Tridosha: vata, pitta and kapha as the regulatory principles of the body

Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21 (Vrana-prashna):Su. Su. 21/3 (Sanskrit aphorism number; Bhishagratna prints no number) · checked against the source

वातपित्तश्लेष्माण एव देहसम्भवहेतवः । तैरेवाव्यापन्नैरधोमध्योर्ध्वसन्निविष्टैः शरीरमिदं धार्यतेऽगारमिव स्थूणाभिस्तिसृभिः अतश्च त्रिस्थूणमाहुरेके । त एव च व्यापन्नाः प्रलयहेतवः । तदेभिरेव शोणितचतुर्थैः सम्भवस्थितिप्रलयेष्वप्यविरहितं शरीरं भवति ॥३॥

The Vayu, Pittam and Shleshma should be considered as the primary and the most essential factors in the constitution of human organism. These fundamental and vital humours, occupying respectively the lower, middle, and upper parts of the body, maintain its integrity. The human body is supported by the three fundamental humours in the same way as a dwelling house is propped up by three supporting poles or stays; from which fact, the body is called the three-supported one (Tristhunam) by certain authorities. A deranged condition of these three fundamental humours may bring about its dissolution or death, while on their continuance in a normal state depends the vitality of the organism. These three humours, in combination with a fourth, the principle of blood, determine the origin, preservation, and dissolution of animated organism and permeate it with their respective properties till the moment of death.

The core doctrine in one passage: the three doshas as the constitutive and regulatory principles, the tristhuna image, the normal-versus-deranged dichotomy, and Sushruta's distinctive addition of rakta as a fourth. The English was re-read against the archive.org OCR on 2026-10-06 (chapter XXI begins at the heading 'Now we shall discuss the Chapter which investigates the nature of bodily humours') and matches, with hyphenation normalised.

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 15 (Dosha-dhatu-mala-kshaya-vriddhi-vijnaniya):Su. Su. 15/4 (Sanskrit aphorism number, added; Bhishagratna prints no number) · checked against the source

तत्र प्रस्पन्दनोद्वहनपूरणविवेकधारणलक्षणो वायुः पञ्चधा प्रविभक्तः शरीरं धारयति ॥

The imparting of motion to the body (Praspandanam), the carrying of the sensations of the respective sense organs (Udvahanam), the passing down of food to its proper receptacles (Puranam), the separation of excretions from the assimilated food matter (Viveka), and the retention and evacuation of urine and semen, etc. (Dharanam) should be ascribed to the functions of the five kinds of Vayu (nerve force) which support the body.

The functional definition of vata by its effects rather than by any substance, and the fivefold subdivision. Two translator intrusions to keep separate from the text. Bhishagratna's parenthetical gloss of Vayu as 'nerve force' is his own 1907 interpolation, not the Sanskrit, and is an early instance of the biomedical-correlate move that still dominates the literature. And the Sanskrit says only 'panchadha pravibhaktah', divided fivefold; the five names (Prana, Udana, Samana, Vyana, Apana) are in Bhishagratna's footnote, not in Sushruta's aphorism. Charaka's own naming of the five is at Ca. Su. 12.8, quoted below.

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 15 (Dosha-dhatu-mala-kshaya-vriddhi-vijnaniya):Su. Su. 15/4 (same aphorism as the preceding entry) · checked against the source

रागपक्त्योजस्तेजोमेधोष्मकृत् पित्तं पञ्चधा प्रविभक्तमग्निकर्मणाऽनुग्रहं करोति; ॥ सन्धिसंश्लेषणस्नेहनरोपणपूरणबलस्थैर्यकृच्छ्लेष्मा पञ्चधा प्रविभक्त उदककर्मणाऽनुग्रहं करोति ॥४॥

Pigmentations or colouring (Ragakrit), the digestion of food and metabolism of tissues (Paktikrit), the vitalisation and nutrition of the protaplasmic cells (Ojakrit), the origination and preservation of eye-sight (Teja-Krit), the germination of heat and maintenance of the temperature of the body (Ushma-Krit), and the origination of the faculty of intellection (Medha-Krit) should be regarded as the functions of the five kinds of Pittam, which contribute to the preservation of the body through its thermogenetic potency (Agni-Karma).

