Going Back In Time: How Charaka Shapath Is Out Of Place For Modern Day Medical Practice?

In 2020, India had over 1.2 million registered doctors in the country. Yet, there is always a shortage of experienced doctors, nurses and hospital beds. As the World Health Organization (WHO) prescribes, the doctor to citizen ratio should be 1:1000. The world average stands at 150 doctors per 10,000 people, and the Indian average until 2020 was 85 doctors for every 10,000 people. The national average still does not give the complete picture as southern states and urban areas in the country are better equipped with medical expertise than other parts.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to further light why doctors are imperative to the existence of humankind. With only 20 per cent of the population seeking medical insurance, and the central and state governments choosing to allocate only 1.5 per cent of their expenditure on health, we might be doing a little too less for the growth and expansion of medical infrastructure in the country. Therefore, it becomes essential for all doctors to adopt a gender-neutral, non-biased and practical approach to their patients. The pandemic highlighted how India needed to upgrade its medical infrastructure on a war footing.

Why Is Charaka Shapath In News?

On April 30, several aspiring doctors in the Madurai Medical College took the oath of adherence, mandatory for new physicians while practising medicine. However, instead of the Hippocrates oath, as is generally the norm, the young physicians took the 'Maharishi Charaka Shapath', an altered version of the oath sourced from the ancient Vedic text. Moreover, the oath has been criticized by medical practitioners across the country and other experts for being regressive, casteist and unfit for the practice of modern medicine and ethics, India Today reported.

In the original form of the oath, medical practitioners must abstain from eating meat and growing a beard. Moreover, people who hate their king or are hated by the king are said to be 'very abnormal people' in the Vedic text, and women who are unattended by their husbands or their guardians shall not be treated. While the modified version of the Maharishi Charaka Shapath does not include many of the clauses mentioned above, the oath read by Tamil Nadu physicians was very similar to the ancient and discriminatory oath, the state Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said.

The English translation of the oath highlights that a teacher must administer an oath in nine parts in the presence of Brahmins, physicians and a sacred fire. The verbatim English translation of the oath reads, "Thou shalt lead the life of a celibate, grow thy hair and beard, speak only the truth, eat no meat, eat only pure articles of food, be free from envy and carry no arms," the oath says. It says that if the student desires success, wealth and fame as a physician and heaven after death, they shall pray for the welfare of all creatures, "beginning with the cows and Brahmins".

Criticism For Its Adoption

Until now, the physicians were required to take the Hippocratic oath, which instructed them to treat all patients, irrespective of their social status or gender. On the other hand, in the ancient form of the oath, the disciples must regard their teacher as their chief and adhere to them at all times. On a positive note, the oath asks new physicians to ensure that they work to relieve the patients' pain with all their heart and soul, keep confidential the patients' details, and not be boastful of their knowledge.

When the proposal of replacing the Hippocratic oath with the Charaka Shapath was put forth, several unions, students and medical bodies opposed the need. In the version of the oath shared by the state finance minister, the oath mentioned that the students would perform self-control and piety and submit themselves to their 'guru' like a son or daughter for the teacher's desire and happiness.

Several politicians and experts believe that replacing the Hippocrates oath with the Charaka Shapath is an attempt toward saffronizing medical education. Further, the movie has been a long-standing demand of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Interestingly, many wings of the organization have already administered the Charaka oath to medical students in the past, after claiming that it has roots in 'Indian values' and was a 'pride of India's legacy.

Rooted In Indian Values

In another criticism of the demand of including the Charaka Shapath, several experts have opined that it would reinstate the age-old patriarchal mindset amongst young doctors and leave women at the behest of their husband or a male member of their family. In another similar incident, the Charaka oath was added to the CBSE Class XI and XII textbooks, and the version of the text was available on the Education Board's website. Moreover, at the end of the chapter, the 'notes' mentioned that the physicians must interact with women while maintaining extreme caution since doctors used to visit homes in the olden days.

Lastly, the ancient form of Charaka Shapath applies only to the Ayurveda field of medicine and implementation of the oath would lead to ignorance of other forms of treatment. Doctor unions, experts and several politicians have come out in severe criticism of the replacement of the Hippocratic oath, highlighting its repressive nature. When India and the world are rapidly upgrading their technological and medical infrastructure, the push for introducing Charaka Shapath in the Indian medical system appears a tad bit controversial.

Moreover, some colleges in India already make their students abide by the modernized version of the ancient text. Therefore, The Logical Indian believes that if indeed there is a need for a new oath for new physicians, they should be given the freedom to choose from the Hippocratic oath and the Charaka Shapath because while Ayurvedic practitioners would prefer to abide by the ancient oath, those practising Siddha, Unani and Allopathy amongst other medicine systems would choose to remain in the ongoing system. After all, not one size fits all.

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