SubscribeThe six tastes are reduced to three in their post-digestive effect, vipaka. Sweet and salty tastes have a Madhur (sweet) vipaka, sour has a Amla (sour) vipaka, while bitter, astringent and pungent possess a Katu (pungent) vipaka. These post-digestive effects relate to processes of absorption and elimination the final outcome of digestion. The first stage of digestion is in the mouth and stomach moistening, dominated by the sweet taste. The second stage of digestion is in the stomach and small intestine heat¬ing, dominated by the sour or acid taste. The third stage is in the colon drying, dominated by the pungent taste. These stages again are Kapha, Pitta and Vata, respectively. Herbs, particularly in the long-term usage, tend to aggravate the dosha whose vipaka they possess. Sweet and salty substances promote salivary and other Kapha secretions. Sour herbs promote stomach acid, bile, and other manifestations of Pitta. Bitter, pungent and astringent herbs increase dryness and gas in the colon, thus aggravating Vata. Sweet and also sour vipakas aggravate Kapha, while they alleviate Vata. Pungent vipaka aggravates Vata, while it alleviates Kapha. Sour vipaka aggravates Pitta while sweet vipaka alleviates it. Pungent vipaka tends to aggravate Pitta over a period of time. Post-digestive effect gives us another reference for understanding the effect of herbs, particularly in long-term usage. It is a unique concept to Ayurveda.
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Temperament of Vata
Mental: nervous, fluctuating moods, quick but short memory, creative
physical: irregular appetite, irregular elimination, prone to constipation, light sleeper energy: comes in bursts, active, poor stamina.
Vata people have restless minds and weak memories. They avoid confrontation. Have active and sensitive natures and express themselves through sport and creative pursuits. Likely to be artistic and creative with a good imagination, they will sometimes overindulge in pleasures and are sexually the most active. Fearful, worrisome and anxious they are into questioning, theorizing and over-analysis. Often dissatisfied with and unable to sustain friendships, they spend money quickly, often on trifles with light, interrupted sleep of 5-7 hours a day.
A dominant Vata ensures that Tamasika individuals are the most down to earth, concerned about fundamental questions of practical existence, especially when confronted by more spiritual and less physical issues.
Tamasika Subtype Qualities
Pasava: Lack of intelligence, forbidding dispositions, envious nature. Excessive sexual indulgence and sleep.
Matsya: Unsteadiness, constant passion, and cowardice. Excessive desire for water intake.
Banaspatya: Indolence, Excessive indulgence in food. Deficiency of intellectual faculties.
Concept of Virya (Potency or energy) in Ayurveda
Virya is the energy, potency or power of herbs, designated in Ayurveda as heating or cooling. Herbs through their taste tend to heat the body or cool it and this produces the most basic energizing effect upon the system. Pungent taste, as is commonly known in hot peppers, chilies, ginger and other hot spices, has a heating effect. Things sour or acid in taste like citrus or products of fermentation like wine, yogurt or pickles, are heating. Fermentation creates combustion which releases heat. Salt is also heating, which we can experience by the burning sensation it produces on cuts or sores. Sweet taste is cooling, as sugars counteracts burning sensations in the body, Bitter and cold are often synonymous, as in bitter herbs like gentian and golden seal, which reduce fever and inflammation. Astringent taste has a constricting effect, which is the action of something cold like ice, as in such astringent substances like alum, oak bark or witch hazel. Heating herbs cause dizziness, thirst, fatigue, sweating, burning sensations and they speed the power of digestion. They increase Pitta, but generally decrease Vata and Kapha. Cooling herbs are refreshing, enlivening, and promote tissue firmness. They are calming and clearing to Pitta and to the blood, but generally increase Vata and Kapha. “Heating or cooling energy” means that these substances contain, respectively, the energies of fire or water (agni or soma). Through their energy the six tastes fall into two groups:
1) pungent, sour and salty cause heat and increase Pitta; and
2) sweet, astringent and bitter cause cold and decrease Pitta. Energy, virya, tells us the effect of an herb on Pitta dosha. Pungent is the most heating taste followed by sour and then salty. Bitter is the most cooling, followed by astringent and then sweet. want to know more?