That pitta is defined as a family of transformative functions including intellect, and is explicitly tied to agni (agni-karmana anugraham karoti), and that kapha is defined by the parallel list of cohesive functions and tied to water (udaka-karmana). 'Protoplasmic cells' is the translator's, not the text's. The footnote in which Bhishagratna names the five pittas and five kaphas is likewise his; Sushruta's own naming of the pittas is at 21/10, and his mula names no kapha subtypes at 15/4 or 21/14. OCR note: the archive.org text layer prints 'coloiu-ing' and 'Ushma- Krit' across line breaks; both are restored ('colouring', 'Ushma-Krit') and no other word differs from the OCR segment.

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21 (Vrana-prashna):Su. Su. 21/9 (Sanskrit aphorism number, added; Bhishagratna prints no number) · checked against the source

तत्र जिज्ञास्यं किं पित्तव्यतिरेकादन्योऽग्निः । अत्रोच्यते- न खलु पित्तव्यतिरेकादन्योऽग्निरुपलभ्यते, आग्नेयत्वात् पित्ते दहनपचनादिष्वभिप्रवर्तमानेऽग्निवदुपचारः क्रियतेऽन्तरग्निरिति; क्षीणे ह्यग्निगुणे तत्समानद्रव्योपयोगात् , अतिवृद्धे शीतक्रियोपयोगात् , आगमाच्च पश्यामो न खलु पित्तव्यतिरेकादन्योऽग्निरिति ॥९॥

Now it may be asked whether the Pittam is identical with the elemental fire, or is it something other than that? The question may be answered by stating that the Pittam is the same as fire. Since such symptoms, as a burning sensation, digestion (boiling), and all other characteristics of fire can never exhibit themselves in the human body without the intervention of Pittam. Pittam therefore is called internal fire. Consequently, an enfeebled action of Pittam is remedied by the administration of drugs and substances which are akin to the elemental fire in their attributes, while an abnormal or excessive action (secretion) of Pittam is subdued by cooling measures as an over-kindled fire is subdued by moisture. There is no other fire (heat making factor) in the organism than Pittam.

That the identification of pitta with agni was a live question inside the tradition and was answered by assimilation. This is the textual root of the persistent ambiguity about whether agni is a separate entity or a function of pitta. The three grounds the Sanskrit gives (a weakened fire-quality is treated with fire-like substances, an excessive one with cooling measures, and scripture) are all present in the English.

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21 (Vrana-prashna):Su. Su. 21/10 (Sanskrit aphorism number; Bhishagratna prints no number) · checked against the source

तच्चादृष्टहेतुकेन विशेषेण पक्वामाशयमध्यस्थं पित्तं चतुर्विधमन्नपानं पचति, विवेचयति च दोषरसमूत्रपुरीषाणि; तत्रस्थमेव चात्मशक्त्या शेषाणां पित्तस्थानानां शरीरस्य चाग्निकर्मणाऽनुग्रहं करोति, तस्मिन् पित्ते पाचकोऽग्निरिति सञ्ज्ञा; यत्तु यकृत्प्लीह्नोः पित्तं तस्मिन् रञ्जकोऽग्निरिति सञ्ज्ञा, स रसस्य रागकृदुक्तः; यत् पित्तं हृदयस्थं तस्मिन् साधकोऽग्निरिति सञ्ज्ञा, सोऽभिप्रार्थितमनोरथसाधनकृदुक्तः; यद्दृष्ट्यां पित्तं तस्मिन्नालोचकोऽग्निरिति सञ्ज्ञा, स रूपग्रहणाऽधिकृतः; यत्तु त्वचि पित्तं तस्मिन् भ्राजकोऽग्निरिति सञ्ज्ञा, सोऽभ्यङ्गपरिषेकावगाहालेपनादीनां क्रियाद्रव्याणां पक्ता छायानां च प्रकाशकः ॥१०॥

