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 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

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

It 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. 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 includes the aspect of maladjustment.

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.

Hedonistic Viewpoint

An exclusively materialist view, Charvaka or Lokaayata philosophy advocates that the fulfillment of desires, particularly of sensory nature, is the sole criterion of well being that leads to pleasure orientation.