CONCEPTUAL STUDY OF AGNI AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN GENESIS OF DISEASE

Abstract

Agni, is the basic Concept of Ayurveda. This siddhanta provides fundamental knowledge for understanding the theories of Ayurveda like, Ahara Pachana, Dhatu utpatti, Vyadhi utpatti, Ayu Parijnana etc. Agni is responsible for Strength, health, longevity vital breathe and it determines the quantity of food to be consumed. Agni is believed to be the agent for any kind of transformation. It's a known fact that multiple transformation processes take place in the body every second. These may be Bio-chemical or Bio-physical or any other type of bio-transformation and due to these transformation procedures, body grows, develops & lastly gets destroyed too. It can be said that "life! is nothing but a constant process of transformation." Disease state of the body is also a pathological change either functional or structural. Thus, the principle of Agni becomes Vital as either the health or the diseased state can only be understood with understanding of changes. Ingested food is to be Digested, Absorbed and Assimilated, which is unavoidable for the maintenance of life which is performed by Agni. According to the function an site of action, Agni has been divided into 13 types which are - 1 Jathragni(digestive enzymes), 5 bhutagni, 7 dhatwagni(metabolisim at tissue level). Jathragni is the chief among all types of Agni because the function of Bhutagni & Dhatwagni depends on it. Aggravation and diminution of Jathragni results in Aggravation and diminution of Bhutagni and Dhatwaragni This article revolves around the details of Agni described in various text of Ayurveda which is an important concept for disease process & treatment.