2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                            ISSN : 2454-3926
Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya”
with the help of basic Ayurved siddhantas
Abhijeet Saraf1
1
    Lecturer, Dept of basic principles, S.S.A.M., Nashik.
Abstract :
Ayurved is a medicinal, social, biomedical science which is based on its own fundamentals
i.e. siddhanta. Every concept described in this science is well framed and well oriented. Here
in this article; concept of Dhatu Poshan Prakriya is the main concern subject. The interpreta-
tion of Ayurved in the perspective of Dhatu Poshan Prakriya will be discussed here with the
help of basic siddhantas.
Keywords :Dhatu, Dhatu poshana, Siddhanta, Swabhavoparama wada, Agni, Paramanutwa,
Samcharitwa
Aim :                                                                        Conclusion
       To study the concept of dhatu                      Selection of the topic :
        poshana prakriya critically.
                                                               -   Dosha, Dhatu and Mala are the basic
Objectives :
                                                                   components of the human body ac-
        To study the relevance of dhatu                           cording to ayurveda.
         poshana prakriya.                                     - The nourishment of these compo-
Material :                                                         nents is very basic function.
            Ayurved classical texts : bruhat trayi.            - The relevance of the nourishment of
Methodology :                                                      these components is very important
This is a literary & fundamental study.                            and hence this topic is selected for
The methodology of this study will be as fol-                      study.
lows:                                                      Literary study regarding dhatu poshana
                 Selection of topic                        prakriya :
      Literary study regarding dhatu poshana                       The references regarding nourish-
                      prakriya                             ment and functioning of dhatu is collected
                                                           from bruhat trayi and they were studied criti-
              Critical interpretation                      cally.
                    Discussion                             Critical interpretation & discussion:
            Relevance of this siddhanta
                                                      16
                                                                                             2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
                 Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                                         ISSN : 2454-3926
        The interpretation drawn from literary                       ments. So they have some similar characters
study is discussed here.                                             and some different characters also.
        Concept of Dhatu :                                                 2. Sacharitwa (always in moving state):
Dhatu are the main normally functioning                              sava-SarIrcarastau vaataipa<aSlaoYmaNa:               kuxipataakuxipataa
units/components/structures of the body.
                                                                     SauBaaSauBaaina kuxva-inta | ca. saU. 20.9
Each and every components of body are
Dhatu including Trividha Dosha, sapta Dhatu
                                                                        vaataipa<akxfxadoho sava-sa`aotaao#nausaairNa: | ca. ica. 28.59
and Trividha Mala.
                                                                      All the components of the body are continu-
Qaatavaao vaataadyaao rsaadyaEca taqaa rja:pa`BaRtaya: ca |          ously in moving state all over the body. It is
(cak`xpaaiNa, ca.saU. 1.4)                                           called as samcharitwa. Whether they are
                                                                     normal or vitiated; they never stopped/lodged
In normal state each and every body compo-                           anywhere in the body. If they stopped by any
nents are termed as “Dhatu”. Trividha Dosha                          reason it is called as prakopa.
are the first elements to get deviated from
normal state by any reason, that’s why they                          ya~a saÈ\gaao KavaOgauNyaata\ vyaaiQasta~aaopajaayatao |
are called as “Dosha” i.e. who are the reason
                                                                             So all the body components/elements
of further abnormal/anomalous conditions.
                                                                     are moving continuously & vigorously all over
daoYaa eva ih savao-YaaM raogaaNaaM ekxkxarNama\ | A. =.saU.12       the body in minute particle state.
And because of Dosha others components get                                  Here paramanuwada of vaisheshika
deviated from normal state, that’s why they                          darshana and satkaryawada of sankhya
are termed as “Dushya” i.e. who are get viti-                        darshana is been accepted for establishment
ated.                                                                of Ayurveda`s fundamentals.
DOSHA CAN NOT BECOME DUSHYA AND                                                 Production of Dosha paramanu :
DUSHYA CAN NOT BECOME DOSHA.
                                                                     Paramanu of Dosha are produced in two pro-
There are two characteristics of Dosha Dhatu                         cess. 1. In aahar pachan : awasthapaaka
mala:
      1. Paramanutwa (minute particle state):                        2. In Dhatu nirman Prakriya
                                                                     In awasthapaak, paramanu of kapha, pitta and
SarIravayavaastau parmaaNauBaodona ApairsaMKyaoyaa: Bavainta | ca.
