Sadguru (Dr) Vasant Balaji Athavale was a renowned Paediatrician. He founded the Paediatrics Department in 1959 in Lokmanya Tilak Mahanagarpalika Hospital, Mumbai. He was Professor and Head of this Department from 1960 to 1990. He was the Chairman of the 'International Conference on Alternative Medicine' seminar in Bangkok in 1980. In 1996, He received the international honour for the 'Best author of books on Ayurveda'. In 2001 & in 2012 respectively, He was honoured with the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in an International conference on 'Ayurveda and Hepatic Disorders' and by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics.

1. The journey from being a seeker to becoming a disciple

A. Having the quality of selflessness and the attitude of sacrifice, which are essential for spiritual practice : Sadguru Vaidyacharya (Dr) Vasant Balaji Athavale started noting down higher level philosophical thoughts on Spirituality in 1980. He toiled day and night to create a vast treasure of knowledge on Spirituality. He donated this treasure to Sanatan Sanstha (to become Sanatan's Texts) in 1990. This sacrifice, before He became a Saint indicates the level of His spiritual practice & seekership. Due to His writings, Sanatan's Texts are now becoming inclusive in the true sense.

B. In 2004, He became Paratpar Guru (Dr) Athavale's disciple (A great Saint who is also His younger brother and is the Founder of Sanatan Sanstha, the world-renowned spiritual organisation).

2. Attaining Sainthood

On 16.12.2012, He reached Sainthood due to His spiritual emotion, intense yearning, an inquisitive nature & humility.

A. Sadguru Vaidyacharya (Dr) Vasant Athavale attained Saint-hood by performing spiritual practice through various Paths of Spirituality : Every person performs spiritual practice as per some path of Spirituality, becomes introverted, progresses spiritually and thus moves towards Sainthood. However, Dr Vasant Athavale attained Sainthood through Karmayoga (Path of Action) by serving the patients, Dnyanyoga (Path of Knowledge) by writing Holy texts, Bhaktiyoga (Path of Devotion) and Gurukrupayoga (Path of Guru's grace) by performing spiritual practice as per all these Paths.

3. Active in seva for Sanatan's mission until His last breath

Sadguru (Dr) Vasant Athavale kept performing satseva for Sanatan's mission until His last breath. When He came to know of Divine particles found in Sanatan's Ashram, He inquisitively studied the subject, contemplated on how to conduct research on this topic from a scientific perspective and gave His own suggestions too.

He renounced His body on 9.11.2013 at the age of 80 years.

The co-author, Dr Kamlesh V Athavale, ie is the son of Sadguru (Dr) VB Athavale. He has achieved success in examinations of M.D. (Paediatrics), D.N.B., M.N.A.M.S. (India) and F.A.A.P. (Paediatrics and Neonatology, USA). He is working as a Neonatologist at Duke University Medical Centre (USA). He is also Director of Neonatology at Nash General Hospital.

Modern medical science studied various constituents of human body as well as constituents of food (nutrients) that nurture human body in detail, and provided us in-depth information on the proportion and functions of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water in all the nutrients.

Ayurveda, on the other hand, has conducted in-depth study of the qualities of each food item and has gone a step ahead and studied their subtle effects on the doshas of Vata, Pitta and Kapha; the seven tissues (plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone marrow, nerves and reproductive tissues); and organs such as heart, brain, etc.

Ayurveda gives as much importance or rather greater importance to diet than medicines; this is precisely the reason why a Vaidya (Ayurveda Doctor) lays greater emphasis on dietary norms for maintaining health in case of general people and for recovery in case of patients. The logic is simple. As medication we take just one spoonful of syrup or a tablet; in comparison, our meal is quantitatively enormous. Ayurveda has identified and categorized the medicinal properties of food items and elaborated on their qualities.

Readers will get detailed information on all the categories in this Text as well as in the Text 'Medicinal properties of food grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits and spices', in this series. For in-depth knowledge of Dietetics, both the Texts are worth reading. These Texts are beneficial for not just Vaidyas, doctors and students, but for every individual. If one plans his/her diet after studying these Texts, he/she will be able to savour a long, healthy, constructive and happy life.

Our heartfelt prayer at the Holy feet of Deity of Annarasa, Bhagawan Shri Vishnu is - 'May everyone be blessed with the best form of food and thus, they get the taste of Brahmarasa and Bliss; so also, may reading and implementing the advised Dietetics help all evolve physically, psychologically and spiritually.