3" II. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XXIV pp. 169 to 176

CADUCEUS - AN EASTfiRN VIEW

S. 51"11;'.;

The Caduceus· the symbol of medical pr of essron carries with its orlgil\

many concepts. The symbol has in its composition. parts totally unconne ct crt

to cur physical body and yet it represents svrnb ol ic a llv tile art of healing.

On tho other hand. the symbol might have been to mean something else.

invisible. located within our body which is beneficial for the human as a

whole. Charles W. Leadbeater presented the concept of Kundalini as the

basis for the symbol Cadu:eus.

INTRODUCTION:

Symbol by definition. is supposedto represent something invisible likean idea. An idea is nothing but aconviction or an opinion produced,after thought or observation. Nowonder. then, the Caduceus - thesymbol of medical profession carrieswith it's origin many concepts Itccomponents namely the Hermeswand, pair of serpents cris crossingeach other and a pair of wings ofhawk bird depict their sacred nature(Fig. 1). Hermes wand which formsthe back bone of this symbol is

known for its healing powers Theserne nt s stand for element of eternityand the hawk bird wings aresupposed to represent the Sun God(1,2). The symbol thus formed, hasin it's composition, parts totallyunconnected to our physical bodvand yet it represents svmbolicallvthe art of healing. On the otherhand, the symbol might have beento mean somethiuq else, invisible.located with in our body which IS

beneficial for the human as a wholeThe object of thrs article is to discusssuch an idea which has not beendiscussed in tho medical literature.

_._. ----_ ...._----_._._--_ ..•_-------_ ..._---_. ---------_.'" Dr. S Siva MD. FRCSC. 10·2773 Barif"! Hwv. COQU,tliWl 8 C.. V 3 B 1 C 2. C;,nadil.

170

DI5CUSSIO\J

KUWJALINI CONCEPT- ANEASERN VIEW

In later part of 18th century,Charles W. Leadbe ater a well knownsavant of occult and mysticismliterature brought horne the' conceptof Kuo dallni as the basis for thesymbol Caduceus. It's meaning inmedicine. though not denote physicalhealing. indicates the hidden energywhich can take us to higher levelsof consciousness by tr ansce adinq thebody and ego.

The sanskrit word KUNDAL means"coiled" and KUNDALINI means"coiled up". Serpent, while restinglies in a coiled position. Likewise,this hidden energy in our body liecoiled in the base of our spine. Thesubject of KUNDALINI is described inthe Hindu scripture of Tantras (3).The phlo soohv of Tn ntr as is ba sedon the Upanis hads. which isessentially non dualistic. meaningthe individual Soul and Brahman(God) are one and the same. OUfpurpose of being born as a humanis to merge with the source - the onewho crsate d UB This can be achievedonly by means of transcendingour basic nature of c'esire. ego,attachment to our physical body andmaterialistic life. It requires greatdiscipline, rigid moral and ethicalcode or conduct of our lives. Thesepr actises coupled with meditation

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med . Vol. XXIV

a.id yega awakens; the dormatI<UNDALINI energy It has no formor organ It is a vital and an occultforce which sustains all beinqs 8ymeans of inspiration and expiration.The enercv thus created travels alongthe two NADiS (Channels). Thechannel Oil the left of the spinalc o lurnn is called Ir)A which isconnected to left nostril. The channelon the right is called PINGALA whichis c o nnecte d to the right nostril.The central channel known asSUSHUMNA is situated in the hollowof the spinal column which runs fromthe lower lumber segment to thebrain (Fig 2). The channels of IDAand PINGALA coil around the channelof SUSHUMNA like two serpentscoil round in Caduceus. The centralSUSHUMNA channel is believed torepresent the Hermes' wand.

The dormant e nerqv of KUNDA-LI:\II when awakened travels alongtl18 channel of SUSHUMNA is anupward direction. On its path arelocated seven CHAKRAS or wheels(Fig. 3). These are subtle psychiccentres and thought to be present inour Etheric body, which Dr. WilliamTiller describes as negetive frame ofour body. He incorporates theseCHAKRAS in his scientific model (4).They are closely related to theendocrine system of our body. Thefirst two CHAKRAS ere related toadrenal gland and gonads and arelocated ill connection with the analand genital system. According to

