In Memoriam: Dr. med. Prafull Gajanan Vijayakar

(August 4, 1952 – December 17, 2020)
Jay Yasgur, RPh, MSc

“He will be reborn as a homeopath.”*

Dr. Prafull Gajanan Vijayakar, the “The Lion of Homoeopathy” and founder of the Predictive Homeopathy methodological approach to our healing art, crossed the threshold on the 17th day of December 2020, of a COVID-19 related illness. He was 68. Prafull’s name is full of meaning. Prafull derives from the Sanskrit term meaning ‘cheerful,’ ‘smiling,’ ‘pleasing’ or ‘blooming,’ pointing to a life which produced many blossoms—in his case, homeopathic knowledge. Gajanan, another name for Lord Ganesha, the Indian deity of Knowledge, Wisdom and a discriminating intellect. His last name is a compounded one consisting of Vijay meaning success or victory, and kar, or hands. It is with the hands that we become proficient and productive in life, thus ‘successful with the hands.’

After his medical degree, which he took from the Bombay Homoeopathic Medical College, Prafull started his practice in the hospital setting. He soon left that to turn, with heart and soul, to his own private practice of classical homeopathy, which he began in 1974.

This ‘master of the cure for the incurables,’ found no case too difficult to accept and, in seminar after seminar, proved that. Over a number of years, the United States homeopathic professional medical association, American Institute of Homoeopathy (AIH) sponsored Vijayakar seminars to glowing accolades by attendees. The Summer 2014 issue of the American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine, the organ of the AIH (formerly called the Journal of the American Institute of Homoeopathy), carried a review of that year’s seminar. Along the way, numerous articles appeared such as the interview conducted by Rajesh Bhide (‘Go Back to the Future! An Interview with Dr. Prafull Vijayakar,’ Homoeopathic Links, 22:3, pp. 161-163, 2009) in which Prafull comments:

“My addition to Hering’s law of cure would be that cure should take place from the more destructive miasm to the less destructive miasm. This indicator helps me enormously in judging the direction of symptoms. I will explain with a simple example. If I am treating a patient of hemiplegia (a syphilitic pathology) and after a few weeks the patient starts developing diabetes mellitus (sycotic), I will not interfere since I know it’s going in the right direction. I expect the psoric symptoms to come up in a few weeks, as for instance, skin eruptions or, at the mental level, anxiety … “ – p. 163.1

It has been suggested that Rajan Sankaran was the first to refer to him as the “The Lion of Homoeopathy”:

“Dr. Vijayakar presented ‘Management of Acute Cases’ [during the 15th All India Homoeopathic Scientific Seminar, December 2007, in Rajkot, Gujrat, India], a series of cases with miraculous evidence. If I am not mistaken, it was during this seminar where Dr. Rajan Sankaran, a co-speaker of the session, called him “The Lion of Homoeopathy.” The delegates were in such awe that it was difficult for him to come out of [the] auditorium due to being thronged. The beeline of excited students wished to see, ask and simply be near the source of such knowledge and inspiration.” – Dr Piyush Joshi (p. 26).

His methodology was outlined in a series of books, the first being Predictive Homeopathic Series, Part 1: The Theory of Suppression. This book explained his ‘7 layers of  suppression’ concept of how disease is suppressed and how homeopaths can check their work and alter treatment when necessary. It was awarded the ‘Vidyeshwari  Pratishthan Scientist Award’ in 1998. Other books in this series include, Part 2: The Theory of Acutes, Part 3: The End of Myasmtion of Miasms, Part 4: Homeopathy and Modern Science, and Part 5: Verbatim.

It is not known if Dr. Vijayakar knew of or was influenced by a similar work conducted by the noted German homeopathic physician Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg (1905-1985) in the middle of the last century. Vijayakar produced a Chart of Suppression which is very similar to Dr. Reckeweg’s Table of Homotoxicosis. It can be said with certainty, however, that Reckeweg did not follow the classical approach as did Vijayakar.2,3,4,5 In 2004, he established his first ‘camp’ called ‘Hope for the Hopeless,’ in which he and his medical colleagues offered free consultations to thousands during the two-week gathering:

“I have attended a number of the Free Camps called ‘Hope for the Hopeless’.“At every camp there used to be at [least] 1,000 patients. He was God to the patient’s (sic) parents of autistic children. The results at these camps were stunning. People never missed their dates of the quarterly camps. Medicines, too, were given free. He was a true legend with a high level of spiritual knowledge, which he blended with scientific solutions! Such people are born once in a century!” – Atyam Ramesh Mohan, www.homeobook.com/dr-prafull-vijayakar-the-legend-homoeopath-passed-away/ (accessed March 2, 2021).

