A late morning under the Peepal tree. Mats are spread. In front of Charaka are simple objects: a bowl of ghee, a smooth stone, some cooked rice, and raw grain. Birds call from the branches above.
Aaruni: Master, you were supposed to explain ten pairs of properties today. Out of all forty-one, you told us they are the most important ones in understanding health, illness and healing.
Charaka: You are right. Ayurveda is a pragmatic discipline and employs these twenty properties to understand the effects of food, herbs, lifestyle and therapies on human health. We use six of them extensively because our therapies can be classified into six types. This classification is based on these properties.
Aaruni: Six types of therapies? Based on properties? Could you please explain this further?
Charaka: Yes. The six therapies are based on three pairs of opposite properties. Uṣṇa–śīta, meaning hot and cold; guru–laghu, meaning heavy and light; and rūkṣa–snigdha, meaning dry and moist. They are collectively referred to as ṣaḍ-upakrama, or six therapies.
Aaruni: Do these therapies have names?
Charaka: Yes, they are langhana, which is depleting; bṛṃhaṇa, which is nourishing; rūkṣaṇa, which is drying; snehana, which uses oils, ghee, and other substances to moisten, lubricate and soften; svedana, which is to induce sweating, this is known as sudation; and sthambhana, which is a suppressive therapy that stops movements.
Aaruni: I guess the other seven pairs of properties are subsumed under these three pairs themselves. Is that correct?
Charaka: Yes. Let us discuss them one by one.
- Guru (Heavy) – Laghu (Light)
Charaka gestures to two clay plates, one with a stone and another with a cotton ball of same size.
Charaka: This stone is heavy, guru. Lift it. Now lift the same size of cotton. It is light, laghu.
Kumara: But these expressions are relative, right? Cotton is lighter than air. An iron ball maybe heavier than this stone.
Charaka: True. Physicians use their discretion to decide what is normal for a person. A Vāta individual is naturally lean and thin. A Kapha individual is naturally well-built. Hence, they should use diet and lifestyle that are opposite to their constitution. That keeps them healthy.
Kumara: So, both are useful depending on the context. Right? What are the examples for Guru and Laghu substances that are used in the therapies?
Charaka: Yes, context is important. Heavy things nourish. Meat is guru. It builds strength but takes time to digest. Sweets are guru too. But too much of sweets will make the person too bulky. Laghu foods like mudga- green gram, digest quickly, but do not make one bulky. Laghu can cause one to lose weight. Guru slows the mind. Laghu makes it quick. But excess lightness may bring restlessness whereas excess heaviness may make one dull.
Kumara: You showed cotton and stone, which is easy to grasp. But how should I understand that meat is guru, sweets are guru, and mudga is laghu?
Charaka: Meat nourishes the bulk of muscles. Makes one heavy. Sweets add bulk to the body, especially fat. Mudga gives energy that is just sufficient. Neither too much nor too little. It digests easily. This we know based on our experience.
Kumara: Master, you said therapies are based on these properties. Which therapies are connected to guru and laghu?
Charaka: When a person becomes too heavy, dull, or full after eating rich food, we use langhana upakrama—depleting therapy. It includes fasting, light food, exercise, and medicines that improve digestion. When a person becomes weak, thin, or dry, we use bṛṃhaṇa upakrama—nourishing therapy. It uses milk, ghee, meat soup, and other strengthening foods. Balance is the aim.
- Uṣṇa (Hot) – Śīta (Cold)
Charaka picks up hot and cold water.
Charaka: Touch and feel this hot water. It is warm, uṣṇa. It kindles the fire within, promotes digestion, and causes sweating. Cold water is cold, śīta. It is called śītodaka. Cold causes cooling. In summers, we seek cold. In winters, we seek warmth. Uṣṇa makes the mind sharp, sometimes even irritable. Śīta calms, but too much may slow down.
Bhargava: You say water is śīta. Is milk śīta too? How do we know it?
Charaka: Yes, milk too is śīta. It is snigdha and guru as well. By heating it you can make it laghu. These qualities are known by observing their effects. When we see multiple effects, we infer that one dravya has many guṇas.
Kumara: Why does uṣṇa make the mind sharp?
Charaka: Because it agitates things. It stimulates thought and action.
Shaileya: So cold calms the mind, but can it cause harm?
Charaka: Yes. Too much cold slows the body, clouds the mind, weakens fire.
Aaruni: What therapies are based on uṣṇa and śīta?
Charaka: When the body becomes stiff or cold, as in diseases associated with vāta or kapha, we use svedana upakrama, sweating therapy. Warm herbs or steam open the channels and bring ease. When there is excess flow from the body, like diarrhea or bleeding, we use sthambhana therapy, which suppresses. Cold and astringent substances help stop the loss and bring stability.
