Vāta (Vāyu), Pitta and Kapha (Śleṣma)

There are two types of reasons are exogenous and endogenous^[1]. There are also two types of location in mind and body. Again, the disease can be called innumerable because the disease is innumerable when judging the location, gender and partial alternatives. The causes of Āgantu disease are bruising of nails, biting, spell, curse, psychic afflictions including demonic seizure, assault, piercing, bandage, rapping, being surrounded by rope, burning, mantra, lightning, and demonic seizure etc.'The causes of endogenous diseases are caused by the disturbance in the equilibrium of Vāta, Pitta and Kapha.

The place of Vāyu is the urinary bladder, rectum, lumbar, thigs, legs, bones and colon. The colon is the main important place of vāyu. Eighty types of Vāta diseases are: cracking of nails, cracking of feet, pain in foot, foot drop, numbness of foot, club foot, stiff ankle, cramps in the calf, sciatica, genu varum, genu valgum, stiffness of thigh, pain in the thigh, paraplegia, prolapsed rectum, tenesmus, pain in scrotum, stiffness of penis, tension of groin, pain around the pelvic girdle, diarrhoea, misperistalsis, lameness, kyphosis, dwarfism, arthritis of sacroiliac joint, stiffness of back, pain in chest, griping pain in abdomen, brady cardia, tachycardia, rubbing pain in chest, impairment of thoracic movement, stabbing pain in chest, atrophy of arm, stiffness of the neck, torticollis, hoarseness of voice, pain in jaw, pain in lip, pain in eye, toothache, looseness of tooth, aphasia, lalling speech, astringent taste in mouth, dryness of the mouth, ageusia, anosmia, ear ache, tinnitus, hard of hearing, deafness, ptosis of eye lid, entropion, amaurosis, pinching pain in eye, ptosis of eye ball, ptosis of eye brow, pain in temporal region, pain in frontal region, headache, dandruff, facial paralysis, monoplegia, polyplegia, hemiplegia, clonic convulsion, tonic convulsion, fainting, giddiness, tremor, yawning, hiccup, asthenia, delirium, dryness, hardness, dusky red appearance, sleeplessness, unstable mentality.

The vitiated vāyu should be treated with drugs having sweet, sour and saline taste, and oily and hot qualities. And oleation, fomentation, āsthāpana and anuvāsana types of enema, inhalation, diet, massage, unction, and affusion etc., should be treated in the same way as duration and dosage. āsthāpana and anuvāsana treatment has been called the main treatment for Vātika diseases^[2].

The place of Pitta is the sweat, rasa, lymph, blood and small intestine^[3]. Among them, small intestine is the main place of Pitta. The inherent natural qualities of pitta are heat, sharpness, liquidity, slight, unctuousness, all colours except white and red, fishy smell, acrid and sour tastes and fluidity. The functional symptoms of bile disorders are: burning sensation, heat, suppuration, perspiration, sloughing, kotha, itching, discharge, redness, and the exhibition of its inherent smell, colour and teste. Forty types of Paittika diseases are: heating, scorching, burning, boiling, fuming, acid eructation, pyrosis, burning sensation inside the body, burning sensation in shoulder, excessive temperature, excessive sweating, foetid odour of the body, cracking pain in the body, sloughing of the blood, sloughing of the muscle, burning sensation in the skin, cracking of the skin, itching of the skin, urticaria, red vesicle, bleeding tendency, red wheals, greenishness, yellowishness, blue moles, herpes, jaundice, bitter taste in mouth, smell of blood from the mouth, foetid odour of mouth, excessive thirst, non-satisfaction, stomatitis, pharyngitis, conjunctivitis, proctitis, inflammation of the penis, haemorrhage, fainting, greenish & yellowish colouration of eyes, urine & faeces.

The vitiated pitta should be treated with drugs having sweet, bitter, astringent, and cooling qualities. Paittika diseases should be treated according to the dosage and duration of oleation, purgation, unction, affusion, and massage, etc. Physicians call purgation is the best treatment for curing Paittika diseases.

The place of Śleṣma is the chest, head, neck, joint, stomach and fat. The chest is the main place of mucus^[4]. The inherent natural qualities of Śleṣma are unctuousness, coolness, whiteness, heaviness, sweetness, steadiness, sliminess and viscosity. The functional symptoms of mucus disorder are: whiteness, coolness, itching, stability, heaviness, unctuousness, numbness, stickiness, act of being covered with bodily excreta, obstruction, sweetness and delay in manifestation. Forty types of Śleṣmaja diseases are: anorexia nervosa, drowsiness, excessive-sleep, timidness, heaviness of the body, laziness, sweet taste in mouth, salivation, mucus expectoration, excessive excretion of excreta, loss of strength, indigestion, phlegm adhered in vicinity of heart, phlegm adhered to throat, hardening of arteries, goitre, obesity, suppression of digestive power, urticaria, pallor, whiteness of urine, eye and faeces.

The vitiated Śleṣma should be treated with drugs having pungent, bitter, astringent, sharp, hot, and unctuous qualities. Śleṣmaja diseases should be treated according to the dosage and duration of fomentation, emesis, elimination of dosas from the head, exercise, etc. Physicians call emetic therapy is the best treatment for curing Paittika diseases.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

trayaḥ śothā bhavanti vātapittaśleṣmanimittāḥ, tu punardvividhā nijāgantubhedena || (CS. -Sūtrasthāna–XVIII.3); R. K. Sharma & Bhagwan Dash (eds.), Caraka Saṃhitā–Vol. I, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 2017, p. 336.

[2]:

taṃ madhurāmlalavaṇasnigdhoṣṇorupakrameta, snehasvedāsthapanānuvāsanastaḥ ______karma....... (CS. -Sūtrasthāna–XX.13); Caraka Saṃhitā Vol. I with elaborated Vidyotini Hindi Commentary, trans. Kasinatha Pandey & Gorakha Natha Chaturvedi, Varanasi, Chaukhambha Bharati Academy, 2015, p. 402.

[3]:

svedo raso lasīkārudhiramāmāśayaśca pittasthanāni, tatrāpyāmāśayo viśeṣaṇa pittasthanam | (CS. -Sūtrasthāna–XX.8); R. K. Sharma & Bhagwan Dash (eds.), Caraka Saṃhitā–Vol. I, Varanasi, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 2017, p. 336.

[4]:

uraḥ śiro grīvā parvāṇyāmāśayo medaśca śleṣmasthanāni, tatrāpyuro viśeṣaṇa śleṣmasthanam |(C. Sūtrasthāna–XX.8); Baidyacharya Kalikinkar Sensarma &Ayurbedacharya Satyasekhar Bhattacharya (eds.), Caraka-Samhita–Vol. I, trans. Kabiraj Jasodanandan Sirkar, Kolkata, Deepayan Publication, 2013, p. 165.