Prakriti

Posted on May 13, 2008 in Principles of Ayurveda

Unlike other medicinal systems, Ayurveda treats the individual as a whole. During the diagnosis and treatment, Ayurveda tradition gives particular emphasis to the condition of body, as well as mind.

Prakriti and Vikriti

By Prakriti, Ayurveda means the individual constitution of the human body. A sate of disease occurs whenever there is a deviation from the normal physical or mental constitution of a human being. This is often called a Vikriti.

During diagnosis, Ayurveda examines the Prakriti first. After that it examines the diseased state or Vikriti. Unlike modern medicine, Ayurveda is interested in the individual, not only in the disease.

The individual Constitution

Ayurveda believes that the temperament of a human is genetic in origin. It gets determined at the time of conjugation of the male seed (sperm) and female egg (ovum). They carry the individual constitution of the parents.

According to Vedic wisdom, every material object in this universe is composed of five elements called Pancha Mahabhutas. But for the functioning of living beings, Ayurveda identifies Tri Doshas for body constitution and Tri Gunas responsible for mental constitution. Ayurveda treats these doshas as the manifestation of five elements in the human body.

Tri Doshas

Tri Gunas

Different individuals will have different combinations of these doshas and therefore, each individual will have a unique Prakriti.

Comments

Leave a Reply