Agni The digestive fire Flashcards
What is the primary function of agni?
Digestion, absorbtion, assimilation, and trasnformation of food and sensation into energy. If you maintain worship agni you will be blessed wth good health, agni is the main source of life.
Is life possible without agni?
No its not. Ayruveda says the man is as old as his agni.
What is Samadhi?
Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga includes eight components of practice (“ashtanga” means “eight-limbed” in Sanskrit), and dharana, or concentration is the sixth of these eight limbs. The seventh limb is dhyana, or meditation, and the eighth and final limb is samadhi, or enlightenment.
Samadhi (Sanskrit: समाधि, Hindi pronunciation: [səˈmaːd̪ʱi]), also called samāpatti, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools refers to a state of meditative consciousness.
What other functions of agni? (apart from digestion)
It also brings maturation to the tissues, The tone of each tissue (dhatu) is maintained by agni.
Explain the concept of tonic in Ayurveda
The concept of tonics is very old in Ayurveda, and tonification of the tissues is maintained by agni.
Ayurveda is the science of longevity and one of the important therapies is…
Rasayana Chikitsa (rejuvenation therapy) Rasayana literally means to enter into the rasa dhatu (plasma) and thereby to kindle agni.
What are vedic deities?
Vedic mythology refers to the mythological aspects of the historical Vedic religion and Vedic literature, alluded to in the hymns of the Rigveda. … Some major deities of the Vedic tradition include Indra, Surya, Agni, Ushas, Vayu, Varuna, Mitra, Aditi, Yama, Soma, Sarasvati, Prithvi, and Rudra.
What are the main 3 vedic deities?
Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer, and Shiva the destroyer.
Agni is the bridge between…
…the human lower self and divine self, Para Brahman
What is Agniveda?
There is agni when we burn a candle or a ghee lamp. Agni is a physical fire, but the energy of the physical fire is Agniveda.
Agniveda in Vedic mythology is illustrated as with two faces and three tongues. What do three tongues symbolise?
Three gunas: Sattva Rajas Tamas Also it represents 3 doshas: Kapha Vata Pitta
In Ayurvedic philosophy, the creation of universal life is governed by soma, surya and anila. What do they mean?
Soma - means the moon, Surya - means the sun,
Anila - cosmic prana, the atmosphere.
What therapy in Ayurveda is used to kindle agni?
Rasayana Chikitsa (rejuvenation therapy )
Ayurvedic medicine fcuses on on the quaity and status of agni. Ayruvedic internal medicine is called…
Kaya Chikitsa or treatment of diseases effecting body , mind and consciousness
What is the role of agni in our bodies?
Agni performes a role of maintaining that circulation with connection of three doshas.
What is Ether element?
Space, nuclear energy, the first expression of consciousness
What is Air energy?
Electrical energy, is the priniciple of movement and giverns all sensoryand motor movement
What is water element?
Water is universal chemical slvent, and in human body is present in plasma cytosplasm, cerebrospinal, fluid, vitreous humor, glandular secration, saliva, pleaural secreation, gastric mucosal secration, and in swaet and urine.
What is Earth Element?
Earth is represented by the minerals, and hard structures in the body.
What is Fire element?
Fire element which is a radiant energy, and it manifests as a body temperature, digestive enzymes, amino acids and all metabolic activities.
The fire centred in the stomach is called…
jathara agni (gastric fires)
A
G
N
I
Awareness: each cell is a center of awareness, That awareness is governed by agni.
Governor: of digestion assimilation, and transformation of matter into energy. Agni also governs the structual and functional activities of all cells and tissues.
Nutrition: of all bodily tissues, also neautralization of toxins ama in the tissues
Intelligence cellular intelligence and cellular selectivity and choice
What foods as per ayurveda can be consumed raw and which ones needs cooking?
No need to cook : lettuce, parsley, sprouts as they have the prana ready to digest. However grains, unsprouted legumes and many vegetables need cooking to make the prana which is latent (hidden) in the food, available to human body .