In 2007, he started a camp in Ghatkopar, a suburb of Mumbai. This particular camp became so popular that by 2020 it was serving 2000-2500 patients at no charge. At these camps he assembled a number of homeopathic doctors and other health care workers who gave of their talents quite willingly.

As you may know, the guru-student relationship is an important form of sustenance and inspiration within the Indian sub-continent’s many cultures. This aspect, despite sometimes possessing some negative aspects, is an important and nearly essential one. It exists in varied forms and within many disciplines, homeopathy included. Many looked to Prafull as a spiritual mentor, guru or perhaps guardian. They recognized in his soul that which brought supplemental healing messages in addition to what he brought homeopathically. I wanted to be sure to mention this point as Vijayakar attained that ‘guru’ status. He spoke with great authority and touched people, and homeopathy was but one of those ways in which he did so. Many, as you can imagine, just wanted to be in his presence. We can all relate to this, don’t you think?

Be that as it may, Prafull was a beacon and a reminder that we, too, can strive to that ideal. A simple, positive word said with authority and conviction can move people and help to forge paths. It may sound mundane and worn, but that encouraging word spoken to the person before us does inspire and ripple forth, sending profound and influential messages.

What follows are several examples of that reverential attitude expressed in the memorial book:

‘I was fortunate to touch his feet many times to express my friendship, love and reverence. I believe that this great soul will remain a ‘light house,’ giving “hope for the hopeless cases”.’ – Dr C. J. Varghese (p. 15); ‘Dr Vijayakar’s presence will always be there in the form of his thousands of disciples. His legacy will continue seamlessly. I can only say that such a Soul rarely visits the Earth and we will continue to see and feel Dr. Hahnemann through him…’ – Dr B. S. Johri (p. 31); ‘I have perceived in him Spiritual, Philosophical and Philanthropic attitude, Conscious, Conscience and Confidence, Benevolence, Guru in all senses, highly Sensitive and Sensible and full of positive Energy within him… [Prafull during his life received the blessings of a number of spiritual saints; e.g., Swami Gajananbaba of Sehgao Maharashtra, Swami Samarth of Sholapur and Mehar Baba of Amravati, etc., photos, of which, graced the walls of his study] … I could sense blessings of these great saints on him when I used to visit and sit with him during consultations.’ – Dr Kishore N. Mehta (p. 34); ‘He is like a PARAS (paras patthar; a touchstone; one who offers profound insights into ethics, metaphysics and other topics of import to the inquisitive), whoever came in his contact, their life became of gold.’ – Dr. Sapana Gandhi (p. 43); ‘He was a father figure to me, inaugurated and entrusted to me his Predictive Homoeopathy clinic branch to handle. I cannot thank him enough, and I am totally indebted to Sir. He helped me strive for goals. I found guidance, a wealth of knowledge, discipline and love, in one person, Dr Prafull Sir …’ – Dr Harleen S. Kaur (p. 42).

Despite being ever busy, he found time to initiate an organization, “Predictive Homoeopathy Women Channel Partner.” Its aim was to offer both financial and emotional support to those women practitioners who were struggling during the initial phases of their homeopathic careers.

“Homeopathy is such a divine science, that it’s not we who choose to be homeopaths, but it’s homeopathy which chooses us.” – Prafull Vijayakar

Nota bene:

Much of the material for this obituary was gleaned from the Prafull Vijayakar Memorial Book 2021, an 88-page tribute book published as a special issue of the National Journal of Homoeopathy, an Indian homeopathic journal. Mr. Yasgur wishes to thank Dr. Ankur Desai (Vadodara, Gujrat, India) for his kind assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.

