|
Understanding
Mindscape, By - Dr. Prashant Sawant, M.D (Ayu.)
Know
Your Body Type
By
- Dr. Prashant Sawant, M.D (Ayu.)
Article
Published in “The Times Of India” on Saturday, August 30, 2003
Research
in the human genetics has established beyond doubt that all diseases,
whether inherited or acquired, have a genetic component. Genes carry
information that determines, among other things, how you look, how
well your body digests food or fights infection, and even how you
behave.
Ayurved
explains this transmission of such information, responsible for the
creation and the fate of living beings, through a concept known as “prakruti”.
This concept is being successfully used in ayurved to treat, to cure
and even to prevent diseases.
Quite often, prakruti
is confused with health or well-being. However, like the human gene-
it is rather a blueprint of an individual.
Prakruti can be best defined as the physical,
psychological, and spiritual constitution of a human being. The prakruti
is determined at the time of conception as per the predominance of the
dosha (vata-pitta-kapha) (body humors) - that
constitutes the deha prakruti (physical constitution) - and manasa
guna (satwa-raja-tama) (trait of mind) - that
determines the manasik prakruti (psycho-spiritual
constitution).
Apart from
preponderance of dosha / guna in sperm and the ovum, the
resultant dosha equilibrium culminating in the prakruti
of a fetus, is also influenced by the factors like time of conception,
diet and conduct of the mother, and the intra-uterine environment.
Once established, the deha prakruti of an individual never
changes throughout his lifetime. However, the manasik prakruti, can
be altered by snskara (process of changing or instilling
characteristics).
Knowing your prakruti
type helps your doctor to predict your susceptibility, to advice
preventive measures, to formulate the medicines best suited, and to
ascertain the prognosis of your disease.
However, it is not
so simple - as it is purported to be - to pinpoint one’s prakruti.
It is an art, which has to be mastered by regular practice, and only a
skilled physician will be able to accurately judge your prakruti.
Nevertheless, the following tips may perhaps be handy:
The vataprakruti
people are usually lean and tall with a rather dark complexion. They
have dark hair, that may be splintered. Their voice is stymied and
harsh. They tend to talk too much and many times, it is irrelevant.
Their eyes are round and lusterless. They are light sleepers and
usually sleep with slightly open eyes. Their gait is wobbly, and their
walk produces a sound. They have a weak disposition. Their memory is
short. They take pleasure
in music, humor, and hunting and have a tendency to gamble. They enjoy
eating sweet, sour, salty and hot foods, but dislike cold things. They
like to enjoy life to its fullest. They have a irregular sexual
desire.
The
pittaprakruti type are fair complexioned, have reddish palms,
soles and face. They have brownish scanty hair that tends to gray
prematurely. They have freckled skin and often suffer from acne and
boils. They have small, brown eyes, with thin and few eye lashes.
Their eyes easily get flushed with anger, wine or exposure to
sunlight. Their body is warm to touch. They have lean joints and
muscles. They are very intelligent, caring, brave, well-behaved,
clean, desirous of grandeur and adventure. However they tend to be
short tempered. They hate moving in the hot sun as they perspire heavily and
need deodorants to mask rather offensive body odor. They feel thirsty
and hungry quite often. They like food, which is sweet, astringent,
bitter or cold. They
seldom suffer from constipation and usually pass semisolid or loose
stools.
They
are fond of the best things in life (women, garlands, perfumeries,
etc.). They have a strong sexual desire, get sexually excited easily
and are sexually very aggressive. However they usually suffer from
premature ejaculation.
The
kaphaprakruti types have a well-defined and good-looking body,
long arms, broad chest, wide forehead, well-built muscles and joints.
Their eyes are red at the angles, unctuous, wide, long, and have thick
eyelashes. They have thick, black and strong hair. The skin is soft,
shining and oily. They are very soft-spoken. Their voice is like that
of the roaring of clouds, ocean or mridanga. Benevolent in
nature, they are endowed with intelligence, righteous attitude and
truthfulness. They are God fearing, generous and engage themselves in
doing charity work. They have extraordinary memory and reasoning
power. They can tolerate extremes of thirst and hunger. They do not
get over emotional.
They prefer bitter, astringent, pungent, hot and dry food,
which they eat in moderate quantity, and yet they remain strong. They
are gifted with great sexual vigor and prowess. They may not get
easily exited sexually, but enjoy sex to the fullest.
Due
to their intrinsic strength, vataprakruti people usually do not
suffer from vata imbalance diseases like arthritis,
hypertension, circulatory disorders, nervous disorders, etc. However,
with over provocation, if the vata is imbalanced, it can cause
such diseases that are difficult to cure. Similarly, in the case of kaphaprakruti
people, kapha imbalance disorders like diabetes, obesity, etc.,
and in pittaprakruti people, pitta imbalance disorders
like acidity, inflammatory disorders, autoimmune disorders etc., are
difficult to treat.
In
the next article, we will discuss about psycho-spiritual aspect of the
prakruti.
Top
By
- Dr. Prashant Sawant, M.D (Ayu.)
