Ayurveda Series Part 7

Continuing from part 6 of Ayurveda series, having explained of Vata and Pitta, I would now explain about the last one among the doshas is THE KAPHA.

KAPHA( THE WATER ELEMENT)

In panchamahabhootas, Kapha consists of Earth and Water element, with Sattva and Tamas qualities. Kapha is conserving and stabilizing in nature.

1. Lets see Kapha qualities/Guna

snigdhaH sheeto gururmandaH slakshano mrutsnaH sthiraH KaphaH

Kapha is- Snighdha in nature, which means it has unctousness

Sheeta- cold, Guru- Heavy/solid, Manda- slow, slakshana- slimy/smooth, Mrutsna- greasy, Sthira- stable

2. Having explained the qualities of Kapha, now let me explain about where kapha resides in the body or The Kapha sthana

    UraHkantaHshiraH klomaparvanyamashayo RasaH

Medo graanam cha jihwa cha kaphasya, sutaraamuraH

Ura-Chest, Kanta- throat, Shira- head, Kloma- Palate, Parva- joints,Amashaya- Stomach,Rasa dhatu( This explanation you would know when I talk of saptadhatus in the coming posts of this series)Medodhatu- Fat, Graana- Nose, Jihwa- Tongue.

3. Now lets see the functions of kapha

sleshma sthiratvasnighdatvasandhibandhakshamadibiH

When in Prakrutvasta/Normalcy, Kapha dosha gives stability- Sthiratva, provides unctousness in the body-Snighdatva, Strong joints- sandhibandha, kshama- forgiveness

4. Kapha types

Finally, the 5 types of Kapha( I shall as usual explain these 5 types with the characteristics in the next post. For now the 5 types are-

• Avalambaka
• Kledaka
• Bodaka
• Shleshaka
• Tarpaka

With the next post on Kapha prakriti characteristics, the basic understanding of Tridoshas would come to an end.

Please do let me know if it was too much of the technicalities or was it easy to follow about the doshas until now. After tridoshas, next posts in the series would be  about” The Dhatus”. But I would write about it only if you all want to read further about the same. Please do let me know in the comment section.

Why have I chosen to talk of the dhatus in the coming posts? that is because the shloka says-” Dosha dhatu malamoolamhi shariram”, so now that I have explained about doshas, next important aspect of this Sharira/the body is the Dhatus.