significant. Therefore, apart from designing and initiating policies and programs to ensure individual well-being, it is also essential to have a clear idea as to what well-being actually means, and develop a set of indicators.

Material wealth and affluence, fulfilment of one’s desires, human relationships, development of one’s potentialities and individuality, one’s own psychological state, faith in a religion and spirituality are thus, some of the variables, considered as relevant and significant in the context of assessing happiness and well-being. Their importance varies from culture to culture and reflect the socio-cultural differences in the conceptualization of subjective well-being. The Indian concepts of self outline how people feel their identities or self-sense are intricately connected with the physical, physiological and mental dimensions and it is human tendency to remain established at that level. However, some persons either spontaneously or through induction from meditation, yoga and such other practices are able to move beyond these sheaths and narrow self-definitions.

Many factors influence our life style and combine to create serious health hazards. The hectic pace of life, environmental factors, and increasing role of greed etc., (arishadvargas) are making people’s lives stressful. There a dire need to study this area and it involves many modern subject areas such as psychology, medicine, sociology, anthropology etc. Awareness, adoption and practice of healthy lifestyle are the keys to our well-being.

Well-being is an expression commonly used in popular parlance, and does not usually find a place in technical literature. Therefore, it is all the more essential to define it and delimit its meaning.

व्युतपत्तिः ॥ Etymology

The term Svasthya (स्वास्थ्यम्) includes स्व (Sva) = self, and स्थ (Stha) = being established. The word svastha in its original meaning refers to being established in one’s Self (Atman) which lead to svasthya, a sense of wellbeing. However, it is also used as a suffix in deha svasthya (देहस्वास्थ्यम्) and manah svasthya (मनस्स्वास्थ्यम्), to refer to physical and mental health and wellbeing. Thus it is used as a generic term.

Vachaspatyam quotes the term svasthya as applicable in health (आरोग्ये) and contentment (सन्तोषे). The Apte Sanskrit Hindi Dictionary mentions the meanings as

1. self-reliance
2. fortitude
3. sound state
4. prosperity
5. ease

Well-being is an expression commonly used in popular parlance, but does not usually find a place in technical literature. Therefore, it is all the more essential to define it and delimit its meaning. In psychological as well as popular parlance the concepts that are used frequently when talking about well-being are welfare, adjustment, adaptation, balance, equilibrium, homeostasis, competence and health. In recent years, the expression 'quality of life' has also come in.

As defined in Oxford Dictionary, the term 'well-being" is equated with "welfare" which in turn is conceptualized as "satisfactory state, health, prosperity". According to Monier Williams Cologne Dictionary it is defined as self-dependence, sound state (of body or soul), health, ease, comfort, contentment, and satisfaction.

Defining the context of Svasthya or Well-being

The term ‘svasthya’ includes many aspects such as, happiness, energy, leisure, peace with oneself, contentment and sensitivity to environment. Well-being involves not only happiness and pleasure but also experiencing/feeling satisfaction in life, presence of positive feeling or affect (e g. interest, love, surprise, pleasure) and the absence of negative feelings (e.g. anxiety, depression, stress). Well-being is a matter of how one experiences and interprets one’s life conditions. Money, property, power, social standing and prestige provide us with limited sense of well-being. While material prosperity is positively related to self satisfaction to some extent, left unchecked it undermines the well-being of a person.

Goals of indefinite material prosperity, ignoring the human needs of the surrounding people, developing an attitude of insensitivity due to increasing selfishness only leads to an alienation between people, and thereby societies, to eventually chaos and despair. The interrelationship between the social and behavioral sciences have to be accounted for the well-being of both an individual and the society on the whole. Researchers are presenting new findings that the conceptualization of the nature of happiness and well-being primarily depend on the worldview one holds and this aspect has been uniquely dealt with in the Upanishads and other ancient texts of India.

Psychological Processes involved in Svasthya

Adjustment

Svasthya denotes a desirable state of affairs of the individual that ensures proper development of his potential so that he is able to meet the various demands of his environment, and satisfy his needs in a socially acceptable manner. In modern psychological studies, the technical concept that comes closest to it is that of 'adjustment'. It implies a continuous process of interaction between the individual and his environment and this includes the aspect of maladjustment. Adjustment is equated with those responses which denote harmonious and effective relationship with the environment whereby psychological growth is promoted.

Thompson has spelled out at some length the psychological processes that are associated with a satisfactory state of well-being. The person who makes majority of his adjustments within normal range has learned to do the following:

(i) seek long term gains, deny or delay immediate need satisfaction or short term gains,

(ii) discern between what is socially acceptable and what is not by perceiving the difference between socially acceptable and unacceptable goals that promise to satisfy his needs,

(iii) set realistic goals to avoid stress, to select goals that are realistic and within his grasp,

(iv) practice need based goal setting, select goals for satisfying his needs e.g., compensation mechanism whereby he substitutes, if necessary, his goals that cannot be satisfied,

(v) be accommodative in nature, to vary his behaviour as required for a situation,

(vi) not indulge in fantasy, satisfy majority of psychological needs on "reality level" rather than resort frequently to fantasy,

(vii) develop tolerance for frustration by making goal-oriented rather than ego-defensive reactions to frustration,

(viii) cope with anxiety by tolerating a reasonable amount of anxiety so that his behaviour is not disrupted,