What is Panchakarma?
Panchakarma is the cornerstone to Ayurvedic management of disease. Pancha Karma is the process, which gets to the root cause of the problem and re-establishes the essential balance of ‘Tridosha’ (three doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha) in body. Pancha Karma is not only good for alleviating disease but is also a useful tool in maintaining excellent health. Ayurveda advises undergoing Pancha Karma at the seasonal changes in order to clean the body and improve the digestion and metabolic processes.
Panchakarma is a Sanskrit word that means “five actions” or “five treatments”. This science of purifying the body is an ancient branch of Ayurveda. The Treatment in Ayurveda consists of two main types.
One is Shaman Chikitsa, used to subdue the vitiated Doshas, which may cause any ailments. It is administered by using various medicinal herbo-mineral preparations.
However, if the Doshas are vitiated beyond a particular level, they give rise to various toxins, which have a tendency to be accumulated in the minute channels. These are beyond the level of pacification and hence need to be eliminating from the body. In such cases, the second type of treatment, which is Shodhan Chikitsa or cleansing therapy, is indicated. Since it consists of the five types of main therapies, it is known as the Panchakarma.
Panchakarma has been given a special place in all ancient Ayurvedic texts. Aacharya Charak, the author of the most important ancient text on internal medicine, has described a wide use of Panchakarma therapy in almost all major diseases. Two separate sections, Kalpa Sthanam, and Siddhi Sthanam in Charak Samhita describe in details special decoctions and other preparations used for Panchakarma therapy.
Way of Treatment in Ayurveda
The treatment in Ayurveda can be classified broadly into two-
1. Shamana Chikitsa (Alleviating Therapy)
2. Sodhana Chikitsa (Purification Therapy)
Samana Chikitsa
This is specially done after the sodhana therapy and in less vitiation. Herbal medicines are used internally and externally to correct the derangement of functions of Doshas, Dhatus, Malas and Agni and also to increase the Immunity. The restoration of normality is brought about without any elimination.
Sodhana Chikitsa
The main aim of this treatment is to eliminate the internal causative factors of the disease. A large quantities of toxic bi-products are formed in the body as a result of continuous metabolic process. All though most of these toxins are eliminated naturally by the body’s excretory system, some may get deposited in the various tissues of the body, which ensures the vitiation of Doshas, Dhatus etc. and then the normal functioning of the system is impaired. Similarly disease causing toxins accumulate in the body as a result of various factors like wrong body habits, wrong food habits, incompatible combination of food items, suppression of the body urges, emotional imbalance etc. Panchakarma therapeutic procedures are used to facilitate the elimination of such harmful factors.
Diagnosis in Ayurveda
There are three main methods mentioned in Ayurveda for diagnosing the Dosha imbalance and disease process in a person. They are –
1. Darsana Pareeksha – By observing the patient’s physical signs and symptoms, Example – colour of skin, hair, eyes, behavior, body condition etc.
2. Prasna Preeksha – By asking minute questions regarding the imbalance of each Doshas.
3. Sparsana Pareeksha – By touching the patient. The pulse diagnosis, palpation, percussion and auscultation are included in this method.
Nadi Pareeksha (Pulse diagnosis) is a very important tool for diagnosis. The physician feels the radial artery pulsations on the wrist of the patient and through his experience he can get a clear picture of the milieu interior.
Diseases and their Causes According Ayurveda
The harmony and the balance of the Doshas, Dhatus, Malas and Agni in the body is the primary condition of the health. The equilibrium is maintained through a life in conformity with the laws of nature.
A wrong behavior and food habit disturbs the harmony and lead to diseases.
The vitiated Doshas are the prime causative factor for a disease. Because they are the only causative factors for the vitiation (derangement) of other body elements like Dhatus, Malas, Agni etc. Both under pathological and healthy conditions, the Doshas behave in different patterns and elicit various signs and symptoms in regard to their vitiation, direction of spreading area of localization and manifestation.
