The Teachings of Vaidya R.K. Mishra
Vaidya R.K.Mishra (1952-2017) was an Ayurvedic Master, educator, researcher, product formulator. He was born into a family lineage of “raj vaidyas” (court physicians) that boasted a 5,000 year history of healing. Vaidya Mishra was an ardent student of the classical Ayurvedic texts, especially the Caraka Samhita. He would often recite verses from this text during his lectures, entirely from memory, demonstrating his deep integration with classical Ayurvedic knowledge.
Vaidya Mishra held a GAMS (Graduate of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) degree from Bihar University and a degree in Sanskrit language from Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University. Upon completing his formal education, Vaidya began a seven-year internship with his father, Kameshwar Mishra. Vaidya often referred to this period of time as the most formative and significant aspect of his Ayurvedic training. He was critical of the institutionalized and contemporary presentation of Ayurvedic medicine, and constantly pointed to his father as the true source of his medical training. During this time, Vaidya’s father passed on the lineage teachings of Shaka Vansya Ayurveda through oral tradition, teaching him unique pulse diagnostics, marma therapeutics, and herbal formulations.
Vaidya Mishra was a rare voice for the classical and lineage-based streams of Ayurvedic medicine. In a world where “yoga” has become reduced to exercise routines, Ayurveda has equally suffered the pangs of Western reductionism. Vaidya sought to revive the insights of the classics while translating their clinical application for the modern time. He described his approach as “sutra to science”, showing how classical understandings are now being conformed by modern science, and how this can further our clinical efficacy. At the same time, Vaidya emphasized the primacy of energetic healing in Ayurveda. The core of his teaching could be summarized as “pulse and marma”, the closest equivalent to a form of Ayurvedic acupuncture. Vaidya’s “pulse and marma” approach was unique to his lineage and he taught a sophisticated method of pulse diagnosis that allowed the practitioner to diagnose doshic imbalances (including subdoshas), the precise location of the imbalance in the seven dhatus, the presence of toxins and their location, and the spiritual integrity of the patient. Vaidya loved to quote the verse from Caraka Samhita which stated “life is the flow of prana in the body” and taught that marma points are the focal points of pranic energy in the body. He spoke extensively of the need to maintain an open unobstructed flow in the energy channels of the body as the basis of health via proper diet, lifestyle, herbs, and direct marma therapy.
One of Vaidya’s significant contributions to the field is the therapeutic approach he termed the “transdermal marma system”. This approach emphasizes a transdermal delivery of herbs via herbal creams and roll-ons. He designed this approach in response to the needs of the modern patient and his observation that most patients cannot process herbs effectively through the digestive system. In these cases, Vaidya felt the subtle energy of the herbs were not able to be delivered, and the patient would not benefit. By delivering herbs through the skin, Vaidya observed that patients were able to process and benefit from herbal remedies much more. Further, this delivery method bypassed potential herb-drug interactions, another modern clinical issue. Vaidya felt that the application of herbs upon marma points and the spine targeted the energetic level of the patient and the pranic flow in their channels.
Vaidya was one of the first traditional physicians to observe the damaging effects of EMF/EMR. Vaidya trained alongside his father in the context of an Indian village. When he came to the West, he noticed a certain “buzz” in the pulse of Western patients that he had never felt before. Over time, he came to identify this as an effect of electromagnetic radiation, a form of energetic pollution that was “mixing” in the energetic channels of patients. I remember Vaidya once saying that EMFs were the most significant etiological factor of our time and that without addressing this, a patient would not be able to derive full benefit from clinical therapies. He went on to formulate various approaches to balancing EMFs through the transdermal application of herbs that had a strong channel-opening effect.
I will always remember Vaidya for valuing the profound depths of classical Ayurvedic knowledge and their application in modern times. His detailed approach to diet, lifestyle, pulse, and treatment remains unparalleled in the field of Ayurvedic medicine.
Further Reading
One of Vaidya’s students, Divya Alter, has written two excellent Ayurvedic cookbooks based on his teachings: (1) What To Eat For How You Feel and (2) The Joy of Balance.
My personal tribute to Vaidya Mishra, after learning of his passing, can be found here: Tribute to Vaidya R.K. Mishra.