Pakti
Digestion, absorption, and assimilation of food and sensory experience, yields nutrition, knowledge, and understanding.
Darshana
responsible for visual perception
Motroshna
matra means measure, ushna means temperature. Agni maintains normal temperature.
Prakruti Varna
maintains constitution and color complexion
Shauryam
gives confidence, courage and fearlessness
Harsha
creates joy, cheerfulness, laughter and contentment
Prasada
provides mental clarity, brings wholeness
Raga
creates affection, interest, enthusiasm, colourful quality.
Dhatu Poshaman
tissue nutrition
Ojah kara
production of ojas, necessary for immunity
Tejah kara
production of tejas, necessary for maintenance of semi - permeability membranes and cellular metabolic activity
Pranakara
production and utilization of prana (vital life force) in respiration and cellular breathing
Buddhi
provides reasoning capacity of the mind, logical thinking, discrimination
Medhakara
maintains intelligence and the flow of cellular communication
Dhairyam
gives patience, stability, and confidence.
Dirgham
maintains span of life
Prabha
creates healthy glow and luster
Bala
provides strength and vitality
Darshanam
means visual perception
Where is alochaka agni is present?
Alochaka agni is present in the retina, the cornea, and the lens, is responsible for visual perception.
Abnormal function of adarshanam, which means impaired visual perception. It may cause disorders such as…
Corneal opacity
Cataract
Glaucoma
Iritis
Corneal opacity
Corneal opacity is an eye disorder that occurs due to scarring of the cornea, making the cornea appear cloudy or white. The cornea is a dome-shaped transparent structure on the front of the eyeball that allows light to pass into the eyes.
Cataract
A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye which leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights, and trouble seeing at night.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye condition where your optic nerve is damaged by the pressure of the fluid inside your eye. Most types of glaucoma have no symptoms, so a regular eye test is the only way to know you have the condition. Treatment with drops can often prevent glaucoma causing sight loss.
Iritis
Iritis (i-RYE-tis) is inflammation that affects the colored ring around your eye’s pupil (iris). The iris is a part of the middle layer of the eye (uvea), so iritis is a type of uveitis, also known as anterior uveitis. Iritis, the most common type of uveitis, affects the front of your eye. The cause is often unknown.
Matroshna
Matra means - dose or measure, usha is temperature
Matroshnas abnormal function is amatroshna, abnormal heat, this may be…
Hypothermia (decrease body temperature)
Pyrexia (increased body temperature)
Prakruti varna
Prakruti means normal constitution, varna means color complexion.
Is maintaining normal complexion is one of agni functions?
Yes
When agni is imbalanced, the person will have vikruti varna, which is abnormal skin colour. Explain in detail abnromalities for each Dosha.
Vata - tends to have brown skin, when imabalanced can turn into blackish skin colour
Pitta - can have red coloured skin, when imbalanced yellow discolouration
Kapha - tends to be white in colour, when imbalanced could be extreme paleness.
Shauryam means…
bravery, courage, or fearlessness all of which one comes from heathy agni.
When agni is abnormal there is a ashauryam then it creates
fear and anxiety. To face the problem in a relationship we need a healthy agni.
How agni can help in dealing with the problems?
Healthy agni gives courage, confidence and fearlessness needed to face problems. If agni is impaired, the person has no courage and will run away from the situation.
Healthy agni creates harsha, which is…
joy, happiness, contentment, cheerfulness.
When agni is abnormal there may be aharsha…
aharsha means unhappiness, grief, sadness and depression. There is no depression without suppressed agni.
Chemical depression explain…
Agni governs secretion of neurotransmitters and neuro chemical synthesis of sensation and perception, which becomes understanding. This understanding is higher cerebral activity and comes from healthy sadhaka pitta. IF sadhaka pitta is low it can result in chemical depression
Prasada meaning
Prasada means clarity and purity, and it yields comprehension, mental lucidity, consistency and holiness. The person becomes whole, content.
