AYURVEDA CONCEPTS

Ayurveda, the most ancient Indian medicinal science, the origin of which can be traced back to more than 5000 years. The main concept of Ayurveda is that it personalizes the healing process. According to Ayurveda the human body is composed of four basics

• dosha
• dhatu
• mala
• agni

These are called the Mool Siddhant or the basic fundamentals of Ayurveda.

Dosha

The three vital principles of doshas are vata, pitta and kapha, which together regulate and control the catabolic and anabolic metabolism. The main function of the three doshas is to carry the byproduct of digested foods throughout the body, which helps in building up the body tissues. Any malfunction in these doshas causes disease.

Dhatu

Dhatu can be defined, as one, which supports the body. There are seven tissue systems in the body. They are as follows:

• Rasa (Plasma)
• Rakta (Blood)
• Mamsa (Muscle)
• Meda (Fat tissues)
• Asthi (Bone)
• Majja (Marrow)
• Shukra (Semen)

Dhatus only provide the basic nutrition to the body. And it helps in the growth and structure of mind. It is a chain system where each dhatu is developed or transformed out of the previous tissue layer, starting with the first dhatu i.e. plasma (rasa). So it is important that the first tissue, plasma should be healthy if it is not it will affect the other dhatus or tissues also. The main tissue Rasa is derived from food and is composed of vata, pitta and kapha molecules. It supplies nourishment to all the tissues. It does not contain cells. Dhatus mainly provide the nourishment to all the tissues. It contains no cells.

Mala

Mala means waste products or dirty. It is third in the trinity of the body i.e. doshas and dhatu. There are three main types of malas, e.g. stool, urine and sweat. Malas are mainly the waste products of the body so their proper excretion from the body is essential to maintain the proper health of the individual. There are mainly two aspect of mala i.e. mala and kitta. Mala is about waste products of the body whereas kitta is all about the waste products of dhatus.

Agni

All kinds of metabolic and digestive activity of the body takes place with the help of the biological fire of the body called Agni. Agni can be termed as the various enzymes present in the elementary canal, liver and the tissue cells. That's why Ayurveda is called the "science of life" or longevity,

Thridosha Theory

Panchabhutha theory is the basis of understanding the biological phenomena. The properties of Aakaasa and Vaayu with Satwa guna and Rajo guna of mind constitute the functional properties of “Vaatha” and the properties of Theja and predominantly with Rajo guna is identified as Pittha. Kapha is identified with the properties of Jala and Prithvi with properties predominantly of Thamo guna of mind. The properties of Vaatha, Pittha and Kapha form the psycho somatic structure of the living organism. In short, the properties of Vaatha take control over all functions related to nerve impulses, and movement, the properties of Pittha take control over all functions related to changes and cellular metabolism, energy release, the properties of Kapha take care of all constructive functions including cohesion, fluid mechanism and anabolic functions.
Functions of various types of Vaatha, Pittha and Kapha that are located in different parts of the body, and functions of Rasa, Raktha, Maamsa, Meda Asthi, Majja, Sukra that take care of systemic functions are explained in detail relation with the thridosha theory.
The state of unbalance of the functions of the doshas results in various ailments according to the pathogenesis (samprapthi) of a disease identified.

Pancha Mahabhutha Theory

Fundamental theories based on the universal laws are the foundations of Ayurveda and are found applied practically at various levels of mechanisms of living and non living entities. Thus following a deductive pattern of explanation with a functional model of explanation, Ayurveda stands as a “shastra” more than one step ahead of the empirical science which purely depends upon analytical models of explanations and observations that constantly change because of not having a common base in universal laws.
The Mahabhuthas are five (Aakaasa, Vaayu, Agni, Jala, Prithvi), having three stages of existence- Bhutha, Mahabhutha and Drusya bhutha. Bhutha is the eternal atomic stage and in the process of “pancheekarana” and “anupravesa”(successive involvement), Bhutha evolves into Mahabhutha and Drusya bhutha.
The phenomenon of Space, Time and Causation related to Creation, Preservation, and Destruction - all of which are part of a cyclic universal event, is applied to all living and non living entities. Manifestation of gross matter takes place from atomic stage, gaseous stage, energy stage, liquid stage and solid stage.

Shad darshanas

Even though Ayurveda is considered as a branch of Atharva veda its principles were formulated based on Indian “darshanas” as adopted from various schools of thought like Nyaya, Sankhya, Vaisheshika, Yoga meemamsa and Vedanta.
The Nyaya school of thought mainly deals with “pramanas” or knowledge of proofs. Ayurveda accepts this as as one of its methodology for formulating the basic theories. This includes direct perception (prathyaksha) using senses and mind, inference (anumana), analogy (upamana), and thumb rules spoken by the authorities (shabda).

The Paramanu-vaada of Vaiseshika school of thoughts plays a major role in formulating the theory of the evolution of universe. This has been accepted by Ayurveda and applied to to the living body. The six categories of six objects of knowledge or cognition (prameya) is the main focus. This includes the prime object (dravya), quality (guna), action (karma), similarity or common property (samanya) and dissimilarity or specificity (vishesha) and the inseparable relationships (samavaaya).

The Sankhya system of philosophy plays a major role in formulating foundational theories of Ayurveda. The theory of evolution starting from the pure consciousness to the evolution of pancha mahabhuthas, to its gross form shows that there are twenty four basic principles of existence in a definite hierarchy.
The yoga sutras mainly deal with perfection of mind. “Yoga sthu chittha vritthi nirodha” . Maintenance of physical health is achieved by following “Hata yoga” and purification methods or
” kriyas”. Balance of mental attributes is the ultimate aim which can be achieved by following Yama Niyamas that are the self disciplinary measures for an individual.

The law of the cycle of birth, law of karma, and that of Meemamsa have their roles in Ayurveda. The Vedanta school of thought which is the essence of Indian philosophy with its exalted refined form of explaining the ultimate self also plays a major role in Ayurveda. The concept of pain and pleasure experienced by the self and the concept of “jevaathma and paramaathma” in Ayurveda are well defined based on the Vedantic school of thoughts.

It is very much evident that Ayurveda has adopted various philosophical thoughts and applied its meaningful practical utility as a scientific system of knowledge and also proves its infinity and unchangeable foundational theories.