During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unusual episode from Southern Indian state Goa attracted national attention after a school teacher claiming to have received a coronavirus remedy through a dream met then Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik and submitted the formula for official consideration.
The incident surfaced in April 2020 when Mahesh Degvekar, a Goa-based school teacher, claimed that 19th-century saint Gajanan Maharaj appeared before him in a dream-like vision and revealed an Ayurvedic preparation that could cure COVID-19. According to reports at the time, the formulation involved ginger, garlic and lemon.
The claim gained wider attention after Degvekar met then Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Naik, and handed over the proposed formulation. The minister accepted the representation and it was reported that the formula would be forwarded for examination.
However, amid growing publicity and speculation, the AYUSH Ministry issued a clarification drawing a distinction between receiving a public representation and endorsing a medical claim.
“The said individual did have an interaction with the Hon’ble AYUSH Minister… the representation was accepted for appropriate disposal,” the ministry said, adding that reports claiming the ministry was validating the cure were false.
The episode became one of the more unusual incidents of the pandemic period, reflecting both public desperation for treatment and the circulation of unconventional medical claims at a time when scientists globally were still racing to develop vaccines and therapies.
No scientific institution or regulatory authority subsequently validated the dream-based formula as a COVID cure or vaccine. The vaccines later administered worldwide emerged through laboratory research, clinical trials and regulatory scrutiny.
The Goa incident nevertheless remains a remembered chapter from the pandemic era where faith, public anxiety and official engagement briefly intersected before scientific standards ultimately determined medical acceptance.
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