The opposite of prasada
the opposite of prasada is vishada, which is confusion and inconsistency. A person who is whole will behave with the same quality and clarity, compassion, and love whether at work or at home. When agni is abnormal a person will be one thing at work and totally different at home.This creates confusion, which is vishada.
Raga
Raga means affection, interest and enthusiasm
What balance agni creates in persons life?
Agni gives a person balanced attraction to life, to relationships, and to food. Your life becomes charming and colourful, there is a great interest to live.
Opposite of Raga is viraga which means
which means repulsion, a flat effect
Very important function of agni is dhatu poshanam which means..
tissue nutrition. All seven dhatus are nurished by dhatu agni.
Dhatu Agni explain lows and highs…
If dhatu is high it caused dhatu karshyana, which means tissue emaciation, and if its too low, it causes excessive amounts of unprocessed dhatu.
Another function of agni is ojah kara..
Kara means creation or production, so it means production of ojas.
Ojas define
is biological substance, necessary for maintaining immunity
Abnormal function of ojah kara is ojohara…
depletion of ojas which is diminished immunity. The person becomes sick and susceptible to infections.
Another function of agni is tejah kara which means…
production of tejas
Tejas define
tejas is necessary for maintaining semi permeability of capillaries and cell membranes, so the molecules can enter the cell. The energy that maintains cellular metabolic activity is tejas.
Tejohara define
Tejohara is depletion of tejas, which can affect cell permeability, resulting in loss of sodium potassium glucose and so forth. It is due to impaired agni.
Prana is responsible for…
Prana is responsible for cellular respiration, which is also governed by agni in the cell membrane
Ojas, tejas and prana work together in order to…
Ojas, tejas and prana work together in order to govern gaseous exchange metabolic activity, and immunity.
Pranakara define
Pranakara means agni creates optimal prana, which is vital life energy.
Abnormal function of pranakara is pranahara in this case…
Abnormal function of pranakara is pranahara in this case, prana is depleted and the person may go into shock.
Another function of agni is buddhikara..
which is reasoning capacity. It is created by healthy sadhaka agni.
Abnormal function of buddhikara ir buddhihara which cause…
Abnormal function of buddhikara ir buddhihara which cause a person lack of discriminative power and indecisiveness. Decision making and decisiveness is the function of agni.
Another function of agni is Medhakara
Medha means intelligent. Cellular intelligence is necessary for communication between the cells.
The abnormal function is Medhahara
which is lack of intelligence between cells. In patients of cancer their cellular agni is drastically affected and cellular intelligence is clogged.
Another function is dhairaym…
Dhru means to hold, dhairayam means patience.
Ayurvedas view on patience…
Patience is very important. Patience means to live now, whereas impatience means to live in the future.
Adhirata
one of the abnormal functions of agni which means impatience.
Dirgham define
appropriate spine of life. Balanced agni maintains long life span. Diminished agni can create untimely death, the person loses the capacity to digest the experiences of life.
Prabha
Agni gives the person a healthy glow and luster
Chaya
Opposite of prabha, which is a shadow, diminished agni gives a person shadowy appearance, which can show up on their skin tone.
Bala
the final function of agni is bala, strenght. Poor agni creates an opposite of bala, which is kshaya, decay or decrease.
What agni can create aggravated vata?
Vishama angi
What agni can create aggravated pitta?
tikshna agni
What agni can create aggrevated kapha?
Manda agni
What are for types of agni?
- Sama Agni (Balanced metabolism, tridoshic)
- Vishama Agni (irregular metabolism, ususally associatd with vata)
- Tikshna Agni (sharp: hypermetabolism, sharp ususally associated with pitta)
- Manda Agni (dull: hypometabolism, ususally associated with kapha)
Sama Agni ( Balanced metabolism)
When all doshas are imbalanced to the constitution, the agni maintains its state of equilibrium and provides balanced metabolism. Neither food or environment upsets people with the perfect metabolism.
