Ayurveda and Discursive Formations between Religion, Medicine and Embodiment

Abstract

This article examines the discursive formations of Ayurveda as a healing practice that is entangled between religion and medicine, along with its potential for religious embodiment. Looking at the historical development of Ayurveda in Germany and its treatment by different academic disciplines, the article addresses the positions of Ayurveda practitioners in relation to religion and medicine, showing how this affects them and the potential for religious embodiment in the interactions and relationship between practitioner and patient. In this regard, the doctrine of the Doshas in Ayurveda plays a crucial role in its representation as the epitome of holistic healing. It will be shown that the notion of religious embodiment and the positions of the practitioners are constantly involved in processes of negotiation correlated with flexibility of positioning within the discursive field constituted by Ayurveda, religion, and medicine. 1