                                                                     vata are produced in madhura, amla & katu
Saa. 7.17
 Each and every components/elements of the                           awasthapaak respectively.
body is in state of paramanu i.e. very minute                        AivadgQa: kxfMx ipa<aM ivadgQa: pavanaM pauna: |
particles. Differences and similarities in be-
tween them are because of there pancha                               samyaigvapa@vaao ina:ssaar: Aahar: pairbaRMhyaota\ || sau. saU.
mahabhuta constitution. Example: Kapha, Ra-                          46.527
sa, Mansa, Meda, Shukra, Majja are compo-
                                                                     AivadgQa: maQaurahar: kxfMx pairbaRMhyaota\ AitaSayaona vaQa-yaota\
nents of prithvi and jala mahabhuta predomi-
                                                                     [tyaqa-: | ivadgQa: AmlaIBaUta: Aahar: ipa<aM pairbaRMhyaota\ |
nance. But they are different functional ele-
                                          17
Saraf, et al.: Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya” with the help of
                                                                                                        2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
               Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                                                      ISSN : 2454-3926
samyaigvapa@va: inaga-ta: saar: Aahar: raOXyaoNa pavanaM                pairbaRMhyaota\ | DlhNa TIkxa
Concept of tanmatra, mahabhuta & Dosha :
Prakruti - Purush siddhanta deals with development of any living being.
                                                           Prakruti + purush
                                                               Avyakta
                                                                Mahat
                                                               Ahamkar
                                                   Satwik + rajasik + taamasik
                                                      11 indriya     Tanmatra
                                                                     Mahabhuta
                                                                     Dosha
In this process with the help of rajasik and taamasik ahamkaar, tanmatra gets developed. Tanmatra
are the pure elements of that bhuta. Means vayu bhuta is the only component in vayu tanmatra,
teja bhuta is the only component in teja tanmatra etc.
But when mahabhuta develops from                                        panchabhautik but excess of teja, etc.
tanmatra, they become combination of all five
(Panchabhautik) by Panchikaran Prakriya.                                          pritvi         jala
                                                                               teja                 vata
                             prithvi
                                                                                       aakasha
                 teja
                         vata               jala
                                                                                So mahabhutas are panchabhautik.
                             aakasha
                                                                             Now Dosha are developed from
                                                                        mahabhutas; so Dosha are also panchabhautik
                                                                        but have predominance of respective bhutas.
That is vayu mahabhuta is panchabhautik but
excess of vayu, teja mahabhuta is                                       Kapha Dosha : panchabhautik with predomi-
                                                                        nance of prithvi & jala bhuta.
                                                                        Pitta Dosha : panchabhautik with predomi-
                                                                        nance of teja bhuta.
                                                                        Vata Dosha : panchabhautik with predomi-
                                                                        nance of vayu & aakasha bhuta.
                                          18
Saraf, et al.: Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya” with the help of
                                                                                                2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
                Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                                             ISSN : 2454-3926
        Also other Dhatu and body compo-                               aahar rasa having all the destructed
nents are also made up from mahabhutas. So                             paramanu of mahabhutas has been trans-
all the body components are panchabhautik.                             ferred all over the body
Human body is panchabhautik as wel as all
living beings like plants, animals are also                            vyaanaona rsaQaatauih- ivaXaopaaoicatakxma-Naa |
panchabhautik.                                                         yaugapata\ sava-taao#jasa`M doho ivaiXapyatao sada || ca.ica.15.32
So, vata tanmatra is the pure form of vayu                             For proper nourishment of Dhatu, the aahara
bhuta.                                                                 rasa should be paramsukshma, saarabhuta
Vata mahabhuta is panchabhautik having pre-                            and tejobhuta.
dominance of vayu.                                                     Paramsukshma : having minute destructed
Vata Dosha is panchabhautik having predomi-                            particles of mahabhutas
nance of vayu & aakasha.                                               Saarabhuta : having finest properties of
Dhatu nirman & Poshan Prakriya :                                       mahabhuta.
ivaivaQamaiSataM paItaM laIZM KaaidtaM jantaaoih-                      Tejobhuta : means completely digested.
tamantarignasanQauiXatabalaona yaqaasvaonaaoYmaNaa                     Stage 2 :
samyaigvapacyamaanaM kxalavadnavaisqatasava-
Qaataupaakxmanaupahtasava-QaataUYmamaar]tasa`aota: koxvalaM               Paramsukshma, tejobhuta, saarwan aahar
SarIrmaucayabalavaNa-sauKaayauYaa yaaojayaita SarIrQaataUnaUja-yaita                       rasa
ca | ca. saU. 28.3
                                                                               Transfer all over the body : sukshm-
There are two stages.                                                                   atisukshma srotas
Stage 1 :                                                                  Reassemble & destruction of mahabhuta
                                                                                        paramanu
             panchabhautik aahar sevana
                                                                         Transformation of mahabhuta paramanu in
Madhura awasthapaak : destruction of prithvi                             respective Dhatu paramanu by Dhatwagni.
