The Ashtanga Hridayam, the “Heart or Essence of all the Eight Branches of Ayurveda,” is one of the primary ancient root texts of Ayurveda.
Today, the Ashtanga Hridayam continues to serve as a root source for Ayurvedic philosophy and protocol, providing clear guidelines in all aspects of health.
It is written by the great Sage Vagbhata and is chronologically placed after the publication of the Charaka Samhita and the Susruta Samhita.
It is the third major treatise in Ayurveda which focuses more on the physiological aspect of the body rather than the spiritual aspects of it.
Ashtanga Hridaya mainly focussing on kayachikitsa and also discusses in detail about various surgical treatments.
•The kapha subtypes are first listed and described in this samhita, with vata, pitta, and kapha along with their five subtypes.
Many of the ayurvedic medicines are prepared through the methods described in Ashtanga Hridaya.
Ashtanga Hridaya Samhita is divided into sutra, nidana, sharira, chikitsa, kalpa and uttara sthana.
It contains 120 chapters and the author quotes Charaka, Susruta, Bhela, Nimi, Kasyapa, Dhanvantari and other earlier authors and their works the chief source is Ashtanga Samgraha.
It is a complete but concise description of Ayurvedic medicine.
Sections and Specialities of Ashtanga Hridaya
Ashtanga Hridaya is a more simplified version of Ashtanga Samgraha which comprises 120 chapters. It is divided into 6 sthanas with a total of 7471 verses.
1.Sutra Sthana–The basic principles of Ayurveda, daily regimen (dinacharya), seasonal regimen (ritucharya), diet and dietetics etc are explained. It comprises of 30 chapters.
2.Shareera Sthana–The concepts and details of Ayurvedic embryology, anatomy, physiology etc are discussed. This section comprises of 6 chapters.
3.Nidana Sthana– It deals with the discussion of aetiology, pathology, signs and symptoms, prognosis of diseases etc. It comprises of16 chapters.
4.Chikitsa Sthana– It deals with the treatment of many diseases, medicines and diet towards healing of those diseases, patient care etc. Chikitsa Sthana has 22 chapters.
5. Kalpa Sthana– In this section, formulations and methods pertaining to elimination therapies i.e. Panchakarma are dealt. Elimination therapies or shodana treatments are Vamana (therapeutic emesis), Virechana (therapeutic purgation), Vasti (herbal enemas, decoction and oil) and Nasya (nasal medication). It comprises of 6 chapters.
6. Uttara Sthana–It comprises 40 chapters and is dedicated to 7 branches of Ayurveda as mentioned below:
Bala Roga- 3 chapters
Graha- 4 chapters
Urdhwanga Chikitsa- 17 chapters
Shalya Chikitsa- 10 chapters
Damshtra Chikitsa- 4 chapters
Jara- 1 chapter
Vrisha- 1 chapter
Sapta Chatuska of Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthana
The sutrasthana of Astanga hridaya in the form of Chatuska or group of four adhyayas are in a specific order.
1. Swastha chatuska (wellness strategies)
•Ayuskamiya (on longevity)
• Dinacarya (on daily regimen)
•Ritucarya (on seasonal regimen)
•Roganutpadaniya (on preventive medicines)
2. Annapana chatuska (Dietatics)
Dravadravya vigyana (knowledge of liquid materials)
Annaswarupa vigyana (nature of food materials)
Annaraksha (Protection of foods)
Matrasitiya (Proper quantity of food)
3. Nirdesh chatuska ( General Instructions)
•Dravyadi vigyaniya (Knowledge of substances etc.)
• Rasabhediya (classification of tastes).
•Doshadi vigyaniya (Knowledge of dosas etc.)
•Doshabhediya (classification of dosas)
4. Chikitsa chatuska (Management principles)
•Doshopakramaniya (treatment of the dosas)
•Dvividhopakramaniya (two kinds of treatments)
•Sodhanadigana sangrahaniya (groups of drugs for purificatory therapies etc.)
