Vd. Chaitanya S Badami

About Me

Namaste! I am Vd. Chaitanya S Badami, BAMS, MD.

Before telling you about myself, I would like to share one incident that continues to disturb me. Nalanda University was home to some of the greatest scholars of all time — and we all know how it was ruined by invaders. It is said that its library burned for four months.

Why do I tell you this story? We had ample knowledge which the world couldn't digest in a lifetime. Gaining knowledge is one aspect; preserving it is another. We have already lost many of our Shastra, and we can't afford to lose many more. So I am on a mission to preserve our Shastra so that coming generations may benefit from it. I completed my BAMS and MD (RSBK) from SDM Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Hassan, Karnataka.

In order to preserve the Shastra, I have authored some books. My focus is also on aesthetics — when a book is well printed, a reader has a little more chance of taking interest in it. I once ordered the Chakradatta along with its commentary, and the print was so poor that I could barely understand anything. That's when I decided aesthetics matters too, and I have followed that principle in my own books. Sanskrit also cannot be easily translated into English — the language carries a depth that superficial translation cannot do justice to. That's why most of my books retain Sanskrit words in Sanskrit itself.

I am also a teacher, and I try to help students understand the importance of reading the Shastra — because they are the torch-bearers responsible for carrying this knowledge forward.

AI is shaping the world. Whether we like it or not, those who use it are moving ahead. I am consistently trying to integrate AI with Ayurveda so we can understand it more efficiently — doing things faster and easier, with good accuracy. It isn't easy to match the intellect of our ancient Acharyas, but we can at least try to analyze what they said using AI, and use technology to show the modern world that we were often first to say certain things — if not all things.

Astrology is another Shastra deeply integrated with Ayurveda. A combination of the two would create wonders — they have always been linked, but modern education has weakened that connection, and I am now trying to rebuild it. It isn't just Ayurveda; the entire system of Hindu Shastra fascinates me — Vastu Shastra, the Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads — all of it holds influence over us and has much to tell. We are only taking baby steps toward understanding it all.

Protect, Understand, Practice and Propagate our Shastra.

Thank you.
— Vd. Chaitanya S Badami, BAMS, MD