Caduceus-An Eastern View S. Siva

Dr. Samuel Sandweiss (5), Freussdescription of <mal and sexualattitudes arise from these twoCHAKRAS. Such an individual actingfrom these two CH.L\Kf'lAS are veryaggressive and hostile in nature. Heq@es on to state that several ofpsychiatric illnesses are related toanal and sexual attitu de sin differentproportions, and psvchiatrists oughtto elevate such individuals to thehiqhcr CHAKRAS in order to achievea total and wholesome person, bychannelling the energy to arise fromthese two basic and coarser centres.The third CHAKRA is situated inrelation to pancreas, the forth onenear the heart in relation to thymusgland, the fifth one in the neck inrelation to thyroid, the sixth onesituated on th(~ brow in between theeyes (the third eye) in relation topituitary gland. The seventh oneis situated over the crown of thehead in relation to penial gland,which is believed to receive theCosmic vibrations. Correspondingchanges occur in our consciousness,emotion and mind depending uponthe successive awakening of thedif ler c nt CHI\KRAS. Once we reachthe seventh CHAKRA, the soul isable to leave by transceding thephysical body and a mystic uniontokes place \A, ith the Suor eue Lord

171

who resides here (6). The risingfrom the base CI-!AKRAS - one andtwo to this hiqher levels ofconsciousness is represented by th ••two wings of the caduceus. Thenerves connected to the spinal cordact like a channel to carry themessage from these CHAKRAS (7).Swami Vivekan and the great Hinduwandering saint e tated that 'whereverthere was any manifestation of whatis ordinarily called supernaturalpower or wisdom, there a littlecurrent of KUNDALlNl must havefound its way into the SUSHUMNA.The man who thinks that he isreceiving to responses to his prayersdoes not know that the fulfilmentcomes from his own nature that hehas succeeded by the mental attitudeof prayer in waking up a bit of thisinfinite power which is coiled upwithin himself" (8).

CONCLUSION

The Eastern concept ot caduceusreveals a hidden system of energy inour anatomy, which has the potentialof mefgi'-.G us with the Source of ouroriqin .. God which is the purpose ofevery human birth. Writing on thissubject Dr Evans- Wentz states that"we se e aqain how that esotericsymbol of the West corresponds tot ha t of the east" (9)

17'), I L Bull. indo tnst . HISi. Ii/leL}. i/ol. XXIV

REFERENCES

1 .. Dr. Geehoad, Glenn. W.

2. Munoz, Patricia

3. Bhagavl.ltliam

4 Tiiler. William

5. Dr Sandweiss. Samus!

6. Pr abhavan anda, Swami

7 .Joh ari. Harish

8. Vivokanarida, Swami

9. Evans - Y\'entz W. Y.

1988 The Caduceus as a Medical Emblem:Heritage or Heresy. Southern Medical.Journal Vol. 81, No, 9, 1155-1161.

1981 MD State Med. J. October 35-40.

XI. xix. 32-:~G.

1971 Radionics, Radiesthesia and Physics.A.P.M. Symposium Transcript "Thevarieties of healing ExperianceOctober; 55-78

1975 Sai Baba, the Holly man and thepsychiatrist 73·-79.

1981 Spiritual Heritage of India 143150.

1987 Ch akras.

1970 Complete works of Swami Vivek-ananda . Vol. 1, 165.

1960 The Tibetan book of the dead 215.

Ceduceus=An Eastern View - S. Siva

Figure 1. Caduceus

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XXIV

Poslerior Sushumn.a

Fig. 2. Origin and Termination of Susbumna

175

FIg 3 Chakras

Bull. Ind. tnst. Hist, Med. 176

f'Cff!f~HT i5lfI'HHIl ~T f~~'f-~~~f{1~« snnq ~ (T ar~. f;:r•••.T~l~, ~~'T. ~rr~T 13tHH ~ I ~~ f'Cf~~ifj'Tq1:,!{~T it frlfrf<flie If'fT I8T ~lJT~

~~'h if; ~T'f flti«) '1" Sl"T~ liT ~;SJ;:a' if ~)~ q~ 'i; lli{ f:qfiti~~H iii.' ••T

srfc:ff;~'fa(q lIi~aT ~ I ~«_3Tfc:fhCfc:fll~ foq~Of gf.ll~ !lJ~''hit !fIiJar1~or~1I1l

fCf~lfT 'tiT 1JT ~)o~ ~) ~'fiCfT ~ if) fits JfTi{~ if f~~ f~~Ifi'~) i{)~~ I •••r~~

6fa;ijJ~ ~lif)e. ~ ~1Jif~;t) !fi) t« f'Cfc" iti 3T1~1'{~(f fcr:qT~ 2fi ~q ij Slf~ff

flfjlH ~ I