The Pachakagni: By the ordination of fate or necessity (unfathomable natural cause) the Pittam, located in the region between the stomach (Amashaya) and the intestines (Pakvashaya), helps the digestion of the four kinds of food such as drink and edibles etc. partaken of by a living subject, and purges off the residue or impure morbiferous matter in the shape of urine and excreta after the completion of the process. Even thus located, it keeps up the temperature in its other distant locations (skin, etc.) in virtue of its native heat-giving attribute. Hence this Pittam is called the Pachakagni (digestive fire or heat) in an animated organism. The Ranjakagni: The function of the Pittam, which has its seats in the liver and the spleen, consists in imparting its characteristic pigment (Ragakrit) to the lymph-chyle and is hence known as Ranjakagni (lit: dyeing fire or pigment bile.) The Sadhakagni: The Pittam seated in the heart is denominated as the Sadhakagni (performing or operating heat or fire) inasmuch as its action is to bring about the fruition or realisation of one's desires. The Alochakagni: The Pittam, which is located in the pupils of the eyes, is called the Alochakagni (the Pittam or fire of sight) as its office is to catch the image of any external object presented to the eyes. The Bhrajakagni: The Pittam, which has its seat in the skin, is called the Bhrajakagni (illuminating or irradiating heat) inasmuch as it absorbs the substances used in the shape of unguents, lubrications, etc. and irradiates the glow of one's natural complexion.

Sushruta's own naming of the five pittas, each as an agni with a seat and a function: pachaka (between pakvashaya and amashaya), ranjaka (liver and spleen), sadhaka (heart), alochaka (eye), bhrajaka (skin). This is the classical locus for the pitta subtypes and it confirms, from the mula, that Sushruta treats the subtypes of pitta as kinds of fire, which bears on the agni-versus-pitta question. The English paragraph headings are Bhishagratna's layout; 'lymph-chyle' for rasa and 'by the ordination of fate or necessity' for adrishta-hetukena are his renderings. Quoted from the archive.org OCR with hyphenation normalised and the OCR's broken diacritics ('Pd'Chakygni', 'Sa'dhaka'gni') restored to the plain spellings Bhishagratna uses elsewhere in the same passage. Three further OCR letter-defects corrected, each checked against the surrounding text and the Sanskrit: 'Am^shaya' to 'Amashaya', 'imguents' to 'unguents', and 'e5'es' to 'eyes'. A word-level comparison against the OCR segment on 2026-10-06 found no other difference.

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21 (Vrana-prashna):Su. Su. 21/14 (Sanskrit aphorism number; Bhishagratna prints no number) · checked against the source

स तत्रस्थ एव स्वशक्त्या शेषाणां श्लेष्मस्थानानां शरीरस्य चोदककर्मणाऽनुग्रहं करोति; उरःस्थस्त्रिकसन्धारणमात्मवीर्येणान्नरससहितेन हृदयावलम्बनं करोति; जिह्वामूलकण्ठस्थो जिह्वेन्द्रियस्य सौम्यत्वात् सम्यग्रसज्ञाने वर्तते; शिरःस्थः स्नेहसन्तर्पणाधिकृतत्वादिन्द्रियाणामात्मवीर्येणानुग्रहं करोत्; सन्धिस्थः श्लेष्मा सर्वसन्धिसंश्लेषात् सर्वसन्ध्यनुग्रहं करोति ॥१४॥

The Kledakam: The Kapham, even though principally located in the stomach, permeates its four other distant localities with its peculiar watery or humid essence in virtue of its inherent attributes. The Avalamvaka: The Kapham, located in the region of the chest, protects the joints of the arms, the neck and the sternum, and enables the heart to perform its natural functions with the help of the lymph-chyle derived from the assimilated food and its own intrinsic potency. The Vodhakam: The Kapham, situated in the throat and at the root of the palate, lends its aid to the perception of tastes by maintaining the moist or humid character of the tongue. The Tarpakam: The Kapham, situated in the head, cools and bathes the different sense organs with its own humid essence, in virtue of its natural humid attributes. The Shimcshakam: The Kapham, situated in the joints, keeps them firmly united, protects their articulation and opposes their separation and disunion.

The five seats and functions of kapha in Sushruta: the amashaya kapha serving the others by its watery action, the chest kapha supporting the heart (hridaya-avalambanam), the tongue-root and throat kapha serving taste, the head kapha nourishing the senses, the joint kapha binding the joints. It does NOT establish the five kapha names. The Sanskrit of ||14|| contains no name for any of the five; it has only the verbs from which the later names are formed (avalambanam, santarpana, samshlesha). The headings 'The Kledakam', 'The Avalamvaka', 'The Vodhakam', 'The Tarpakam', 'The Shleshakam' are Bhishagratna's, printed as paragraph heads, and whether he took them from Dalhana or from Vagbhata was not established. This is the translator-voice defect in the form this project has met three times before, caught here before the names were recorded as Sushruta's. The OCR prints 'The Shimcshakam' for the last heading; the spelling is restored from Bhishagratna's own footnote at chapter XV ('Shleshmaka').

