Article by Dr Raghuram Y.S. MD (Ay) & Dr Manasa S, B.A.M.S
Frenemy
Frenemy is a portmanteau of friend and enemy. A person who appears like a friend but at the same time is also an enemy due to the rivalry or dislike or harmful intent that he harbors within him, which is not evident outwardly, and also acts in a treacherous manner are frenemies.
So, what are doshas? Friends or Enemies or Frenemies, we will discuss in this article.
This is my alternate hypothesis of understanding the philosophy of doshas which I have been teaching my students for two and half decades. I have also presented this at many stages and have gained appreciation for the same. I thought I would finally give it the shape of an article.
Doshas – friends, enemies or frenemies…!
Statement 1 – Doshas as enemies
Dosha – means fault. Vata, Pitta and Kapha are known as Tridoshas. So, these three doshas by nature are at fault i.e. having fault in them. So obviously they are bad.
Dosha is defined as ‘Dushayanti iti doshaha’ i.e. ‘Those which have the capacity to vitiate or contaminate (the tissues, excreta and other components of the body)’ are called doshas. By this definition also we learn that the doshas ‘are bad, disturbing and destructive in nature’.
When doshas get vitiated, they contaminate the tissues and other body components and cause diseases. No physical disease is caused without the involvement of dosha or doshas.
Statement 2 – Doshas as friends
On the other side, it is the same doshas which form our prakriti – physical constitution. That means to say that they are constructive, beneficial and healthy. We are what they are. They are what we are. We are either predominantly Vata, or Pitta or Kapha.
Dosha Prakriti forms along with us, when we are conceived in the mother’s womb. It cannot be changed for life.
When doshas are in a state of balance, they become responsible for all physiological activities taking place in the body. They take care of our body and are responsible for health. Sama Dosha – equilibrium of doshas is one of the parameters to declare someone as swastha – completely healthy.
Statement 1 + Statement 2 – Doshas as frenemies
When we look at statements 1 and 2, we get a doubt. The same doshas which take part in making us and are responsible for all activities happening in the body are also destructive in nature, vitiate and contaminate the body components and cause diseases.
How do friends become foes?
We have seen in our real life also that many times our best friends become our worst enemies. On the other hand, when we take good care of our friends, they may become our good friends as well. Both these events have good possibilities.
Doshas, rather than seeing them as our friends (the way they are responsible for conduct of all functions of the body), we can see them as ‘foes by nature’ who have been programmed to behave like friends. Their intelligence has been changed and the doshas are helpful.
So, functionally the doshas are friends and by nature enemies, the harmful nature of theirs is kept latent. When ‘the surface of friend’ is removed, the ‘layers of an enemy’ are seen.
‘Aren’t we living with our enemies?’
Yes, but as long as we make peace with them and live in peace, even this relationship with a hidden enemy becomes a beautiful symbiotic relationship.
The programming
Kapha is a tsunami which has forgotten its destructive nature and is behaving like calm waters. It can become a tsunami again.
Pitta is a volcano which has forgotten its destructive nature and is behaving like a serene glowing fire. It can become a volcano again.
Vata is a tornado which has forgotten its destructive nature and is behaving like a cool breeze. It can become a tornado again.
So, the same things which are protecting us can become destructive forces and destroy us. They can inflict pain and diseases on us, even death.
The secret of happy and healthy living is to live peacefully with our enemies and keep them in an illusion that they are our friends, by nurturing, pampering and taking good care of them, for life.
Reversing of doshic intelligence
We should understand that doshas are basically harmful but they are working with altered intelligence. This is a state of samavastha – the balance.
But given the ideal circumstances for their aggravation, this intelligence can reverse back and remind the doshas that ‘they are harmful’. Now, the same doshas become vikruta – pathogenic. They attack the same tissue with which they used to live in symbiosis. They disturb the same functions which they used to conduct normally.
How does this happen and who does this?
I would like to reply to the second question first. It is we who do this. We are responsible for the aggravation or imbalance of these doshas. It is we who meddle with the intelligence of the doshas and remind them that they are harmful.
How?
The doshas get imbalanced when we consume foods and do the activities which are not conducive to the doshas, which also would disturb their equilibrium and bring about their disturbance. Dosha disturbing habits, behaviors and seasons also have a similar impact on the doshas.
The story!
Many times we do not know what is good for us but there is a certain reaction that the body gives when you are exposed to them, be it foods or activities or anything. We need to catch those signals early. Every time you take some food or indulge in an activity or are exposed to a season or repeat a habit to which you are accustomed to or addicted to, the body suffers in one or the other way. Then it reacts. It is important to know these reactions which appear in the form of certain symptoms. Our intelligence alerts us time and again telling us that you are giving something to your body to which it is not comfortable and happy. If you repeatedly do it, you are insulting these signals and harming your system. These are the things which disturb and imbalance the doshas in you, which create windows and pathways for diseases to come, which depletes your strength and immunity and disrupts your health.
So, what is the remedy?
Awareness about your foods and activities, time and seasons, habits and behaviors and what is good and bad for you. What are those things which your body is accepting and what are those for which there is a constant rejection and ‘perfect no’ from your system. It is important to be aware of self and all signals the body is sending you as alerts, before it is too late. These signals are the reactions of one or more of your doshas. They are signals which tell that the doshas are not happy and are disturbed. They are the signals which indicate that their intelligence has been reversed and they now remember that they are basically destructive in nature.
The remedy is also to always make conscious choices of good foods and lifestyle practices and habits. The remedy is to keep away all those foods and practices which are causing problematic symptoms in us, every single time. They are our incompatible lists. The remedy is to make and keep peace with our doshas.
For this, we need to know our prakriti. We should learn over a period of time what suits and what does not to our prakriti and what things are causing vikriti in us. This knowledge and constant awareness built around these will shield us from diseases, will keep the doshas calm, balanced and serene and we will enjoy good health.
When doshas get aggravated they display their signs and symptoms. It is important to identify them and provide a remedy. Those in balance need to be kept there. Those aggravated shall be flushed out and those decreased shall be increased to the brim.
Most times we have seen that we start feeling better and our symptoms ease when we make changes in our diet or lifestyle practice, take up something or give something away. We need to make a note of these changes. These are the directions in which we need to keep looking and traveling.
To sum up,
The entire science and system of Ayurveda is built and understood around the concepts and fundamentals of doshas, dhatus and malas.
Even among these, understanding doshas, their patterns of behaviors, their subtypes, their balance, their course, how they travel in the body, their imbalances and how to get them back to a state of balance and restore health forms the basis and foundation of getting success in Ayurveda clinical practice. This is because they not only form our prakriti, they will also disturb us and mess up our lives when they get into a state of vikriti i.e. imbalance, vitiation or aggravation.
It is nice and wise to know the doshas which make us. It is also good to know the doshic behaviors happening in us from time to time.
The quicker we learn that it is not the doshas which are harming us or causing the diseases in us, but it is in fact their reaction to all bad and nonsense things we are providing them, for not caring and pampering them, it is better. Doshas disturb us only after we have meddled with their balance. And they take a lot of time to harm us. Before that they give plenty of alerts.
