Dhatus

I am sure you all heard about the three doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

But have you heard of the term Dhatus? Dhatus denotes the structural components of the body.

The definition of dhatu is:

Deha dharanat dhatavah- They support the body.

If the Dhatus/ body tissue get vitiated they are called as dushyas (as the get vitiated by the doshas).

We have to remember that there is no disease without a dosha (Vata/ Pitta/ Kapha) imbalance.

Dhatu Vijnanam
There are seven dhatus (Saptadhatus) in the body. They are:

1. Rasa – Plasma
2. Rakta – Blood
3. Mamsa – Muscle
4. Medas – adipose tissue
5. Asthi – bone and cartilage
6. Majja– bone marrow
7. Shukra – reproductive fluids

The seven dhatus are constantly formed, destroyed and reformed with nutrition derived from food from birth until death.

Today we will be looking at the first two dhatus – Rasa and Rakta (plasma and blood tissue).

Rasa dhatu (plasma)

Its inherent feature is ‘sara” guna that which moves constantly.
Rasa (plasma) is the essence of digested food. Proper digestion and absorption is so important as the Rasa dhatu will nourish all the other dhatus.
Bad diet, bad food absorption and digestion results in improperly nourished rasa dhatu which will then have a knock on effect on all other tissues in our body.

Rasadhatu circulates from the hridaya (heart) with the help of the Vyana vata (one type of the Vata dosha) throughout the body.
Its important function is to nourish (Prinana)
Rasa dhatu has close resemblance with the Kapha dosha as they have similar gunas (qualities). The qualities of rasa dhatu are drava/ liquid, snighda/ oily, sara/ flow, manda/ slow, shweta/ white and ap guna/ water.

The sites (sthana) of rasa dhatu are:
Skin, stomach, heart and dhamanis/ arteries

Symptoms of increased Rasa dhatu
1. Excess salivation
2. Anorexia (no appetite)
3. Distaste in the mouth, nausea
4. Obstructions of channels
5. Body ache

Symptoms of decreased rasa dhatu
1. Intolerance to noise
2. Palpitation
3. Involuntary movements
4. Wasting/ weight loss
5. Fear, anxiety
6. Impotency
7. Premature greying of the hair, hair fall
8. Anaemia
9. Wrinkles around the eyes

Rakta dhatu (blood)

Rakta is produced by Rasa.
The name of the dhatu itself indicated its colour rakta/ red in colour.
Rakta dhatu performs jivanakarma which is the maintenance of life. It also imparts colour and complexion and nourishes the muscle tissue.
In modern terms we can consider the red blood cells including the haemoglobin component as Rakta dhatu.

The sites (sthana) of rakta dhatu are:
Liver, spleen, dhamani/ arteries and muscles.

Symptoms of increased Rakta dhatu

1. Skin disease
2. Dysfunctional uterine bleeding
3. Burning sensation
4. Hepatitis
5. Rheumatoid arthritis/ gout
6. Haemorrhage
7. Gingivitis
8. Stomatitis

Symptoms of decreased Rakta dhatu

1. Anaemia
2. Dry skin
3. Desire for sour foods
4. Changes in the consistency of blood vessels
5. Low body temperature

I hope this will highlight the importance of wholesome food intake, proper digestion and absorption to maintain healthy dhatus.
If you would like to find out more about the other dhatus and more on the fundamental principles of Ayurveda follow us on facebook.

Soon will be introducing our next workshop on “Introduction to the fundamental principles of Ayurveda”.

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Your Lakshmi Ayurveda team

* 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘎𝘈. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘺𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴.