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Agni (Part II): 13 Types of Agni

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Agni (Part II): 13 Types of Agni Lesson 2 Handout Āyurvedic Anatomy & Physiology; Agni (Part II): 13 Types of Agni Important Notes: • We introduced the concept of agni in Foundations of Āyurveda Part I, Lesson 10: Agni (Part I) & Āma. A small part of the information in this lesson is a review of that information. Please refer to that lesson if you need a refresher or additional review of the following objectives related to agni that we covered there: o Deine agni. o List the qualities and functions of agni. o List at least 10 signs of healthy agni. o List at least 10 indications that agni is impaired. o Name the 4 clinical classiHications of agni (viṣama, tīkṣṇa, manda, sama) and understand their probable physiological effects. • If you are taking this lesson outside of the context of the entire course: While the video titles relay the subject being presented, each of these videos is presented within the context of the full course, so some material may not be fully presented in any one video, as it may be partially presented or explored in preceding or following videos and lessons. Learning Objectives: 1. List the thirteen main types of agni (digestive and transformational Hires) a. BrieHly review the functions of jaṭhara agni and its sites: stomach (ST) & small intestine (SI) b. 5 bhūta agnis (one for each tattva: nabhasa/ ākāśa = ether, vāyu = air, tejas = ire, āpas = water, pṛthvī = earth) c. The seven dhātu agnis 2. Be introduced to the concepts of pithara, pīlu, kloma & jatru agnis and other lesser-known agnis Suggested Sequence for Study: 1. Read the handout for this lesson (or at least familiarize yourself with it) before watching the videos. a. The lesson handouts in Foundations of Āyurveda Part I were often written in prose, rather like essays. In this course, the handouts serve more as outlines of information so you can more easily follow along as you watch the videos. They also help clarify and supplement the information in the videos. b. If you would like to chant along with the chants, a handout and an audio ile are available to download on your online class page. c. Regarding Transliteration: We have made our best attempt at employing standard transliteration throughout these lessons. For a brief guide to standard transliteration, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Alphabet_of_Sanskrit_Transliteration. When there have been differing opinions on correct transliterations, we've deferred to the direction and corrections of our friend and colleague, Fred Smith, Ph.D., Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Literature at The University of Iowa. We appreciate and thank him for his assistance. In any case of faulty transliteration, it is our fault and not his, as we may have accidentally missed certain words, or not consulted him on certain words about which we felt (perhaps mistakenly) conHident. [1 of [5 Copyright Dr. Claudia Welch 2016 Foundations of Āyurveda Part II, Lesson 2 2. Watch the videos for this lesson and have your handout handy as you do, so you can follow along. Once we have introduced an exercise in the video, it would be good to pause the video and give yourself 20 minutes to do the exercise yourself. (Even when we announce in the videos, that we are taking less time for the exercise, we found it always took at least 20 minutes to do them). a. Video #2: 13 Main Types of Agni b. Video #3: 13 Main Types of Agni Q&A c. Video #4. 13 Main Types of Agni Q&A, Lecture & Exercise 3. Recommended Reading: After you have read the handout for this lesson and watched the corresponding videos, we suggest the recommended readings listed at the bottom of the handout. The purposes of these readings are both to increase understanding of the subject matter and to provide additional perspectives on and approaches to the material. By reading various texts and authors, we can become clearer on what material is so standard that everybody agrees on it and perceives it roughly the same way, and what material is subject to varied interpretations or lends itself to varied approaches. It is helpful to keep in mind that models of disease and health are not reality. They are simply sincere attempts at describing reality. Therefore some models, approaches, or perspectives are more elegant representations of reality than others for each possible situation, condition or disease. 