(ix) seek alternative goals to satisfy psychological needs - seek variety of goals to satisfy his psychological needs so that socially unacceptable eccentricities in behaviour patterns is prevented,

(x) accept responsibility of actions and prepare for outcomes - accept natural and social outcomes of his behaviour and plans for future accordingly, i.e., profit from experience, re-evaluate the situation and try another approach,

(xi) maintain healthy relationships and develop warm personal relationships with a reasonable number of associates,

(xii) face future, re-direct his behaviour in terms of past experience and not be psychologically paralysed by guilt feelings over past failures, inadequacies and behaviour transgressions,

(xiii) promote self assurance measures such as self-report that he feels "happy", "adequate" and,

(xiv) identify stressful situations and adopt measures to cope with them without paying a price or getting damaged mentally and physically.

Maladjustment

In a reverse situation to adjustment, the absence of well-being would mean that the individual makes maladjustive responses to the environment so that his needs are not satisfied, and when faced with problem solving situations, conflicts and frustrations, he reacts in what is often termed as ego-defensive ways which hardly enable him to cope successfully with his problems. He experiences unhappiness, anxiety, frustration, depression and so on which are all indicative of absence of psycho-social well-being. Instead of being overwhelmed by intensive anxiety which is debilitating and saps the available energy of the individual so that he is unable to solve the problems, a healthy, adjusted and normal person bounces back from those frustrations, disappointments and disabling states, and continues on his path of goal-oriented behaviour. To use an analogy, the individual is like gold which when put into fire comes out shining and more brilliant.

Homeostasis or being balanced

In its original form, the term homeostasis connotes internal form of self-regulation for maintaining an internal bodily balance or adjustment. From this internal self-regulatory mechanism, the connotation of homeostasis has been expanded to comprise the process of psychological and even social adjustment.

Role of Worldview in Svasthya

Underlying any concept of quality of life and wellbeing is a worldview, which provides a perspective on the nature of man, his place in the universe, and on the nature of the universe. The Vedic and Upanishadic seers emphasized on realizing that which is eternal (nitya) and permanent (satya), rather than going after anything that is momentary (kshanika) and that is liable to undergo decay and destruction (kshara) or impermanent (mithya) in the universe. This was an aspect of the more fundamental quest to know the ultimate truth, by seer and sages of India. They understood and defined the ultimate truth with reference to that which is permanent and everlasting rather than that which is impermanent and transient. They applied this distinction in understanding everything in the universe: physical, biological, psychological, ethical, moral, and so on. They made use of this distinction even to evaluate what is good and not good, what is worthy and unworthy, what is desirable and undesirable, etc. So in defining happiness and wellbeing they applied the same rule.

Indian society is an amalgamation of the materialistic perspective (hedonistic) at one end, the spiritual perspective (transcendental) at the opposite end along and the various blends of materialistic and spiritual perspectives which is the collectivist perspective.

Charvaka Philosophy - Hedonistic Viewpoint

An exclusively materialist view, Charvaka or Lokaayata philosophy was based on hedonistic perspective which advocates that the fulfillment of desires, particularly of sensory nature, is the sole criterion of well being that leads to pleasure orientation. The followers of this philosophy adopted a totally worldly way of living, and were "sweet-tongued", probably because they supported what most human beings generally think viz., that pleasure is the ultimate aim of life.

This philosophy founded on positivism, admits the reality of whatever we can perceive with our senses and deny the reality of whatever cannot be perceived. Thus many Sanatana Dharma based paradigms such as Atman, Karma, Punarjanma, Dharma and Veda pramana etc. are rejected lock, stock and barrel according to this philosophy. Atman was that consciousness that was peculiar to living human body, which lasts as long as the deha-svasthya was maintained. Mind's function was totally directed outwards to know the world through the senses.

Svasthya according to them was physical health and sensual pleasure. It affirmed the view that life belongs only to this world and ends in this world and therefore one should try to make the best of this life. Man should do whatever is possible to enhance pleasure and avoid pain and any action done for the sake of pleasure is justified. Since pleasure is not possible without wealth (artha), one could beg, borrow or steal or even murder, to have more wealth and more pleasure.

However, in contemporary times we see that there are many indicators to say that this philosophy is taking hold of the Indian psyche. Under the influence of scientific and technological innovations, industrialization, modernisation, open trade policy, westernization and globalisation there is increased consumerism and ‘credit’ cards are becoming popular. It reminisces the famous statement of Chaarvaaka: rnam krtva grtam pibheth, which means one should drink ghee (2) (clarified butter) even if one has to take credit.

Vedic and Upanishadic Philosophy - Transcendent Viewpoint

On the other end of the psychological spectrum lies the ideal view of reality upheld across Indian traditions. Svasthya as well as Ananda (happiness) are purely subjective and do not depend on any objective conditions of reality, including one's state of body-mind-sense complex. This view is rooted in all paradigms

Philosophy of Purusharthas - Collectivist Viewpoint

While the Charvaka philosophy follows an out and out principle of sensual satiety, the Grhyasutras, Dharmashastras, Smriti granthas and other texts, established principles of a social framework and ground rules for good life, to ensure the well-being of all. This third perspective lies in between the hedonistic Charvaka philosophy and transcendent ideals of the Vedic texts.