According to the priest, the sufferer – like so many other patients who come to see
the local gods – does not take proper care of his body. It has been argued that, in
Hindu contexts, a correlation is made between one’s bodily state, bodily discipline,
and the moral and ritual condition of the person, in particular the right of the person
to enter into relations with deities (e.g. Parry 1989). The words quoted above indicate
a vicious circle: the loss of self-discipline by people in Garhwal prevents them from
being in the state of ritual purity that is needed to perform worship and maintain a
close relationship with deities, and, as a result, the gods no longer support or heal
them. This, in turn, will contribute to the weakening of people’s bodies, enhancing
their need for constant repair by the biomedical system. The body is here taken both
as the mirror of, and the possible agent for, a reform of this state of affairs.