WHO IS THE JIVA? – 2. The Jivi-s in Us
Our mouth alone contains about 500-600 kinds of bacteria. The bacteria on the front side of the teeth are different from those on the rear side. These are the creatures that produce the plaque and tartar, giving us the foul breath and forcing us to brush the teeth and clean the tongue before we could swoosh in that heavenly morning cuppa and begin to enjoy the beautiful world. The microscopic germs we carry are so small that the area of the dot on “i” may hold a million of them. Can a cloth tied around the mouth keep off any living things entering our body as some persons seem to believe? Or does the piece of cloth go only to help breed more bacteria?
Our stomach does not harbor many bacteria because of its acidic environment. But Helicobacter bacteria are one that has learnt to live by burrowing into the stomach wall. This germ has been with man ever since at least he moved out of Africa about 60 to 70 thousand years ago. It modified itself to be able to survive in the stomach of people who migrated out of Africa by changing its DNA to adapt to different climatic conditions. Scientists could actually trace the spread of man out of Africa from the changes noticed in the Helicobacter carried by people in their stomachs. Thus was its life inextricably intertwined with man! Helicobacter is said to be the cause for
ulcers in our stomach. But a research report gives it credit for protecting us from certain allergies and even cancer.
Our small intestines and colon are a haven for bacteria. More than one thousand species of bacteria sit here. Without these bacteria we would have been unable to digest the food we eat. These bacteria breakdown some sugars and other foods and convert them into a form suitable for absorption by our intestine. One type of bacteria produces Vitamin K necessary for blood clotting. Another produces Vitamin B. It is good, therefore, to eat fermented foods (e.g. Yogurt) that contain bacteria useful to us in our digestion. Our ability to draw energy from the food we eat depends on what type of microbes we have in our gut.
Thus it is our non-oxygen breathing ancestral bacteria which preceded us on the earth that are lovingly helping us in digesting what we eat. Sitting in the unlighted dark recesses of our gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the bacteria like bifidus, lactobacillus, acidophilus convert all that, what would have otherwise been a poison, we eat into a form that our gut could absorb.
Bhagavad-Gita did not say for nothing that our original ancestor Vaiswanara sitting in our bodies digests the food we eat:
“aham vaiswanarobhUtvA prANinam dehamAsritah,
……………………………….. pacAmi annam caturvidham” — B.G. Ch: XV – Sloka:14.
Apart from digestion, microbes also assist us in many other ways in the day to day maintenance of our body. It would have been a far bigger struggle for us to lead a totally bacteria free life. Colonies of bacteria work together collectively as a community in influencing our health according to Dr. Reiman of Stanford University. This
necessitates a reassessment of how we treat infection. In case of ill health, we have to first know if there was a change in the population pattern of bacteria in our gut. Many times it becomes necessary to restore the microbial community as a whole in the body to its normal state so that we can regain our health. This is a significant shift from the use of an antibiotic to kill a specific bacterium with the aim of eliminating it completely.
Though not much to relish, doctors have developed the technique of transplanting a healthy person’s fecal bacteria into the sick person’s colon to cure some of the diseases. Some swallow the eggs of round worms to get a remission of certain colon related diseases. Urrghhhh!
It is not only the physical health but also our mental well being depends quite a bit on the bacteria in our body. A very recent scientific report says: “Friendly intestinal bacteria not only keep the gut happy, they may help keep their host happy, too. Mice fed broth fortified with a type of friendly intestinal bacteria called Lactobacillus rhamnosus behaved less anxiously than mice fed broth without this bacteria. Those behavior changes were accompanied by differences in levels of a brain-chemical sensor and stress hormones. The bacteria telegraph these brain-chemical and behavior-changing messages via the vagus nerve, which connects the brain stem to various internal organs.” Thus our behavior also gets influenced by the changes in the bacterial population we carry in our GI tract. The Indians from the southern parts of the country knew it for long – their meals end with curds and rice. The Gujaratis take lot of buttermilk. No wonder these are the least fiery people in the country (usually though)!
There is a large bundle of nerves (about 100 million neurons) present in our GI tract to the extent that it acquired the sobriquet of “Second Brain.” About 90 percent of the fibers in the primary visceral nerve, the vagus, carry information from the gut to the brain and not the other way. Now that so many bacteria live in such a close proximity of the second brain, it is no wonder that the bacteria exert such an influence on our moods and mental health. Thus bacteria are not all about processing what we eat. We may, however, appreciate that the second brain is not the seat of any conscious thoughts or decision-making. “The second brain doesn’t help with the great thought processes…religion, philosophy and poetry is left to the brain in the head,” according to Dr. Michael Gershon, an expert in the nascent field of neurogastroenterology.
All in all to name man as an individual, an independent living entity, is hardly possible. His physical health or mental health, his moods and behavior reflect the effect of several life forms that he carries with him. He is a samaShTi jIva rather than being a vyaShTi. You are not obviously merely the body and the mind; you also constitute the creatures in you as well!
(To Continue: WHO IS THE JIVA? – 3. Holy cow and sattvic food)
