A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO PRAKRITI DETERMINATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PRANAVAHA SROTOVIKARA

*V.D. Lohitaksh S. Makasare and Dr. Subhash R. Saley

ABSTRACT

Prakriti parikshana is unique to the Ayurvedic system of Medicine. Knowledge of Prakriti is conducive to health as well as to formulate an effective treatment regimen when confronted with a diseased state. Determination of an individual’s Prakriti aids in maintaining the equilibrium of Doshas, to predict a susceptibility to a certain Vyadhi in the future, to ascertain the prognosis of a prevailing Vyadhi and for the adjustment in dosing and choosing appropriately potent drug for a disease. It is all but easy to determine an individual’s Prakriti in health, but the unreliability in this process occurs when an individual presents with a diseased state; in which case, the Doshic constitution may be compromised and give varying results while eliciting history or performing a clinical examination for Prakriti determination. Pranavaha srotasa may be clinically correlated to the respiratory system of Modern anatomy and physiology. It is one of the most vulnerable systems as it is in a direct communication with the external environment almost all the time. Diseases of Pranavaha srotasa are rampant in our country and Prakriti parikshana in health by the patients are just gaining momentum with the global spread of Ayurveda. Thus, it becomes essential for the physician to determine the Prakriti of the patient in an acute diseased condition, which is often overlooked or incorrectly predicted. An attempt is made in this paper to formulate proper Prakriti determination criteria along with its merits and demerits, as well as its reliability when presented with a Pranavaha srotovikara.

Keywords: Ayurveda, Prakriti parikshana, Pranavaha srotovikara.