ABSTRACT
According to Ayurveda, all life processes are regulated by vāta, pitta and kapha, collectively known as tridōṣa. The human body is made up of seven tissue elements (dhātu), which undergo sequential transformation and produce waste products (mala) as well as an end product called ōjas that imparts vigor and vitality. Tridōṣa exist in dhātu and mala. Diseases are caused when the tridōṣa are destabilized and health results when they return to steady state. Due to dietary and behavioral indiscretions and effects of season, the tridōṣa increase or decrease, generating many diseases. All forms of matter (dravya) are made up of varying combinations of the five primordial elements such as earth, water, fire, air and sky, collectively called pañcamahābhūta. Dravya possess six basic tastes such as sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent having ability to influence tridōṣa. Increase or decrease of tridōṣa, dhātu and mala produce specific signs and symptoms, which help the physician to understand the nature of pathology, following which medicines made up of appropriate dravya, food, beverages and measures, having ability to modulate tridōṣa in the desired way are administered for the cure of the disease.
