Doshas : The Natural Forces in Human Body

A very broad and versatile concept in Ayurveda, or we can say it is one of the basic principles on which whole of the Ayurveda lies.

" दोष धातु मल मूल‌म‌् ही शरीरम‌् । "

A Sanskrit verse, which means the body is composed of dosha, dhatu and mala only.

" दूष्यते इति दोष: । "

A Sanskrit verse (shloka) that gives the definition of dosha in a single line. 

Doshas, by literal meaning are those factors that corrupts (दूषित करना).
 

One of the supporting pillars of body, including Dhatus and Malas.

These are the forces that helps in formation and sustaining of a healthy body.

The factors that regulates the well being of our mind and body, are doshas. One cannot directly compare them with any physical entity in our body.

These are the factors that helps in forming our body and mind types, i.e. prakriti (प्रकृति). Every person is having either one dosha dominant, or two doshas dominant, or all three doshas (shaaririk) in equal, i.e. a balanced state

Like the whole of universe and the human body also is composed of the five basic elements, as the texts describes, the doshas are also made up of these five elements, air, water, fire, earth, and ether.

To classify them, two  types of doshas are mentioned in earlier texts :-

1. Those that affects bodily fuctions are, Shaaririk Doshas (शारीरिक दोष).

2. Those that affects mental health are, Mansik Doshas (मानसिक दोष).

Both are interlinked, and affects each others working.

Shaaririk Dosha (शारीरिक दोष)

Just like the name suggests, it affects the bodily functions.

Three in number, as described in ancient texts, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

• Vata is composed of air and ether elements, or is having dominancy of these elements.

It affects or controls the neurological functions of body. The bodily movements, the movements of gases, enthusiasm, inhalation, exhalation, excretion and maintainence of balanced dhatus and mala, are all normal functions of vata dosha.

• Pitta is composed of fire and water element, or is having fire and water element dominant.

It controls the metabolism, and digestive functions. Eye sight, digestion, body heat, aggression, hunger, thirst, complexion, lustre, intelligence, softness of body, are all due to pitta dosha.

• Kapha is composed of water and earth elements, or is these elements dominant.

It binds the body together, i.e. provide stability to body, to the joints, to the organs, etc. It is responsible for strength and immunity of person, the tolerating nature, the forgiving nature, more retention power. These are all the normal functions of kapha dosha.

Each of the shaaririk dosha is further divided into five sub-types (I will explain them in future posts).

For a healthy body, balanced state of these doshas has to be achieved.

Mansik Dosha (मानसिक दोष)

Those that constitutes mental functions, are mansik doshas.

Also three in number, Sattva, Raja, Tama.

Sattva is considered a quality (ग‌ुण), rather than a dosha, so actually there are only two mansik doshas.

Raja is the one that relates to working, and Tama causes laziness.

For the existence of universe, an imbalanced state of these three are required, as the balanced state produces nothingness.

One cannot directly links modern aspects with ancient, but there surely are links.

No one knows, upto what extent, these things are true, but there are surely clinical aspects related to it. Treatment of patients are done by the assessment of dosha, which dosha are imbalanced and are creating diseases.

So that's all for this post. I can, for sure extend this post for as long as I want, but there is no point, and no one has that time to read it. All the basic knowledge about doshas is covered in this post. I hope you enjoyed reading it.