Article
Published in “The Times Of India” on Saturday, September 13, 2003
In
the earlier article, we discussed about the concept of “Prakruit”
and saw that the deha prtakruti is the physical and
physiological constitution of a human being. Today, we will have a
glimpse at its psycho-spiritual aspect- manasa prakruti.
Akin to the dosha
(vata-pitta-kapha) (body humors) that influence the deha
prakruti (physical constitution), the manasa guna (satwa-raja-tama)
(traits of mind) influence the manasa prakruti (psycho-spiritual
constitution) of an individual, at the time of conception. However,
unlike deha prakruti, the manasa prakruti of an
individual can be altered by “sanskara”- an action /
procedure that alters the original or imbibes new qualities in an
entity. Thus, an innocent minor girl, having no criminal background,
can be induced, by the so called ‘jehadi’ sanskara,
to participate in the barbaric act of terror, which killed more than
fifty innocent people, in the recent Mumbai bomb blasts! On the
contrary, we also know how the dreaded dacoit
‘Valya koli’ turned in to ‘Valmiki’- the sage who
composed the great epic - “Ramayana”.
As the diseases are
either sharirik (physical) or manasa (psychological), to
understand the behavior of an individual and to identify and treat the
psychic disorders, it is imperative to identify one’s manasa
prakruti (psycho-spiritual constitution).
Innumerable
variations of the manasa prakruti are possible because of the
proportionate influence of the satwa-raja-tama, at the time of
conception. However, depending on the major contributing factor, the manasik
prakruti is classified as satwik, rajasik and tamasik.
These are further classified in to various subtypes.
Though it is
difficult to accurately assess one’s manasa prakruti, the
following guidelines are handy:
The ‘Satwika’
types are clean in character, have tremendous self-control, always
live by their word and have sharing nature. They are endowed with
wisdom, extraordinary memory, understanding and have a good convincing
ability. They speak melodiously and authoritatively. They are devoid
of anger, greed, pride, envy, exhilaration and intolerance. They have
equal compassion for all creatures. The features of subtypes of satwika
are
Subtype
|
Features
|
Bramha
|
Clean clad,
pure in conduct and character. They believe in the God and
comprehend ‘Veda’ or the ‘Holy Scriptures’. They honor
and respect the preceptors and the elderly. They perform
religious ceremonies and worships.
|
|
Mahendra
|
Have valor and
they command a large number of subordinates. They like to
participate in discussions of shastra (sciences). They
have lot of servants and maintain many dependents.
|
|
Varuna
|
Are fond of
extremely cold climate and have an extraordinary forbearance.
They talk very compassionately and sweetly
|
|
Kubera
|
Efficient
arbitrators. They can endure extreme hardships. They earn and
accumulate lot of wealth through righteous means.
|
|
Gandharva
|
Love garlands,
flowers and perfumes. They are fond of music and dancing. They
like to travel a lot
|
|
Yama
|
Have a strong
sense of duty. They are prompt and firm in their actions. They
are fearless, humble and have a spotlessness character. They do
not have an attachment for mundane things
|
|
Rishi
|
They have a
divine contemplation. They observe complete sexual abstinence.
Intellectual and wise, they are continuously engaged in
performing rites and rituals.
|
The ‘Rajasik’
types are brave and often aggressive. They are blessed with ability to
command and rule others. In the subtypes, the following prominent
features are observed:
Subtype
|
Features
|
|
Asura
|
Rich,
dreadful, valorous, hot-tempered, jealous of others, greedy and
usually do not share their wealth or power.
|
|
Sarpa
|
Bad-tempered,
timid, and are constantly irritated. They carry out laborious
works. They eat hastily and are fast in sexual intercourse.
|
|
Shakuna
|
Have
insatiable appetite and they indulge in excessive sexual
intercourse. They are bad-tempered and have unpredictable
behavior
|
|
Rakshasa
|
Introvert and
like solitude. They are ferocious, arrogant and are jealous of
others achievements. They are ignorant and nonreligious.
|
|
Pishachya
|
Eat food
partaken by others. They are shameless, irritable and
adventurous. They show acquisitiveness for the fairer sex.
|
|
Preta
|
Have
a very possessive nature. They are lazy, unhappy, envious, and
greedy and very stingy.
|
The ‘Tamasik’
types are lazy, inactive, dirty, dishonest and ignorant. The prominent
features of the subtypes are:
Subtype
|
Features
|
|
Pashavi
|
Lack in
judgment or prudence. They are incapable of ascertaining or
discerning anything. They frequently have sexual dreams.
|
|
Matsya
|
Have a longing
for water. Unsteady, stupid and coward they often pick up
quarrels. If in power, they tend to be oppressive.
|
|
Vanaspati
|
Inactive and
lethargic. They have craving for food and eat all the time.
Devoid of any religious conviction, they do not desire wealth or
enjoyment.
|
From the above
narrations, do you feel that the ‘satwik’ types are the
most endangered species on our planet? Well, the solace lies in the
right ‘sanskara’, isn’t it?
Top
Back
to Articles
|