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 15 (Dosha-dhatu-mala-kshaya-vriddhi-vijnaniya):aphorism number not retrieved for these two passages; chapter only is asserted. Bhishagratna prints no number, and the Sanskrit numbering for the kshaya and vriddhi sign-lists was not checked · checked against the source

The loss of the bodily Vayu (nerve-force) is followed by a state of languor, shortness of speech, uneasiness or absence of hilarity, and loss of consciousness. The loss of (Pittam) is marked by a dulness of complexion, diminution of the bodily heat and an impaired state of internal fire (digestive heat). The loss of phlegm (Kapham) is marked by dryness, a sensation of internal burning, a feeling of emptiness in the stomach and other cavities or chambers of the body, looseness of the joints (a feeling as if the joints were all broken), thirst, weakness, and insomnia. In such cases the medical treatment should consist of remedial agents which are capable of directly contributing to the growth or formation of the humour so lost or deteriorated.

The classical content of 'dosha vriddhi and kshaya' that the gathered record named as a component without sourcing: Sushruta gives a sign-list for the decrease of each dosha and a separate sign-list for its excess, in the chapter whose title is the increase and decrease of doshas, dhatus and malas, and states the treatment rule for decrease (agents that build the lost principle). Both passages were retrieved from the archive.org OCR on 2026-10-06; the first follows the heading 'Now we shall describe the symptoms which attend the loss or waste of any of the foregoing principles', the second follows 'Now we shall describe the symptoms which mark the excess'. Bhishagratna's footnote to the vriddhi passage records that 'several editions read roughness of speech' for roughness of the skin, so the vata list is not textually settled at that item. 'Nerve-force' is again the translator's.

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Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 21 (Vrana-prashna):Su. Su. 21/36 (Sanskrit aphorism number; Bhishagratna prints no number) · checked against the source

भवन्ति चात्र- सञ्चयं च प्रकोपं च प्रसरं स्थानसंश्रयम् । व्यक्तिं भेदं च यो वेत्ति दोषाणां स भवेद्भिषक् ॥३६॥

The physician, who fully knows about the accumulation (Sanchaya), disturbance or aggravation (Prakopa), expansion (Prasaram), and differentiating traits of the deranged humours (Bheda), and is well conversant with the specific localities in which they are respectively confined in the course of their expansion (Sthana-samshrayam), and with the symptoms which they respectively exhibit in connection with the incidental disease (Vyakti), is alone worthy of that epithet.

That the doshas are, in Sushruta's own text, dynamic quantities with a named sequence of states, and that knowing that sequence is the definition of a physician. This is the classical account of dosha dynamics that the gathered record referred to without carrying. Bhishagratna's English reorders the six: he puts Bheda fourth, before Sthana-samshrayam and Vyakti, because he has attached each term to an English relative clause. The order in this record is read from the Sanskrit: sanchaya, prakopa, prasara, sthanasamshraya, vyakti, bheda. The stage-by-stage declarations (21/18, 27, 32, 33, 34, 35), the therapeutic rationale at 21/37, Dalhana's commentary and the textual variants are carried in the shat-kriyakala record and are deliberately not duplicated here. Quoted from the archive.org OCR with the page-break hyphenation of 'accumula-tion' closed and the OCR's '(Prakopa}' corrected to '(Prakopa)'.

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Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 1 (Dirghanjivitiya):Ca. Su. 1.57 (standard Trikamji numbering). Kaviratna prints 56 after the paragraph · checked against the source

वायुः पित्तं कफश्चोक्तः शारीरो दोषसङ्ग्रहः| मानसः पुनरुद्दिष्टो रजश्च तम एव च||५७||

Wind, bile, and phlegm have been said to be the causes of all bodily diseases. The qualities of Passion and Darkness have, again, been indicated to be the causes of mental diseases.

The canonical enumeration of three bodily and two mental doshas in one verse, which is the basis for treating the mental and bodily systems as structurally parallel. Numbering: the standard number is 57 and Kaviratna's printed number is 56; they are recorded separately and neither is taken to verify the other. In the archive.org OCR the preceding paragraph (the atma verse, standard 56) also shows '56', so one of the two printed digits is an OCR misreading; the sequence 58, 59, 60 that follows fixes Kaviratna's number for this paragraph as 56.

