Dravyaguna (Ayurvedic pharmacology)

Dravyaguna refers to the study of medicinal properties and therapeutic uses of plants and other substances. It involves classifying substances based on their taste (rasa), quality (guna), potency (virya), post-digestive effect (vipaka), and specific action (prabhava).

In Ayurveda the action of a herbs is first considered organoleptic (an impression of the sensory organs), such as the aroma, taste, colour and flavour.

Ayurvedic practitioners use the principles of Dravyaguna to understand the qualities and effects of various herbs and substances, helping them prescribe treatments tailored to an individual's constitution and health condition.

In Ayurveda, "Rasa/ “taste. “Guna/ quality,” "Virya/ potency,” and "Vipaka/“ post digestive taste are fundamental concepts used to understand the properties and effects of substances:

1. Rasa (Taste):

There are six tastes (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent). Each taste is associated with specific qualities and impacts on the doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) and bodily functions.

2. Guna (Quality):

Describes the inherent qualities of substances, categorized into ten pairs of opposite qualities (heavy/light, cold/hot, unctuous/dry, dull/sharp, smooth/rough, dense/liquid, soft/hard, stable/mobile, gross/subtle, cloudy/clear).

3. Virya (Potency):

Refers to the heating or cooling effect of a substance. Substances are classified as either "ushna" (hot) or "shita" (cold). Understanding virya helps balance the doshas.

4. Vipaka (Post-digestive Effect):

Describes the long-term effect of a substance after digestion. It includes three categories: sweet (madhura), sour (amla), and pungent (katu). Each vipaka has specific effects on the body.

5. Prabhava

The specific potency of a drug is called Prabhava

These principles are crucial in Ayurveda for assessing the nature of herbs, foods, and other substances, allowing practitioners to tailor recommendations based on an individual's constitution and health condition.

If you are a student or an Ayurvedic practitioner you are welcome to join our monthly group mentoring session.

We wish you a great weekend. 

* 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.