Relation of Prakriti and Skin Color - An Observational Study

  • Rajeshwari Vantagodi Assistant Professor, Department of Shareer Rachana, BVV’S Ayurved Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.
Keywords: Prakriti, Skin color, Von Luschan's chromatic scale, Fitzpatrick scale, Ayurveda

Abstract

Prakriti is one of the most important concepts in Ayurveda which is of 7 types i.e., Vataja, Pittaja, Kaphaja, three Dwandaja and one Sannipataja. Prakriti is first Pariksha mentioned in Charaka Samhita among Dashavidhapariksha. Assessment of Prakriti is done based on Anatomical, Physiological, Psychological, and Behavioural factors. Twak Shareera is one of the important anatomical features used in the assessment of Prakriti. In this article, an attempt is made to understand the color of Twak and its relationship with Prakriti. An observational study of 150 healthy subjects was conducted to assess the Prakriti of individual and its relationship with Twak Shareera. We used Von Luschan's chromatic scale (VLS) and The Fitzpatrick scale for classifying skin color. The more the VLS Score, the darker the skin color is.  The present study showed that VLS Score increases wherever there is involvement of Vata and Fitzpatrick scale showed that Vataja Prakriti are more of Dark brown in color compared to Pitta. Thus, it can be said that skin color is Genetic in nature and correlated with our theory of Prakriti.

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References

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Agnivesha. Charak Samhita. Indriyasthana. Varnasvariyamindriyam, 8th Quote accessed from http://niimh.nic.in/ebooks/ecaraka/(e-Samhita Designed and Developed by National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage, Hyderabad) accessed on 18th March 2018

CITATION
DOI: 10.21760/jaims.7.3.4
Published: 2022-06-10
How to Cite
Rajeshwari Vantagodi. (2022). Relation of Prakriti and Skin Color - An Observational Study. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences, 7(3), 23 - 26. https://doi.org/10.21760/jaims.7.3.4
Section
Original Article