   & jala mahabhuta paramanu : kapha
                                                                       nourishment of respective Dhatu in respective
     Amla awasthapaak : destruction of teja                                               srotas.
              mahabhuta : pitta
                 agni karya                                            Ex.
Katu awasthapaak : destruction of teja & vayu                                          Panchabhuatik aahar rasa
             mahabhuta : vata
                                                                                              Medovaha srotas
                     (Now aakasha doesn’t have
                                                                                              Meda-dhatwagni
                      paramanu and he is vibhu;
                                                                           Transformation of mahabhuta paramanu
                     so he cannot be destructed. Be-
                     cause he is everywhere.)                            Meda Dhatu paramanu : Panchabhautik but
                                                                         predominance of prithvi & jala mahabhuta.
                                          19
Saraf, et al.: Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya” with the help of
                                                                                              2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
               Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                                            ISSN : 2454-3926
Meda Dhatu Poshana by this newly developed                                     Agni has its own srotas, that’s why in
         meda Dhatu paramanu.                                         jwara samprapti, because awaran and
                                                                      awarodha of aama, paramanu of tej
                                                                      mahabhuta couldn’t reach agnivaha srotas
Here Pilu-paak wada and pithar-paak wada is                           resulting into agnimandya and they travel in
implemented.                                                          excess in body. That’s why in jwara burning
                                                                      sensation in whole body (sarwanga santapa)
So as per this process new Dhatu paramanu                             and agnimandya is obtained simultaneously.
has been developed and with the help of that
Dhatu Poshan Prakriya (nourishment of
Dhatu) achieved.                                                      Application of swabhaoparam wada :
Concept of Agni, dhatwagni & agnivaha                                 Swabhav + uparama means
srotas :
                                                                      swabhav = nature/ natural properties/ inher-
Agni is the basic and important concept of
                                                                      ited properties.
Ayurved. Agni is a physiological functional unit
of body.                                                              uparam = destruction.
Aignarova SarIro ipa<aantaga-ta: kuxipataakuxipataa SauBaaSauBaaina          All the components of body is pro-
kuxva-inta…| ca. saU. 12                                              duced/ developed by some reason but their
                                                                      destruction is without any reason. Every com-
         Agni is functioning unit in living being                     ponent of body gets destructed at its own
representative of agni mahabhuta of universe.                         time and its own way without any reason. Ex.
It functions along with pitta that is also a agni                     For R.B.C. gets destructed on 120th day of
mahabhuta pradhan component.                                          their life and its uncontrolled and natural pro-
                                                                      cess. But for production of R.B.C. we have to
       Agni is nothing but paramanu of teja
                                                                      take proper diet.
mahabhuta which are produced in amla
awasthapaak. As agni has paramanu, it has its                               So aahara sevan and aahara parinaman
own srotas, which is situated and functioned                          are the reason for production of every body
in whole body.                                                        compoenet but there is no reason for their
                                                                      destruction.
        It has its own system of functioning
and channels for function. And it’s some part                         jaayantao hotauvaOYamyaaiWYamaa dohQaatava:
(i.e. some amount of digested & transformed
teja paramanu) travels in the body along with                         hotausaamyaata\ samaastaoYaaM svaBaavaaoparma: sada || ca. saU. 16.27
paramsukshma aahar rasa.
                                                                      Sama hetu – sama dehaDhatu paramanu
        When aahara rasa reaches any srotas,
                                                                      Visham hetu – visham dehaDhatu paramanu
the paramanu of teja mahabhuta which are
already working in that srotas and also which                               So when a person takes visham (vikruta)
are reached through this aahar rasa, digest                           aahara, vitiated body components (deha
and transform the mahabhuta paramanu into                             Dhatu paramanu) produced. And when he
paramanu of respective Dhatu srotas. It is                            takes sama (normal) aahara, normal body
called as “Dhatwagni”.
