Jiva Upakara Tantra-Based Bio-Social Healing for Cancer Patients by Implementing an indigenous cow farming and Whey Protein Production Plan

Jiva Upakara Tantra is an Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) based mind-bodybased social medicine approach used in the rural communities of ancient Kamrupa. The key concept of this approach is based on the Avatar theory of Vaishnavism in which a higher being descends to the society and provides altruistic support to a community undergoing immense stress. The Vedic altruism based public health approach is based on the idea of an ‘Avatar Kosha,’ which is a transient, latent kosha (meaning “sheath” in Sanskrit) that appears only in times of high stress. As per the metaphysics of the philosophy, during stressful times such as epidemics or pandemics, the Avatar Kosha takes on a powerful and governing role over the Pancha Kosha system (the five layers of mind-body that surround the ‘Atman’ (Self) as mentioned in Taittiriya Upanishad of Vedic philosophy to return the mind-body to homeostasis. Based on this Vedic philosophy, the tantric practitioners of rural Kamrupa organized a network called Indigenous Kamrupean Information Network (IKIN) of local temple-based healing systems to combat diseases such as smallpox, cancer, and tuberculosis. The central aim of this medicinal practice was to enhance altruistic practices in the community, mainly in the greater Sualkuchi-Hajo complex. Based on the JUT philosophy, KaviKrishna Telemedicine Care working on a whey protein project in Sualkuchi-Hajo complex of Kamrupa with the Indigenous Community and Cancer patient’s families. Whey protein is an important component of a patient’s health, but many cancer patients are suffering from whey protein deficiencies in this area. From our year-long work treating these patients in the rural area, we found that many cannot afford the protein, as it is expensive, or are not aware of it. At the same time, these rural areas have an abundance of cows and milk products as their part of their indigenous culture. In fact, cows are an integral part of Sualkuchi’s Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS), as they have served cultural, economic, and health-related roles for local villagers for centuries. As such, we are looking to develop a project to extract the whey protein from the local cow farms of Kamrup for distribution in a manner that makes whey protein locally available at a minimum cost. In this way, KTC looks to benefit from the already-established local temple network (Figure 1). This templebased whey protein production strategy will target the current problem of whey protein distribution by increasing its awareness among local villagers as well as its accessibility. Over to course of time, the local rural people can learn to make the whey protein by themselves, becoming self-reliant and sustainable