End Notes

1. In a later article, ‘Mathematical Certainty of Homeopathy: Embryology and Miasms’ (Homoeopathic Links, 23:3, pp. 146-148, Autumn 2010), Dr. Bhide presents more of Vijayakar’s ideas in order ‘to better understand The Organon and Hering’s law of cure.’ Dr. med Karl Koenig, the founder of the Camphill Movement was deeply immersed in a variety of subjects. During his early, formative years, he became an expert in embryology and lectured, throughout his life, on that subject and its relationship to the evolution of our world and of the cosmos. During the years 1968-9 his lengthy essay, ‘Embryology and World Evolution,’ was serialized in the British Homoeopathic Journal. If so interested, one might be able to find it in its entirety on the internet. For further information about Koenig consult the everhelpful site: www.karlkoeniginstitute.org/en/index.asp
2. Dr. med Thomas J. Weihs, one of Koenig’s most important inheritors, also made an important contribution, Embryogenesis in Myth and Science (1986; foreword by John Davy). Along this line, do consider the work of Jaap van der Wal, PhD, MD, who is an associate professor for anatomy and embryology at the University of Maastricht, Holland. In his ‘The Embryo in Motion’ series of DVD talks, he discusses a myriad of topics including medical anthropology and embryology from a phenomenological and spiritual viewpoint. His approach explores human prenatal development, showing how biology expresses the essence of human spiritual enfoldment. “Understanding the Stages of Development is a Foundation for Therapeutic Recognition of Embryological Forces in All Later Stages of Life.”–www.portlandbranch.net/embryo-dvds. Also, www.Embryo.Nl/814-Dvds-And-Webinars-EN
3. Homotoxicology is the name given to a body of work, a type of ‘bioregulatory medicine,’ which attempts to integrate information provided by the basic medical sciences with homeopathic principles in order to create a greater understanding of health and disease, as well as remedies with more specific curative activities. It was developed by the German physician and homeopath, Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, in the mid 20th-century, circa 1948.
4. Reckeweg developed his Table of Homotoxicosis, which could be considered a ‘flow-chart’ helping the practitioner to understand disease and treatment based upon the different phases in which the client finds himself.
5. For a more detailed explanation read Dr. Reckeweg’s opus Homotoxicology (1948) and his Homotoxicology: Illness and Healing Through Anti-Homotoxic Therapy (1980). Also of use are Dr. David Riley’s An Introduction to Homotoxicology (1992), C. F. Claussen’s Homotoxicology (1994), and Ivo Bianchi’s Principles of Homotoxicology (1989). Probably the most complete text on the subject is the Introduction to Bioregulatory Medicine by Smit, O’Byrne, van Brandt, Bianchi and Kuestermann (2009; this work contains a large poster-style version of the Disease Evolution Table).
6. Other anecdotes include:

   “Once he was treating a paralyzed patient who was brought in a wheelchair by relatives, and during the interview with him it was known that patient was a spiritual master from a small town of Maharashtra. This patient used to heal large numbers of people of his town and was very famous.

   “Dr Prafull after hearing his life story told him to leave his activity of healing people. The patient was surprised as to how he can stop such activity where everyday hundreds of patients are in a long queue waiting for hours to receive his blessings? Dr Prafull explained to him how the spiritual energy that this patient gained through Yogic Sadhana [one’s spiritual practice] is getting diminished since he had no time to refill that energy by continuous Sadhana. In doing so, he utilized much more energy than what was in store. This had a detrimental effect on his body. Becoming paralyzed was the reflection of overuse of his Spiritual Energy that he possessed. In fact, his spiritual energy was exhausting and made him paralyzed as a defense mechanism to conserve his spiritual energy. It was a signal to pause his activity. What a great insight that Dr. Prafull could perceive and delivered to paralyzed Spiritual Guru.” – Dr Kishore N. Mehta (pp. 32,3).

   “He not only taught us Homoeopathy, but a way of living. He always asked us to be a good human being first and then a doctor. To be compassionate with patients, work with [our] conscience. In his Hope for Hopeless camps, he treated thousands of patients successfully with the same spirit, ever smiling face. I still remember after every camp he would ask us all, ‘Are you tired? Or can you still see patients?’ and the whole crowd would say, ‘No Sir, we are full of energy.’ It is all because of him what we are today; we are able to help mankind. On my first day he told us—‘learn by heart not by brain’ and now I can realize why. He has given us reason for our existence and showed us the right and perfect path, which always gives a sense of satisfaction…” – Dr Neha Banga (p. 41).

About the Author: Jay Yasgur, MSc, is a pharmacist, author and homeopathic consultant who has written many book reviews, articles  and his “Yasgur’s Homeopathic Dictionary and Holistic Health Reference” is a popular (on Amazon).He has produced and edited several other works, e.g., :Some Clinical Experiences of E. E. Case,” “111 Great Homeopaths,” “The Dunham Lectures of Kent,” “Homoeopathic Materia Medica for Nurses” (B. C. Woodbury, Jr.), Glen Dupree’s “Homeopathic Thesaurus, etc.” Mr. Yasgur was the first to offer an accredited homeopathy continuing education program for pharmacists in the US. Mr. Yasgur’s next edition (5th) of his Dictionary will be published later this year.

