TRIDOSHA SIDHATHA - Vata Dosha ( Leader of Tridosha )

In this and coming articles we will take a look at Tridosha sidhhanta (Principle of 3 doshas). In our nature all events takes place because of five Tatva’s or we call them elements. These 5 tatva’s are as follows:

• Anil (air) 
• Agni (fire) 
• Jal (water) 
• Prithvi (earth) 
• Aakash (eather/sky)

Similarly, according to Ayurveda our various body functions such as digestion, falling asleep, thinking, walking, talking & our emotions take place because of 3 dosha’s that are present in our body.

Ayurveda calls them “Tridosha” and they are as follows
1) Vata dosha
2) Pitta dosha
3) Kapha dosha



Ayurveda believes that what is found in the nature is in our body. Therefore we say that, Anil tatva of nature is represented by Vata dosha in human body, Agni & water tatva by Pitta dosha and jal & Prithvi tatva of nature is represented by Kapha dosha in human body.

Pitta and kapha dosha are not able to move by their own,for movement they are dependent on vata dosha. So the inspiration of all movements is Vata dosha. Hence it is called primary leader of all doshas.

Below we will discuss vata dosha in detail.

Vata doshaAyurveda believes that all the movements in body happen because of vata dosha.

Acoording to tridosha sidhhanta , all the 3 dosha’s are distributed in our body, & they do their functions like that. But they have some special functional areas too.

        

Fig : Special functional areas of Vata Dosha

Above diagram explains that functions like bowel movement, walking, hearing,  lifting heavy things, running, maintain body poture, feeling cold or hot senses on touch etc are possible because of vata.

Qualities of Vata

• Dry
• Light
• Cold
• Rough
• Minute
• Mobile
• Quick

General functions of Vata

1. Maintains normal physiological functions of body.
2. Development of all organs & parts of our body occurs in intra-uterine life. Vata dosha is responsible for this development mainly, & thus it is responsible for any abnormality too, means congenital disorders. e.g.vulvular heart disease.
3. Speech and various sounds like heart sound, peristaltic sound, respiratory sound. These sounds are created by vata dosha.
4. Hearing.
5. Respiration.
6. Jatharagni means fire present in stomach which digests the food. Vata maintains it.
7. Maintains fluid amount in the body.
8. Elimination of faecal matter, urine, n sweat along with toxins frm body, & keeps it clean.
9. Controls nervous system.
10. It takes nutrients to each & every minute part of body through circulation, hence nourishes the body.

Types of VATA DOSHA

There are 5 types of vata dosha.

•     Prana
•    Udana
•     Samana
•    Vyana
•    Apana

Names are not easy to understand but I have added diagrams for easy undestanding.We will discuss each of these in  detail with their functional areas

1)Prana vayu

Head is the main region of Prana. Other functional areas of prana are  throat, oral cavity ,tongue ,thoracic region and nasal cavity.

Fig: Specific areas & functions of Prana

2) Udana vayu -

Thorax is the main region of Udana .Other functional areas are  nose & nasal cavity, pharynx and umbilical region.

Fig: Specific areas & functions of Udana

3) Vyana Vayu-

Heart is the main region for vyana & its functional area is whole body.

  Fig: Specific areas & functions of Vyana

4) Samana vayu-

The main region of samana is jatharagni means the fire which is present in stomach which digests the food. Other  functional area of samana is intestine. 

Fig: Specific areas & functions of Samana

5)Apana vayu-

The area below umbilicus is called as Apana region & the vata dosha present in this region is called as apana vayu.

The organs present in apana region are-

•      Pelvic girdle
•      Urinary bladder
•      Male genital organs
•      Female genital organs
•     Thigh region
•      Rectum

Fig: Specific areas & functions of Apana

Emotional & mental characteristics of people who have predominantly Vata constitution -

•     Creativity,mental quickness, highly imaginative
•     Very talkative, lively, fun loving.
•     Very easily grasps anything & easily forgets.
•     Tendancy to act on impulse, changeable moods
•      Reasoning power is weak, nervous, fearful, & afflicted by much anxiety.

Physical characteristics-

• Dry skin, dry hair, hands & feet are often cold. 
• Variable appetite and digestion.
• Disturbed & Less sleep
• Physically underdeveloped, complexion brown
• Production of urine & sweat is scanty,stools are dry & hard, usually tends to       Constipation
• People of vata dominancy, like to eat foods of tastes sweet sour& salty.

So here we saw about normal physiology of Vata Dosha. In coming articles we will see about remaining 2 principles or dosha’s.