4. Review the Learning Objectives & Vocabulary for the lesson, revisiting the handout and videos as needed to be sure you are comfortable with each objective and vocabulary word. 5. Take lesson quiz. Vocabulary: Agni, jaṭhara, dhātu, bhūta agnis, pithara, pīlu, kloma, jatru, indriya, mala, pṛthvī, āpas, tejas, vāyu and ākāśa, nabhasa Note: Please note that Dr. Svoboda uses the word “śakti” several times throughout this lesson. A simple translation of the word “śakti” is “power.” We will discuss the meaning of “śakti” more in Lesson 5. Objective (1): List the thirteen main types of agni (digestive and transformational Hires) Fiery substances are hot, sharp, subtle, light, clear (Caraka Saṃhitā) and dry and are heating and digestive, and produce luster, light, complexion, and burning sensations (Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam). Caraka Saṃhitā: Sūtrasthāna: XXVI:11 Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam: Sūtrasthāna: IX:5-9 Jaṭhara Agni 5 bhūta agnis (one for each of the elements) 7 dhātu agnis =13 agnis Strength of agni determines whether what we ingest acts as food, medicine, or poison at every level of the organism. The agni that digests food is regarded as the master of all agnis because increase and decrease of other agnis depend on it. Caraka Saṃhitā: Cikitsāsthāna: XV:38 As the Uire, placed below, helps in the cooking of food, namely, rice and water kept in a vessel placed thereon, so does the agni help in the digestion of food located in the āśaya (āmāśaya), i.e. stomach, for the production of rasa and mala. Caraka Saṃhitā: Cikitsāsthāna: XV:6-8 [2 of [5 Copyright Dr. Claudia Welch 2016 Foundations of Āyurveda Part II, Lesson 2 Prāṇa, with its power of attraction, draws the (ingested) food into the koṣṭha (alimentary tract). This food gets softened by the unctuous substance after which it gets split into small particles by the liquid (saliva). Thereafter, the agni located in the udara (stomach), gets stimulated by samāna vāyu. This agni simulated by vāyu, helps in the digestion of food of appropriate quality, taken in required quantity and in right time for the promotion of longevity. Caraka Saṃhitā: Cikitsāsthāna: XV:6-8 Lifespan, complexion, strength, health, enthusiasm, plumpness, luster, ojas, tejas, [other types of] agnis and prāṇa all depend on the body’s [jaṭhara] agni. Extinction of jaṭhara agni leads to death; its proper maintenance helps a person to live a long life, and its impairment gives rise to diseases. Therefore jaṭhara agni is considered to be the foundation of living beings. Caraka Saṃhitā: Cikitsāsthāna: XV:3-4 These are the factors leading to transformation of food such as heat, vāyu, moisture, unctuousness, time and balanced use. These are the functions of the factors like heat etc. which cause transformation of food such as heat digests, vāyu absorbs, moisture produces looseness, unction generates softness, time brings sufUiciency, balanced use brings about the equilibrium of dhātus, which are the products of digestion. Caraka Saṃhitā: Śārīrasthāna: VI:14-15 A Review of Jaṭhara Agni (Refer to Lesson 10 in the Foundations of Āyurveda Part I Course for more details): • Digestion, absorption, assimilation • Dr. Vasant Lad describes jaṭhara agni as being the functional integrity of samāna vāyu, prāṇa vāyu, pācaka pitta, and kledaka kapha, which are also present in the stomach and small intestine. 5 Bhūta Agnis The bhūta agnis— one for each element: pṛthvī, āpas, tejas, vāyu, and ākāśa (or nabhasa)— bring about transformation (paka) of Uive categories, viz., pṛthvī, āpas, tejas, vāyu and ākāśa (or nabhasa) guṇas of food ingredients respectively. Caraka Saṃhitā: Cikitsāsthāna: XV: 13 The 5 bhūta agnis transform the 5 elements present in food and drink—and indeed in whatever Hinds its way into the bloodstream—into substances that are more reHined and biologically useful for the organism. All of the blood leaving the digestive system (stomach, intestines, pancreas, gall bladder, spleen) arrives at the liver via the hepatic portal vein and is processed before leaving the liver via the hepatic veins that lead to the vena cava, returning to the heart. The bhūta agnis are responsible in great measure for this processing and for these other functions of the liver: • Digestion (digesting the more raw elements received from the digestive system, into more biologically reHined, useful products) • Metabolism • DetoxiHication/Hiltration (alcohol, environmental and dietary pollutants, etc.) • Production of substances including (but not limited to): o cholesterol o bile o some components of blood plasma [3 of [5 Copyright Dr. Claudia Welch 2016 Foundations of Āyurveda Part II, Lesson 2 o thousands of essential chemicals and hormones o produces its very own self (25 % of the liver is able to regenerate the rest of it) • manages over 50,000 enzymes The liver also serves the function of storage for many substances necessary for the body, to be dispensed as and when required. We can also think of the bhūta agnis as being secreted by the liver into the small intestine to help reHine the more raw elements arriving there from the stomach. We will look at this role further when we look at the production of āhāra rasa, in Lesson 3: Āyurvedic Physical Anatomy & Physiology; The Dūṣyas: Dhātus & Malas. Notes on the names of the bhūta agnis: • There are ive bhūta agnis, one for each element. For the space element, nabhasa and ākāśa are used as synonyms.
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