Lesson-3: How People Differ

The students sit beneath the Peepal tree. The sun leans westward. Charaka arrives and sits with them in silence. For a moment, he studies their faces.

Charaka: You have returned with stories of forests and rivers, of strangers and storms. Today, I will not ask what you saw, but rather what you felt, and how you responded. Did the same place evoke the same feeling in all of you? Did you all meet the world in the same way?

Kumara: No, Ācārya. We differed often.

Charaka: Then let us explore how. Tell me, when you met danger, what happened?

Devadatta: Two days east of the Vindhya edge, a wild boar appeared suddenly. It crossed our path. I ran, before I could even think.

Charaka: And how did your body respond?

Devadatta: My limbs trembled. My hands and feet turned cold. My mouth was dry.

Charaka (to Kumara): And you?

Kumara: I did not run. I shouted and picked up a branch of a nearby tree. I felt angry and agitated and felt powerful at that moment. I suppose I ignored the danger. I tried intimidating the boar.

Charaka: What followed?

Kumara: I sweated. But I was clear, focused.

Charaka (to Rohita): And you?

Rohita: I stepped behind a tree. I remained watchful. My breath stayed steady.

Charaka: So three different people in the same situation had three different responses.  One turned cold and fled. Another grew angry and confronted the threat. A third paused and watched with restraint.

(The students exchange glances, uncertain.)

Charaka: And now tell me: when you miss a meal how does your body and mind respond?

Devadatta: At first, I hardly notice. But later, I grow restless and anxious.

Kumara: I become irritable. If I delay eating, my hunger and thirst intensify. I begin eating whatever is within reach.

Rohita: I grow dull, sometimes even sleepy. But I do not feel disturbed.

Charaka: And how do each of you sleep?

Devadatta: My sleep is light, easily broken, and filled with vivid dreams.

Kumara: Though short, my sleep is deep. I wake refreshed.

Rohita: My sleep is heavy and prolonged. Waking is slow and difficult.

(A pause follows. The students shift uneasily, puzzled by their differences.)

Rohita: Ācārya, why are we so different?

Charaka: That is the right question. Why do people respond so differently to the same situations of hunger and fear?

Devadatta: Is it habit, or is it the mind?

Charaka: Habit shapes but does not cause the difference. The mind reacts but is also nurtured. The difference lies deeper. Let us go further.

Rohita: I find this puzzling!

Charaka: Tell me this: after a full day’s work, how do you feel?

Devadatta: I tire quickly; my limbs ache, yet I recover soon.

Kumara: I sweat a lot. I feel drained. My hunger and thirst surge.

Rohita: I work without fatigue, though by evening I feel heavy and sluggish.

Charaka: And what of the seasons? How do they affect each of you?

Devadatta: Wind unsettles me. I dread the cold.

Kumara: I weaken in heat. I crave coolness.

Rohita: I tolerate all seasons well.

(The students fall silent. The Peepal leaves stir in the evening breeze.)

Charaka: Now tell me about your bowel habits.

Devadatta: I have irregular bowel movements: sometimes constipated, other times normal.

Kumara: I get loose stools even if I drink an extra cup of milk.

Rohita: My bowel habits are moderate, and I have no such problems.

Charaka: How about your friendships?

Devadatta: I make friends quickly but lose them just as fast. My relationships with people are often unstable.

Kumara: I neither form attachments quickly nor stay distant. I weigh things carefully before bonding.

Rohita: I form lasting friendships. My bonds are often strong and emotional.

Charaka (observing them): Let us now consider how your physiques differ. Devadatta, your dry skin and lean frame stand apart from Kumara’s warm skin and tendency to flush when agitated. Both of you differ again from Rohita, whose broad build and smooth skin reflect yet another pattern.

(All three pause and reflect)

Charaka: Do you begin to see? You live in the same world, yet each of you responds differently. These are not accidents. They are signatures.

Kumara: Signatures? Signatures of our nature?

Charaka: Well said. We call an individual’s nature Prakṛti. Each one differs in their nature. What you call lightness, heat, steadiness- these are not just sensations, nor feelings. They are expressions of inner configuration. Our teachers observed this again and again. From thousands of such observations, a pattern emerged. That pattern we name as: Vāta Prakṛti, Pitta Prakṛti, and Kapha Prakṛti.

Kumara: We have already discussed about Tridosha.

Charaka: Yes, in the context of Prakṛti, they help us to classify the characteristic patterns of body and behaviour.

Devadatta: So, what is Kumara’s nature, what is my nature, teacher?

Charaka: Devadatta, your swift reactions, irregular habits, and sensitivity to cold reflect a Vāta-dominant constitution. Kumara, your warm skin, sharp analysis, and aversion to heat point to a Pitta nature. And Rohita, your steadiness, emotional bonding, and slowness, indicate a Kapha constitution.

Rohita: So, you are saying that each one of us has a different proportion of Vāta, Pitta, and Kapha?

Charaka: Yes. The unique proportion in each of you is called your Deha-Prakṛti, your constitutional nature. Deha does not refer only to the physical body. It includes the physiology and patterns of behaviour as well. Though it may be disturbed or masked by time or illness, it does not change with the season. Healing begins not only by treating illness, but by seeing what lies at the core of the person who bears it.

(The sun has now dipped below the horizon.)

Charaka: To know yourself is to recognise the nature within you. To understand suffering is to see that same nature disturbed. Without this knowledge, medicine remains guesswork.

The students rise slowly, their thoughts turned inward. The Peepal leaves rustle as the breeze deepens. Above them, the first star appears, faint but steady.