The Dravidian varman model
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Chinese acupuncture similarities to Ayurvedic and Dravidian theories of varman
- The three marman - basti, hridaya and sthapani - correlate with the Chinese points on Ren and Du mai. These points are guanyuan (Ren4), shangzhong (Ren17) and yintang (Du24.5) respectively (see Figure 1 right). These three points are important energy centres in Chinese theory. They are significant in Daoist health exercises, as well as Chinese martial arts and alchemy, and play an important role in Chinese acupuncture.
- There appear to be similarities between the Dravidian concept of the three primary channels “supporting the 12 padu channels” and the Chinese idea of the three primary (ancestral) channels of Ren mai, Chong mai and Du mai, “giving rise to the 12 channels of the body”:
Chong mai and Ren mai originate from the inside of the uterus, a branch rises up in front of the spine, making the ocean of the twelve meridians
(Huang Di Neijing Lingshu, Chapter 65, quoted by Matsumoto and Birch, 1986, p 31).
The Chinese believe that the three channels of Chong mai, Ren mai and Du mai originate from an ancestral (prenatal) source and are interrelated:
This is why we can say the Du mai, Ren mai and Chong mai have different names but are all the same (Wang Bing; quoted from the Nei Jing Jie Po Sheng Li Xue; Matsumoto and Birch, 1986, p 17).
Similarly, the Dravidian view of the 12 padu varman is that they are manifested from the three energies (kalai) (see Table 1), which are believed to have a single origin - universal prana. An apparent correlation between the two systems of Chinese and Indian theory regarding the origin of the channels is presented (see Table 2) and their location on the human body with a comparison to Chinese acupoints (see Table 3).
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