The Fundamentals of Āyurveda ... [Rasa Vīrya Vipāka]

Transcript

welcome to healthy ayurveda.com i'm dr mike taliwal fedex sage today we'll talk about the systematic approach on how ayurveda looks upon food herbs and medicine as having therapeutic value according to ayurveda all substances are formed from the five great elements or panch mahabhutas which are ether air fire water and earth and based upon the combination or proportion of the five elements contained within a particular substance determines the taste qualities and actions of that particular substance each of the five elements is associated with various qualities for example ether is soft subtle light clear and smooth air is dry rough light subtle and quick spreading fire is hot sharp intense subtle light dry and clear water has fluidity water is unctuous or oily water is cold heavy soft and dull and earth is heavy hard dull dense and stable now we can also appreciate that doshas are the functional organization of these same various qualities for example bata represents qualities of ether and air which represents movement pitta is predominantly that of fire and water which represents the transformative processes of the body and kapha being that of water and earth provides lubrication stability and structure to the body so the various combinations of the elements creates six days and we can appreciate how these tastes influence the doshas and dhatus or bodily tissue hence food having medicinal and therapeutic value for example sweet taste is predominantly water and earth elements which provides growth and provides strength to the body sour taste is predominantly fire and earth elements which helps to stimulate appetite nourishes and energizes the body salty taste being that of fire and water elements provides moistness to the body promotes fluidity helps to break down solid masses or hardness and therefore salty taste helps with digestion pungent is primarily fired air which stimulates digestion helps with the absorption of food helps to clear eliminations which may be sticky such as amma bitter is predominantly ether and air and due to its bitterness it tends to make other tastes relatively more appealing because of its cooling effect it helps to alleviate burning sensation hence why it's ideal in febrile conditions bitter promotes firmness of the body and also can lead to depletion of bodily tissue and astringent taste is predominantly of the earth and air elements and therefore its drying creates compactness and constriction and tends to cause constipation now to integrate this and to provide a better understanding on how various tastes have therapeutic value we need to apply one of the tenants of ayurveda which is somanya vacation sedan which essentially explains like increases like meaning similar things increase things similarly or similarities of a substance are additive and provide cumulative or combined effects on that which it acts upon for example sweet taste is predominantly that of the water and earth elements sweet taste increases kapha dosha due to its similarities and various datus which are similar to kapha dosha will also increase therefore sweet taste promotes growth and has anabolic effects upon the body jetica states that when tastes are used properly it brings about happiness implying good health with proper therapeutic and medicinal uses of food however if used improperly food becomes harmful being the root cause of various imbalances which can lead to diseases so sweet sour salty taste helps to reduce vata dosha pungent bitter and astringent taste increases and aggravates patadosha the logic behind this can be understood via the elements meaning the unctuous heavy and stable qualities of sweet taste helps to pacify the dry rough light subtle and mobile qualities of batadosha similarly sour taste provides unctuousness to help pacify vatadosha and salty taste also provides anxiousness with the heating quality to help pacify dry cold qualities of vatadosha even further when using these taste as medicine we can prioritize the order for selecting which taste to use for example when managing increased vata dosha with an obstruction we should first consider salty taste which is considered the most heating taste of all this heat helps to alleviate the obstruction and helps to pacify the cold quality of atatosha next we should consider sour taste which is predominantly fire and earth elements the fire element is heating sharp with penetrating qualities which further helps to reduce any obstruction within channels therefore helping to facilitate the proper movement of vonta through various bodily channels finally we want to consider the sweet taste which is the most heavy and unctuous of all taste heaviness helps to reduce excess lightness of ata dosha and anxious helps to reduce the excess dry quality of vatadosha taste which helps to pacify pitta dosha are sweet bitter and astringent taste if pitta is associated with ama we should first use bitter taste then sweet and finally astringent taste bitter taste being ether and air is the most light of all taste therefore bitter helps to neutralize amma while helping to promote agni sweet taste having cold heavy and unctuous qualities helps to pacify the hot and light qualities of pitta dosha and finally astringent taste being earth and ether elements is the most drying and cold of all taste therefore astringent taste helps to reduce excess fluidity and heat of pitta dosha taste which helps to manage kapha dosha are pungent bitter and astringent taste however when kapha is associated with ama we should first consider pungent taste then bitter and then astringent taste pungent taste being that of the fire and air elements has hot sharp penetrating light and dry qualities which helps to reduce the heavy and sticky qualities of both kapha and amma next we should consider bitter taste which is predominantly ether and air elements and is the most light of all taste therefore it helps to further reduce the heaviness of kapha dosha and finally astringent taste being earth and air elements is the most drying of all taste astringent taste helps to reduce the unctuousness of kapha ultimately reducing excess mucus and expectoration common to kapha imbalances so this is a comprehensive look at the therapeutic value of various tastes which allows for a greater appreciation of the elements or the bansh mahabhutas we can take this further and see how the energetics or potency arises from food herbs and medicine ayurveda explains the concept of vidia which is one of the most strongest effects of herbs and medicine interestingly of the 20 qualities or the 20 gunas eight are considered most powerful and most therapeutic and of the eight qualities the two most powerful or the two most therapeutic qualities are hot and cold hot video representing agni and colvidia representing soma so we can see that that which contains predominance of the fire element will have heating video for example pungent sour and salty taste all contain predominance of the fire element hence are heating and tastes which do not contain the fire element or have predominance of the water element or cooling therefore bitter sweet and astringent taste are considered cooling generally cooling vidia is pleasing and helps to stabilize the body cooling videa provides strength lubricates the body and promotes longevity cooling video increases kapha and vatadosha while decreasing pitta dosha on the contrary heating videa causes a burning sensation within heating vidia stimulates agni and therefore promotes digestion excess heat causes sweating this heat creates thirst and tiredness and even can create a sense of giddiness heating video tends to increase pitta dosha and reduces both vata and kapha dosha the next important consideration for evaluating food herbs and medicine is vebaca which represents the final substance once digestion is complete so as we know digestion is a elaborate process and each stage of digestion forms a substance which has certain characteristics with corresponding qualities and therefore exerting specific influences upon the doshas however once digestion is complete the final product is considered vipako which is either sweet sour or pungent sweet vipaka is generally formed from that which initially had sweet and salty taste sweet popaka is heavy and therefore helps with the elimination of feces and urine sweet vibaca tends to increase kapha dosha sour vipaka is formed from that which initially has sour taste sour vapaca is light yet also helps with the elimination of species and urine and sour vapoca tends to increase pitta dosha and finally food and herbs which initially had pungent bitter and or astringentaze forms the final substance which has pungent vibaca which tends to be constipating and pungent vipaka tends to aggravate batadosha okay guys this was a more in-depth look on how food herbs and ayurvedic medicine can be used therapeutically to help manage and balance doshas hope you've enjoyed and until next time be well