Ayurvedic physiology · First Professional (Prathama Varsha) · AyUG-KS
2papers
9units
56practice questions
12study sections
How the body works in Ayurvedic terms, set alongside modern physiology. Dosha, dhatu, mala, agni, srotas, ojas.
Papers
Paper I — Kriya Sharira (Dosha–Dhatu–Mala)
Paper II — Kriya Sharira (Agni, Srotas, modern physiology)
Units in this subject
Tridosha — vata, pitta, kapha and their subtypesSapta dhatu and dhatu poshanaTrimalaAgni — thirteen kindsSrotas — the channelsOjas, Tejas, PranaPrakritiManas and its qualitiesModern physiology correlates
Study notes
Ayurvedic physiology. How the body is held to work, in terms of dosha, dhatu, mala, agni, srotas and ojas — taught alongside modern physiology, with the two kept distinct rather than forced into correspondence.
Tridosha
Vata: five — Prana (head; inspiration, swallowing, spitting, sneezing), Udana (chest; speech, effort, strength, complexion), Samana (near agni; digestion and separation), Vyana (heart; circulation and all movement), Apana (pelvis; elimination, menstruation, parturition, semen).
Pitta: five — Pachaka (between amashaya and pakvashaya; identified with jatharagni), Ranjaka (liver and spleen; colours rasa to rakta), Sadhaka (heart; intellect and ambition), Alochaka (eyes; vision), Bhrajaka (skin; complexion and absorption).
Kapha: five — Kledaka (stomach), Avalambaka (chest), Bodhaka (tongue; taste), Tarpaka (head; nourishes the senses), Shleshaka (joints; lubrication).
Dosha gati: kshaya, sthana, vriddhi; and urdhva, adhah, tiryak.
Three theories of poshana: Kedari-kulya nyaya (irrigation channels, in sequence), Khale-kapota nyaya (pigeons selecting grain), Ksheera-dadhi nyaya (transformation in place). Name the one you are arguing for.
Upadhatu: stanya and artava from rasa; kandara and sira from rakta; vasa and twacha from mamsa; snayu and sandhi from meda; danta from asthi; kesha from majja; ojas from shukra.
Dhatu mala: kapha from rasa, pitta from rakta, kha-mala from mamsa, sweda from meda, kesha and loma from asthi, netra-vit and twacha sneha from majja.
Agni
Thirteen: one jatharagni, five bhutagni, seven dhatvagni.
Four states: Samagni, Vishamagni (vata), Tikshnagni (pitta), Mandagni (kapha).
Mandagni produces Ama, which the texts treat as the root of most disease.
Avasthapaka: madhura in the mouth and stomach, amla in the middle, katu at the end. Nishthapaka is vipaka.
Srotas, Ojas and Prakriti
Charaka: thirteen srotas. Sushruta: eleven pairs. State which text.
Ojas: Para ojas is eight drops in the hridaya and its loss is incompatible with life; Apara ojas is half an anjali and circulates. Ojo visramsa, vyapat and kshaya.
Prakriti is fixed at conception and does not change. Vikriti is the current state and does. Confusing them is a standard lost mark.
Trimala
Purisha, Mutra and Sweda are the three principal mala. Each has a normal quantity, and their pramana is stated in anjali measure.
Purisha: retains vata, supports agni. Its vriddhi and kshaya lakshana are examinable.
Mutra: kleda regulation. Sweda: kleda and twacha nourishment, and temperature.
Dhatu mala are separate: kapha from rasa, pitta from rakta, kha-mala from mamsa, sweda from meda, kesha and loma from asthi, netra-vit and twacha sneha from majja.
Each has a moola — the two seats from which it arises. Learn them as pairs: rasavaha from hridaya and dasha dhamani, raktavaha from yakrit and pleeha, and so on.
The clinical use: naming the affected srotas is half of a samprapti answer.
Ojas, Tejas, Prana
Para ojas: eight drops (ashta bindu), seated in the hridaya; its loss is incompatible with life.
Apara ojas: half an anjali, circulating through the body.
Three states of disturbance: Ojo visramsa (displacement), Ojo vyapat (vitiation), Ojo kshaya (depletion) — with distinct lakshana for each.