                                          20
Saraf, et al.: Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya” with the help of
                                                                         2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
          Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                            ISSN : 2454-3926
components (deha Dhatu paramanu) pro-          so that visham deha Dhatu paramanu gets
duced.                                         destructed and same time sama deha Dhatu
                                               paramanu takes their places.
Because of visham & vikruta aahara,
awasthapaak gets vitiated and so paramanu      That’s why definition of chikitsa is
of mahabhutas produced in undigest-
ed/semidigested/abnormal               state   yaaiBa: ik`xyaaiBajaa-yantao SarIro Qaatava: samaa: |
(apakva/nissara/ vikrut). These abnormal un-   saa icaikxtsaa ivakxaraNaaM kxma- taid\BaYajaaM smaRtama\ ||
digested mahabhuta paramanu travels
through aahara rasa by vyana vayu in whole     tyaagaaiWYamahotaUnaaM samaanaaM caaopasaovanaata\ |
body and reaches each every srotas. Dhatu
development process gets disturbed because
                                               ivaYamaa naanaubaQnainta jaayantao Qaatava: samaa: || ca. saU. 16.36
of them. Further Dhatu paramanu also pro-      Clinical conditions derived by swabhavoparam
duced abnormally because of these abnormal     wada :
mahabhuta paramanu. Ex. Mahabhuta consti-
tution of Mansa Dhatu paramanu gets vitiated         -      When development of any deha
and shaithilya or kaathinya in mansa Dhatu                  Dhatu paramanu starts profusely and
gets developed.                                             its destruction (sawbhav uparam) gets
                                                            disturbed (it destructed after its nor-
Now their destruction is done by swabhava.                  mal time) the condition is called as
So when vitiated (vikruta/visham) deha Dhatu                “cancer”.
paramanu gets produced, the previous normal          -      And when its production is slow but
(sama/prakruta) deha Dhatu paramanu is get                  destruction happens in before time,
destructed by its swabhav. And if intake of                 the condition is called as
visham aahara gets continuously, slowly sama                “rajayakshma”.
Dhatu paramanu gets destructed completely
and visham vikrut deha Dhatu paramanu
takes their places.                            Conclusion
Sama Dhatu paramanu never converted into       So this is the concept of Dhatu Poshan
visham Dhatu paramanu and visham Dhatu         Prakriya of Ayurved science. It is derived and
paramanu never converted into sama Dhatu       interpreted by basic fundamentals like
paramanu. Sama gets destructed by swabhav      parmanuwada, parinama wada, pilu-pithar
and visham gets produced by visham aahar       paak wada, swabhavoparama vada etc.
sevan.
                                               All the siddhantas are described clinically. So
This process will last for smaller period in   study of basic Ayurved classical texts
sadhya vyadhi like kaasa, pratishyaya,         (samhitas) should be study critically and clini-
navajwara etc. or last for long period in      cally.
asadhya & yapya vyadhi like kushtha,
                                               References :
prameha, rajayakshma, cancer, AIDS etc.
                                                     1. Acharya    vishweshwara     (editor),
                                                        Tarkabhasha, Varanasi; Chaukhambha
While in chikitsa, we stopped the visham                Sanskrit bhawan, 12th edition, 2009,
hetu santan parampara and start sama hetu,              p.12.
                                          21
Saraf, et al.: Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya” with the help of
                                                           2015, Vol 1:July - Sept
        Journal of Sanskrit Samhita Siddhanta                ISSN : 2454-3926
  2. Jadavaji trikamji acharya (editor),          samhita, Varanasi; chaukhambha
     Charak        samhita,     Varana-           orientalia,   8th     edition,    2005,
     si;chaukhambha prakashan, reprint            sutrasthana, chapter 1, sutra 30, p.08
     2009, vimansthana chapter 08, sutra       5. Colonel G.A.Jacob, Laukika Nyayanjali,
     37, p.268                                    Delhi; Niranjana publishers, reprinted
  3. H.S. Paradkar (editor), Ashtanga             1983.
     Hrudaya, Varanasi; chaukhambha            6. Brahmashankar        shastri,     Bhava
     surabharati prakashan, sutrasthana           Prakasha       Samhita,        Varanasi;
     chapter 06, sutra 46, p.95                   chaukhambha Sanskrit samsthana,
                                                  reprint 2008, purva khanda, mansa
                                                  warga, sutra 32, p. 679
  4. Jadavaji trikamji acharya (editor),
     commentary of Dalhana, sushruta
                                          22
Saraf, et al.: Critical interpretation of “Dhatu Poshan Prakriya” with the help of