In what could bring about a change in the current perception of Ayurveda, a practising Ayurvedic doctor from Haldwani has claimed that the roots of Chinese acupuncture are to be found in this ancient Indian science.

According to Dr. Binod Kumar Joshi, who has been conducting research for some years now on the undisclosed subjects of the ancient treatise ``Sushrut Samhita'' , there was perfect corroboration between ``Marmas'', vital energy points in the body, and acupuncture points.

Along with his colleagues -- Dr. Ram Lal Shah and Dr. Geeta Joshi -- Dr. Joshi has been working on this for quite some time now. While interpreters have thus far said that the ``marmas'' were masses of tissue surrounding vital organs, they actually represented the stimulating points that contained the vital force, the trio claim.

In acupuncture, it is believed, there are channels and meridians that traverse the body along certain important points that hold the vital energy. The three doctors now claim that these are very well described in ``Sushrut Samhita'' in exactly the same manner. Their significance was, however, lost due to wrong interpretation and translation of Sanskrit texts, he said.

In the Capital recently to share his findings, Dr. Joshi said they stumbled on this discovery when they found that the size of the heart described in the ancient text does not match its real size as described by modern science. In fact, it was quite small, almost representing a point. The same was true of other organs as well as was revealed in their study.

Ayurveda, therefore, seems to hold a mirror to a holistic health management system with the vital points, or ``dhamnis'', controlling the body mechanism and its functions. Together with the ``siras'', which number around 700 and were akin to the various other microscopic points of acupuncture, they represented the vital energy flow.

``Earlier, it was thought that the ``dhamnis'' and the ``siras'' represent arteries and veins and, therefore, whenever a damage used to occur, the first move was to preserve the concerned tissue. But then, these are actually the channels and meridians controlling the vital energy flow,'' Dr. Joshi said.

According to the practitioner, the 107 ``marmas'' described in the ``Sushrut Samhita'' were the topographical points of the inner vital organs. These ``marmas'' were important groups of ``siras'' and not just tissues to be saved during surgical operations.

``Our conclusion is that the ``Sushrut Samhita'' is the base of the so-called Chinese acupuncture. It is actually the `Siravedhan of Sushrut', he argued, adding that their research could shed light on the as-yet unexplained theories of Ayurveda as well as acupuncture.

The trio also claim that even the approach to Ayurveda will change as a result of this discovery. They are publishing their research in the form of a book which is to be published by Motilal Banarasidas. ``We are practising these theories on patients with wonderful results'', Dr. Joshi says.

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