It is said, to understand these three “humors” or forces, one needs to study them for eight years, as they are metaphors for Mother Nature’s movements in the manifest world.
~ Atreya Smith (Ayurvedic Healing for Women)
The above quote from my teacher is the best indication that it is possible for each of us to grasp the fundamentals of Ayurveda and use them in our daily living.
Ayurveda is not a complex world of obscurity and shamanic mystique but instead a logical system based on observation and understanding. As we pause and contemplate the world in which we live, we begin to see the patterns that exist in nature. As we are part of nature, we realise that the patterns existing on the outside also exist within our minds and bodies.
The “eight years” of study to which Atreya refers is not study found in books but rather it is study that we undertake through direct perception – observation and understanding. With this direct perception, and some theoretical study, we begin to attain a clear picture of how our bodies respond to food, routine, seasonal changes and a host of other external influences. And this understanding, this is Ayurveda.
Observation is important but what is needed is a way of describing what has been observed. This brings us to the Vimshati Gunas – literally translated as “twenty attributes”. These attributes are ten pairs of opposites, allowing us to accurately describe the quality of elements in nature.
| Guna | Opposite |
| Shita (cold/cool) | Ushna (hot) |
| Guru (heavy/hard to digest) | Laghu (light/east to digest) |
| Snigdha (unctuous) | Ruksha (dry) |
| Sthula (big/thick/gross) | Sukshma (minute/thin/subtle) |
| Sthira (steady/static) | Chala/Sara (mobile) |
| Sandra (viscous/dense) | Drava (flowing/liquid) |
| Manda (slow/dull/moderate) | Tikshna (fast/sharp/penetrating) |
| Mrdu (soft) | Kathina (hard) |
| Slakshna (smooth) | Khara (rough) |
| Vishada (non-slimey/porous/clear) | Pichila (gelatinous/slimey/opaque) |
Having a simple means to describe food, lifestyle, seasons, and among other things, the doshas, we can begin to appreciate how to get ourselves back to balanced living.
But before I end off, I must mention another pillar of Ayurvedic knowledge which links with the Vimshati Gunas:
Samanya Vishesha
This sanskrit phrase translates to:
Like increases like, opposites decrease each other.
No more complex than how it reads – if we add one attribute to itself, it will increase. To create more dryness we add more elements with a dry attribute. If we add the opposite of an attribute, it will decrease. To decrease the dryness we add more elements with an oily attribute.
In the next installment of the blog I will illustrate the importance of the Vimshati Gunas by using them to describe the doshas.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 28, 2011 at 5:22 am
Understanding the Doshas (part ii): Vata « Jangalikayamane
[...] a previous post I discussed the Vimshati Gunas which are referred to in the Ashtanga Hridayam. These attributes [...]
April 6, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Understanding the Doshas (part iii): Pitta « Jangalikayamane
[...] our effort to understand the doshas we have covered the Vimshati Gunas and discussed how these relate to Vata dosha. At this point we will turn our attention to Pitta [...]
April 17, 2011 at 2:03 am
Understanding the Doshas (part iv): Kapha « Jangalikayamane
[...] balancing the predisposition of Kapha, we look to the Vimshati Gunas. The opposites of Kapha are: dry, hot, light, fast, rough, non-slimey, [...]