Know Your Prakriti!

Suppose you have ever been to an Ayurveda physician or have taken online ayurvedic consultation; In that case, you might know, the first thing they tell you is your Prakriti which is the Sanskrit term for what combination and proportions of the three doshas you have.

 Doshas at Birth

 Each of us is born with unique nature, a unique constitution that we carry with us with life. From the time of our creation, Prakriti is determined by predominant doshas (functional bio energies of the body) located in Shukra and Artava.

There is the question – Is the presence of dosha in Shukra & artava bad?

No, of course not! Doshas are the functional bio energies and are always present within the body.  It is considered bad ONLY when these doshas get imbalanced and begin creating a pathological condition that eventually leads to diseases. When the doshas are present in equilibrium, they perform their normal physiological functions, supporting our being.

The three doshas (Vata, Pitta & Kapha) influences Shukra and Artava at fertilization providing three constitutions of single dosha predominance. These are:

• Vata dosha Prakriti (of Hina quality, not revered)

• Pitta Dosha Prakriti (of madhyama quality, middle range)

•Kapha Dosha Prakriti (of Uttama quality, superior)

Biodoshic Prakriti

There is also three double dosha predominance, which are:

• Vata-Pitta Prakriti

• Vata-Kapha Prakriti

• Pitta-Kapha Prakriti

TRIDOSHIC PRAKRITI

There is a rare type of constitution that is formed by the predominance of all the three dkshas, Vata, Pitta & Kapha, which is said to be Tridoshic Prakriti.

Usually, dosha causes dushti. But here, in the context of fertilization, the doshas located in soerm and ovemum at the time of union orchestrated have so many other factors that are harmless to the extent that they do not cause any disease. They are the ones who determine the ultimate constitution of the individual. This statement also directly exemplifies that genetic trait are transferred to the next generation. Constitution is partly the result of generic machinery being transparent offspring. The human body is always subjected to humoral influences, which are usually capable of producing diseases susceptibility.  However, in the case of Prakriti, these do not cause any disease.

Now that we know what Prakriti is, let us see why it is vital for us to know our unique Prakriti and how it governs our day-to-day life.

There are two aspects to this:

1) Your lifestyle should depend on your Prakriti

2) Your treatment (if you get sick) is also determined by your Prakriti

Why do we say that? There is an Ayurvedic concept derived from Indian Philosophy, named as Samanya-Vishesha Siddhant, which supports what is said above.

Samanya: the one that increases aggravated doshas and dhatus (tissues)

Vishesha: the one that cancels our excess, does the opposite function of Samanya

Siddhant – principles

According to Ayurveda, we know that we need to maintain the equilibrium of doshas in our bodies. The equilibrium of these doshas is responsible for maintaining the health of an individual. And we, on our day-to-day basis, may create an imbalance within these doshas due to aggravation of a number of factors, such as sedentary lifestyle and consuming foods low in prana (life force).

NOW, according to Samanta vishesha Siddhant and Ayurveda, we have the tendency to overconsume everything, which includes our daily rituals to the food we eat, putting us in a state of vishesha guna. If you find yourself in an aggravated or deficient state, that is indicative of samanya guna. What does it mean? We would want to adapt to a lifestyle that cancels out the excess (Vishesha guna) of our predominant dosha to maintain the equilibrium in our body, and we would also want to adapt to the lifestyle that increases the predominance t dosha of our body to create the equilibrium.  Yes, that is the whole story!

For example, if you’re a Pitta Prakriti person, your mind and body create your unique personality, which is governed by the normal functions of Pitta Dosha. We want to make sure that your Prakriti stays in balance. Neither do we want it to be aggravated or deficient! So, we consume everything of either vishesha guna (opposite in quality) or of samanya guna (similar in qualities) to create that balance.

Suppose you have Pitta aggravation; you’ll observe symptoms like redness of the skin, inflammation, irritated mood, and aggression. In this condition, we want to balance the Pitta dosha. Therefore, we follow the Vishesha guna principle and consume food and follow the lifestyle that cancels the excess Pitta out, like eating sweet, bitter, and astringent taste and spending time in nature, having a conversation with friends. All in all, rituals help you calm down. On the other hand, if you observe sluggish digestion, decrease in body temperature, or loss of body Lustre, these are the symptoms that you’re Pitta dosha deficient. According to the Samanya guna principle, we would want to consume food and follow a lifestyle that helps in increasing the Pitta dosha to the extent of the absence of these symptoms. So, we would consume foods of sour, salty, and spicy tastes.

(You being a Pitta person doesn’t mean the other two doshas are not present within you. ALL THREE doshas are always present within the body, but it’s the predominance that makes all the difference)

Ayurveda believes in:

~ Food is medicine

~ You can stay healthy and prevent diseases by changing your lifestyle

~ Not everyone has advised a similar lifestyle. Your lifestyle varies based on your Prakriti

Now that you know how important it is to know your Prakriti, when are you planning to discover yours by visiting Aayush doctors?

Muskan Soni

Read more about: Vata Dosha | Pitta Dosha | Kapha Dosha

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