A comparative study on Ayurvedic terminology used in explanations of Pañcamahābhūta and Saptadhātusiddhānta.

Abstract

Terminology used in Ayurveda medical science has its own peculiar interpretations. These terms cannot be sufficiently comprehended through general dictionary meanings. Påthivi, ap, teja, vāyu, ākāśa are commonly used terminology of Pañcamahābhūtasiddhāntawhile rasa, rakta, māṁsa, medha, asthi, majjāand śukra are those of Saptadhātusiddhānta. The objective of this study is to comparatively review this terminology on the basis of their Ayurvedic interpretations and the usage in current research papers. Twenty research papers containg these terms were downloaded from the Google scholar for this study while Carakasaṁhitā, Susrutasaṁhitā, Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṁhitā and their commentaries (tīkās) were used as reference texts. The results revealed that terminology related to Pañcamahābhūtaprinciple such as Påthivi, ap, teja, vāyu, ākāśahave been substituted with common English equivalents: Påthivi as earth, earth principle, etc; ap as water, water principles, etc; teja as fire, heat, energy, etc; vāyu as air, air principle, ākāśa as space, ether, etc. Similarly, terminology relating to Saptadhātu principle has been replaced with a considerable range of English translation: rasa as skin, chyle, lymph, etc; rakta as blood, māṁsa as muscles, protein, meda as fat, adipose tissues, etc; asthi as bone, bone tissues, etc; majjā as marrow, nervous system, etc;śukra as semen, reproductive fluid, etc. Some researchers had used the English equivalent within brackets in its first occurrence in the research paper while some others had used the English word in the body of the research paper while the terminology was used within brackets. There were also some research papers where only terminology had been used. The research further revealed that the common equivalents used as substitutes to terminology do not accurately convey the intended Ayurvedic concepts.