Reminiscences on Prafull Vijayakar: Cases and Teaching
Karl Robinson, MD

I was one of the first American homeopaths to study with Prafull Vijayakar. It was a giddy experience being around him and watching him prescribe. He so impressed me that I flew to Mumbai twice a year, each time for two weeks, and did so for five years.

Later on, I persuaded the American Institute of Homeopathy to invite him and his cadre of teachers to come to the U.S., and thus began a year-long course held in Newark, N.J.

I’ll never forget that first day in Mumbai. I arrived at his clinic late morning. He was already seeing patients and he kept on until 1 or 2 a.m. I was exhausted and delirious with happiness for it appeared that most of the patients were getting better. I knew then I had found a great homeopath.

He was a remarkable prescriber. One of his young homeopaths would present the case. PV would listen, interrupt the presenter, ask the patient a few questions, put two or three rubrics into the computer, ask a few more questions, and then prescribe. He rarely took more than three rubrics.

He lived by two things:

1. The Repertory. I never saw him use or refer to a materia medica, and he once told me he had little use for Boericke. He loved the repertory and used it masterfully.
2. Miasms. PV said there were only three miasms, Psora, Sycosis and Syphilis. No tubercular miasm for him, let alone the additions that Rajan Sankaran proposed. He averred that if the three miasms Hahnemann wrote about were quite enough for Hahnemann, then they were enough for him. For PV, a cure proceeded from syphilis to sycosis to psora, as well as from above downward and from within outward. If it occurred otherwise, he said it could not be a true cure, perhaps a palliation or, worse, a suppression. He also wrote and taught about embryology and integrated his understanding of embryology into homeopathy.

He had many innovative and interesting insights into homeopathy, and I once asked him what was his secret. He said much information came to him through dreams.

I will mention just a few of the notable things I learned from PV:

1. Carcinosin is like a bonsai plant, carefully cropped and shaped by her parents.
2. Apis is the queen bee; wants other bees to work hard for her.

   Dominating. Positive.

   When eggs are laid only 3 or 4 queens will be born out of thousands. They mature faster. They make a strange sound. If the hive is left to itself, only one will come out and will kill the other three queens. A woman who was prescribed Apis feared that if she gave away part of her business, she would lose it all. So, she maintained firm control over her company and never allowed an employee to rise too high.

   Comparing Apis with Lachesis: Lachesis is timid. Apis is not timid. Lachesis is manipulative. Apis never shows off. “My work will speak for itself,” is her attitude.

   Apis: Queen bee; Industrious; Makes others work for her; Dominating; Positive; Extroverted; Hot + Thirsty.

3. After the correct medicine is given, certain parameters will increase before returning to normal. Thus, one can expect in hypertension the pressure to go up and then down later on; in kidney disease the BUN and creatinine to rise and later fall; in diabetes, the blood glucose to go up before it falls.
4. Case of a child (told by PV) born with severe impairments (what exactly I do not know). He was able to take food and put it into his mouth. The curious thing was that if food was placed on the table in front of this child, he would not bother to pick it up. But if someone placed the food in the palm of his hand, he would then put it in his mouth and eat it. PV took the rubric, Initiative, lack of, + intolerance of tight clothes + hot = Lachesis. Now this child is much better and can almost walk without help.
5. If a patient ever smoked cigarettes, PV said you can rule out Ignatia because Ignatia cannot stand the smell of tobacco.
6. Brief comments on Chocolate: They tend to be: Political, Caring. I asked for an example of “political” behavior. PV said that if this patient, a small girl, was eating  something and her mother or father approached, she would say, “This is very spicy,” implying that her mother or father would not like it and therefore she would not have to share!
7. Thuja in a small girl. Rubric: Reaction, lack of. In her case, if someone tickled her, she would laugh a few seconds later. Also, very cautious and never took physical risks.
8. A boy around eleven came in with his mother. She said that he could become interested in absolutely anything and play with it or fiddle with it or examine it for quite a long time. Also, despite being intelligent, he was not at all interested in his studies.

   PV comment: He thinks rags are riches. He can see fabulous possibilities in things others find uninteresting or trivial.