- Snigdha (Wet/Moist/Oily) – Rūkṣa (Dry)
He takes a spoon of ghee and a dry twig.
Charaka: Touch the ghee. Snigdha softens, nourishes, lubricates. Like ghee on dry skin, or the oil in the moving wheel. The dry twig is rūkṣa: dry, brittle, rough. Like old skin, or hair on the scalp without oil. In food, meat cooked with ghee is snigdha. Roasted barley is rūkṣa. In the mind, snigdha is affection, compassion, bonding. Rūkṣa is detachment, indifference or even harsh behaviour, if in excess.
Aaruni: Ācārya, if dryness is associated with detachment, does that mean detachment is always undesirable?
Charaka: Not always. Detachment, when balanced, brings clarity. But when it turns harsh or indifferent, it may cause suffering. Similarly affection must not become obsession.
Bhargava: Which therapies belong to snigdha and rūkṣa?
Charaka: When the body is dry, stiff, or rough, as in diseases related to vāta, we use snehana upakrama, oleation therapy. It involves ghee or oil taken internally or applied on the body. It softens and nourishes. When the body is oily, heavy, or sluggish, as in diseases with too much kapha or fat, we use rūkṣaṇa upakrama, drying therapy. Dry food, powders, and exercise help restore lightness.
Bhargava: Snigdha, Śīta and Guru sound similar.
Charaka: Yes. That is why a few even consider two groups of therapies, instead of six. They group Snigdha, Śīta and Guru into one group and Rūkṣa, Uṣṇa and Laghu into another. That is a practical simplification.
- Sāndra (Dense) – Drava (Liquid/Flowing)
He shows a heavy lump of clay and pours water on it. The lump dissolves in water and disintegrates.
Charaka: Sāndra is dense; it holds together and stabilizes. Bone, fat, muscle are denser than blood. Drava flows and eases movement: blood, bile, urine, for example. Drava, on the mental plane, represents flexibility, while Sāndra indicates stability and integrity. But excess density may clog, and excess liquidity may cause spillage.
Aaruni: Master, how do we apply these qualities in treatment?
Charaka: In dryness and wasting, we give sāndra—meat soups, milk, oil.
In vomiting or diarrhoea, we give drava – light broths, liquids, warm water with salt, sweet and sour tastes. This is to replenish the liquids lost.
- Sthira (Stable) – Cala (Mobile)
Charaka places a three-legged stool next to a sack filled with dry rice. He opens the sack slightly, letting some grains pour out.
Charaka: This stool stands firm, and is stable, Sthira. It does not fall. Now see these rice grains, once released, they spread everywhere. That is Cala, moving. A few scholars substitute Cala with Sara. Both are similar in essence. In the body, Sthira quality is seen in bones, muscles and the posture that holds us upright. Sara manifests in substances that move or pervade, such as blood or lymph. In the mind, Sthira is focus and steadiness. Cala contributes to adaptability and fluidity in thought and expression. But excess Chala may lead to instability. Excess Sthira may turn to stubbornness or rigidity.
Kumara: And the utility?
Charaka: We bring about a laxative action using substances with sara quality. We use Sthira substances to stop diarrhoea. We loosen excess sthira- too much of rigidity- by applying oils and other liquids. Each disturbance has its opposite as remedy.
- Mṛdu (Soft) – Kaṭhiṇa (Hard)
He crushes a fresh leaf using a pestle and mortar and then tries crushing a piece of hardened wood.
Charaka: This green leaf is Mṛdu, yielding to pressure like soft and supple skin. Kaṭhiṇa resists pressure, as in bones or teeth. On the mental plane, Kaṭhiṇa may manifest as rigidity whereas too much softness, Mṛdu, may give in easily.
Kumara: And in healing?
Charaka: In healing, softening the hard stools and hardening the loose stools is required. This is just one example. Bones need to be hardened when they are weak.
- Picchila (Sticky) – Viśada (Clear)
He shows gum resin and clear crystals of a precious stone.
Charaka: Gum resin sticks. This is picchila. It binds. Sputum is picchila. Transparent crystals are clear, viśada. Viśada substances like clean sand have cleansing properties but lack binding or cohesive strength. In mind, picchila is attachment; viśada is clarity. One holds, the other frees.
Aaruni: Master, picchila, guru, snigdha, mṛdu—they all seem similar. Are they the same?
Charaka: They overlap but are not the same. Picchila binds. Guru weighs. Snigdha lubricates. Mṛdu yields. All nourish, but each does so in a different way.
Aaruni: In cough, do we not turn the sticky sputum thin and clear?
Charaka: Yes, expectorants do just that.
- Tīkṣṇa (Sharp) – Manda (Dull)
Charaka shows a sharp knife and then presses his fingers into cool wet ball of clay.
