Associate professor and Head,
The 37th World Health Assembly adopted the historic resolution that the definition of health includes four domains of well-being: physical, mental, social and spiritual (WHO, 1998). The World Health Organization (WHO) has accepted spirituality as an important aspect of quality of life. Spirituality/religion is a part of one's cultural milieu and informs meaning, value and direction to human life. A number of studies point towards a positive association between religious involvement and better health. Religion played an important role in the scholarly writings of early sociologists. Durkheim (1951) argued that religion served both a social and a mental health function. The renewed interest in the interaction of religion and spirituality with health and medicine has significant implications in the Hindu Religion. Ayurveda, the Hindu system of medicine, had its roots in ancient religious texts of the Atharbaveda. To Hindu Brahmins, knowledge in medicine was sacred. Brahmans, a priest class maintained the rituals and scriptures and formed the upper tier of a caste. The lengthy Vedas were each the responsibility of various Brahman families, who collected and passed them down among themselves. Thus in above urgency present Study provides an understanding about the interplay of spirituality and religious belief with health and medicine among the North Indian Brahmins.
Sprituality, Religious Belief, Health Status
