The Ayurvedic concept of Srotas the bodily channels. The internal transport system of our body fluids.
The Sanskrit word is derived from the root ‘su sravane’ meaning to exude, to ooze, to filter to permeate.
Srotas can be sthula (gross, macropscopic) and sukshma (microscopic).
A srotas is a passage, path, road or a highway there are thousands of srotamsi (srotamsi is plural for srotas).
Those small srotamsi come together and create a larger channel (srotas) such as the respiratory, cardiovascular, urinary or gastrointestinal tract.
Srotas are the inner transport system of the body which provide platform for activities for the doshas, dhatus, agni, malas, ojas, prana…
Ayurvedic classics proclaim “Srotomayam hi shariram” means that the living body is a channel system and/or is comprised of innumerable channels.
The srotas is a system in which some tissue is formed; some material is metabolized, secreted or transported. Charak has described that Srotamsi are channels which transport the dhatus (asthayi or poshya dhatu) which are subjected to transformation.
Acharya Sushruta and Vagbhat both have compared srotas to the extremely fine passages and pores present in the lotus stem, through which rasadi poshya dhatu circulate all over the body and provide nutrition to the body.
Each srotas has a:
1. Soto mula (root, where it originates from).
2. Sroto marga (passage)
3. Sroto mukha (opening)
