Retelling by DKM Kartha
काले मित हित भोजी, कृत चङ्क्रमण: क्रमेण वामशय: |
अविधृत मूत्र पुरीषः स्त्रीषु यतात्मा च यो नरः सोऽरुक् ||
kālē mita hita bhōjī, kr̥ta caṅkramaṇa: kramēṇa vāmaśaya: |
avidhr̥ta mūtra purīṣaḥ strīṣu yatātmā ca yō naraḥ sō’ruk ||
There is medical practitioner family in Kerala who worship the aSvini dEva-s as their family deity: the Alattoor nampi-s. They are BraahamaNa-s and have been Ayurvaidika-s for centuries.
There is a story about how the Twin Doctors of the Gods became the family deity of Alattoor nampi-s.
One day the oldest Alattoor nampi was going for his daily worship to the Siva temple in the village known as Vaidya Holy Temple as the Siva Vaidyanaatha, the Deity there, was believed to be a Healer of the faithful!
The nampi was passing by a huge aSvattha tree spreading vastly on the path, and he saw two birds on a branch who looked like a pair or a twin.
Suddenly one of them chirped and it sounded like: कोऽरुक् कोऽरुक् कोऽरुक् ?
And the second in the pair repeated: कोऽरुक् ? कोऽरुक् ? कोऽरुक् ?
Kō’ruk can be a bird sound, but it can also mean: who is without sickness or what is the way to becoming free of illness?
The eminent doctor took it as a question, but he had no answer and he went to the Siva VaidyanAtha temple thinking about it and reciting Siva nAmaAvali, and did his pooja-s and asked SRee ParamESvara for an answer silently in his prayer.
On the Doctor's way back home, the birds were waiting on the same tree on the same branch. The repeated the chirping:
Taking it to be a question delving into the secrets of health, the nampi opened his mouth and out came the following SlOkam as a miracle of his faith and Lord VaidyanAtha’s blessing:
काले मित हित भोजी, कृत चङ्क्रमण: क्रमेण वामशय: |
अविधृत मूत्र पुरीषः स्त्रीषु यतात्मा च यो नरः सोऽरुक् ||
“A person who eats at regular times meals which are good for his health in moderate quantities; a person who does moderate exercise; a person who sleeps on the left side at the right time; a person who does not suppress his reflexes such as urination and defecation; a person who has self control in matters of sexual relations — this type of a person will be always free of illness.”
The pair of birds followed the famous Vaidya to his home as if they liked his answer and disappeared above the Illam (Nampoothiri house).
SRee nampi, impressed by the miracle, decided to construct a temple in the honor of those two birds, whom he took as the Twin Deities aSvini — the Divine Healers who had followed him to his home in approval of his answer to their question: Who is free of illness ?
Believers think that the medical family of Alatoor nampi-s have the twin blessings of Lord Vaidyanaatha and the Twin Deities of AyuRvEdam -- the aSvini-s. And they still throng to the doctors seeking the blessing of healing.
Note: There is a similar story involving the great Charaka (compiler of the Charaka-samhita) or VAgbhaTTa where the SlOkam goes --
कोऽरुक् ? कोऽरुक् ? कोऽरुक् ?
हितभुक्, मितभुक्, जितेन्द्रियो, नियतः |
कोऽरुक् ? कोऽरुक् ? कोऽरुक् ?
शतपदगामी च वामशायी च ||