Kapha dosha

Kapha is said to be aggravated by sleeping in the daytime every day, by not engaging in sexual activity or exercise, and by much slimy, sour, unctuous (such as ghee and oil), very thick or heavy and salty food.

Foods made with or rich in flour such as wheat or chickpea flour, sugarcane juice and its products such as jaggery and sugar, milk and black gram are said to aggravate kapha.

Curd, liquor, fermented things, sweets and ash gourd (the commentary's gloss on the verse's creeper fruits) are said to aggravate kapha.

Eating again on top of a meal, indigestion, very sour drinks and very cold food are also said to aggravate kapha.

In brief, aggravated kapha is said to cause belching (the verse has hṛllāsa, nausea) and loss of appetite.

Aggravated kapha is said to cause loss of touch sensation, much itching, heaviness, whiteness and coldness of the body, stupor, excessive sleep, stiffness, loss of appetite and mild pain.

When kapha is aggravated the body is said to become glossy and white.

The introduction lists the qualities of kapha as stable (sthira), unctuous (snigdha), smooth (ślakṣṇa), clay-like (mṛtsna), cold (śīta), heavy (guru) and slow (manda), and says kapha, like pitta, is liquid in form.

The verse describes kapha as unctuous, sweet in taste, very slow, heavy by nature, slimy and cold; the commentary adds that it is thick.

Whatever is bitter, dry, pungent, astringent, drying, alkaline, sharp, clear, light and hot is said to destroy kapha; after learning the taste and qualities of each such substance and the order of the patient's doshas, they are used in food and the like for the patient's good.

Kapha is said to measure six prasṛti in the body, the same as pitta.

Kapha has five chief seats: kledaka in the stomach, avalambaka in the chest, tarpaka in the head, bodhaka in the throat and śleṣmaka in all the joints; staying in these, it performs the work of the whole body with the help of the mobile vāta.

A footnote says avalambaka kapha strengthens the heart by its own power and supports the other kapha sites by supplying them with kapha.

Kledaka kapha is said to moisten the food arriving in the stomach and so to assist digestion.

Tarpaka kapha is said to stay in the head and nourish the eyes, nose and other senses above the neck.

Bodhaka kapha is said, in the footnote, to stay in the tongue and aid the perception of sweet, sour and other tastes (the commentary on the verse places it in the throat).

Śleṣmaka kapha is said to stay in all the bone joints and lubricate them, preventing the bones from rubbing against each other and keeping the joints strong, like oil applied to the wheels of a cart.

The commentary says kapha increases as soon as one has eaten, which is why astringent, bitter and pungent things are taken after the meal to remove it.

A footnote gives a variant reading for part of verse 60.