The Doshas can be vitiated mainly by two ways normally and abnormally. The normal vitiation is produced by the inevitable and natural factors like seasonal variations, diurnal variations, various stages of digestion. This type of vitiation is easy to treat and often it does not require any treatment as the condition subside automatically. Abnormal vitiation of Doshas is caused by deliberate exposure to specific etiological factors, both external and internal. That is abuse of functions of sense organs, wrong bodily habits, suppression of body urges, ill food habits, avoidance of seasonal and daily regimes. Incompatible combination of food, lack of body care and preservation of health, constant exposure of mind to bad feelings like greed, jealousy, anger etc.
Having a through knowledge of the signs and symptoms produced by the vitiated Doshas and Dhtus, and through careful examination one can know causative factors of a disease.
This very much helpful in aspect of treatment. The basic principles of treatment in Ayurveda is to eliminate the internal disease causing factors of disease, also to bring back the vitiated Doshas, Dhatus, Malas and Agni to normal functioning state.
Features of different Prakritis
Have a look of some important features of different Prakritis
1. Vata Prakriti – These persons are either short or long but are most often with a thin body frame. Mostly towards lower side of weight range, sometimes under weight. Skin is dark, dry with cracks. Nails are hard and brittle, Appetite is variable, mostly suffer from constipation. Sleep is light but varies from night to night. They remember easily and forget easily. Find great difficulty in developing a routine, but are very active.
2. Pitta prakriti – They are of medium body frame. Skin is usually delicate, light in color and more prone to sunburn. Sweating is excessive. Nails are soft, strong and well formed. Endowed with good appetite and rarely constipated. Have capacity to perform vigorous exercise. Go to sleep easily but is light. These persons are more practical in life. Memory is good. More organized in work.
3. Kapha Prakriti – Body frame is mostly medium to broad. Weight gain is varying easy. Skin of these people is smooth, thick and slightly oily. Sweating is moderate. Nails are strong, large and symmetrical. Appetite is moderate and bowel habit is regular. They enjoy sleep, which is usually heavy. Appear calm and quiet. They are of stable nature. From them it takes time to memorize but once happen, it is forever. Most of the time they are relaxed.
Persons having predominance of two types of Doshas have mixed type of features. Please contact for FREE on line constitution analysis.
Classification of Ayurveda Prakriti
There are seven possible Prakriti (constitution) types –
a) Vata Prakriti
b) Pitta Prakriti
c) Kapha Prakriti
d) Vata – Pitta Prakriti
e) Vata – Kapha Prakriti
f) Pitta – Kapha Prakriti
g) Tridosha Prakriti
These are only broad categories. But by variation in proportion it may be of innumerable types. We find that most people around us have a dual personality. You are required to develop a good concept of Prakriti analysis, without knowledge of one’s Prakriti, it is practically impossible to apply Ayurvedic fundamentals in prevention, promotion and cure of disease.
AYURVEDIC PRAKRITI (CONSTITUTION)
Please try to remember any occasion when you enjoyed the food with your friend. Next day you found that you are not feeling well, as your stomach is ‘not in order’ but your friend is happy even next day with the taste of food enjoyed with you last night. You get puzzled, what happens to you? Why the same food reacted in a different way to you and your friend? In your daily life there may be so many occasions like this. It is really strange to observe such things. You may wonder that why under similar conditions, people react in a different way.
Ayurveda has answer of all these curiosities. The concept of Prakriti is unique and has explanation for this. Every person is born with a definite genetic constitution, depending upon Doshas, there are three major types of Prakriti, and these reflect predominance of that particular Dosha. Our body behaves according to the status of Dosha Prakriti. For example, a person is born with Vata Prakriti and his or her diet is rich in Vata promoting substances then he or she is likely to develop a problem like Constipation etc. while the same diet is consumed by a person of Pitta constitution that will keep him or her in order.