Ojas is the essence of all seven dhatu and is described as the substrate of immunity — bala.
Modern physiology correlates
Where a correspondence is genuinely useful: agni and digestive enzymes; srotas and the circulatory and ductal systems; ojas and immune competence.
Where it is not: the dosha do not map one-to-one onto any modern system, and an answer that claims vata IS the nervous system is weaker than one that says vata governs functions the nervous system also governs.
State the correlation as a correlation, not an identity. That is what earns marks in a modern-integrated paper.
Prakriti — the seven types and what decides them
Seven prakriti: three ekadoshaja (vataja, pittaja, kaphaja), three dwandwaja, one samadoshaja. The samadoshaja is the rarest and the healthiest, and the dwandwaja are the commonest in practice.
Prakriti is fixed at conception by shukra-shonita, kala-garbhashaya, matura ahara-vihara and mahabhuta vikara — the four determinants named in Charaka Vimana 8. It does not change with age or season; vikriti does.
Vataja: laghu sharira, ruksha twacha, chala drishti, fast speech, light interrupted sleep, quick to learn and quick to forget, alpa bala, alpa ayu.
Pittaja: madhyama sharira, ushna, tikshna agni, mridu roma, early greying, sharp intellect, intolerance of heat, madhyama bala and ayu.
Kaphaja: sthira and snigdha sharira, sama agni, deep steady sleep, slow to learn and slow to forget, pravara bala and dirgha ayu.
Manasa prakriti is a separate axis: sattvika seven types, rajasika six, tamasika three — sixteen in all, from Charaka Sharira 4.
Sara, Samhanana, Koshtha, Vaya and Kala
SARA PARIKSHA eight, in order: twak, rakta, mamsa, meda, asthi, majja, shukra and sattva. Sara is the excellence of a dhatu and is one of the ten dashavidha pariksha bhava.
KOSHTHA three: mridu (kapha-pitta, purges easily, needs a mild virechaka), krura (vata, resistant, needs a strong one), madhya. Choosing the virechaka without assessing koshtha is how atiyoga and ayoga both happen.
VAYA three in Charaka: bala to 16, madhya to 60, vriddha after. Sushruta gives bala to 16, madhya 16–70, vriddha after 70. Bala subdivides into ksheerapa, ksheerannada and annada.
KALA: the day and night each divide into three parts governed by kapha, pitta and vata in turn — morning and evening kapha, midday and midnight pitta, afternoon and pre-dawn vata. Food, medicine and disease all follow it.
DASHAVIDHA PARIKSHA BHAVA ten: prakriti, vikriti, sara, samhanana, pramana, satmya, sattva, ahara shakti, vyayama shakti and vaya. All ten are assessed on the patient, not the disease, and the purpose is to judge bala.
Where the texts disagree
Agni: Charaka's thirteen (one jathara, five bhuta, seven dhatvagni) is the standard answer. Sushruta's account of the bhutagni differs in emphasis.
Dhatu poshana: kshira dadhi nyaya, kedari kulya nyaya and khale kapota nyaya are three competing accounts, and no text settles between them.
Ojas: para ojas is eight drops in the heart, apara ojas half an anjali. Some texts treat ojas as a form of kapha and some as distinct.
Rakta: Sushruta gives it a status close to a fourth dosha; Charaka treats it firmly as a dhatu.
The duration of a full dhatu cycle is six days by one reckoning and a month by another, and commentators defend both.
Commonly confused
Bodhaka kapha (taste) and Alochaka pitta (vision) - both are perceptual and both sit in the head.
Udana (speech, effort) and Prana (intake, the senses) - both are seated above the diaphragm.
Para ojas (eight drops) and apara ojas (half an anjali) - the quantities belong to different things.
Upadhatu and mala of the same dhatu - stanya is an updhatu of rasa, sweda is the mala of medas.
Where a classical concept is set beside a modern one, this manual says which is which. Forcing a one-to-one correspondence between dosha and a modern physiological system is a common mistake in written answers and usually loses marks rather than gaining them.
Foundational physiology. Where a classical concept is set beside a modern one, the explanation says which is which rather than blurring them.
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