Equilibrium
a state of physical balance.
Vishama Agni (irregular metabolism)
Appetite: becomes erratic, produces irregular appetite, variable digestion abdominal distention, indigestion, gases, constipation, and colicky pain.
At the times small quantity of food can turn into gas, constipation, and colicky pain.
Individual may get dry skin, cracking joints, sciatica, low backache, or insomnia.
Emotions: This can result in anxiety, insecurity, fear and other neurological and mental problems.
The person gets craving for fried, spicy food.
Ama: Eventually ama is produced and can be identified by the tongue diagnosis as a brownish - blackish coating.
Disorders: dry mouth, receding gums, muscle spasm,and most other vata disorders take place because there is vishama agni.
Tikshna Agni (sharp: hypermetabolism)
Appetite: Individual has a desire to eat frequently eat large quantities of food.
Digestion: After meal one gets dry throat, lips and palate,as well as heartburn, hot flashes, and acid indigestion.
Disorders: hyperacidity, gastritis, hypoglycemia, colitis, diarrhea and dysentery.Pain in the liver, nausea, vomiting, and various inflammatory conditions may occur.
Emotions: This may lead to anger, hate and envy. The person becomes judgemental or critical towards everyone and everything.
Cravings: can have intense craving towards sweets
Manda agni (dull, hypometabolism)
A person with manda agni can fast for few days on water and still put few pounds on as a result.
The individual with this type of agni cannot digest even a normal diet properly.
Digestion: Even without eating, there is heaviness in the stomach, cold, congestion, and cough. Over salivation, loss appetite, allergies nausea, and mucoid vomiting can result
Disorders: edema, obesity, hypertension and diabetes
Kloma agni
Kloma means pancreas
Kloma also refers to the choroid plexuses in the brain, which secrete cerebrospinal fluid
What is the function of choroid plexuses in the brain?
The choroid plexus epithelium has functions as a barrier at the interface between the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) highly differentiated
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found in the brain and spinal cord. It is produced by the specialised ependymal cells in the choroid plexuses of the ventricles of the brain, and absorbed in the arachnoid granulations.
Bhuta Agni
Agni (fire component) of the liver,which manifests as the liver enzymes. Bhuta means elements or “that which manifests as matter”
Explain function of liver in Ayurvedic terms
The liver is both an excretory and secretory organ. It secretes bile and excretes unwanted toxic materials, including heavy metals and bacteria.
Bile in Ayurvedic terms
Bile is ranjaka pitta. It is yelowish, green in colour, liquid, oily, bitter and pungent, and its alkaline. It contains inorganic salts and pigmentation. Bile helps excretion by stimulating peristaltic movement, and pigments give colour to the stools.
How bile controls cholesterol levels?
Bile salts reduce surface tension and act as a buffer, thereby emulsifying (breaking down) fat and controlling cholesterol levels.
Which organ maintains the acid- alkali balance in the body?
Liver
What are 3 agnis that are present in the liver?
Bhuta agni
Ranjaka agni
Rakta agni
Explain digestion process and agni involvement at all stages?
- Initial digestion begins in the mouth and proceeds in the stomach where Jathara agni continues to breakdown the food.
- Progresses to the duodenum with Kloma agni
- Jejenum
- Ileum
- Colon with Pakvashaya agni
- Throughout this process of digestion, nutrients are absorbed through the villi of the small intestines and, along with glucose and alcohol absorbed directly from the stomach
- Enter the venous hepatic portal system
- Hepatic circulatory system carries the molecules to the liver for further processing by bhuta agni.
Nabhasa agni function
Maintains shape of cells
Vayavya agni function
regulates cellular respiration
Tejo agni function
maintains cellular metabolic activity
Nabhasa agni function
Maintains the shape of cells
The bhuta agnis yield the twenty gunas (qualities) from the food and thoughts we consume and these in turn nourish the mind and body.
