Dhanvantari

About Dhanvantari

Dhanvantari rose from the churning ocean holding a kalasha — the pot of amrita, the nectar that made the gods immortal. His prayers picture him deep blue as a fresh rain cloud, four-armed, carrying the conch and the Aushadhachakra, the 'wheel of medicines.' He is Vishnu's healing form, named Vaidyaraja, king of physicians. His stotram teaches an unusual practice: visualize him as a cool moon-disc inside your head, pouring nectar down through brow, throat, heart and navel to destroy ignorance, sorrow, fear and disease. Ayurvedic doctors invoke him before treatment. Households worship him on Dhanteras, the day he appeared.