Now that we understand the relationship between the doshas and the elements, we can examine the doshas in terms of their functions in the body, especially the effects they have on the dhatus and malas. The Ayurvedic texts define dosha as that which is neither retained nor eliminated by the body. The doshas do not exist as retainable structures or materials, like the dhatus, nor are they substances which’ the body eliminates, like the malas. They have little or no obvious material form, and they cannot be easily seen or examined directly. The doshas play an active but somewhat invisible role in orchestrating the processes that create and sustain the body.
Dhatu and mala cannot operate by themselves. Dhatu lacks the ability to nourish itself, and mala cannot eliminate itself from the body. They depend on the intelligence of the doshas to direct them. When in balance, the doshas know exactly when and where to go in the body and how to manage the processes of nourish ment and elimination. Their ability to coordinate and administrate the function of the dhatus and malas makes them extremely important in Ayurveda.
Doshas and Their Function
Vata Dosha – Separation / Movement
Pitta Dosha – Convetsion / Transformation
Kapha Dosha – Cohesion / Liquidity
It is useful to think of the doshas as agents of change. They make things happen. They are the unseen forces that do all the transporting, transforming and packaging in the body. Vata acts as a vehicle which carries nutrients from one stage of the digestive process to the next. It collects waste products from each stage of metabolism and returns them to the gastrointestinal tract for elimination. Pitta transforms the food substances brought to it by vata into more nourishing products, which vata then distributes to the dhatus. Kapha serves as a medium of transport, binding together food stuffs teady to be transformed, nutrients ready to be distributed and waste products ready to be expelled.
Doshas uniqueness as a functional intelligence is demonstrated in a remarkable ability that is not possessed by either dhatu or mala. Ayurveda describes this special capacity as dosha gati, the movement of the doshas back and forth between the body’s more solid structures and its hollow structures. This is a very crucial ability. Unlike the malas, the doshas can move from the gastrointestinal tract to the dhatus. The three doshas act together as a carrier vehicle, whose function is to bring food, oxygen and water from the internal mucous membranes of the G-I tract to the superficial and deep tissues constituting the dhatus.
Unlike the dhatus, the doshas can move from the dhatus to the gastrointestinal tract. Again, they act in unison to transport metabolic by-products and toxins from the dhatus to the internal mucous membranes for elimination. Dosha functions between dhatu and mala, influencing their condition and status in the body. It combines with dhatu and mala without itself being changed or harmed.
We see this concept at work in our salivary glands. When we are hungry and someone puts a delicious meal in front of us, we suddenly begin to salivate. The food we eat mixes with the saliva in our mouths so that it becomes liquid enough to be swallowed. How did the saliva appear? The doshas brought it from the solid and semi-solid dhatus to the hollow structure of the mouth. Once they have done their job, these secretions will be reabsorbed from the stomach and intestines and carried back to the dhatus by the action of the doshas.
Dosha gati is also instrumental in helping the doshas maintain water balance in the body. Urination is more frequent when we are relaxing than when we are exerting ourselves. During periods of low activity, the dhatus or tissues do not need as much fluid to lubricate and protect them. The doshas keep the balance of tissue-fluid by removing excess water from the dhatus to the body’s hollow structures. When we become more active, we develop a thirst, the body’s signal that the dhatus need moisture. The doshas carry the fluid we drink to the specific dhatus that are in need.
When an Ayurvedic physician understands where the dysfunction is occurring in the digestive process, he can determine which dosha is aggravated or blocked. Thus, proper use of the appropriate ahara (diet) and vihara (exercise) methods to eliminate the imbalance can be applied.
If we study vihar treatments, as explained in Ayurveda, yogasanas and pranayama are recommended to balance the doshas.
If we observe asanas, we can see clearly that they regulate the doshas.
In observing a specific asana (posture), such as one specifically designed to work on the abdomen, we see that it increases pressure on the organs, which in turn assists those organs (dhatus) to release ama. When the posture is released, expansion follows, which increases the nutrition and oxygenation to all the organs in the abdominal cavity. This enhances the elimination of the malas from the body, which promotes nutrition and helps to increase agni for stronger metabolism.
So, yogasanas have been designed in Ayurveda to enhance the ability of doshas to maintain proper dhatu and mala functions. I would suggest that the sages in India created yogasana mainly to regulate the doshas in the body. I will discuss more about this in Vihara chikitsa, (pages 146-151).
The following four premises describe doshic functioning. Their importance for healing and rejuvenating the body is paramount and will be elaborated on in detail in the second section of this book.
(i) The doshas can move anywhere in the body, from the deepest structures of bone marrow and reproductive tissue to the surface of the skin and back again.
(ii) The doshas’ intelligence discriminates between what the body should retain and what it should eliminate, and acts accordingly.
(iii) Each dosha is most efficient in eliminating impurities that accumulate in its own zone of functioning as well as promoting nutrition in that particular zone.
(iv) The doshas twice-daily migration periods are the best times for the movement of waste products from the body’s deeper structures to its hollow structures and the movement of nutritional products from the G-I tract to the deep tissues.