Tridosha Seven Dhatu And Three Mala

TRIDOSHA

According to Ayurveda the five elements are coded into three biological forces that govern all life process. These three forces are known as the tridosha. The tridosha regulates every physiological & psychological process in the living organism. The interplay between these three dosha determines the qualities & conditions of the individual.

The balance state of three dosha creates balance and health; an imbalance, which might be an excess or deficiency, manifests as a sign or symptoms of disease. The three dosha are known as Vata, Pitta & Kapha. Everyone is made up of these same three biological energies; each person has them in unique proportions.

Vata, Pitta & kapha are present in every cell, tissue & organ. They govern the biological & psychological processes of our body, mind & consciousness.

• Vata is the bodily air principle, the energy of movement & life force.
• Pitta is the principle of fire, the energy of digestion & metabolism.
• Kapha is the principle of water, the energy of lubrication, nourishment & structure.

When dosha is out of balance, ayurveda provides us with the specific ayurvedic medicines, lifestyle & nutritional guideline to assist in bringing that dosha back into balance.

SEVEN DHATU

The five elements are the building blocks of the dhatus (Body Tissues). They form the body’s basic physical formation or basic structure of the body. The word “Dhatu” comes from Sanskrit word which means “that which forms the body”; the root “dha” means “support” or “sustaining” the body, literal meaning “to support & to nourish”.

We all know that nourishment from food is necessary for life. But how food actually fuels the body is often misunderstood. Ayurveda identifies seven vital tissues that provide the tools for the body’s growth & structure. These tissues, called dhatus, are strikingly similar to the major tissues that modern science identifies, such as blood, muscles, fats, bines, and so on.

Each Dhatu is developed or transformed out of the previous tissue layer, starting with Rasa (Plasma). They are seven in numbers:

• RAS (Plasma): Tissue fluid like chyle, blood plasma, intracellular & trans-cellular fluid lymph etc. Its function is nourishment of the blood & whole body.
• RAKTA (Blood): Sufficient amount & pure form of Rasa starts the nourishment. Blood produces invigoration.
• MAMSA (Muscles): Healthy blood nourishes the muscles & tissues; function is plastering. It holds together the skeleton.
• MEDA (Fat): Well nourished muscle & tissue feeds fat; function is unctuousness.
• ASTHI (Bones): Healthy fat makes healthy bone tissue; function is support.
• MAJJA (Nerves fluid & Bone Marrow): Bone produces marrow; marrow is entirely encased in bone, includes all body marrows & the brain and the spinal cord. Its function is to fill the bone.
• SUKRA/ARTAVA (Reproductive Fluid): Properly nourished marrow goes to nourish all bodily secretion involved in reproduction; function is creation. Reproductive elements (Male & Female sexual fluids). Its function is reproduction & production of Ojas, the fluid that produces the strength, aura & controls immunity.

The building of the tissues begins when food is digested. Starting with plasma, the tissues form layer by layer in a sequence. Muscles for example, originate from both plasma & blood. The Complexity of tissue increases with each new layer, culminating with the reproductive fluids. A problem or imbalance within any tissue will impact all subsequent tissues. Unhealthy plasma, for example will affect all layers.

Agni is at the heart of our body’s tissue-building process through its role in helping sustain theses vital tissues. A weak Agni condition will result in the improper formation & maintenance of tissues. And all dhatus are integrally linked to an individual’s dosha- one of three metabolic principles connecting the mind and body.

THREE MALA

The word mala comes from the root “mal”, to darken, stain or harm. Malas refers to waste products and include Purish (stool), Mutra (urine) and Sweda (sweat) are considered as main excretory product of the body. These are also known as Dushya as these tend to be influenced to cause pathology or disease by imbalanced doshas. These are known as Mala due to its principle property of Malinikaran i.e. Toxification.

Mala are the substances or waste matter to be thrown out of the body. As a result of various physiological activities going on in the body, excretory by-products are formed that are known as Mala. They produce toxic effect on the body if not thrown out of the body at an appropriate time. Malas refers to waste products and include not just urine and faeces but sweat, mucus, tears, and ear wax and other oily secretions.

Mala is more an impurity, yet each Mala has its vital function in body. The concept of Malas, both as supportive and excretive products of the body, is important to understand. All of these Malas are related to some tissue. As indicated, sweat is regarded as a waste product of fat. Mucus is similarly seen as a waste product of plasma. Although we may look upon these waste products in a negative manner, they are fundamental in the body’s inherent cleansing, toning, and purifying functions. Without the efficient removal of malas, we’d be in all kinds of physiological trouble.

According to Ayurveda, only a balanced condition of doshas, dhatus and malas is Aarogya (good health or disease free condition) and their imbalance causes ill health or disease. Malas form the basic constituent of the body and contribute in its sustenance. Therefore these can be called as Dhatu but as their principle property or action is “to toxify” so in order to highlight this action it is called as Mala.

Importance of cleansing in Toxic body:

As a result of metabolic processes being carried out in the body, essence of ingested food and waste products are constantly formed. If waste products are not being formed besides the essence i.e. beneficial products that nourish tissues, then metabolic process would be impaired ultimately leading to the formation of malformed tissues. So, there needs to be an appropriate segregation of essence of ingested food and waste product and excretion of the waste matter on appropriate time for maintaining health.

Their formation is mandatory for maintenance of health but its excretion is equally important. If these are retained in the body they toxify the body, it means body is accumulating Ama somewhere in the system & one may have to undergo Ayurvedic cleansing to get rid of these toxins from the body.