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Ayurveda > Dosh, Dhatu and Mala
By Dr. Satish Kulkarni.
We saw that Ayurveda
is an ancient Indian system of
medicine, which stresses principally
on prevention of body ailments than
simply curing pathological problems. Ayurveda
believes in the treatment of an
individual as a whole. Giving cone
down attention to the treatment of
the affected system of the body
doesn’t fit into the principles
of Ayurveda. Instead Ayurveda
says, ‘Nature works on the
principle of balance. This balance
should be maintained. There should be
balance inside and outside the body.
If we eliminate all toxic imbalances
from the body, we can re-establish a
state of health.’ To achieve
this balance Ayurveda gives
more importance to the functions of
the body than to the structure of the
body.
Dosh-Dhatu-Mala
concept:
Dhatus are a supporting part
of the body, limited by the skin.
Skin is the boundary between the dhatus
and the external world. Dhatus
are generated in the mother’s
womb and are then maintained by
nutrition (ahar) during the
rest of one’s life.
The finest
essence of nutrition develops a sap (ahar
rasa) which helps in survival,
growth and protection. This ahar
rasa further develops life sap (jeevan
rasa) which is the starting point
of the creation of dhatus.
There are seven dhatus in all
(we can say that the dhatus
are body tissues): rasa, rakta,
mansa, med, asthi, majja and shukra.
So from rasa (life sap) the
body develops rakta (blood),
from rakta it develops mansa
(muscles), from mansa is
developed med (fat), from
med is developed asthi (bones),
from asthi the body develops majja
(nervous system) and from majja
is generated shukra (semen).
Ayurveda
evolved around 600 BC. At that time Ayurvedic
scholars did not have microscopes;
nevertheless, they knew that life
starts in the mother’s womb in
‘liquid’ form and becomes
‘solid’ at the time of
birth. Thus this hypothesis of
developing rasa to rakta
rakta to mansa must
have arrived from that finding. This
hypothesis cannot be accepted as it
is today considering the advances
made in science since the early Ayurvedic
times. We can only say that at the
time of Ayurveda, since the
microscope was not invented, Ayurvedic
scholars must have explained body
tissues in this way.
Thus, vaat,
pitta and kafa rule the
body kingdom, i.e. the kingdom of rasa,
rakta, mansa, med, asthi, majja
and shukra and hence the body
continues to function. Our daily life
activities are a result of this
functioning. Waste products, which
are byproducts of our daily
activities, are called malas. Mala
(faeces), akshimala (dirt
coming from the eyes), mutra
(urine) and sweda (sweat) are the malas
mentioned by Ayurveda.
To summarize, Ayurveda
explains the body functions using the
Dosh-Dhatu-Mala concept. Doshas
are body constituents which are
responsible for the way the body
functions. This body is made up of
seven dhatus. Malas are waste
products of the body. If this chain
works well, we can maintain good
health. If anything goes wrong in
this chain of activity then we are
affected by disease.
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