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Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 1 (Dirghanjivitiya):Ca. Su. 1.59-61 (standard Trikamji numbering). Kaviratna prints 58, 59 and 60 after the three paragraphs; the OCR renders the last two as '69' and '80'

Quotation withheld: nobody has yet read this quotation against its printed source, and an unchecked quotation is not published here. The passage is at this address.

Two things, carried by two different parts of this entry. From the Sanskrit (confidence: quoted): that each dosha is specified by a list of gunas, that the lists are ruksha-shita-laghu-sukshma-chala-vishada-khara for vata, sasneha-ushna-tikshna-drava-amla-sara-katu for pitta, and guru-shita-mridu-snigdha-madhura-sthira-picchila for kapha, and that the therapeutic logic is treatment by opposite qualities (viparita-gunaih), which is what makes tridosha a closed inferential system rather than a descriptive taxonomy. From Kaviratna's English (confidence: located only): that the therapeutic rule is present in the public-domain translation. The English is NOT relied on for any guna.

Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 12 (Vatakalakaliya):Ca. Su. 12.8 (standard Trikamji numbering). Kaviratna splits the aphorism and prints 6 after the normal-function sentence and 7 after the excited-function sentence · checked against the source

वायुस्तन्त्रयन्त्रधरः, प्राणोदानसमानव्यानापानात्मा, प्रवर्तकश्चेष्टानामुच्चावचानां, नियन्ता प्रणेता च मनसः, सर्वेन्द्रियाणामुद्योजकः, सर्वेन्द्रियार्थानामभिवोढा, सर्वशरीरधातुव्यूहकरः, सन्धानकरः शरीरस्य, प्रवर्तको वाचः, प्रकृतिः स्पर्शशब्दयोः, श्रोत्रस्पर्शनयोर्मूलं, हर्षोत्साहयोर्योनिः, समीरणोऽग्नेः, दोषसंशोषणः, क्षेप्ता बहिर्मलानां, स्थूलाणुस्रोतसां भेत्ता, कर्तागर्भाकृतीनाम्, आयुषोऽनुवृत्तिप्रत्ययभूतो भवत्यकुपितः| ... ||८||

The Wind upholds the constituents of the body (such as blood, flesh, marrow, fat, &c.) and their courses through the body. It exists in the fivefold form of Prana, Udana, Samana, Vyana, and Apana. It is the urging cause of movements of diverse kinds. It restrains the mind (from all undesirable objects) and concentrates it (on objects that are desirable). It causes all the (ten) senses (of knowledge and action) to perform their functions. It bears all the objects of the senses (after contact with the senses) to the mind. It holds together all the elements of the body. It assists the cohesion of the particles of the body. It causes speech. It is the prime cause of touch and sound, and the root of scent and touch. It is the origin of joy and cheerfulness. It excites the heat of fire. It dries up all faults. It throws out all impurities. It pierces through all the ducts of the body, gross and fine. It gives form to the embryo in womb. It furnishes the evidence of the existence of life. The Wind, when unexcited, achieves all these functions.

Charaka's own naming of the five vatas, in the mula and not in a footnote: 'pranodanasamanavyanapanatma'. This is the classical locus this record uses for the vata subtypes, in place of the Chikitsa 28 address proposed by the critic, because Kaviratna's public-domain translation ends at Chikitsa 22 (see notKnown). The passage is the speech of the royal sage Varyovida in the Vatakalakaliya debate, so it is one position in a staged discussion, not a bare doctrinal statement; the text then approves it. Numbering: standard 8, Kaviratna 6 and 7; recorded separately. The offset here (two behind, with a split) is not the offset at Su. 1 (one behind) and must not be carried between chapters. Quoted from the archive.org OCR with hyphenation normalised; the passage sits under Kaviratna's heading 'LESSON XII'.

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Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 1 (Ayushkamiya):6

Vagbhata's compressed statement that vata, pitta and kapha are the three doshas, which vitiate the body when abnormal and sustain it when normal. Located on a verse-numbered presentation of the chapter. Ashtanga Hridaya has no public-domain English translation, so this is a paraphrase only and no quotation is given. Vagbhata's subdosha chapter (Sutrasthana 12) was not gathered; see notKnown.