•Shalyaharan vidhi (removal of foreign bodies)
5. Sodhan chatuska (purificatory measures)
•Vamana virechan vidhi (emesis and purgation therapies)
•Vasti vidhi (enema therapy)
• Nasya vidhi (nasal medication)
• Siravyadh vidhi (venesection)
6. Anu karma chatuska (Supportive measures)
• Dhumpana vidhi (inhalation of smoke therapy)
•Gandushadi vidhi (inhalation of smoke therapy)
• Asyotana anjana vidhi (eye drops, collyrium therapies)
•Tarpana putapaka vidhi (satiating the eye and other therapies)
7. Shastrakarma chatuska (Surgical measures)
•Yantra vidhi (use of blunt instruments)
• Sastra vidhi (use of sharp instruments)
•Shastrakarma vidhi (surgical operation)
•Ksharagnikarma vidhi (alkaline and thermal cautery)
Ashtanga Hridaya deals with the 8 organs of the body
1.Kaya Chikitsa – Treatment of the body
2.Baala Chikitsa – Section on paediatrics
3.Griha Chikitsa – Section on psychiatry
4.Urdhvanga Chikitsa or Shalakya Tantra -Treatment for eye, ear, nose and parts above neck
5.Shalya Tantra – Section on surgery
6.Damsthra Chikitsa – Section on Toxicology
7.Jara Chikitsa or Rasayana Chikitsa – Rejuvenation Therapy
8.Vrishya chikitsa or Vajeekarana Chikitsa – Aphrodisiac Therapy
Tridosha
•Vayu – Vata, Pitta and kapha are the three Doshas of the body.
•Perfect balance of three Doshas leads to health, imbalance in Tridosha leads to diseases.
•The increase or decrease of individual dosha, or imbalance of couple of these doshas is called as Samsarga. Imbalance of all the three doshas together is called as Sannipata.
Site of Vata, Pitta and Kapha
The Tridosha are present all over the body, but their presence is especially seen in particular parts. If we divide the body into three parts,
The top part upto chest is dominated by Kapha Dosha.
Between chest and umbilicus is dominated by Pitta.
Below umbilicus part is dominated by Vata.
Similarly, in a person’s life, day and in night (separately),
The first part is dominated by Kapha,
second part is dominated by Pitta,
third part is dominated by Vata.
While eating and during digestion,
The first, second and third part are dominated by Kapha, Pitta and Vata respectively.
Types of Digestive Fires
There are four types of Digestive fires (Agni)
1. Vishama Agni- Influenced by Vata. A person with Vishama Agni will sometimes have high appetite, and sometimes, low appetite.
2. Teekshna Agni- Influenced by Pitta. A person with Teeksna Agni will have high digestion power and appetite.
3. Manda Agni- Influenced by Kapha. A person with Manda Agni will have low digestion power and appetite.
4. Sama Agni- Influenced by perfect balance of Tridosha. Where person will have proper appetite and digestion power. Digestion occurs at appropriate time.
Types of Prakruti – Body Types
•Vata prakruti -Vata body type is considered as low quality
• Pitta Prakruti- Pitta body type is considered as moderate quality
•Kapha Prakruti- Kapha body type is considered good quality.
•Tridosha body type- influenced equally by Vata, Pitta and Kapha is considered the best quality.
•Dual body types, Like Vata-Pitta, Pitta-Kapha, Vata-Kapha body types are considered as not good.
Effect of tastes on Tridosha
The tastes i.e. sweet, sour and salt mitigates Vata and increases Kapha. The last three, i.e. bitter, pungent and astringent tastes mitigates Kapha and increases Vata. Astringent, bitter and sweet taste mitigates Pitta. Sour, salt and pungent tastes increase Pitta.
Types of food substances
Shamana- Food that brings down the increased Dosha to normalcy
Kopana- Food that increases the lowered Dosha to normalcy
Swasthahita- Food that maintains the normalcy of Tridosha and health
Types of Potency (Veerya)
Ushna veerya (Hot potency) -Some food items are hot in nature. For example pepper
Sheeta veerya (cold potency) – Some food items are cold in nature. For example milk.
Generally, substances that have Astringent, bitter and sweet tastes are coolant in nature and sour, salt and pungent tastes are hot in nature.
Food Habits in Ashtanga Hridaya
§According to Vagbhatacharya, we should take the food sitting on the floor, this intensifies the digestive fire.
§The food plate should be kept a little bit above the floor.
§We can take lighter meal, juice or buttermilk, at noon time.
§We should take our evening meals while the sun is still out and our dinner before sunset, as the digestive fire becomes dormant once the sun sets.
§We should practice lying down on left side after eating, lying on the left side activates the pingala (soorya) naadi on the right side of the body. Activation of pingala nadi in turn activates the digestive fire.
§Acharya recommends to take only liquid food after sunset, this is important for asthma, diabetes and vata diseased patients.
Commentaries on Astanga Hridayam
| Name of Acharya | Commentary |
| Arunadatt | Sarvang Sundari |
| Hemadri | Ayurveda Rasayani |
| Chandranandana | Padartha Chandrika |
| Sridasa Pandita | Hridaya Bodhika or Hridaya Bodhini |
| Shivadas Sen | Tatwa Bodha |
