Why abdominal touch after meals?Why Shatapavali?Why should we lie on the left side?
Why abdominal touch after meals?
After eating, the following verse is recited while touching the stomach:
अगस्त्यं कुम्भकर्णं च शनिं च वडवानलम् ।
आहार परिपाकाम स्मरेद् भीमं च पञ्चकम् ॥
Agastya, Kumbhakarna, Saturn and Vadavanala were also worshipped.
If one desires to cook food, one should remember the five elements of Bhīma.
Agastya Muni who ate the entire ocean in just three aachamanas, Kumbhakarna who took tremendous food and digested it well, Saturn who bent the great powers and deprived man of everything, Vadvanal who burnt the entire forest in an instant and Bhima who was very hungry by remembering them food is digested very well. There is another miracle of this shloka. Reciting this shloka while eating food increases the quantity of food. But if this shloka is recited after eating food, then digestion of food becomes easy.
Why Shatapavali?
In the context of Shatapavali, the scripture says: Bhuktva shatapadam gacchet. That is, walk 100 steps after eating. The following verse is given in 'Ayurveda' on this subject: The life span of a man who is running around is death. That is, sitting in the same place after eating leads to obesity. A person who walks after eating increases in age and one who runs or runs approaches death.
When the food in the stomach is contaminated or angry in some way, many deadly diseases arise. To stay away from these, the only action that makes stomach food digestible is to walk with slow steps. This is called doing Shatapavali.
Why should we lie on the left side?
Like Shatapavali, it is also necessary to lie on the left side after eating. This is also called Vaamkukshi. It provides unique benefits. In this regard, the scriptures say - Vaamparshvena Samvishet. That is, after eating, lie down for some time facing the left side.
There are three reasons behind this - first, food remaining in the stomach for some time is beneficial for the body. Due to the contraction and expansion of the stomach, the food becomes liquid and enters the next passage. This helps in proper digestion. The second reason is - when all the food goes to the front part of the stomach, the food exerts pressure on the contraction-expansion area located on its left side. This pressure does not occur by sleeping on the right side. The third reason is - the Surya Nadi 'Pingala' keeps flowing from the left nostril and the Chandra Nadi 'Ida' keeps flowing from the right nostril. Pingala keeps flowing by sleeping on the right side and Ida keeps flowing by sleeping on the left side. It is very important for Pingala Swara to function for the digestion of food. Therefore, after eating, sleep on the left side for at least one hour and 24 minutes.
