by Alakananda Devi (Alakananda Ma), M.B., B.S. (Lond.)
Tulsi's your special servant; his heart's your abode
Yet, God, he seems to have a surfeit of suffering.
This limb pain's like a wild creeper, so seize
It's spreading roots in monkey play and yank them out!
Whether from my own sins, or just the triple-torment of this world,
Or someone else's curse, this arm pain's passed expression or endurance.
I've tried every tonic, spells, talismans,
Propitiated a whole herd of gods--all in vain.
Tulsidas, Hanuman Bahuk(1)
As vividly portrayed by Tusidas, one of North India's greatest poets and a fibromyalgia sufferer in his later life, the causation of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is unknown and there is likewise no known cure. FMS is widely understood as a yapya condition--one that cannot be cured and yet is not fatal. FMS sufferers may make up a disproportionate amount of the Ayurvedic practitioner's caseload because the lack of effective biomedical treatment, combined with the severity of the suffering involved, often drives patients with FMS to seek out alterative care.