Charaka: This knife is tīkṣṇa: sharp, penetrating. Like sour substances, strong alkalis, fire or a keen mind. They cut, digest, provoke. This ball of clay is manda: slow, dull, heavy. Like a calm mind. Manda soothes, steadies, slows.
Aaruni: Ācārya, when is tīkṣṇa used? It sounds dangerous.
Charaka: When there is blockage, coldness, or extra growth, we use tīkṣṇa to clear, cut and move. In certain treatments like kṣāra karma and agnikarma, this sharpness helps remove unwanted tissues.
Kumara: And manda?
Charaka: When there is heat, irritation, or restlessness—manda calms. But in excess, it dulls.
- Ślakṣṇa (Smooth) – Khara (Rough)
Charaka pours a few drops of oil on the wooden stool, then rubs dry flour between his fingers.
Charaka: Oil is smooth on touch- this is ślakṣṇa. It softens skin, even speech.
Flour is khara—dry, rough. Rub a rough leaf of Udumbara (Ficus racemosa) on your skin and you will feel khara. In the body, ślakṣṇa soothes. Khara scrapes. In conduct, ślakṣṇa is grace. Khara is harshness.
Aaruni: Ācārya, when do we need khara if it is harsh?
Charaka: When there is excess coating—kapha, fat, accumulated secretions – khara removes. Rough scrapes what smooth cannot.
Bhargava: And ślakṣṇa?
Charaka: When there is friction, dryness, or irritation, ślakṣṇa eases and heals. When the joints are rough and dry, they make sound while walking; we need ślakṣṇa there. Both have their use—khara removes what is excessive, while ślakṣṇa protects and restores.
- Sthūla (Gross) – Sūkṣma (Subtle)
He places before them a rock crystal and a drop of sandalwood oil on a leaf.
Charaka: This stone is Sthūla, gross, visible and could be bulky. You see it, touch it, even stumble over it. Now observe this drop of Candana (Santalum album) oil. It is a small drop, yet its fragrance pervades this space. That is Sūkṣma, subtle. It enters where gross things cannot. In the body, muscle and bones are Sthūla. Sūkṣma are the minute channels that transport different materials. On the psychological level, Sthūla may appear as gross and insensitive, while Sūkṣma manifests as intuition and subtle sensitivity. That which is Sthūla builds mass; that which is Sūkṣma penetrates deeply.
Aaruni: Master, when is subtle used?
Charaka: When the body’s channels are blocked, sūkṣma medicines reach where sthūla cannot. The subtle acts quietly but deeply. For this purpose, we use fermented preparations such as āsava and ariṣṭa, which penetrate fine pathways and restore flow.
Kumara: And sthūla?
Charaka: Needed for strength, form, structure. But excess causes bulk without flow. We must know when to build, when to penetrate.
Kumara: Ācārya, can we perceive the sūkṣma with the senses at all?
Charaka: Not only sūkṣma, in fact, all properties are perceived only through their effects, not through the senses! I showed you these objects only to help you grasp the contrasting features. But in real life, they are perceived through effects.
Kumara: This is very interesting!
Charaka: Yes, what I teach is a simplified version for your easy understanding. It is for initiating your thinking. It is only the beginning.
Kumara: Thanks for this clarification. It means we need to read more and see more patients to understand these topics.
Charaka: Precisely. Thus, we conclude today’s discussion on the twenty guṇas. These twenty guṇas are present in all dravyas—in all doṣas, dhātus, foods, medicines, and even in the mind. They show their effects always in the form of a spectrum between two opposite ends: laghu and guru, for example, and reflect balance or imbalance. What heals in one case may harm in another, depending on context. An understanding of guṇas allows one to see not only the properties of substances but also the patterns that govern health and life itself.
Kumara: Master, this knowledge is vast. Should we memorise so many properties?
Charaka: A fair question. Understanding guṇas is not for theory alone. Consider this: excessive sleep, overconsumption of sweets, and prolonged inactivity increase the guru quality. Guru is also the quality of kapha. When the body feels heavy, when movement and digestion are slow, we infer an increase in kapha. To correct this, we bring in the opposite—laghu. We choose laghu foods such as mudga (green gram), engage in vyāyāma (exercise), and reduce all that adds to heaviness. That is how sāmānya–viśeṣa works: the principle that similarity increases and dissimilarity decreases.
Kumara: But you told us that increase and decrease are just labels, and that they do not reflect real increase or decrease in any single substance.
Charaka: Yes, increase and decrease is in terms of number and severity of symptoms. In every imbalance, we ask which guṇas have caused the symptoms and what are their opposites. We try to restore balance by introducing opposing qualities. This is how treatment begins—not by naming the disease first, but by identifying the qualitative shift that has taken place.
Charaka concludes the session after ensuring that there were no further doubts from the students’ side.
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