Vata dosha

The verse names the five vāyus as prāṇa, apāna, samāna, vyāna and udāna, always serving the intake of food and the expulsion of wastes.

The verses name five vayus by their seats: prana in the mouth, udana in the head, samana in the abdomen, apana in the bladder region and colon, and vyana pervading the whole body.

Vāta is said to be aggravated by excessive exercise and sexual activity, long journeys on foot, riding, carrying heavy loads, not sleeping at the right time, entering water (much swimming), blows of wind, excessive joy, strong wind, wounds, yawning, snowfall, blows, and dry or very cold food and drink.

Among foods, barnyard millet, wild rice, kodo millet and poor grains, field beans, lentils, black gram, green gram, pigeon pea, bitter, astringent, dried and dry vegetables and light substances are said to aggravate vāta.

Vata is said to be aggravated by excessive snow, rain and cold and by eating too much cold and dry food.

In brief, aggravated vāta is said to cause a pricking pain that moves about in the abdomen.

Aggravated vāta is said to produce many sudden pains without cause: feelings of the body breaking, being beaten, pricked, cut and kneaded, wasting, flinging of the limbs, bitten, shattered, blistering and splitting sensations, tremor, a sense of the limbs separating, stiffness, much yawning, heavy breathing, and contraction and stretching of the body.

When vāta is aggravated the body is said to become ash-like, pigeon-coloured, very dark and dry.

The introduction lists the qualities of vāyu as dry (rūkṣa), light (laghu), cold (śīta), rough (khara), subtle (sūkṣma) and mobile (cala), and says that pitta and kapha are liquid in form while vāyu is formless (amūrta) and is to be known (jñeya).

Note: र्ोय in the conversion is read as ज्ञेय.

Vāta is described as pungent, very dry and mobile by nature.

Vata is described as known by roughness, coldness, coarseness, numbness and pricking pain, and by dry, cold, rough, mobile and light qualities.

Whatever is sharp, unctuous, hot, salty, very heavy, sour, slimy, or sweet, pungent, bitter and the like in nature is said to destroy vata disorders; understanding their tastes and qualities, they are used for the patient's good in drinks, oil massage, poultices, food, affusion and immersion baths.

Continuing the account of digestion, the introduction says the food is moved onward by a propulsive action, and samāna vāyu is needed for this and to keep the food moist; its actions of praspandana, udvahana, dhāraṇa and pūraṇa help digestion. The food is separated into essence and waste, the essence is absorbed and the waste is carried to the gudakāṇḍa, where, in part of the gross grahaṇī, the gudakāṇḍa and the gudatrivalī, apāna vāyu acts and the waste (mala) is expelled.

Note: चार भाग का शोषण in the conversion is read as सार भाग (the essence) from the context.

Five kinds of vāyu are said to pervade the body.

The commentary says these five vāyus digest food, carry it inward and also serve the expulsion of faeces and urine.

Vāyu, moving through the whole body, is said to dwell especially in the buttocks, waist, groin and private parts; by its nature it carries the doshas and the tissues beginning with rasa to their places, and when itself vitiated it vitiates the body.

A footnote says the seats just named are a general statement, not the seats of the five vātas, which other texts too describe separately.

Prāṇa is said to dwell in the heart (some teachers say the head) and move in the chest and throat; it makes eaten food enter, sustains intellect, heart, senses and mind, and causes spitting, sneezing, belching and breathing.

Udāna is said to dwell in the chest and move in the nose, navel and throat, and to be the means by which voice arises in speaking and singing.

Samāna is said to dwell and move in the stomach and digestive bowel, to help kindle the digestive fire, to take in and digest food, and to separate essence from waste and let them pass on.

Apāna is said to dwell in the digestive bowel and move in the bladder, penis and anus, expelling wind, urine, faeces, semen, menstrual blood and the foetus at the proper time.

Vyāna is said to pervade the whole body with its chief seat in the heart, and nearly all bodily actions depend on it: walking, throwing down and up, closing and opening the eyes, carrying rasa and blood, and expelling sweat and blood.