திருக்குறளின் மருந்தில்லா மருத்துவம்

There are two types of medical systems followed by people widely in the world. One is allopathic (English) medicine and the other is traditional medicine (folk). Siddha medicine has been in use for 20,000 years. Roman medicine from the 3rd century CE, Unani from around 600 CE, and Greek and Ayurvedic medicine from the 9th century CE. All of these medical methods preceded the emergence of allopathic medicine. It came into existence only in the 17th and 18th centuries CE. Even before these systems, the Tamil sages like Thiruvalluvar and Thirumoolar had written about indigenous medical truths in Tamil literature. All the above-mentioned systems aim to eliminate disease and provide well-being to people. In all of the systems, medicines such as tablets, tonics, lehiams, powders or choornams are given to the patient to cure illnesses. However, the Tirukkural speaks of a medicine-free medical approach. It suggests for preventing the diseases rather to cure them. Dr. Abdul, in his book “Medicine Without Medicine”, notes that the World Health Organisation has categorised traditional medicine into 123 types. So, this research paper aims to compare the Tirukkural's chapter on "Disease" with the sub-sections that speak about diagnosis, digestive mechanism and diseases found in that book and explores their connections and contrasts.