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THE FAMILY AND THE NATION
indicates a diseased state. Enthusiasm, inhalation and exhalation are all natural functions of vata. All activities in a living creature take place on account of vata; it is nothing but the prana of a living creature. It is due to vata that diseases are caused and it is due to vata again that diseases are cured. According to Ayurveda, fear impairs or damages the vata system. A frightened person has breathing disorder and is unable to work.
Although there are many sources of fear, the main source is the excessive accumulation of wealth. Wealth passes through three states--the state of earning, the state of preservation, and the state of destruction. Knowingly or unknowingly, a person's mind is always bothered by the security or otherwise of his wealth. Can an affluent person ever be free from fear? Attachment, acquisitiveness, fear and disease run in parallel to one another.
The first step for an aspirant of salvation is the renunciation of attachment. The words sthitprajna (equanimity) and vitaraga (free from attachment and aversion) represent a state where attachment, acquisitiveness and fear melt away. This truth, meant for those who desire salvation (mumuksu), is also meant for those who want to live a healthy life free from fear.
If the subtle reactions caused in the brain by fear are examined, we realize that they are not free from elements that cause diseases. The environment of fear is not created by external circumstances alone; internal circumstances play an equally significant role. Due to internal fears, a person may fall victim to a disease even in the absence of any external situation of fear.
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The fourth aphorism of good health is self-restraint. Human activity is an interplay of body, mind and speech. Sense
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