List qualities of Nabhasa agni:
Nabhasa agni: Clear Light Subtle Soft
Parthiva agni function
governs mineral regulation
Tejo agni function
maintains cellular metabolic activity
The bhuta agnis yield the twenty gunas (qualities) from the food and thoughts we consume and these in turn nourish the mind and body.
List qualities of Vayavya agni:
Vayavya agni:
Mobile Dry Light Cold Rough Subtle
The bhuta agnis yield the twenty gunas (qualities) from the food and thoughts we consume and these in turn nourish the mind and body.
List qualities of Tejo agni:
Tejo agni:
Hot sharp light dry subtle
The bhuta agnis yield the twenty gunas (qualities) from the food and thoughts we consume and these in turn nourish the mind and body.
List qualities of Apo agni:
Apo agni:
Liquid Cold Oily dull soft smooth qualities
The bhuta agnis yield the twenty gunas (qualities) from the food and thoughts we consume and these in turn nourish the mind and body.
List qualities of Parthiva agni:
Parthiva agni:
Heavy Dull Static hard gross dense qualities
Functions of bhuta agni
Convert five elements from food and water into biologically available forms of these elements.
To nourish cellular consciousness through these five elements
To nourish immunity through ojas, tedious, and prana.
TO stimulate the dhatu agnis and nourish the seven dhatus.
To manifest the liver enzymess.
All seven dhatus are nourished through the bhuta agnis.
Rasa dhatu
The water and earth qualities are yield the qualties of water and earth into rasa dhatu, the blood plasme. The liver is large reservoir of blood and plays important role in regulating the blood volume through erythrogenesis (generation of red blood cells)
All seven dhatus are nourished through the bhuta agnis.
Rakta dhatu
The Fire, Water, and Earth elements play important role in production of racket dhatu, the red blood cells.
All seven dhatus are nourished through the bhuta agnis.
Mamsa dhatu
Another interesting function of the liver is to nourish mama dhatu though conversion of glucose into glycogen, which is stored in the muscles, and through the protein metabolism. Mamas nourished by Earth,Water and Fire agnes in the liver. Therefore muscle strength, power and nourishment are governed by bhuta agni with the help mama agni.
Why some people will have high cholesterol levels even if they are not eating high fat diet?
Alchohol and fats are metabolised in the liver. Often poeple dont eat foods exxessively high in fat or cholesterol, yet their chalesterol is hight due to imparaied bhuta agni. One function of the liver is to process ans store fat (meda dhatu) and it is bhuta agni that stimulates meda agni to nourish meda dhatu.
All seven dhatus are nourished through the bhuta agnis.
Asthi dhatu
Majja dhatu
The butha agni nourishes asthi dhatu by mineral metabolism, and vitamin B12 and gastric intrinstic factror, they help wih production of red blood cells in the bone marrow which is majja dhatu.
Jatru Agni
- relates tourdhva (upper) jatru grandhi (the thyroid gland), whihc mainatins the metabolism
- Ahda (lower) jatru granthi (the thymus gland), which mainatins immunity
- Jathu agni in the thymus gland maintains immunity by producing ojas
- Jathu agni in the thyroid is important for regulating ellular metabolic activity.
Thyroid and Agni
The agni present in the thyroid relates to T3 and T4 (thyroxin) hromones and it kindles the agni at the cellular level. ellular metabolic activities are governed by jatru agni and if jathru agni in the thryroid is sluggish tthey will puton weight, if Jatru agni is hyperactive , a persn loses weightat the begining, but the increased appetite can make the person eat a lot and their weight can vary. IF there are any repressed emotions such as grief or sadness, these can also impair the function of the thyroid gland.
Anu Srotas
Every cell is the center of consciousness through which there is a flow of intelligence for communication. These qualities direct the flow, structure and nature of cellular activity, which is anu srotas.