   KR’s comment: Part of PV’s brilliance was that he could take a rubric like “Thinks rags are fine as old silk,”—Sulphur—and use it in contexts that most of us would never think of.

I filled notebooks with jottings from cases I saw and comments PV made. He was an impressive man, brimming with charisma, and his students, all of whom had completed their formal medical training, adored him. He was not only a great prescriber but also a captivating lecturer.

He took pains to answer all my many questions and he treated me as an honored guest. It was exciting to be around Prafull, and I am one of hundreds who remain grateful for what he taught.

I shall miss him.

– Karl Robinson, MD, is a former editor of the then named Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, founder and past-president of the Texas Society of Homeopathy. His school, Homeopathic School of the Americas, has been in operation since 2004 in El Salvador and Guatemala. He also practices in both Houston and Albuquerque.

Dr Prafull Vijayakar: My Personal Reflections
Irene Sebastian, MD, PhD, DHt

Upon learning of the passing of Dr. Prafull Vijayakar on December 17, 2020, I felt great sadness. In June 2012, through the generosity of Dr. Karl Robinson, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in his clinic in Mumbai, India. During my visit, I saw many extraordinary cases. The case that impressed me the most was that of a 9-year-old boy who had been born with microcephaly. Prior to homeopathic treatment, the child was blind, unable to understand language or speak or walk, incontinent of bowel and bladder, and he shrieked often. He began homeopathic treatment 9 months prior to the follow-up visit for which I was present. After taking two doses of the indicated homeopathic medicine (Opium), his brain and skull enlarged to normal size, the opacity covering his eyes was clearing, he could now comprehend and speak, and he had learned to walk and was no longer incontinent. Speaking with his parents and seeing their overwhelming joy was heartwarming.

Dr. Vijayakar was well-known for his astute perceptions of behavior. I met one patient who had been previously cured when suffering from rectal cancer. While trying to walk into Dr. Vijayakar’s office, he could not walk further due to the severity of the pain. When Dr. Vijayakar went to the hallway to see the patient, he noticed that the man attempted to smile but also had a tear in his eye. Dr. Vijayakar immediately prescribed Ignatia 200C, which was curative. When Dr. Vijayakar was in New Orleans for the AIH annual conference in 2014, my sister and I took him on a tour of the city after the seminar. After several hours, he pulled me aside, and told me that my sister needed a particular homeopathic medicine— he said, “Look at the way she talks, the way she gestures, and all the jewelry.” It was a homeopathic medicine that neither I nor the other homeopathic colleagues had ever considered. Years later, she had a stroke that caused expressive aphasia, and it is the homeopathic medicine recommended by Dr. Vijayakar that has led to marked improvement of that condition.

While observing in Dr. Vijayakar’s clinic, what was surprising to me was his frequent discussion of pathology (as well as all the medical sciences). He often referred to Robbins’ Pathology textbook when teaching about the pathology of a patient’s ailments, and he knew which homeopathic medicines had the capacity to cure patients with such pathology. His understanding of pathology (as well as other medical sciences) is very apparent in his book Predictive Homeopathy Part 1: Theory of Suppression.

On my first day in the clinic (which opened at 9 a.m.), I was struck by the generosity of Dr. Vijayakar—despite having many patients in the waiting room at all times and routinely working until 9-10 p.m. (and occasionally as late as 1a.m.), he did not hesitate to explain cases to those of us who were observing. Dr. Vijayakar’s generosity was also very apparent with his Help for the Helpless, Hope for the Hopeless camps. For these camps, Dr. Vijayakar arranged for physicians’ travel to various rural areas in India one day each month. During these camps, approximately 1000 seriously ill children were treated pro bono.

What also caught my attention about Dr. Prafull was his honesty. In his books as well as his clinic, he talked openly about his failures in the treatment of patients—and he also talked about what he learned from the failures. I also saw this same openness and honesty in his son, Dr. Ambrish Vijayakar, as well as Dr. Prafull Borkar and other physicians in the clinic. I wish that I had had more opportunity to study under him and his colleagues, and I am deeply thankful that I had the opportunity to get to know him. His passing is a great loss for the homeopathic community.

My deep sympathy goes out to his family and colleagues.

– Dr. Sebastian has been practicing homeopathic medicine since 1998, and is currently practicing via telemedicine for Louisiana residents. She has served as President of  the American Institute of Homeopathy and is currently President of the American Board of Homeopathic Medicine.

*a comment made by an attendee during one of his seminars, as his intense passion for homeopathy was quite evident and overflowing.