A CRITICAL LITERARY REVIEW OF THE WORD ‘KALAA’

Abstract

Kalaa is one of the least explored concepts of Ayurved Rachana Shareera, as explained in Sushruta Samhita. Even in ancient texts like Veda, Purana and Upanishat, the word kalaa had been used at many instances, but the meanings in different texts have been considered differently. Hence in this present article, an effort had been made to review the literature concerned with the meanings of the word kalaain different texts like Purana, Veda, Upanishat and Ayurved,literature. On reviewing the available literature in this regard it is found thatinall other texts, the meaning of the word kalaa had been taken like time, stroke of music, part of the year etc. But in the texts of Ayurved its meaning is the limiting membrane between dhatu and ashaya i.e the limiting / covering membrane with different physiological functions.