Prakruti - Your Uniqueness
In Ayurveda, there is no one-size-fits-all model. Ayurveda recognizes that humans all have a unique mind-body constitution. That is Prakruti in short.
There are so many people around us daily, if we notice them carefully we can definitely find out one or more habits specific to that person. That’s the nature of the person. It can be related to behaviour, eating habits, body gesture or even thinking tracks. This is Prakruti. Prakruti is of seven different types, let’s not go in detail, but just a brief idea is as follows:
Prakruti means constitution of a person. In Ayurveda, it plays a major role in diagnosis. It is one among the eight aspects of examinations. Ayurved has described physical as well as psychological constitution. We are here dealing with physical constitution.
Prakruti is decided at the time of conception itself. It is affected by various factors like diet of mother during pregnancy, shukra and shonit i.e sperm and ovum, time of conception etc. It is not changeable. Person gets different attributes of body, behaviour, mental stability, likes and dislikes etc. from this Prakruti which remain same till death. Don’t get confused between adjustments of life and likings, we might need to adapt to certain situations in our life by leaving behind our likes and dislikes. However, this doesn’t change eternal like or craving of certain things.
Determination of Prakruti helps the Vaidya- An Ayurvedic Practitioner as well as the patient to find solutions of certain issues. For example, in case of Vaidya, when he determines the Prakruti of his patient, it helps to design his medications, to know his lifespan in case of life threatening disease conditions(Arishtas) etc. Whereas for patient, it helps to understand which food is good for him, why doesn’t he easily tolerate some other types of food. Also, this can help knowing one’s qualities and drawbacks which can help to choose his or her career. Or even try some necessary adjustments to reduce the drawbacks of personality. For example, breathing practices can be of great help when it comes to an anxious person or person with short temper. Though it cannot be completely removed, it can always help you in reducing the intensity of your drawback. Similar is also true for certain diet changes. The use of different Rasayanas and specific items to be included or excluded in one’s diet can be decided on prakruti of person.
As we all know Vata, Pitta, Kapha are tridoshas of our body. Depending on the dominance of each of them, their combinations with each other, seven types are defined.
A person with Vata dominant personality is having thin body structure, there is dominance of dryness in his skin, hair and voice. These people are usually talkative and never feel lonely even if they are in with completely new company.
A personality with dominance of Pitta is a bit aggressive. They are very sensitive to heat and strenuous work. They are very sharp at remembrance. And Usually they are blessed with good power of expression and so they make a better speaker.
A personality with dominance of Kapha have strong personality. They are very tolerant people, have great patience, usually with loving and caring attitude. They have a good built and also unctuous nature of hair, skin and voice.
However, these are just few simple easy-to-note characteristics. To determine Prakruti there are many other factors also like digestion, sleeping tendencies, eating habits, etc. Also in practice, grading all factors is necessary to get accurate final results. Some medications or today's use of cosmetology in our lives may hinder in this process of determination of Prakruti.
As a conclusion, I would like to add that determination of Prakruti is not only for unhealthy person but also for a healthy person to enhance the quality of life. All detailing cannot be done with this article as a base.
Any enquiries regarding the same are always welcome…..
Vd. Manasi Joshi